Get Personal with Dr. Kris

We all know that as we get a little older, it can be a little harder to stay in shape and prioritize ourselves and our health. When we get into our late 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond, we have so many other priorities — kids, careers, whatever — and it can feel like we have no energy or time left for ourselves. My guest today has gone through this common problem herself and spent a lot of time thinking about how to help other women like her solve it. Michele Riechman is an online personal trainer and podcast host, and her whole focus is on practical health solutions for women over 40. Her training app features 30 minute exercises that even the busiest Moms can find time for. And, my favorite part, it introduces accountability. Michele herself checks on the progress of all her clients every week, and she can talk with people and adjust their plan as necessary.

Today’s episode is kind of a two-parter. After the conversation you are about to hear, Michele and I swapped places and she interviewed me about hormones, adrenal and thyroid health and all kinds of other stuff. To hear that, search for Michele’s podcast, called “Healthy Beyond 40.” While you are at it, I highly recommend you check out some of her other episodes as well. Just like on this podcast, she talks to both regular women and experts about all kinds of women’s health topics—gut health, hormones, weight loss, exercise, and more. When it comes to exercising on a tight schedule and developing a mindset for health and healing, Michele really is an expert herself, and I am excited for you all to hear from her.

For more information on Michele's app and other work, visit her website.

And don't forget to catch the second half of this conversation on Michele's podcast. Just search "Healthy Beyond 40" in your favorite podcast app. 

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When we go to the doctor, we are used to getting pills. Whether it's pharmaceutical drugs or more natural supplements it’s always easiest to think that our health problems can be cured by a quick dose of some kind of medication. Even when we visit a naturopathic doctor, we can fall into that kind of thinking. But on today’s episode we are talking about an exact opposite approach to health and healing. We are talking about addressing the absolute root cause of our health problems, in a way that is truly sustainable and will help every single system in your body work as a symphony. 

Our guest today is an expert at doing this very thing, and oftentimes her way to address these root causes is eating clean and tailoring your diet to your unique health situation. Risa Groux is a functional certified nutritionist and autoimmune coach in Southern California. Today, she is telling us all about how she tackles a huge array of health issues — like thyroid and hormone problems, and even chronic pain — by looking at labs and advising people on their diet. One of her many favorite sayings is “we have everything we need on this planet” and she said she’s been amazed by the healing that can happen just by detoxifying your diet and eating healthy foods that fit with your own health challenges. I know that changing your diet is definitely not as easy as taking a pill, so we talk about tips for how you can make big changes that really last. Risa and I discuss meal prepping, the all important role of inflammation, environmental toxins and how they can impact health — and of course we share our favorite tips for eating well and feeling like your self again!

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We’ve talked about gut health now in our past two episodes. And we have learned a lot—like how central it is to your overall health and how it affects your immune system, mood, and of course, digestion. We broke down the key components of gut health—motility, microbiome, and inflammation. And we talked about the most important things you can do to improve it—with supplements, mental health care, and diet changes. We also talked at length about the connection between gut health, hormones, and menopause. As we get older and experience shifts in our hormones, we can see big changes in our gut health that makes all the things you do to maintain it even more important. Our guest last episode, Dr. Slater, left us with an amazing tagline: “Move your body, move your bowels.” Physical movement is a huge part of keeping your digestive system active and healthy and that is the main topic of our episode today.

As you might know by now, I am veteran of the fitness world, having taught all kinds of workout classes for over 30 years. Today, I’m talking to you about a very fun and very different kind of exercise that is usually reserved for kids—bouncing on the trampoline! My guest Steve Carver is also a fitness world veteran, and when he found himself in a situation where he was burnt out, stressed out, and suffering from severe stomach pain and bloating, he found an unexpected solution to his health problems in rebounding—which is the fancy term for bouncing on the trampoline. As you’ll hear, rebounding not only gets your heart rate up quickly, it compresses your body and gets all kinds of fluids moving, which is great for lots of things, including your lymphatic system—which impacts your immune system—and of course, for gut health! It’s also very hard to do without a smile on your face, which produces happy hormones that have all kinds of benefits for health. But also, it’s just a good time, and as Steve says, “the best exercise is the kind that you will do!”

I was so into the idea of rebounding that I am getting my own personal trampoline from Steve’s company, JumpSport, and you can too! If you use the code DrKris10, you’ll get a 10% discount. So enjoy the episode and stay tuned to my Instagram where I will be sharing some of my own rebounding fun in the coming weeks!

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Our last episode was a basic primer on all things gut health from a naturopathic perspective. We talked about motility, inflammation, and elimination. Today, we are going to go deeper into all those things but with a special focus on hormones. We don't normally think of hormones as being a major factor in gut health, but they absolutely are. Your digestive system is full of estrogen receptors and so when estrogen goes out of balance it can throw your whole gut out of wack.

On this episode, I am talking about hormones, menopause, and gut health with my friend and colleague Dr. Cara Slater. We have offices right next to each other and we both see patients all the time who have gut problems—like constipation and bloating—and the root cause issue is not necessarily their diet or food sensitivity. A lot of times, when we balance out their hormones, we see their digestive symptoms settle down.

So if you have any tummy troubles—especially if you are on birth control or in even the very early stages of perimenopause or menopause—we have a bunch of tips and ideas for how to bring your hormones and gut under control. And that can have huge benefits for your overall health, for your skin, energy, and mood. And it can get you feeling like yourself again!

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Gut health has been one of the biggest health trends on social media and beyond in the past few years. And luckily, naturopathic doctors like myself have had a big head start in this area. Gut health has been a major focus for us for many, many years — and for good reason. The reality is that so much of what makes you feel good and healthy happens in your gut. Your immune system lives there, your hormones live there, and of course all of your nutrients pass through there and give you energy.

On this episode, I am joined again by my son Anthony to do a basic overview of gut health from a naturopathic perspective. We’ll talk about how to know if your gut is healthy, the obvious and much less obvious signs of gut issues, and how to make your microbiome stronger. There are all kinds of diets and supplements for gut health. Of course, they are not all created equal and depending on your particular gut challenges, they can even do more harm than good. But the great news is that myself and my fellow naturopaths have had tons of success helping people heal their guts and improve digestive issues, and we are happy to share our expertise. Tummy problems and the wide-ranging health problems they cause can be debilitating, and as always, our goal is to get you feeling like yourself again!

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On this episode of Get Personal with Dr. Kris, we are getting very personal. It’s all about sexual health and intimacy, which is a very important part of holistic health, just like mental health. I talk to the co-founders of Iris Proper, an intimacy shop designed to help women reclaim their pleasure and sexual health. Myria Kniffen and Leigh Piper are moms and wives who proudly call Arizona their home. They first met when their kids were in preschool together, and as their kids grew up they both began to think about what comes next for them as wives, as mother, as women. This reexamination led to pleasure and to how we could have more of it in our lives. They created Iris Proper as the type of intimate wellness shop where they would feel safe, supported, and inspired to shop. They provide intimate wellness products and education resources form sexual health experts to help women nourish themselves and deepen their connection with their partners. Check out their website and use the code “drkris” for a 15% discount.

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Last episode we kicked off mental health awareness month by talking to a licensed counselor about what stress is, how it affects us, and how we can shift are thinking around it. This episode is all about one of my absolute favorite treatments to relieve it — acupuncture. We know that stress can disrupt nearly every system of the body and throw things out of balance. Acupuncture does the exact opposite. It gets all the different parts and systems of the body back in sync and back working optimally. Acupuncture can be a touchy subject for a lot of people: It is Eastern medicine—not from our Western medical system, it works very differently than medicine we are used to, and it involves needles! But our guest today, Angela Ayers, will clear up all that confusion.

Angela is a Licensed Acupuncturist in the state of Arizona and she is my favorite person to send my patients to when I think acupuncture is right for them. She can address and unravel nearly any chronic or acute health issue, but she especially focuses on sleep, digestion, physical pain, anxiety, and women's health issues. Angela and I talk about exactly how acupuncture works, by stimulating the nervous system and opening up channels for energy to flow through the body. We dive into how she approaches acupuncture treatment based on each patient's unique situation, including a particular success story about a patient dealing with menstrual cycle issues that led to a life-changing alleviation of her anxiety. And we also discuss how to know when acupuncture might be the right treatment for you. For more information check out her website eightemberswellness.com, or her IG account instagram.com/eightembers.

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May is mental health awareness month, and that will be the theme for our next two episodes of Get Personal. I've talked a lot on previous episodes about my background in counseling and the mind-body connection, so this has always been one of my favorite topics. Too often, the mind gets left out of the equation, but you absolutely cannot have a holistic view of health without it. In my practice, I spend a lot of time talking to my patients about their mental health—managing stress and anxiety, and the pressures of their lives at home and at work.

So I am very excited today to have someone whose life work is all about mental health, managing stress, and guiding people — especially women — through life’s challenges and transitions. Keira Kielmeyer is a licensed counselor who knows first hand the profound impact that stress has on health and wellbeing. On this episode, we dive into the way that chronic health affects the body, including in surprising ways like impairing memory. We also talk at length about practical coping mechanisms that Keira uses in her practice, and that you can use in your life! It’s all about being keying into the difference between “natural” and “healthy” stress, and unnatural chronic stress. We’ll explain how you can do that yourself, and move from survival mode into empowered mode.

You can find Keira on Instagram at @keiragrace, or learn more from her website at keiragraceco.com.

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You’ve probably heard of — or maybe even tried — a health challenge like 75 Hard or Whole30. Today we are talking about these challenges, and also health challenges in general. Are they right for you? How much of in impact can they really have in the short term and the long term? 75 Hard and Whole 30 are a big deal on social media, and have been really popular with my patients in the past couple years. But the truth is, I’ve seen these kinds of challenges and competitions come and go for decades in my career as a doctor and health educator — they are nothing new. They can be a great way to motivate us, give us structure and confidence, build better habits, and help us understand what foods and exercise routines work best for our bodies. Today I’m joined by Anthony to share everything I’ve learned about health challenges over the years and how you can use them most effectively to see sustainable, healthy change in your body and life.

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I have been very busy preparing for my Relax, Rejuvenate, and Reconnect Retreat, which is happening from April 19-21 in Page Springs, Arizona. And it has me thinking about all of my favorite tools for the mind and body. I’ve always been a huge believer in the role of the mind in health, dating back all the way to when I earned my master’s degree in psychology. So for this podcast episode, I am joined by my son Anthony to talk about some of my favorite things that have shaped me as a person and health care provider. I share my favorite books, about the mind body connection and creating a healthy mindset; my top 4 all-time favorite supplements, which are essential for me and my family; and my favorite ways to relax and destress, which is absolutely critical for healing and wellbeing. All of these things are going to play a huge role in our relaxing retreat in beautiful northern Arizona, near Sedona in Page Springs. We will have a private chef making us organic meals, yoga and sound bath sessions, and lots of fun conversations around the fire. For more information about the retreat, visit the event page here. 

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