Jessica's Recipe for Emotional and Physical Well-Being

When Jessica Mitchell, a health coach driven by a deeply personal narrative, steps into our podcast venue, the air fills with an undeniable energy of transformation and hope. Her sister's untimely passing ignited a fire in Jessica to champion the cause of lifestyle disease prevention, and she's here sharing her wisdom on how to forge a path towards sustainable health. The conversation we engage in goes beyond the typical chatter about diets and workouts; we pierce the heart of what it truly means to nurture the self holistically. Nutrition is at the forefront, with Jessica and I dissecting how a diet abundant in plants and whole foods isn't just about what's on your plate, but how what you eat can profoundly shape your life.

Jessica isn't just another voice in the health and wellness chorus; she's a maestro leading a symphony where everyday activities harmonize with our bodies' needs. Discover how dancing in your living room or tending to your garden can be acts of joyous self-care that keep lifestyle diseases at bay. We also dive deep into the sacred stillness of sleep and the gentle reprieve it offers from the day's chaos, sharing practical tips on how to enhance its restorative powers. And it doesn't stop with the physical; we unlock the secrets of stress management, exploring breathwork, journaling, and the intriguing Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) tapping, which Jessica adeptly integrates into her health coaching toolkit.

Join us as we wrap up this episode with heartfelt gratitude for the stories and insights Jessica Mitchell brought to our virtual table. Our dialogue reaches out to all those seeking solidarity on their health journeys, reminding us that true well-being is a tapestry woven from the threads of nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, and emotional resilience. If you're looking to tap into a community where accountability is the norm and mutual support is as nourishing as a home-cooked meal, our Lifestyle Reset community awaits. Let's continue this conversation, and together, create lives that resonate with health and happiness.

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Transcript

Jen: 0:41

Welcome my Spoonie sisters to another episode. I'm so thrilled this is our special special guest. Hi, jessica, you are a certified health coach focusing on lifestyle disease prevention. Can you tell us a little bit about you and how you got into this Sure?

Jessica: 0:59

can, and thank you so much for having me, jen. I just am excited to be here with you. I know it's been a while since we connected, so this is really exciting for me. So, as you said, I am a lifestyle disease prevention coach, and so basically, what I'm doing now is supporting women who suffer from chronic lifestyle diseases those that can be addressed with lifestyle. Now, that, of course, includes even other types of diseases, because a lifestyle can certainly improve the quality of life, even if it can't cure a disease.

Jessica: 1:33

So I've been doing this almost 20 years, and I started off as a corporate trained, certified health coach, but then, about seven years ago going on seven years my sister, who was only 40, passed away from a massive heart attack, and it was contributed to by her high blood pressure, and that is actually what her autopsy said, and we were just blown away because she was on a health journey.

Jessica: 2:04

She had actually lost about 90 pounds and still had some weight to lose, but she was doing really good. She was, though, on medication for her blood pressure, so, even though she was considered to be managing it, this is what contributed to her massive heart attack, and so I have this passion now, especially since then to work specifically with women in midlife, because heart disease is still the leading cause of death among women, and so I support women not just with their lifestyle and I know we're going to talk about what some of that involves but really just with hope that in many cases there are ways to at least improve quality of life, address some of those significant markers so that they can live a more healthy lifestyle.

Jen: 2:56

Wow, that's an inspiring story, and such a critical one, I think as well. Critical one, I think as well. So, as a health coach, what strategies do you employ to help your clients make these?

Jessica: 3:13

sustainable changes in their lives. It starts with making sure that it is sustainable, and so that means an individualized approach. As we've gotten a little more mature I won't say older, but I mean I'm in my fifties now and I was a victim of diet culture very early on. But, because of the predispositions that I have for heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, all of those things, including diabetes, run very, very heavily on both sides of my family. So, with that in mind, I knew that I was going to need to do something for myself that was going to make things more sustainable.

Jessica: 3:52

So it started with again ditching diet culture, and so that's how I work with my clients. We're not going on a diet. We're most certainly going to talk about nutrition and the importance of moving your body every day if you can. But that specific set of strategies that I use is also going to be based on them, their timeframe, where they might be in the menopausal journey, where they might be in relation to other illnesses or diseases like an autoimmune condition, because some things need to be approached a little differently, a little differently, but the strategy is to get you to your healthiest self in a sustainable way, and we kind of go along this journey together. On what that?

Jen: 4:33

may look like, and you're touching on something that I want to point out to people. I hate that word diet. It gets so many people, especially women. It gets us stuck in this mindset of not feeling good enough and not working hard enough. And diet is not a cure. It needs to be a sustainable life change.

Jessica: 4:59

Yes, exactly Exactly. And since I have walked that talk, jen, of being a I call it a career dieter. I started dieting when I was a teenager because I was overweight then. So you know I had gone back and forth all those years until I became a health coach 20 years ago and finally realized that all of these other things around your lifestyle needed to be supported, because even if you stuck to a quote, unquote diet 100%, 85 to 90% will still gain that weight back and never actually live a healthy lifestyle. So, yes, I'm all about ditching diets and that diet mentality.

Jen: 5:38

So do you mind explaining to people what it looks like to make a lifestyle change? What kind of things do you look at?

Jessica: 5:45

I'm looking at things like how you sleep. I'm looking at how you manage stress. Those are probably two of the biggest that women are overlooking when they're trying to either lose weight or address a disease. And again, they could be following the letter of the law, but then if you're only getting five hours of sleep, they could be following the letter of the law, but then if you're only getting five hours of sleep, then you just will not have success. There's all these different hormones that are involved in the sleep cycle, and so those affect hunger, very simply put. So that needs to be in check. And then, of course, if we're constantly in this heightened state of anxiety as women, sometimes our bodies are feeling that even when we feel like we're in control, so we've got to recognize that. So those are two that I think are overlooked, and I think we'll talk more about it.

Jessica: 6:34

But even self-care, because that can reduce stress. And then again the importance of finding a way to eat and to move your body that works Now, and I say that in the sense that I mean for me. I love still cookies and candy, but I know that a steady diet of that doesn't work. So you know, we also have to address some mindset things, because we're not going to tell anybody what they can't have. You know, I just refuse to live that way. It's about empowering women to take ownership of what they're putting in their bodies and how they're moving their bodies. But it's basically looking at your daily habits, from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, that factor into whether or not you will be able to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Jen: 7:24

Absolutely, and probably the why as well.

Jessica: 7:26

Yes, yes, the mindset. That is typically where we start as the foundation. As a matter of fact, I have a membership and one of the first things that we address inside that membership community is the mind body connection. What's interesting is that and I can relate to this, so I'm not being judgmental, because this is exactly how I used to feel that everyone kind of wants to skip ahead and they're like well, is there a meal plan here? But it's like if we can't start addressing that mind-body connection how you're viewing food, how you're viewing your own body, wherever you are in your journey if we can't address that, then it's a little hard to even move forward with some of the other lifestyle things. And so, inside of that, much to your point, we have to start talking about the why. And if it's really a why or if it's just what sounds good, you know to be a why.

Jen: 8:23

Well, and I think in our culture, you know, in your age group, my age group, I think we were kind of raised with the mindset that that there's always that easy fix, that that one magical pill or one magical thing that you have to do that's going to cure everything. And I find that now all of us are getting into our forts and our 50s and we're looking around going. So that's not true Now what Now?

Jessica: 8:50

what do I do? I agree, I agree. And then I feel like if you're just searching on the internet or you're just on social media without knowing, having some knowledge, that lifestyle plays a role, it can be really overwhelming. Because I do see a growing number of women in their 40s and 50s, even 60s, that talk about midlife women, and I mean they are themselves midlife women and they are grinding, and I admire that, you know. But I mean I've got to be realistic. I'm I probably won't have a six pack abs, but I'm not trying to do that. I want to be healthy, Not to say that they're not. But when a woman looks at that, then again she feels very overwhelmed, Like well, I could never. How am I going to do that? How am I going to live that way? And then I think that becomes discouraging because it's like so there isn't just a magic pill, I'll never get it, I'll never accomplish it. And that's how so many women start to feel.

Jen: 9:49

Yeah, and you know, sometimes just because you look healthy on the outside doesn't mean what's going on on the inside matches that.

Jessica: 9:57

That's my thing with a lot of fitness gurus and they're sometimes aren't really sharing, sharing those important pieces of the puzzle, especially on the internet and social media.

Jen: 10:08

Yeah, absolutely so. Okay, many people living with chronic illness. They face a unique challenge when it comes to adopting the healthy lifestyle habits. How do you tailor your coaching approach to address these challenges and support the individuals with each of their chronic conditions, whatever they may be?

Jessica: 10:27

So that's a great question, which is why, you know, as coaches, our role is to really listen, listen, listen, listen versus talk, talk, talk and then give some guidance. You know, and even with that guidance, you know, looking at even the difference between a coach and a teacher teachers just telling you what to do when a coach is kind of standing side by side with you which is what I love about coaching is to start to see what are their limitations. You know, because the reality is is there are some limitations even with a healthy mindset. It's not just mind over matter, not if you're just aching, not if you cannot get out of bed. So we've got to start where you are, and that's my thing. And so even someone, let's say, with an autoimmune disease that affects joints I've worked with clients that suffer, say, from lupus, fibromyalgia can't necessarily tell them the same thing that I would tell someone else whose biggest concern is I just need to lose weight and lower my cholesterol.

Jessica: 11:32

The same fitness level doesn't necessarily apply. So we start small and we take that into consideration, and since it's not a race, then it's about pacing. I think what makes one of the biggest differences is the accountability, because now you've got someone to hold you accountable. So even if we're just starting off with, say, two times a week of just some chair exercises, that's what we do and the accountability is what starts to create the consistency. And as you get stronger and start feeling better, as you're also incorporating better nutrition and all of these other things your sleep, your managing stress then it success. Some wins early. So we got to at least get started. But the pace of that a lot, a lot of times is up to them.

Jen: 12:33

Absolutely, and I'm going to keep deviating a little bit from the questions that I gave you, but okay. So my next one is how does it look when someone comes to you and says okay, I need your help and I want to sign up? Do you have a questionnaire? Do you have a video console? How does it work? I have a questionnaire.

Jessica: 12:53

It is a. I call it a breakthrough. Well, first of all, I offer a free call. What I have ahead of that call is a questionnaire, and we call it the breakthrough call questionnaire. It helps me to see, and it helps them to see, if we're even a fit to get on the call.

Jessica: 13:11

And one of those questions on there is what has been your experience with dieting, in addition to what you know? What are your goals? What are you looking to achieve? But what has been your experience when you've done things before? Where do you find that you hit a wall? And so, with that in mind, it mind it helps them to see if they want to go further.

Jessica: 13:29

And you know, I've got a really good business coach and one of the things that he encouraged me to do it was a little uncomfortable at first because I hadn't done it this way was to just ask on that questionnaire are you prepared to make some type of investment into your health? And so that has been really helpful and beneficial for both of us, for me and for the prospective client, because what I enjoy the most working with is the woman who has tried everything else but also sees the wisdom in looking at things differently and addressing lifestyle, not just diets and medication. We try to go as holistic as we can. Of course we need medicines and I'm a proponent of that, but the woman who wants to try something different? So that is how I pretty much even pre-screen my clients and if they move past that questionnaire then they get a free 45-minute session with me where we start talking strategy and look at ways on how I could benefit them further if they choose to work with me.

Jen: 15:27

That sounds wonderful because, honestly, it is an investment and they need to look at it that way. And not only that, but they don't want to waste their own time and they don't want to waste your time as well. And if they're not ready to jump in full ahead, it's not worth moving forward, right.

Jessica: 15:44

I agree. So it's not just about even the money. It's exactly what you said. If you're not ready for this, a lifestyle change, it doesn't benefit either of us for me to have to convince you the entire time that we're working together If you join my community, to have to convince you that you don't just have to have me hand you pages of a diet to be able to do this. You've got to be open to making some lifestyle changes.

Jen: 16:11

Absolutely, and we need to just continue to get out of that mindset of the easy fix that doesn't work anymore. We need to realize, continue to get out of that mindset of the easy fix that doesn't work anymore. We need to realize that's not part of our lives. Move on, try something new. So how important is nutrition in preventing and managing these chronic diseases, and what are some of the key dietary principles you advocate for in your coaching practice?

Jessica: 16:35

Nutrition is very important, especially when it's discovered that certain foods maybe certain processed foods, certain sugars they're just not good for you and those are things that create inflammation. So, especially if you're living with some type of autoimmune disease or some type of inflammation, which so many women have just chronic inflammation even though they have not been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder as of yet those things are not good for that. So there are still obviously some fundamentals Now inside of that. As I mentioned earlier, I never want to just say, well, you can't have this, you can't have that. But when you start eating better and feeling better and by eating better I mean eating more plants just eat more plants, start there, you know, start adding plants and then we can start replacing. We don't do that pulling things out right away, because I want it to be sustainable for them, but eating more to be sustainable for them, but eating more greens, more plants, more whole foods, making that a goal. And many women that have dieted before haven't actually done that. They've just followed a program that may have reduced something for a short time, but then, once they got to their goal weight or close, then they went right back to the old way of doing things. So, again, it's about implementing things in a way that will be sustainable to them.

Jessica: 18:00

But those are my biggest principles and, interestingly enough, I know each coach is different and may have different ways that they implement what good nutrition looks like. Implement what good nutrition looks like. But lately what I've been encouraging my ladies to do is to think about how much they already know about what nutrition is. Do you already know that vegetables are going to be better than sugary snacks? Yes, do you already know the importance of green vegetables, even if you say I don't like green vegetables? Yes. So a lot of this isn't brand new information.

Jessica: 18:39

Leading a healthy lifestyle and adopting good nutrition what I find is the eating more of the anti-inflammatory way, slash, even Mediterranean. Some of those principles are the ones I employ because, again, I don't give my clients a diet, but those are the principles. And, of course, lots of water. You know hydration through water and foods is important and just start making, you know, better choices exactly better choices and realizing, too, how you, how you feel after you've started making better choices than when you introduce something that isn't so great. And women right away are like you know. I did over the weekend, went to a wedding. I had the cake, it was great. I didn't feel that good, you know, the next morning. And then they're starting to see how food is really fuel for their bodies.

Jen: 19:30

Okay. So I have another really important question how do you help someone that comes at you and says, oh well, I don't, I don't do vegetables, because you know, at the end of the day, there are people out there that think they absolutely hate vegetables. But there's gotta be something out there. Do you encourage them to? To try and focus on the ones that they enjoy and move from there?

Jessica: 19:50

That's exactly what I do. But now I'm the vegetables. That's a non-negotiable for me. I keep saying it's what they want, what they want. But you have to have plants, you have to have vegetables, and so it is a matter of starting with what they like. I had a client years ago. All she liked was green beans. So I'm like okay, if you want to eat green beans multiple servings a day, go for it, just go for it. I'm happy to help once they start telling me what some of those vegetables are that they do like. So, even if it's just three, then think outside the box on ways to prepare it.

Jessica: 20:23

I know in some cases we could get hung up on if something is canned versus frozen and then if it's frozen versus fresh produce. At this stage, in the beginning, I'm not so concerned with that. What I'm concerned with is getting something in and then we can kind of work our way to maybe more raw vegetables. But usually there's something that they like and so we start with that and then gradually the palate starts to change. When you start cutting back on sugar and I don't mean necessarily even doing a sugar detox when you start cutting back on sugar and eating more healthy, your body starts to crave more and then they start to see that, okay, I can start branching off into some broccoli or maybe even cauliflower or squash, and so a lot of the recipes and I'm not a cook, jen, I'm not a cook. So I tell people don't look to me to be your chef, I'm just not good at that. But, however, I do like to post recipes with different vegetables, how we make them enjoyable for our family.

Jen: 21:28

I love that and I had to ask you that question because I mean, first of all, my high school years were in the nineties, and a lot of it was. We'd go down to, uh, you know, the cafeteria or even the library, wherever they had machines or snacks or whatever lunch could be um, a cup of top ramen with a bag of Cheetos and a Mountain Dew and to that, to us that was normal. And you know my mom, she loved to cook vegetables and I would nitpick about which ones I wanted to eat. And as I was getting older, I started to try more things and I started to notice that I liked more things. But even you know, in my thirties, I still had that mindset of you asparagus or you know, just other different vegetables.

Jen: 22:17

And you know, here I am 44 years old and I've really expanded my palate, and I've forced myself to do that because, you know, I do have the inflammation problems and I'm married to a husband that doesn't like vegetables and so his perfect meal is meat and potatoes every night. I'm in charge of the healthy stuff and, and you know, you got you gotta do what you gotta do, and so if you're married to a spouse like that, incorporate the healthy stuff for yourself, even if they are absolutely not interested. There's gotta be a way to take care of yourself as well, and expand your palate so great.

Jessica: 22:52

You said that because when you're not being supported at home and you didn't say your husband wasn't supporting you but when you've got these women, they are really trying so hard and I mean the husbands are like sabotaging, bringing crazy desserts home and they just refuse to eat certain things and all of that. My thing is quit forcing it. You know, do what you need to do for you and, much to your point, have your own vegetables, have that. And so I actually cooked like that. Even I mean, over the years, I would cook like that. And my son, who's almost 17, he loves vegetables. He was born into a healthy family.

Jessica: 23:29

I had already done all of these lifestyle changes, but even as a little person, he needed more, you know, more carbs and different things. You know I don't believe in putting little kids on diets or anything, but I said all that to say that there would be times that I would, you know, cook, cook for them, add a vegetable for me, or cook for me, add a carb for them. I mean there were ways to make it work. So even when women say, well, I don't want to have to cook two dinners, I never did that. You just have to find ways to make one meal fit what everybody else wants by adding a side, taking away a side, thinking outside the box. I mean at a point going back to the why, as you mentioned earlier, how bad do you want this to work? Because this is going to be, from now on, this. It can be done, done. It can't be done.

Jen: 24:20

Absolutely. And I, you know, I think my family is a good example of that. My husband loves to do all the cooking but, like I said, he is primarily meat potatoes, bread, corn, that's pretty much it. And one day I was having some sweet potato fries and he reached over and was like, huh, I want to try one. And he put one in his mouth and my jaw just went to the ground and I thought, you know, as long as I keep being the example of things and I keep trying the things, maybe it'll keep happening. You know, one day he tried a lettuce wrap with me. He hated it, he didn't like the lettuce but at least he tried it.

Jen: 24:56

And so you know, like I said, he likes to do all the cooking At least he tried it. And so you know, like I said, he likes to do all the cooking. So I let him make all his meat and bread and potatoes and whatever, and then I make my salad and this crazy meal that no one else in the house wants to eat. It's not sustainable. You're going to have your family complaining at you. Eventually you're going to give up and it's going to be pizza every night or something out of a can. I mean. That's just what happens. That's exactly how it plays out, all right. So, moving on to the next thing, physical activity is often emphasized as a cornerstone of disease prevention, so can you discuss the role of exercise in promoting overall health and reducing the risk of the chronic illnesses?

Jessica: 25:48

Exercise or movement, it's the same thing. But sometimes you know movement, when I say just move your body, it sounds a little more appealing. Say just move your body, it sounds a little more appealing. But really it's regular exercise, some type of regular physical activity. But then we don't have to beat the pavement like we used to think.

Jessica: 26:11

All of that cardio, that doesn't work and not only is it not sustainable but it doesn't work, especially when we enter into those midlife years. So I do encourage strength training but, going back to what we said earlier, it still depends on a person's level and how they feel. You know you've got to. For instance, if you're, if you're lifting weights and you're starting with two pounds and then you work to five and then five gets really really easy with the arms, then yes, it may be time to up things, but not to a point where you're hurting yourself. So that's the thing you want to respect the cues that your body is giving you, but find the balance between that and being consistent with some type movement. And then you know pointing out that there's a lot of activities that we can do that do fall in that category, like gardening. Gardening is one you can burn a lot of calories, doing a whole lot of bending and sweating doing gardening. So if you enjoy gardening, let that be your movement for that day.

Jessica: 27:13

I still enjoy, when my back allows washing my own car. I've washed my own car since I was a teenager and I enjoy that. Yes, I have a teenage son. I have to go behind him, though you missed a spot. You missed a spot. You didn't get my wheels shiny enough and, as I've done it over the past few years, it's like you know what this is a workout. It is a workout but I enjoy it. I'm in a zone, it's just something I enjoy. So helping women to see that that does count starts to take some of that pressure off. But you do need to do something. So even if it's a few minutes of walking every day just to start start there and then we start working our way up.

Jessica: 27:54

Now, part of your question was in preventing or even addressing, you know, chronic illnesses. I go back to heart disease, you know being the leading cause of death even during COVID, even with all the cancers combined, still the leading cause of death. So we need some type of aerobic, of course, just for heart health. But then the strength training, what it does for our bones, helping, you know, as osteoporosis can start setting in, which is very strong in my family. I mean, I've already lost about an inch, you know. So with those things in mind, it's important really to do something, and I think every woman should be committed to that. You know, let's get up off the couch and move, but again balancing that with respecting our bodies when we don't feel well or, you know, just not pushing. And I think once you find that balance, it becomes like a little just easier and your body starts to create the movement. So that helps with making it sustainable.

Jen: 28:57

Absolutely, and I think you're giving really good examples. You know, I'm even thinking of some of our Spoonie sisters that work on farms. You know feeding goats, baling hay, I mean, oh my gosh. You know even people mowing the lawn. I mean all of those things. Those are a workout. You might not be thinking it is, but it's a workout, and so I would encourage people not to go overboard, pressuring themselves to hit a gym if they're already incorporating all of these healthy things to begin with. But it goes back to also what you were talking about with heart health, and it's such an epidemic for women.

Jen: 29:37

And we need to recognize that and make the steps, even if it's starting out at five minutes a day do what we can.

Jessica: 29:44

I'm glad you mentioned that about the gym, because before the pandemic I did go to the gym, but I had only gone to the gym for a few years, but my health journey started years before that. Back then I just walked and lifted weights at home. So the transition with the pandemic wasn't so difficult because I could see the vision of still having a good workout at home. So if it's water bottles, if it's cans of tomatoes, I mean there were ways even in the pandemic to keep things going and I actually I'd rather enjoy that. But women, some women enjoy going to the gym. So if that's your thing, go, but if it's not, don't go. There's always a workaround to make sure that we get it in.

Jen: 30:31

Absolutely, and you know what Dancing around your house counts too.

Jessica: 30:35

Yes, it does, doing some housework to some music and dancing, killing all those birds with one stone.

Jen: 30:42

Absolutely and having fun along the way. Yes, okay, so I almost did. I skip that one. I hope not. Okay, here it is, I was about to skip it. So sleep plays a vital role in health and wellbeing, yet is often overlooked. So what advice do you have for improving the sleep quality and establishing healthy sleep?

Jessica: 31:02

habits. So we have to sleep, as I said earlier. If we don't, we're not going to reach those health goals. And just the lack of focus that's created during the day, when you haven't had a good sleep and then you're cranky, I should say not, I mean me, I'm talking about myself. When I haven't had a good night's sleep, you're not making good decisions when it comes to your eating, and then maybe you're too tired to do any type of movement.

Jessica: 31:27

So it is important to have a good sleep routine. So I mean, it varies, but the things that I always throw out as suggestions is essential oils which are so beneficial for everything else. So, whether you are putting them in a diffuser or using a rollerball on those temples, the neck and the pressure points under the feet, some type of essential oil to relax you. So I do that every night. There is a diffuser by my bed and I have my rollerball by my bed Turning off devices. You know that's a hard one. And then and then I've I've been met with what I like to read at night.

Jessica: 32:07

Ok, fine, read on the device, but turn the lights down on the device. If reading relaxes you, then that's fine. But you know, being on social media and all of that. These are choices that we make and I'm not going to tell you. You shouldn't be scrolling after a late date and dim those lights and make that time for you.

Jessica: 32:43

So I mean, I don't care what's going on, with kids screaming and not getting in the bed, because that used to be one of my things where you know, staying up to make sure that my son, you know, went to bed at the time he was supposed to go to bed for school. I don't care anymore, I'm going at my time. He'll pay for it later if he stays up. But it's really about just making it a priority. Journaling can help T-tapping, you know. I think we're going to talk more about that too but anything that can calm and relax, but it does require a routine. You cannot do it haphazardly and to me it should come over time just as easily or consistently as your morning routine, where, if you get up and you're one to start off with your water and brush your teeth and then go have your coffee and then your breakfast, whatever, we tend to do the same things every day. That it should be that understood, even with a nighttime routine, so that we can just set ourselves up for a good night's sleep.

Jen: 33:43

I couldn't agree with you more. And it took me years and it and it took my my coach pointing out to me that that I needed to work on my sleep, and so I had to get in a better routine. And you know, nighttime was my creative time of staying up late and designing graphics and working on my social media, and that's not always healthy. So I had to make those steps too, and so, you know, I came into this mindset of okay, we have all these massage devices, so sit in the recliner, put my feet in our little massage device whatever you call it for the feet, and then we even have one for the hands.

Jen: 34:26

I wish you could do both hands at the same time, but I have to do one at a time. Always remember to take a ring off if you use one, cause that hurts. And I even have a mask that massages my temples, and so just do all the massage things. That helps my joints, that helps relax me and then turn on a good podcast to go to sleep. There's some sleep story ones. There's a sound bath that I like to listen to. Anything relaxing.

Jessica: 34:55

And it worked, because I'm sure that's a difficult adjustment, especially if that is your creative time.

Jen: 35:03

Yeah, you know, I've always been a night owl. I'm just like my dad. I could easily stay up till 2 am if you let me, but that means I'm always been a night owl. I'm just like my dad. I could easily stay up till 2am if you let me, but that means I'm going to want to sleep until 9am, and so now I'm trying to bump that up to more of a. Let's go to bed at 11. That's a lot. That's a lot better, that's easier for me and it's still giving me that creative time in the evening. Thanks for.

Jessica: 35:25

Thanks for sharing that.

Jen: 35:26

Thanks, all right. So stress management, it's another critical component of our overall health. So what techniques or practices do you recommend for effectively managing stress and its impact? A few things.

Jessica: 35:41

Breath work has always been very important, just to calm yourself. There's something about breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. There's all these different forms of breath work you can do. But even in the moment, just stopping and being aware of how the stress is making you feel and then breathing through it I mean you don't have to have any training just to stop and take some deep breaths, and then you know, things like journaling can help people. Certain, you know certain personality types or however your mind works, because doing a brain dump on paper and putting a strategy, let's say, not only helps with stress but it can help with sleep.

Jessica: 36:25

But now that I'm a certified EFT practitioner, I use that with my coaching and it has helped clients manage stress and anxiety, as I always have done, but a little more quickly now with the EFT tapping. And of course the premise of that is that as you go through the different meridian points, when you're tapping whether you're tapping with, in my case, with a client, or even on myself, or as I encourage them you can't break anything. Go ahead and start tapping. You're giving your body permission to feel whatever this feeling of anxiety is that may be causing stress, the overwhelm the fear, because all of those things underneath can cause stress. Even just a slight fear of something, your body goes into this stress mode.

Jessica: 37:19

And so what we have found and the clinical studies have proven it, and I've seen the shifts, you know, while while you're at, while I'm actually tapping with someone is that once you give your body permission to feel the anxiety or the distance, you know, whatever's got them concerned, it just relieves the pressure around it and puts one in a better frame of mind to address it. And so that is like a huge stress management technique that I use, because stress can for instance chronic stress can raise your blood pressure and you can have, you can develop chronic hypertension from chronic stress. And again, as women, I think we are understressed, our body, we are understressed our bodies are understressed our minds, and we just kind of accept that this is what life is for us. I'm the one taking care of everybody and we've got kids on this side or grandkids, and then we've got older parents on this side. I mean, it's a lot. And so just recognizing the stress is important, recognizing how it can impact your health and then taking the steps to do whatever it is to help de-stress.

Jen: 38:36

Okay. So I've heard a lot about EFT lately. I'm not super familiar with it. I haven't actually tried it before. How?

Jessica: 38:43

did you get into it? I had a client about a year and a half ago who had struggled with binge eating over the years, and so she and I were working together on the lifestyle piece not about dieting, this is about let's look at sleep and all of those things and in conversation on one of our sessions she asked me about it and I had heard of it but I wasn't very familiar. So she ended up sharing a couple of profiles of folks that did, and one was a guy and I said I remember a friend telling me about him about two years ago and so I reached out to him because I was going to ask him some questions about it Not ever to become involved myself with some questions, even how you know if he would even be open to talking to my client. I also wanted to maybe have him on my Instagram, maybe do a live, so he could explain EFT tapping. And by the end of that conversation I was like enrolled in his tapping program for coaches. It was like that was, that was a wrap for me and I laughed later like man, you just walked into that, jessica. But he wasn't trying to sell me anything, he was explaining it and the more he talked, the more intrigued I became.

Jessica: 39:58

So he was actually my coach, he and his business partner, a young lady out in California, and so I just graduated about a month and a half, two months ago, but I of course, was able to use it. But now I have my official certification, but I saw the shifts. It's just the most fascinating thing because it's considered a non-spiritual, cognitive, behavioral shift modality that's what it's considered, and to see the shifts in a session and then even days later, when clients are like, I actually did get to sleep. I got to sleep that night after our session because I met recently with a former client who says I'm just I can't get to sleep. I mean, I've learned all these things, I know all the tools, but I'm struggling with sleep again. And so we did a tapping session on her getting to sleep and she said she slept like a baby.

Jen: 40:57

Okay, I'm going to have to try it now. Amazing, I think I have a challenge for you too. I think you need to share yourself doing it on your socials, and I've done some.

Jessica: 41:08

I'll try to shoot you what I've shown, but yes, I plan to do more of it, especially now that I've got my certification, and I'll try to ask, even like has anybody heard of this?

Jessica: 41:17

And to my surprise, a handful have. One of our mutual sisters, she said that she had heard of it because she used to be in the armed forces and that's really where tapping got its start and where a lot of the clinical studies were done, in that it helped soldiers with PTSD. So it's also effective for helping people get past traumas to be able to move forward. So I always tell people I'm not a therapist, obviously, but it's amazing how a lot of the choices that we make or don't make in relation to our health go back to a trauma where maybe we were told not to trust doctors, or how we were fed by our parents and what their habits were, and so we've got to kind of get past some of that. So we put it under stress management stress management, but it's also under mindset work to try to help, you know, make those shifts, which explains sometimes why we can say what our why is, but then our actions are not supporting our why. Tapping can help us kind of move through that.

Jen: 42:28

I love it. I love it. Okay, I have to try. I have to try.

Jessica: 42:31

We'll have to do it. We'll have to do it and, yes, it's, just ask our sister. She's like Jess, you're doing tapping now. I said yes, I feel like that right now. So she encouraged me along the way. She says this is a good thing to add to your coaching and nice add-ons to it. That's wonderful.

Jen: 42:54

And I know exactly who you're talking about, and I can just hear her cheering you on all along the way. All right, how do you approach the topic of mental and emotional wellbeing in your coaching practice, and what strategies do you suggest for fostering resilience and emotional health.

Jessica: 43:10

I've got to go back to the tapping, because if our emotional wellbeing isn't, if we're not on a healing journey I won't say healed, because there's going to be some things that we may not ever fully recover from but if we're not addressing that part of our health journey, our emotional well-being, even with sustainable changes physically, it's just not going to last, because that mind is going to come back and there are just so many things that I think I didn't realize really affected the decisions that I make today regarding my health, regarding my body, and so giving permission to explore that is probably one of the biggest things. And I say that because everything goes back to about when you were about six or seven years old. That's when these strong feelings and these morals and all of that start forming. If you say, okay, it's time to open this up and go back to see why you're really struggling, then you could be maybe saying, okay, my parent wasn't a good parent or my parent was emotionally abusive, and those are things we're not ready to face.

Jessica: 44:27

But there is a safe way. There's a safe way, of course. Therapy is one, and I am a proponent of therapy if it is needed. And then, of course, eft tapping. Eft stands for emotional freedom technique, and it really is a safe way to explore those things so that we can be more emotionally sound. And when we're more emotionally sound, we can be more physically sound. So that's what. Again, I talk about the mind-body connection very early on, because why jump to what I need to eat when, in reality, you hate yourself, you hate how you look, you hate how you talk, and this is because you were told X, y, z by your kindergarten teacher or by cousin Joe or whatever, and so moving through a lot of those emotional challenges is almost necessary as part of a health journey. Actually, it is necessary.

Jen: 45:25

I couldn't agree with you anymore. It's so true I could think of a health journey. Actually, it is necessary. I couldn't agree with you anymore. It's so true I could think of a thousand examples. What role does social support and community engagement play in promoting health and preventing chronic illnesses, and how do you encourage your clients to build supportive networks?

Jessica: 45:42

It is so important and I didn't realize how important it was until shifting my business pretty much online, which was a result of the pandemic. I used to do a number of things in person and I would get referrals for clients, but I mean, as far as an online community, I just wasn't familiar with that until bringing the business online during the pandemic and I can't even I can't even tell you the game changer it was for me and my own health. When I am watching my sisters which is what I call my spoony sisters, the chronic illness community, the lifestyle disease community I mean it really helps me know. Number one, I'm on the right track. Even as an experienced health coach, I learn from all of you all. And then there's this level of accountability. Even if we haven't said okay, we're going to be accountability partners Because you know that folks are watching you, you're watching them. You want to set a good example and that's how I have wanted to be. I want to set a good example.

Jessica: 46:46

I know people are watching and just the camaraderie, like minded, a level of empathy with people that are going through similar things, I mean it is, it is critical and then, especially if we're getting no support at all Now, like, in your case, a husband who isn't that wild about vegetables. That's not no support. I'm talking women who are getting zero support. They're actually even getting a little abuse that starts to fortify maybe some of the emotional traumas that they already had. Cases especially, having a community, a support system, is so important, which is why you know this, this term of sisters, this sisterhood, is really that because your, your biological family, just may not be giving you the support you need, but finding that in a community is is key. So I have a lifestyle reset community that I launched about two months ago and in there that platform they can support each other and I say they because I'm in there too but really, even though I may be doing the coaching, their shared life experiences are helping each other, and so no one is obligated to necessarily always comment or participate, and we know how that is.

Jessica: 48:11

Some women are very shy or very private to start. But one thing that I do share is that the more that you engage with others, the more that you're open and vulnerable. That's going to come back in a good way. It's going to come back, and then there's a lot of satisfaction that they can get just from knowing they helped somebody else, so that's going to come back in a good way. It's going to come back, and then there's a lot of satisfaction that they can get just from knowing they helped somebody else. So that's something I'm always doing is fostering that spirit of community, and a lot of you ladies are really what taught me what that looks like. So thank you.

Jen: 48:42

Thank you, and you brought up so many good points. There are many, many people that don't feel like they're getting support at home and they could be getting emotional abuse as well, maybe even physical, for all we know, believe there's anything wrong with them and tell them to just get up and move more. I mean, there's so many things that we hear all the time, and so having that community where you feel supported and encouraged, lifted up tips and tricks, it's so important, it's absolutely valuable to their care.

Jessica: 49:24

I'm thankful for the opportunity to have made this shift, even in my business, because doing corporate health coach training, the community was just. It was simply just other coaches and it was very difficult to actually bring clients into that community this way. I mean we've got coaches and clients because in our communities now coaches are very open about their own struggles and it wasn't always that way for me back then. You just want to set the right example and you're not telling your client that even though I'm a health coach, I broke down over the weekend and ate a pint of ice cream. Well, now, if that happens, I don't have a problem saying it, so it's just beneficial. You know, coming online which is primarily how I run my business that's been good for me and that's one of the biggest reasons is the community and support.

Jen: 50:20

That's amazing. I love it. So how do people get involved with you if they want to join your community or look into getting your coaching expertise? Follow me on.

Jessica: 50:31

Instagram, at I am underscore Jessica Mitchell. I'm also on Facebook at I am Jessica Mitchell, and then my website is I am Jessica Mitchell dot com am jessicamitchellcom, and on all three of those platforms I have there highlighted where you can do a free break call with me, of which, of course, as we said, we'll start with some type of a questionnaire to pre-qualify us both. And there's also a place where you can join my new Lifestyle Reset community, and I'm really proud of it, because I was just kind of nervous to even do something like that myself, but got a lot of encouragement. You know, like Jess, you can do this, you can do this. And again, even though there's a lot of material in there to learn, what I am finding that the women there are most interested in is the community, that piece of it, that coming together when we have our group call, because it does just foster community. So, anyway, that's how you can find me and that's how you can work with me.

Jen: 51:38

That's so wonderful. Oh my gosh, I am so glad that you came on here. Thank you for sharing, and also people she's over on TikTok too. I know I don't utilize it very much, it's there.

Jessica: 51:51

I'll throw things over there, but I need to. I need to actually look at the audience over there, because if there's somebody that I can help there on TikTok, I see it's my mindset that I've got to get past it. Tiktok is just for kids, but not at all. Not at all. I'm right there with you. Mature midlife women are on there, and so I want to be able to help them too.

Jen: 52:14

Yeah, many of our amazing sisters are over there, and if they can do it, we can do it. It's just I don't know, I have a roadblock in my mind that it's harder to do, which really it's not. It's pretty much the same as Instagram. It's fine.

Jen: 52:31

I just need to get myself on that together. There you go. Okay, well, I will make sure that we have all your important links in your show notes for all of you to check out, but thank you so much for your time, and it was such a pleasure having you here.

Jessica: 52:45

I enjoyed spending this time with you here. I enjoyed spending this time with you today. I appreciate you even allowing me to speak to your audience. So thanks, Jen.

Jen: 52:54

Oh, thank you. Okay, my Spoonie sisters, be sure to go check out Jessica Mitchell in all the places. Check out her in the show notes as well, and until next time, don't forget your spoon.