Millennial Body Image Project

Kayla Nedza is our guest this week and we’re digging deep into burnout vs. stress management strategies – the differences between the two, and what you can do about them, which is SO important especially if you’re an entrepreneur, have a family, have a part-time job, are really stressed out…honestly, it’s really important for everyone. Kayla is a certified International Health Coach and Holistic Nutritionist who is dedicated to helping high performing women create lasting calm with food, movement, and lifestyle shifts. We’re also talking about the “influencer” epidemic and why it’s so important to be choosy about who you’re getting your health information and advice from. 

This week we’re talking about:

Our thoughts on “influencers” – who really is an “influencer?”

Burnout vs. stress

Kayla’s experience with burnout and how she dug her way out of the hole.

The major signs and symptoms of burnout and ways you can deal with it (while still running your business, or working your part or full-time job and continuing to build your business, etc.) 

Best ways to deal with burnout (even if you’re still trying to build a business)

What is the problem with just doing the food and exercise piece? This is where people always start because it’s the lowest hanging fruit

The inside-outside approach to stress management with Kayla.

Being choosy about who you share your time with and cultivating conscious relationships.

Hang out with Kayla! 

Kayla Nedza is a certified International Health Coach and Holistic Nutritionist who is dedicated to helping high performing women create lasting calm with food, movement, and lifestyle through her company, Women Creating Calm. Drawing heavily from both her clients’ and personal experiences as well as her studies, Kayla presents a practical and realistic approach to stress management and performance optimization. She hosts the Wellness Glow Up Podcast, a weekly show devoted to helping women of color become their healthiest selves by providing the tools and knowledge to be their own health advocates. When she’s not researching, coaching, and interviewing health professionals, you’ll find her weight lifting, twerking around her kitchen, or watching Grey’s Anatomy. 

Facebook: facebook.com/pg/Kaylanedzawellness

Instagram: @KaylaNedza and @Wellnessglowupodcast

You’ll love these episodes too!

90 | Gut health on the road + managing stress while traveling

86 | Self-compassion and resilience, breathing and cortisol with Stacy Dockins

36 | Dr. Will Cole on Self Care for Entrepreneurs, Ketotarian, and how stress leads to disease

43| The Self-Care Epidemic & Your Stress Bucket

You guys have been hearing about Just Thrive for the past month while we’ve been focusing on gut health, so I wanted to talk to Tina Anderson, one of their co-founders and CEO’s so you guys could get an inside look at both the founders and at the unique way the brand is structured (based on education!) 

A few updates before we get started: this week on the blog I shared a super fun Harry Potter and Halloween-themed baking recipe for Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins! AND I’ve finally opened up a few slots for the fall and holidays for one-on-one, personalized nutrition services. So whether you’re interested in getting to the bottom of some gut health and digestion issues, or you’re looking for some support on healing your relationship with food and your body through the holidays, send me an email (realfoodwithdana@gmail) or use the contact form on my website!

On today’s episode, Tina shares more about her journey from working as a lawyer, to working for a pharmaceutical company, to starting a natural health supplement brand! We’re discussing how she discovered, from the inside, some of the shady things about the pharmeceutical industry, why most probiotics on the market don’t work, leaky gut, and the top probiotic myths!

We discuss: 

What it was like to work behind the scenes in the pharmeceutical industry & what made Tina want to leave

Why she became so passionate about gut health in particular

What led Tina to believe that most of the probiotics on the market don’t work – and why brands can get away putting products out that don’t work

All about leaky gut

The top probiotic myths

The best way to start taking a new probiotic, and what you can expect to happen when taking one.

More about Tina: www.justthrivehealth.com

15% off Just Thrive products with the code “Dana”

Mentioned Above:

Pumpkin Crumb Cake Muffins

Nutrition Services – Real Food with Dana

Contact form

Getting glutened, burnout, managing stress while traveling, and gut health on the road, oh my! Those are the topics of today’s solo episode. I’m going to be giving you guys some insight on what’s been going on behind the scenes over here, as well as some practical tips to deal with stress, burnout, getting glutened, and helping your gut out in the midst of lots of travel and stress.

Huge thanks to Just Thrive for sponsoring today’s podcast. Just Thrive is the first spore-based probiotic and antioxidant supplement available on the retail market that actually arrives alive in your intestines so those good bugs can do their job, and you can use the code “Dana10” for a 10% discount off your order at www.justthrivehealth.com.

Today we’re talking practical tips for optimizing these in times of stress and burnout:

Sleep

Stress assessment and management

Exercise

Food 

Supplements

…all with a HUGE dose of tough love.

Resources mentioned on today’s episode:

Bare Bones Broth (travel broth packets + liquid bone broth)  – 15% off with code “realfoodwithdana”

Just Thrive Probiotics – 10% off with code “Dana10”

Nuun electrolyte tablets

Clearly Filtered water filter – 20% off with code “REALFOODWITHDANA”

…bonus for adding a mineral sea salt like Redmond (my favorite)

Activated Charcoal for post-glutening

Episodes and Articles mentioned:

How to Fit Alcohol into a Balanced Lifestyle

29 | Crossfit, Eating Disorders, and Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue 

10 | Is Adrenal Fatigue Real?

7 Ways to Prevent Adrenal Fatigue & Burnout

This week’s guest, in continuing with the theme of gut health this month, is Kelsey Kinney – a registered dietitian who you may know from the days of the Ancestral RD’s podcast (her maiden name is also Kelsey Marksteiner, if that rings a bell for you like it did for me), and we’re talking all about probiotics, antibioitcs, and a non-diet-first approach to gut health!

Thanks to Just Thrive for sponsoring today’s episode! Get your gut health in check and grab some high-quality, spore-based probiotics + prebiotics or Vitamin K2-7 and be sure to use the code “Dana10” at www.justthrivehealth.com to get some free money and save 10% off your order!

Topics Kelsey and I talked about today:

* Kelsey’s background as an RD and what led her to specialize in gut healing

* A brief refresher on leaky gut, intestinal permeability, and gut dysbiosis

* Kelsey’s thoughts on antibiotics and probiotic/prebiotic using during and after antibiotics for healing

* There are people out there who think “everyone should be taking probiotics!” higher potency MUST be better! Anyone who has any kind of digestive issues should all take the same, multi-strand, high potency probiotic! Kelsey shares her thoughts and does a little myth-busting here!

* Where do probiotic and prebiotic foods play into antibiotic recovery?

* Where do probiotic and prebiotic foods play into SIBO, specifically?

* Why Kelsey doesn’t use a diet-first approach to gut healing for conditions like IBS, IBD, and SIBO.

* Can you “starve” off bacteria with diet?

* The negative impact of using a diet-first approach on your relationship with food.

* How you can start to improve your gut health and your relationship with food without a restrictive diet.

* Under-eating, restrictive diets, and healing.

Hang out with Kelsey!

* Website: www.kelseykinney.com

* Instagram: @itskelseykinney 

* Gut Power Drinks – 20% off with code “hello” at checkout

Articles mentioned:

How to Heal Your Gut After Antibiotics

Why I Don’t Take a Diet-First Approach to Healing Gut Issues

You’ll love these episodes on gut health too!

87 | Prebiotics & Probiotics 101: Your Questions, Answered!

82 | Healing SIBO and Acid Reflux Naturally with Dr. Norm Robillard

11 | Leaky Gut & Intestinal Permeability: what are they? How do you know if you have them, and how can you heal?

40 | Making Peace with your Body, Food, and Healing from Autoimmune Disease with Whitney Shook

On this episode with returning guest Lily Nichols, RDN, we’re talking about a hot topic: of how my body is none of your business, and how your assessment of my body is not helpful. Especially during pregnancy. In the meat of the episode we’re also talking about real food for gestational diabetes vs. the conventional, government’s dietary guidelines, and how you can take a non-restrictive, nutrient-forward approach even with specific health concerns during pregnancy. We’re also talking about how to get out of the mindset of “gotta get my body back after the baby!”

Again, NO, to reiterate, I AM NOT PREGNANT nor do i have any plans to be so any time soon. So mom, before you freak out, chill. As I mentioned on episode 68 with Lily, this realm of nutrition for pregnancy (and the complications that go along with it) are way far out of my wheelhouse, so to help you guys out,, I wanted to go straight to the source and have Lily on again to answer your questions!

Big thanks to Just Thrive for sponsoring today’s episode! Get your gut health in check and grab some high-quality, spore-based probiotics + prebiotics or Vitamin K2-7 and be sure to use the code “Dana10” at www.justthrivehealth.com to get some free money and save 10% off your order!

One last thing before we start the episode – *just so you know* we are talking about some specific gram amounts of carbohydrates in this episode in the context of the government’s dietary recommendations for pregnancy, and how this fits in with gestational diabetes. We are not giving prescriptions, but suggesting a different way to interpret those guidelines (because, as we explain in the episode, they don’t make sense) in the context of healing gestational diabetes with food. 

In this episode we’re chatting about:

How things have been going in Lily’s pregnancy since we last talked!

My pregnant body is none of your business (Lily’s article!). 

Even if you have a positive body image going into pregnancy and enjoying your pregnant body, people comment on the changes of you getting bigger one too many times and you start to get really self-conscious and doubt yourself. How can you deal with that?

Why commenting on someone’s body in pregnancy is almost never appropriate, except for two phrases: “You look great!” and “You’re glowing!”

Gestational diabetes: What is it, and why does it happen? Why do people get it who didn’t have type one or type two diabetes before?

Conventional recommendations for gestational diabetes vs. real food, evidence-based, nutrient-forward recommendations for gestational diabetes.

How can you follow these without becoming too obsessive – as Lily and I talked about in the last podcast, it’s really easy to become obsessive and compulsive about your nutrition in pregnancy as you’re trying to make the ‘perfect’ baby and have the ‘perfect’ pregnancy.

The body naturally goes into a form of ketosis in the last stage of pregnancy as a way to divert nutrients to the baby instead of mom – but that does not mean you should be trying to put your body into ketosis with your food choices.

How to get out of the mindset of “gotta get my body back after the baby!”

Things to focus on postpartum (other than shrinking your body!) to help you heal

Be sure to check out episode 68: Body Image & Real Food for Pregnancy with Lily Nichols, RDN

Lily’s Book: Real Food for Pregnancy

Real Food for Gestational Diabetes

Lily’s Website:  https://lilynicholsrdn.com/

The Honest Body Project

Today’s podcast topic: taking all your questions about probiotics 101, and prebiotics! What are they, what do they do, who might need them, how do you know what kinds, how much, and how often you might want to take them, refrigerated vs. shelf-stable, ALL THE THINGS. 

A couple things to note before we get started.

Thanks to Just Thrive Health for sponsoring today’s podcast! Just Thrive Health is the first spore-based probiotic and antioxidant supplement available on the retail market that arrives 100% alive to your intestines.” Use the code “Dana10” for a 10% discount off your order at www.justthrivehealth.com

I AM NOT the #1 EXPERT IN PROBIOTICS. Or even #10, probably not even #100. So much new research constantly, that honestly, it’s hard to be unless you make it your job to be an expert in probiotics and not much else. That being said, just like my olive oil and kombucha posts, i did a lot of research on this so you guys wouldn’t have to. Honestly, I’ll probably have to constantly update the show notes for this (which I’m also turning into a blog post) as new research comes up. And if you guys find any cool cutting-edge research on probiotics or prebiotics for certain health conditions, please send it my way!

ALSO. Before we get started: A general PSA on supplements. Not regulated by the FDA. In the U.S., the FDA can regulate probiotics either as a food ingredient, as a supplement, or even as a drug. Most are sold as dietary supplements, which means they don’t require FDA approval before they are marketed. look for a 3rd party independent lab tested for quality, potency, purity – so you can make sure you’re getting what’s advertised on the bottle. I use sites like labdoor.com, emerson ecologics, and fullscript that do their own testing. Do your research (and double check mine!) 

Last thing – before we even get into probiotics today, we need to understand why they’re important in the first place. Our bodies are made up of about ten trillion cells. Your microbiome includes bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live inside and outside our bodies…and our microbiome cells outnumber human cells by a factor of 10. So we’re more bacteria than we are human. Kind of gross, but definitely really enlightening when it comes to what we should be focusing on when we develop health issues. The microbiome is not only responsible for whether we get sick or not, how our digestion is working, but can also affect our mental abilities and tendencies (ex. Towards anxiety or depression), our cognitive function, food cravings, how we break down and tolerate certain foods, etc. It’s a lot. And this is exactly why we need to be talking about probiotics – because we’re more bacterial than human, and sometimes, we need more of certain kinds of bacteria to help balance things out.

What are probiotics?

As defined by the World Health Organization, probiotics are “Live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host”. (Source) 

 

* In order to be effective in providing some of the health benefits listed above, probiotics should:

 

Survive passage through the stomach and small intestine to reach the large intestine

Produce short chain fatty acids from dietary fiber

Maintain colonic pH at about 6 (aka when they get to and pass through your colon, or large intestine)

Prevent adherence of pathogens to the small intestine and colonic mucosa

Adhere to human colonocytes and enterocytes and help repopulate or recolonize them

WHO MAY NEED PROBIOTICS?

There are thousands of studies documenting the benefits of probiotics, including skin health,

Stacy Dockins is the Director of the YP School of Yoga, a 500-hour Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, a Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES), and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) who has a passion for the mind-body connection part of health. We’re talking about yoga and breathing and how our posture can impact our cortisol production, we’re nerding out about the nervous system, and we’re talking on the more woo-woo side of things of how bringing more awareness to the mind-body connection can help manage stress through digital well-being and gratitude, through self-awareness and self-inquiry, and self-compassion. So while we’re focusing on gut health a lot this month, this is something to keep in mind as well – a lot of the time, it’s our thoughts around the food and the practice of eating that can impact our gut health and our digestion in diverse ways, not only the actual food we are eating itself!

On today’s episode we’re chatting about:

How Stacy used the tools of self-compassion and resilience to help overcome growing up with anxiety, stress, and an eating disorder

How you are not your thoughts 

Self-awareness, self-inquiry, and self-compassion

The mind-body connection and using yoga and breathing as tools for cultivating self-compassion and stress-resilience

How to align yoga postures to best suit your bioindividuality

How our breathing and posture is related to the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system and cortisol production vs the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system.

How to self-observe as a learning experience at every step in your journey

Sitting with your emotions instead of fleeing from them

Managing our well-being in the digital age

How gratitude plays into stress management

“Shallow breathing is highly correlated with the body’s fight or flight response and the increased production of the stress hormone, cortisol,” Dockins explains. “When the body is burdened with excess cortisol, it can cause a cascade of negative effects on other systems of the body, like blood sugar dysregulation, hormone imbalance, and musculoskeletal pain. Longer, slower, deeper breaths are strongly correlated with parasympathetic response, decreasing stress.” (Stacy’s Article on Exercise Posture for Breathing )

About Stacy:

Website: www.stacydockins.com

Instagram: @txyogastacy

Her book: Embodied Posture: Your Unique Body in Yoga

Stacy Dockins has dedicated over 25 years of her life to studying the human body and teaching yoga. Her immense understanding of the science and practice of yoga is supported by her Bachelors of Science and certifications in 500 Hour E-RYT, Corrective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES), and Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP). Stacy is also a candidate for her Masters of Science in Kinesiology with dual concentrations: Orthopedic Rehab and Exercise Psychology.

In addition to owning her own Yoga Studio, Yoga Project, Stacy recently released her first book, Embodied Posture. In her book, Stacy guides and empowers readers how to align yoga postures to best suit one’s bio-individuality. This innovative perspective combines body awareness, science, and exploration, lending practical tools and information that can be immediately applied on and off the mat.

Through EdX.org, Stacy co-taught the online course, “The Science and Practice of Yoga,” which had over 19,000 participants from around the globe thus far. 

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Sarah Keal is a nutrition coach and digestive specialist for vegans with celiac disease and also works with women struggling with their relationships with food and their bodies. That’s a mouthful, right? She’s on a mission to help women recovering from autoimmune disease that directly impacts their connection to food, despite many restrictions. She helps them to expand and enjoy their diets while supporting their digestion, to trust and feel connected to their body and food, and to finally feel free to focus on what really matters because you don’t have to choose between your health and your heart. Her goal is to show women how to regain respect, love and trust of their bodies and the food they eat after years of damage.

On today’s episode we’re chatting about:

Sarah’s personal health journey with mysterious symptoms that led to a celiac diagnosis and an unhealthy relationship with food

How to feel comfortable and free with a restrictive, therapeutic diet (when it is necessary or a moral choice)

How to work on digestive health as a vegan/vegetarian and celiac, because a lot of the recommendations for digestive aids with real food involve meat, fish, broths, and collagen

Finding the middle ground between serious digestive issues and necessary food restrictions to feel good, and learning how to not be so restrictive in our relationship with food, and help us heal our relationship with their bodies

A big reason a lot of us struggle with our relationship with food and our bodies is because we’ve learned not to trust them over the years. Sarah talks about some of the biggest reasons she sees that we don’t trust ourselves.

How we can start to regain respect, love and trust of our bodies, when we feel like our bodies are betraying us with an autoimmune disease

Resources Mentioned:

* Freebie: the Top 3 Myths about healing a Celiac gut that every Vegan should know! 

* Boneless Broth Recipe

* Byron Katie: the Work

* Book: In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollen

* Book: You are a Badass at Making Money, by Jenn Sincero

Hang out with Sarah!

* Instagram: @sarah_keal

* Website: www.sarahkeal.com

Cristina Hoyt Alvarez is back for another episode and we’re getting deep and sweaty into talking about Intuitive Eating, mindful eating, neutral nutrition, and why intuitive eating isn’t working for you.

First off, we’d like to say that this sh*t is hard and we get it. Moreover, it’s extremely hard to do tackle the non-dieting world and transition away from diet culture alone, without working with a professional. How are you supposed to learn how to eat intuitively if you’ve been hearing diet talk your entire life? How are you supposed to know if intuitive eating is working or if you’re making progress…if the way you’re used to measuring progress is through the lens of diet culture?

On today’s episode we’re talking about:

Why people quit Intuitive Eating to go back to dieting, macro and calorie counting (it feels safe!)

What does “working” mean to you in terms of intuitive eating? How are you measuring progress? And progress according to who?

Why you may not be seeing progress with intuitive eating, if you equate progress with things like weight loss, aesthetics, etc.

Why you feel “out of control” when you start intuitive eating

The biggest struggles people see when transitioning to intuitive eating

Bringing a dieting mentality into intuitive eating

Some take-home, action steps that you can use as barometers of whether or not intuitive eating is working for you

How to eat with curiosity, not hostility, and get out of the all-or-nothing mentality with eating intuitively

Hang out with Cristina!

Instagram: @cristinahoytnutrition

Blog & Clients: Nourishmbml.com 

Resources Mentioned:

* Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole

* How to Spot Fake Intuitive Eating

* Emily Capelli, MS (Psychotherapist)

* Break the Diet Cycle Group with Dana & Cristina (email me at [email protected]!)

* Sign up for more info about Break the Diet Cycle here!

You’ll love these episodes too!

69 | Breaking the Diet Cycle and Learning to Eat Intuitively with Cassy Joy Garcia

70 | What really happens when you stop dieting with Susan Hyatt

64 | Weight stigma, BMI, and digging into emotional eating with Cara Cifelli

83 | Dieting for Social Acceptance and Health at Every Size with Kirsten Ackerman, RD

 

Time for another installment in the Listener Stories series! The goal of this series is to show others who listen to the podcast that they are not alone in their own struggles, no matter where they are in their journeys, and that hopefully we can all relate, connect, and help each other feel less isolated. There are no judgements here: we know that everyone is in a different step in the healing process, and by sharing these stories, no matter where these people are in their own healing journeys, we are hoping to encourage people to see that *this is okay to not be all the way “there”* (whatever “there” is), before we think it’s okay to share our stories.

Olivia has struggled with adrenal fatigue, gut issues, an eating disorder, body image issues, relationships, and has come through a lot of that. She is still working through some of it, as most of us are, and as she will explain on the podcast, but says she’s learned so many lessons going through these struggles that she wanted to share. We’re also talking about using food and exercise for control, about going through treatment for an eating disorder, we’re talking about dating and worthiness while dealing with food and body image issues, hitting rock bottom three times, and opening up about these struggles with others.

Resources Mentioned:

* Website: Oliviaborer.com 

* Instagram: @nourish_and_thrive

* Podcast: Nourish with Olivia

You’ll love these episodes too!

52 | Orthorexia, Perfectionism, and the Fear of not being loved with Haley Hannah Erickson

49| The Shame Spiral and why you don’t have to love your body with Noelle Tarr

60 | Amenorrhea, re-balancing hormones and your relationship with your body with Jessica Christin