Chronically Healing Podcast

Today's episode is with Melissa Groves Azzaro. Melissa helps women with PCOS regain regular periods and optimize their fertility using a root cause, food as medicine approach.

Our conversation was a great one. We talked about PCOS, women's hormonal health, fertility and the importance of taking care of yourself in this "grinding culture." We dove into how our current lifestyles are affecting our hormonal health and what changes are necessary to make to live their best lives.

If you're interested in learning more about our cycles, fertility and hormonal health then this is the episode for you! I loved my conversation with Melissa and I think every woman out there would benefit from listening in!

In today's episode we chat about:

• What is PCOS and Endometriosis?

• Irregular periods, ovulations and understanding your cycles

• The typical lifestyle changes help with hormonal health

• Jessie explaining the beginning of her fertility journey

• How current events are affecting our hormones

• Melissa's own hormonal health story with PMDD and what got her into this industry

• Hormones are complicated but don't let that discourage you

• All about Melissa's book filled with recipes and meal prep called "A Balanced Approach to PCOS"

Links and things…

• Melissa's Website

• Melissa's Instagram

• Order her book, "A Balanced Approach to PCOS: 16 Weeks of Meal Prep & Recipes for Women Managing Polycystic Ovary Syndrome"

• Jessie's Instagram

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

Today's episode with Sarah Berneche was a good one! If you're someone who has ever dealt with dieting, bullying around weight or emotional eating, then this episode is for you.

Sarah took us through her experience with dieting and how that brought her to get into nutrition and her nutrition and intuitive eating counseling services. She believes in pursuing pleasure and intuitive eating in all parts of life. I loved chatting with her about her philosophy and experience (as well as what keeps her feeling her best!) We even chatted about diet culture with children and how to best set them up for success from a young age.

Sarah's book, Enjoy It All, will be on sale on September 22 so pre-order (or "regular order" if you're listening after 9/22/20) on Amazon here.

Listen in on this episode and tag @chronically.healing on Instagram so I can shoot you some love! I love hearing from the listeners of the podcast and I know you're going to love this one!

In today's episode we chat about:

• Sarah's story with disordered eating, bullying and dealing with diet culture and how that encouraged her to get into nutrition

• What is intuitive eating, where does it come from and how do you get started

• Dealing with diet burnout and learning how to know what your natural body size can be (and how that can change!)

• "You don't have to lust over your body to love it"

• Body love and neutrality vs. body positivity

• Diet culture with our kids and how to encourage them to listen to themselves

• Pursuing pleasure in life and eating

• Sarah's book, "Enjoy it All" and what brought her to write it

Links and things…

• Sarah's website

• Sarah's Instagram

• Order "Enjoy it All"

• Jessie's Instagram

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

Today on the show I have Dr. Lois Nahirney who tells us about her story with undiagnosed health issues. Lois randomly found DNA testing when looking into it for her adopted sons, but it ended up helping her figure out her own health issues! Lois believed in the testing so much that she is became CEO of the company!

dnaPower is a DNA testing company that helps you find out more about what is right for YOUR body and where you may need some help in the form of lifestyle changes, supplements, etc. I feel like most doctors will throw those of us with chronic conditions on to these big diets (think AIP, SIBO diet, etc.) and it may not help you. Well, DNA testing can show you where your body is low, if you need more help with detoxification and so much more.

dnaPower's easy-to-use testing and process makes it so simple to jump in and figure out your own body. I don't know about you, but the more I know about my body, the more I can heal from what life throws at me.

To try out dnaPower's program, head on over to https://www.dnapower.com/ref/chronicallyhealing/ and use coupon code 'jessie' for $50 off totalPower!

In today's episode we chat about:

• Lois' story about dealing with so many health issues, including extremely low iron levels resulting in blood transfusions

• She found Lifestyle DNA testing and decided to use it to find out more about her adopted twins... but ending up finding the answers to her undiagnosed health issues!

• What is lifestyle DNA testing and how do you use it?

• Your DNA blueprint is impacted by all your lifestyle factors, so if you know where your DNA is weak, you can focus on making that stronger.

• How would Lifestyle DNA testing help those with chronic health issues?

• How to work with dnaPower to get your test results

Links and things…

• dnaPower website (use coupon code 'jessie' for $50 off totalPower)

• dnaPower's Instagram

• dnaPower's Facebook

• Jessie's Instagram

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

Today's episode is a TREAT 😍 I had a conversation with Carmen Sturdy, full-time food blogger and cookbook author of Every Last Bite and it was OH SO GOOD. Carmen told us about her tumultuous story with Ulcerative Colitis and how digging in to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) actually allowed her to come off all of her medication for UC.

Carmen saw SCD as a fun challenge - how can she make fun, yummy food in a SCD-legal way? She decided to take on that challenge and create a blog for others following SCD or other strict diets for chronic illness (and just diets in general.) I can tell you from experience (I have her cookbook!) that these recipes are SO GOOD and I'm not just saying that.

I loved my conversation with Carmen and was so inspired by her story of using her chronic illness to create the life of her dreams. We had such an amazing conversation and I know you'll love it!

In today's episode we chat about:

• Carmen's story with Ulcerative Colitis and how the Specific Carbohydrate diet helped her come off her medication

• What even IS the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and why did it work for her Ulcerative Colitis?

• Why Carmen started her blog, Every Last Bite (and eventually wrote her cookbook!)

• How you can make amazing, yummy food on a strict diet for an autoimmune disease

• How some of the most difficult areas of her life actually helped her become her own boss and live her dream life

• How going from "lack" to "abundance" with food can change your journey

Links and things…

• Find free recipes on Carmen's blog, Every Last Bite

• Buy the Every Last Bite Cookbook!

• Carmen's Instagram

• Jessie's Instagram

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

Time to talk about the thyroid! As you all know, the chronic illness I deal with is Hashimoto's, which is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid. So as you can imagine, I was super excited to talk to Angela Brown today - a hypothyroid expert! Angela has dealt with hypothyroidism for half of her life and decided she wanted to help other women dealing with the same things as her.

Unfortunately thyroid conditions are one of the most "popular" (I hate saying that, haha!) chronic illness. While there's a lot of research out there, it can be a very confusing space to be in, especially if you're new. Whether you're newly diagnosed or not, this episode will help answer so many of your questions. Make sure to listen in!

In today's episode we chat about:

• Angela's story with hypothyroidism and what brought her to become an expert in the area

• Gaslighting in the chronic illness space with a thyroid conditions and the complexities of the thyroid

• The importance of thyroid medication, but there's more that you need to support!

• What to do when you're just diagnosed with a thyroid condition

• Why she does hair testing to see what else is going on and why metals/mold can be a HUGE part of your thyroid condition

• The connection between adrenals, sex hormones and your thyroid and why they mess with one another

• Chronic Stress - BIG red flag for thyroid conditions!

Links and things…

• Angela's Website

• Angela's Instagram

• Angela's Programs

• Angela's Facebook

• Jessie's Instagram

• Jessie's TikTok

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

Today's episode is with mother / daughter Anna & Dana Penenberg! In high school, Dana unfortunately grew very ill with invisible illnesses including an extreme case of Lyme Disease and Fibromyalgia. This episode is their story navigating Dana's health healing journey together using all kinds of modalities (Western, Chinese and Alternative medicine, etc.)

Anna ended up writing a book called "Dancing in the Narrows: A Mother Daughter Odyssey Through Chronic Illness." This book is the experience through her own eyes of their experience with chronic illness that attacked Dana's health.

Now both Anna and Dana work as healers for others. Anna works with individuals and families affected by trauma. A healer by nature and training, her approach integrates neurobiology, psychotherapy, and wisdom traditions into personal pathways of re-patterning. Dana is a certified master practitioner of Holy Fire Reiki and Integrative Craniosacral Unwinding. She also offers doula services to support this experience with energy work and trauma processing.

Listen in to this amazing story and grab Anna's book here!

In today's episode we chat about:

• Talia's takes us through living with Primary Juvenile Fibromyalgia, what that is and how she's dealt with it throughout her life

• Talia's story as a biracial and bicultural Latina woman living with chronic illness

• When implicit bias becomes explicit bias

• Jessie's learnings with her own privilege and what she's started learning during the Black Lives Matter movement

• Color blindness vs. color acceptance

• How race effects those within the chronic illness community

• The privilege of finding a doctor that works for you

• Becoming your own advocate and how to invest in yourselves while living with invisible illness

Links and things…

• Anna's Website

• Dana's Website

• Anna's Instagram

• Dana's Instagram

• Buy "Dancing in the Narrows"

• Jessie's Instagram

• Jessie's TikTok

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

• www.betterhelp.com/healing

Today's episode is a personal episode with just me - Jessie Fritz!

We talk about:

• My health updates with Hashimoto's and Mold Toxicity
• Our big life update - the move to Raleigh!
• My newest obsession with human design and astrology
• What future solo podcasts and episodes on healing outside of chronic illness modalities will look like
• My mental health and weight gain struggles I've been dealing with over the last few months

Links mentioned:

• Instagram: @chronically.healing
• YouTube Channel (Fritz Fam TV)
• Astrology Reading Instagram: @greenkehl

Today's episode is a gooooooood one. I was so happy to have Talie Miele on my podcast to talk about her life with fibromyalgia, but our conversation took a turn to focus on current events around racism. Talia is a biracial and bicultural Latina woman, so we talked about how that affected her as a woman AND as a person living with a chronic illness.

This podcast was eye-opening to me in SO many ways and I'm forever grateful for Talia for being so open to discuss the implicit and explicit bias and racism in this world. We talk about racism, ableism and her life experience with both. We also talked about becoming an advocate for yourself with chronic illness and what is available to you. I know you're going to love this episode and you'll learn so so much!

In today's episode we chat about:

• Talia's takes us through living with Primary Juvenile Fibromyalgia, what that is and how she's dealt with it throughout her life

• Talia's story as a biracial and bicultural Latina woman living with chronic illness

• When implicit bias becomes explicit bias

• Jessie's learnings with her own privilege and what she's started learning during the Black Lives Matter movement

• Color blindness vs. color acceptance

• How race effects those within the chronic illness community

• The privilege of finding a doctor that works for you

• Becoming your own advocate and how to invest in yourselves while living with invisible illness

Links and things…

• Talia's Instagram

• Talia's Facebook

• Talia's Website

• Jessie's Instagram

• Jessie's TikTok

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

• www.betterhelp.com/healing

Women out there in Chronically Healing Podcast land… this is an episode you NEED to listen to. Today's guest is Amber Romaniuk, an Emotional Eating, Digestive and Hormone Expert. I resonated so much with this episode - weight gain with Hashimoto's and my body image are a daily (okay, hourly) struggle for me.

During Amber's episode, we talked about her personal experience with disordered, emotional eating and the unrealistic expectations on women's body. Amber tells us SO MUCH about learning how to trust and take care of our bodies and truly believing that our body loves us - unconditionally.

In today's episode we chat about:

• Amber's story with disordered eating and negative body image

• The unrealistic social conditioning women have about our own bodies

• We lack trust within ourselves because we're fighting with our bodies and we're disconnected

• The lie of reaching a goal weight and both of our experiences with that

• Body image + chronic illness + hormone issues (elimination diets, etc.)

• How she coaches women to find body confidence and achieve Body Freedom™ so they can create their best lives

Links and things…

• Amber's Website

• The No Sugarcoating Podcast

• Amber's Instagram

• Women Choosing Body Freedom Facebook Group

• Jessie's Instagram

• Jessie's TikTok

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group

• www.betterhelp.com/healing

On the podcast today, I'm so excited for you to hear from creative and artist, Lisa Sniderman aka Aoede. Lisa takes us through her story with having chronic illness for over 12 years and how she has learned to use her creativity to transition into surviving to thriving.

While chronic illness is debilitating and positivity may seem impossible at some points in our journeys, learning to find things to hold on to and move forward in your life are so important. We talk about grief, creativity and seeing wellness / health holistically.

We chat in depth about her virtual summit for those with chronic illness: How to Thrive with Chronic Illness and Limited Energy. This FREE summit will be happening July 10-24 online. Sign up here!

In today's episode we chat about:

• The difference between functional and conventional medicine and why Karyn chose her career

• Karyn's book, Heal, and what inspired her to write a roadmap for healing for those with chronic illness

• Your genes are not your destiny!

• Feeling stuck is a story - let's find the reason we feel the way we feel

• How to empower yourself along your healing journey instead of getting stuck in victimhood

Links and things…

• Sign up for the virtual summit!

• Aoede Music Facebook

• How to Thrive With Chronic Illness and Limited Energy Facebook Group

• Lights in the Darkness: Artists, Authors, Musicians Creating to Heal Facebook Group

• "A Light in the Darkness" (purchase her book!)

• A video sharing her story and struggle with rare illness, disability and recovery

• Jessie's Instagram

• Chronically Healing Facebook Group