The Wellness Witch Podcast

How do you embrace, nurture, and enjoy your motherhood journey? Author, speaker, and podcaster Jen Oliver shares how it should all begin with self-love and that if you love the body and life you have, you will have the body and life you love. Find out more about what it takes to transform the core of motherhood in this podcast.

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode44.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Jen’s deep inner core dysfunction and what her healing journey looked like
• Why it’s so important for your inner core to function properly
• What to do to get back the six-pack abs you used to have after pregnancy
• Why you should see a physiotherapist
• How you can cultivate patience
• Postpartum sleep, postpartum exercise, and postpartum sex
• How to come from a place of self-love
• The 10-day Vipassana silent meditation retreat and why you should consider going

Key Takeaways:

• Your inner core is an important part of your posture, your structure, how you walk, and how all the rest of your muscles in your entire body move and connect.
• When you become pregnant and you’re growing a human in your abdomen, the amount of intra-abdominal pressure that happens is so big that it changes the synergistic nature of your deep inner core.
• When you’re in pain, your body is not working the way it needs to work.
• It’s not until you start becoming conscious of your “head talk” and not focusing outside of yourself all the time that you start to understand your motivation for things.
• Coming from a place of love is really about identifying your motivations, not by judging yourself but by having compassion as your guide and following that delicate approach with yourself.
• Self-love is a practice and a process to look from within to start with love. It is a process that has begun and is ongoing, and it’s a new way of thinking and feeling.

Action Steps:

• Listen to your body.
• Go to a pelvic floor physiotherapist and someone who can check you for a Diastasis Recti.
• Cultivate patience and allow yourself to be patient with your body during those times when physiological changes are happening.
• Take care of yourself.
• Give yourself permission to sleep and get the sleep that you need.
• Understand your motivation for things.
• Listen to your heart and don’t let your “head talk” get in the way.
• Ask yourself if you’re ready to ask for the help you need and receive the help that’s ready to help you.

Jen said:

“You are replaceable at work; you’re not replaceable at home. And to actually disconnect from your desire to be home, to think it’s some career-oriented thing, or the opposite… that really manifests as stress and anxiety and more physiological and hormonal changes.”

“The heart is always in love. It’s always in gratitude. And maybe when it’s not in love, it’s because it’s in trauma. And we don’t want to face sometimes the trauma… but it’s really where the magic is, and it’s really where the breakthroughs are.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

If you haven’t yet left us a rating and a review, please do! They mean so much to us! Take a screenshot of your review and email it over to us, and get our FREE 3-Day Hormone Balancing Meal Plan.

Links to things we talk about in the show:

• The Love FitMama Way: Transforming the Core of Motherhood by Jennifer Oliver
• Pearl Pull-Ups
• 21-Day Love Your Body Program

Recommended Product:

• Black Cumin Seed Oil

Where you can find Jen Oliver:

Jen’s Facebook

Jen’s Instagram (@lovejenoliver)

Jen’s Website

Jen’s Podcast (FitMama)

Jen’s YouTube (LoveFitMama)

FitMama Global’s Facebook

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Link:

• Activation Products - Save 15% off ALL orders with coupon code HW15.

Are you worried about going through menopause? How can we go through this transition period in life with more ease, more grace, and more flow? Find out the lifestyle strategies that we can take with a certified health coach and functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner Maria Claps.

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode43

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Why our hormones decline after age 35
• What we can do about the weight gain that comes on during menopause as well as all the menopausal symptoms that show up
• How we can thrive in menopause
• How exercise, adrenal health, liver detox and a nutrient-dense diet play really important roles in menopause
• Bioidentical hormone intervention
• How inflammation plays a role in menopause

Key Takeaways:

• Perimenopause is the time that precedes menopause, and it’s different for every woman. There is no technical, medical description or even diagnosis for it, but it’s the time when women experience shifting periods.
• If your period starts coming regularly close together, like 21 days or less, that’s a cause for concern. You definitely need to visit your gynecologist just to rule out endometrial buildup at that point.
• Once your progesterone level drops, it’s never coming back.
• Menopause in and of itself is a state of chronic, low-level inflammation, and women can correct that with hormone therapy.
• For women who are drinking more than two glasses of wine a night, it increases their estrogen by 250%.
• Women in menopause need to get comfortable with lifting weights and with things like Pilates.

Action Steps:

• Take your 40s seriously and make sure that you’re eating nutrient-dense food.
• Learn to get in touch with your own body and have some type of stress-relieving practice.
• You can’t live without cortisol, but make sure that it’s not too high or too low.
• Respect your body’s rhythms.
• Get some sun in the morning.
• Get adequate sleep.
• Eat nutrient-dense food.
• Don’t eat the same foods over and over again.
• Have an educated discussion with your physician about using birth control pills.
• Take the DUTCH Test.
• Support your immune system.
• Exercise and reduce your toxic load.
• Support your bile production.
• Find non-food ways to socialize and give yourself a boost.
• If you absolutely can’t get rid of your perfume, at least don’t spray it on your neck, spray it on your clothes instead.

Maria said:

“Hormones don’t work if you’re eating bad food and you’re drinking way too much alcohol and you’re not sleeping, don’t bother doing hormones. It’s a whole package.”

“Hormones don’t exist in a vacuum. They go into receptors… And if those receptors need nutrients and if you don’t have those nutrients and you have just a buildup of toxins in the body, then your hormones are not going to be able to appropriately connect with the receptors.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

Catch the final days of registration for the 12-week Metabolic Reset Weight Loss Program! This is a high-fat, whole foods approach to really balancing your body. If you have thyroid or autoimmune issues or if you have 20, 30, 40-plus pounds to lose, or if you have PMS, diabetes, or PCOS, this is hands down the program that’s really going to help you address all those issues and start feeling vibrant and energized and truly living your best life! If you have any questions about it, don’t hesitate to email me or reach out to me over on Instagram, @holisticwellnessfoodie.

If you haven’t yet left us a rating and a review, please do! They mean so much to us! Take a screenshot of your review and email it over to us, and get our FREE 3-Day Hormone Balancing Meal Plan.

Links to things we talk about in the show:

• DUTCH Test

Recommend Products:

• Oceans Alive
• Perfect Press Oils
• EASE Magnesium
• Rabbit Air

Where you can find Maria Claps:

Maria’s Website

Maria’s Facebook

Maria’s Twitter (@coachclaps)

Maria’s Instagram (@mariaclapshormonehealth)

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Link:

• Activation Products - Save 15% off ALL orders with coupon code HW15.

Did you find yourself indulging a little bit too much over the holidays? How can you get back on track with your diet and your health and nutrition and balancing hormones now that the new year has come? A sugar detox just might be what you need!

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode42

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Why sugar is bad for you
• Why you need a sugar detox
• Simple strategies for sugar detoxing that will help you combat sugar addiction
• What sugar detoxing could look like
• Why flour and artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar
• How to support your cravings and balance your blood sugar

Key Takeaways:

• Sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine.
• Sugar in all its forms, not fat, is the culprit behind many diseases as well as obesity.
• When it comes to fat, it’s so essential that we eat the right kinds of fat and avoid trans-fats.
• The average American consumes about 152 lbs of sugar a year, which is roughly 22 teaspoons every day.
• Kids consume 34 teaspoons of sugar every day. That’s more than two 20 oz sodas, making nearly one in four teenagers prediabetic or diabetic.
• A sugar detox will really help you break this addictive cycle of over-consuming carbs and sugar and just really managing these cravings that can really rob you of your health.
• It can literally take just a matter of 10 days for you to start feeling better, losing weight, having more energy, sleeping better, and managing those cravings really, really well.
• The first few days are going to be a little bit painful. You are going to have more cravings.
• If you are really addicted to sugar and drinking a lot of artificial sweeteners in the form of diet drinks, those types of artificial sweeteners are even sweeter than sugar and eliminating those can be more challenging. And so it really does take time to rewire and reset your brain and your body.
• Excess insulin means fat storage. If we have elevated insulin levels as well as elevated cortisol levels, then we are going to put more weight on our body.
• Artificial sweeteners will increase your cravings, slow down your metabolism, and lead to fat storage.
• Artificial flavorings trick your brain into wanting more food and to not feeling fully satiated so that you keep eating more and more.
• Any form of liquid sugar calories can be worse than solid food because of how quickly it gets digested into the body. It’s basically like you’re mainlining sugar directly into your liver.
• A can of soda a day increases a child’s risk of obesity by 60% and a woman’s chance of getting type II diabetes by 80%.
• Studies show that inflammation triggers blood sugar imbalances as well as insulin resistance and type II diabetes. The major culprits are gluten and dairy.

Action Steps:

• Make it a priority to get healthy. Focus on eating whole foods and eliminating sugar as much as you possibly can if you want to have longevity and vitality.
• When you think about sugar, think beyond the sweets. A lot of people are overdoing it with grains and with bread, so be conscious of not just eliminating the sugar but also being conscious of how much flour products you are taking.
• Key Strategies:

1. Make a decision to really actually detox and really decide that this is what you want for yourself, that you are going to commit to this, and that you are really going to put a strategy in place for yourself and figure out what that strategy looks like.
2. Commit to going cold turkey. Stop eating all forms of sugar, all flour products, and all artificial sweeteners. Also get rid of trans-fats or hydrogenated fats or foods with MSG or artificial flavorings that cause your taste buds to want and crave more sugar.
3. Don’t drink your calories.
4. Support your cravings and balance your blood sugar at the same time.

• Power up with some protein. Eat protein at every meal, especially for breakfast.
• Eat the right kind of carbohydrates. You can have unlimited amounts of carbohydrates in the form of vegetables.
• Skip your grains, and maybe even the beans and legumes, for 10 days.
• Make sure you are getting healthy fats.

1. Be ready for emergencies. If you are going to embark on a sugar detox, then you want to make sure that you have food on-hand.
2. Be conscious about stress. Studies show that taking deep breaths activate a special nerve called the vagus nerve that shifts your metabolism from fat storage to fat burning, and it can actually help you move out of the stressed state.

• Take 5 slow, deep belly breaths: Inhale, extending your belly button, for 5 counts. Hold for 5 counts. Exhale, pushing your belly button into the spine, for 5 counts. Repeat 5 times.
• Do this every meal, which will help support your digestion. Or do this first thing in the morning when you open your eyes and you’re lying in bed, or do this right before going to sleep.

1. Manage inflammation.
2. Get in the proper amount of sleep.

• Don’t think about what you’re removing from your die but pay more attention to what you’re adding in to support your health.
• If you feel like you can’t go cold turkey on sugar, then try replacing your sugar with things like stevia and focus on adding in some real whole foods like protein and fat and making sure you’re getting enough of them at each meal.
• Pay attention to your carb cravings: How are they showing up? How do you feel by eating more fats and more proteins?

Samantha said:

“[Sugar detoxing] is not about deprivation. You can still enjoy delicious, healthy, amazing food... Having the right strategy in place can really help you to combat these cravings and overcome the sugar addiction.”

“True psychological addiction is something that has to stop completely, and many people do have a true psychological addiction to sugar. It really is just as addictive as cocaine.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

I always welcome your inputs and suggestions for future episodes so come share your ideas with me over on Instagram, @holisticwellnessfoodie.

Don’t hesitate to learn more about the 12-week Metabolic Reset Weight Loss Program. If you’ve got sugar cravings, 100% this is the program for you! Click on the link and get a $100 discount as well as my BONUS DIY Beauty Care Videos!

If you haven’t yet left us a rating or a review, it would mean so much if you do. Happy New Year!

Recommend Products:

• Milk Thistle Oil and other oils from Perfect Press Oils

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Links:

• Activation Products - Save 15% off ALL orders with coupon code HW15.

Do you find yourself over-consuming food a little and indulging in a little bit too much sugar or caffeine or alcohol during the holidays? Implement these simple strategies to help support your digestive system and feel amazing over the holiday season!

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode41.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• 11 simple strategies that you can implement to optimize your digestion
• The different organs and body parts that play important roles in digestion
• Why chewing your food is important
• The different types of fiber and why you should get plenty of it
• How exercise helps digestion
• Why digestive enzymes are good for you
• How smoking affects the digestive system
• How excess weight impacts digestion
• Why probiotics are good for you

Key Takeaways:

• If you can’t chew your food properly and sit down and have a meal that is not rushed, you end up putting a lot of stress on the organs that are involved in digestion. And now all of these organs have to work extra hard in order to break down this food. This also leads to more bloating and more gas.
• Your brain needs time to receive the signal that you’re full, so don’t rush through your meals but slow down and take the time to chew your food.
• Fiber helps to keep food moving through your intestines easily. Soluble fiber draws in water and helps to prevent the stool from being too watery, while insoluble fiber helps to add bulk to your stool.
• Digestive enzymes help to break down the carbs, the fats, and the proteins in your meals.
• Smoking weakens the valve at the end of the esophagus, which leads to more acid reflux and more heartburn.
• Alcohol interferes with acid secretion, your stomach muscles, and nutrient absorption
• Having a few extra pounds can cause digestive issues because the valve between the stomach and the esophagus sometimes won’t close completely, which allows stomach acid to go back into the esophagus.

Action Steps:

• 11 Steps to Better Digestion

1. Focus on chewing your food.
2. Get in plenty of fiber.
3. Once you increase your fiber intake, make sure that you also drink a lot of water. The bare minimum is 2 liters per day.
4. Exercise.
5. Reduce stress.
6. Take digestive enzymes
7. Include warm foods in your meals
8. Quit smoking
9. Drink less alcohol
10. Get rid of excess weight
11. Take probiotics

• Improve your digestion in the morning with my anti-aging elixir:

250 mL warm water + 1 T apple cider vinegar + freshly squeezed lemon (½ of a lemon) + 1 scoop collagen powder.

• Drink bone broth.

Samantha said:

“[Chewing your food] is really underestimated but it’s so critical for proper digestion. The more you can break down your food in your mouth, the less work has to be done later on with all your other organs.”

“Spend some time writing out what’s possible for your future, because we are all so deserving of so much more joy and love and laughter and ease and grace and flow in our lives.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

If you have 20-plus pounds to lose and you are sick and tired of yo-yo dieting and you’re looking for a way to support your hormones while losing weight, then my 12-week Metabolic Reset Weight Loss Program is definitely the program for you! Click on the link and get a $100 discount as well as my BONUS DIY Beauty Care Videos! If you have any questions about it, don’t hesitate to email me or reach out to me over on Instagram, @holisticwellnessfoodie.

We will also be hosting a free webinar on December 19 where you can take a peek at the behind-the-scenes of the Metabolic Reset Weight Loss Program and learn the five secrets to slimming down and balancing your hormones without having to diet or spend countless hours on the gym. Sign up now and get my Sugar Detox Program for FREE!

And if you haven’t yet left us a rating or a review, it would mean so much if you do. See you all in 2019! Have the best, happiest holiday ever!

Recommend Products:

• Oceans Alive
• EASE Magnesium
• Perfect Press Oils
• *Digestive Enzymes from Designs for Health
• *Digestive Enzymes from Genestra

*Get these products at Holistic Wellness Shop.

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Links:

• PureFeast - Save 10% off of your first THREE orders over $75 + free shipping with coupon code HOLISTICWELLNESS.
• Activation Products - Save 15% off ALL orders with coupon code HW15.

We are diving into another Q&A episode today with questions about intermittent fasting, sugar cravings, and PMS symptoms. On top of that, I also talk about seed cycling and its benefits. So if any of these topics is of some interest to you, then you’ve tuned in to the right podcast!

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode40.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Can you still do intermittent fasting when you’re struggling with stress or adrenal fatigue?
• What are some strategies to avoid eating too much sugar during the holidays?
• What are some possible causes of intense PMS symptoms -- cramping, bloating, breast tenderness, and insane cravings?
• How can you effectively do seed cycling, and why is it beneficial?

Key Takeaways:

• Fasting in and of itself is a stressor on the body, but when you have the correct dose of it and the appropriate amount of it, it could be very beneficial.
• Decreasing the stress and cortisol response in your body doesn’t necessarily depend upon diet alone. Oftentimes, this means that you have to address the underlying cortisol issue with lifestyle intervention.
• The things that happened to you in the past two to three months can really be an indicator of how things are showing up in your cycle right now.
• From day 1 to day 14 of your cycle, this is what’s called your follicular phase. During this phase, you become more estrogen dominant, so you want to support the estrogen in your body by including certain seeds that have phytoestrogenic qualities into your diet.
• From day 14 to day 28 (give or take), this is your luteal phase, so you want to support the progesterone levels in your body.

Action Steps:

• Engage in things like meditation, yoga, community events and social gatherings to help address stress and deal with adrenal fatigue. Getting acupuncture treatment would also be helpful as well as getting the right amount of sleep.
• On the days when you know you’re going to have a big feast for dinner and there will be some extra desserts and treats, what you do during the day can help you avoid consuming too much sugar.
• Eat a really healthy breakfast that’s high in fat and high in protein. That’s going to keep you satiated, balance your sugar levels, and help you combat your sugar cravings.
• Make sure that you’re staying very hydrated and drinking a lot of water throughout the day. That’s going to be very important for detoxification and supporting gut health and digestion.
• If you’re looking to limit your sugar intake, have digestive bitters before a meal or some L-glutamine mixed in water. Or take things like the Perfect Keto exogenous ketones, which help to combat sugar cravings.
• If you’re struggling with PMS symptoms, consider doing some hormone testing to find out the underlying causes.
• Take magnesium supplements to help with sleep issues and PMS symptoms.
• Eat as many anti-inflammatory foods as much as you possibly can.
• Do seed cycling to help balance your hormones. And if you haven’t been having your period because of some health issues, do seed cycling based on the moon, with the new moon being day 1 of your cycle and the full moon being day 14.

Samantha said:

“Oftentimes, we don’t take that time to commend ourselves over these small achievements. We feel like everything needs to happen so fast… We don’t look at the small baby steps that we’re taking and really acknowledge ourselves.”

“I want you to head into the new year feeling confident and not going into the new year with this diet mentality… I want you to learn about your body and become educated about your body and your hormones, and become very educated about food and how it impacts your health.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

My 12-week Metabolic Reset Weight Loss Program is set to begin in January 2019. So if you’re interested to join that and have questions about it, don’t hesitate to email me, or join our newsletter where you can get all the details about it.

If you’ve got any questions, I would love to hear from you over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. And if you haven’t yet left us a rating or a review, it would mean so much if you do!

Links to things I talk about in the show:

• Seed Cycling for Hormonal Balance

Podcast episodes mentioned that you shouldn’t miss:

• Ep39 - Going Beyond The Food + Uncovering Our Desires to Eat & Diet

Recommend Products:

• Perfect Keto exogenous ketones
• Perfect Keto MCT Oil Powder
• Perfect Keto collagen powder
• Magnesium bisglycinate
• *NeuroMag (Magnesium L-threonate) by Designs for Health
• Zinc supplements
• Fish Oils and omega-3
• *OmegAvail Ultra by Designs for Health
• *OmegAvail Smoothie Mango Peach

*Get these products at Holistic Wellness Shop.

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Links:

• PureFeast - Save 10% off of your first THREE orders over $75 + free shipping with coupon code - HOLISTICWELLNESS.
• Perfect Keto - If you’re in the U.S, save 15% off your purchase with the coupon code HOLISTICWELLNESS.

How do you make peace with your food and with your body? Clinical nutritionist and founder of Going Beyond the Food Academy, Stephanie Dodier speaks about the connection between emotional eating and our desires behind wanting to lose weight, and how we can end the diet cycle and have a more positive body image.

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode39.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Stephanie’s health journey
• What it means to ‘go beyond the food’
• The ‘food obsessed’ paradigm
• Why some women struggle with self-respect and self-care
• The diet culture
• Body positivity and body neutrality
• The 4-step process to overcoming emotional eating, food craving, and binging
• The ‘all-or-nothing’ trap and how to avoid it

Key Takeaways:

• Part of the job that food does is address the emotional component of eating. The question is, how are you using it? Are you using food to numb, to avoid, or to feel better? Do you use it to emphasize good emotions or do you just eat when you’re hungry?
• The healing mechanism of going beyond the food is around mindfulness and really being present with your emotions and not fearing your emotions.
• To engage in self-respect and self-care, we must first have a relationship of love and appreciation towards ourselves.
• About 2% of what society pushes forward as what your body should look like is only 2% of the world.
• Self-discovery is a threatening aspect to our current society’s model because when you know who you are, you no longer to try to fit the mold. You no longer seek external recognition because you have it within you.
• Body positivity is about accepting all body types in all forms and color, and about bringing that body forward to change the standard of society.
• Body neutrality is self-acceptance and self-compassion about your body. It’s understanding who you are and having a relationship with who you are from a place of accepting your body for what it is.

Action Steps:

• Take this quiz and find out your food freedom score. This is one way that you can detect if you have a behavior around food that is maybe too emotional or numbing.
• Don’t avoid pain. Let yourself go through it, and you’ll find out that it’s actually not that bad. We often make it up to be much worse than it actually is.
• Ask yourself: How much of your current struggle with food is due to body image? And start working your way towards body positivity and body neutrality.
• The 4-step process to overcoming emotional eating, food craving, and binging:

1. Think of your food urges and set them up into two categories: Am I physically hungry or am I emotionally hungry?
2. If you’re physically hungry, go eat. But if you’re having the urge to eat because of emotional reasons, then step away from food.
3. Engage in a breathing exercise or the so-called ‘crave cure formula’: Close your eyes and start breathing through your nose until you’re more relaxed and into yourself.
4. Once you’re in that calm space, start scanning your body inside your head and try to understand which emotion is inside of you and where it’s coming from.

Stephanie said:

“Going beyond the food is about understanding your relationship to food and how food serves you beyond nutrition. That doesn’t mean that nutrition does not have a place. Food is healing… but it also serves an emotional component.”

“There’s a movement called ‘body positivity’ that is starting to push the expectation of society against what our body should look like. But for all of us… we have to do the work internally in ourselves to get there and not wait for society’s standard to change.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

I have opened my calendar to offer some complementary calls for the month of December, as well as my other coach, Valerie. So if you’re thinking about working with us one-on-one and you really want to get further support, whether that’s with your weight or your hormones, or you’re interested in maybe diving into our 12-week Metabolic Reset Program which we are beginning in the new year, book a call with us! Get the booking details in my newsletter or shoot me an email.

If you’ve got any questions I would love to hear from you over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me, and don’t forget to leave us a rating or a review!

Links to things we talk about in the show:

• Almond Butter Trail Mix Bars Recipe
• Lemon Shortbread Cookies Recipe
• Food Freedom Quiz
• Food Freedom Challenge
• Claim Your Food Freedom Program

Where you can find Stephanie Dodier:

Stephanie’s Website

Stephanie’s Facebook

Stephanie’s Instagram (@stephdodier)

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Are you wondering what gifts to buy your healthy foodie friends this Christmas? If you’re still stumped on what to get them, listen in as I share my healthy holiday gift ideas. Enjoy!

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode38

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• Healthy holiday gift ideas
• Books recommendations
• Beauty care gifts
• TrueDark Glasses and how they work
• Supplements as gifts
• Products that protect from electromagnetic radiation
• The Oura Ring and how it works

Key Takeaways:

• If you’re using beauty care products that have fragrance or perfume in its ingredient list, then that’s not natural. That is synthetic, chemical fragrance, and you don’t want that at all.
• Using TrueDark Glasses is great because the blue light that comes off the computer screen impacts your hormones. It impacts both your melatonin and serotonin production.
• Teas, coffees and chocolate bars make for really great stocking stuffers.
• Grounding is one of the best ways to cleanse and detox our bodies from electromagnetic radiation.

Action Steps:

• Check out the beauty and skin care products at Whole Foods Market.
• Go for products that are fragrance-free.
• Do your online shopping of supplements and other health products at PureFeast and the Holistic Wellness Shop!
• Get products that help protect from electromagnetic radiation.
• Consider giving your loved one a wellness holiday or a retreat or some type of weekend getaway.

Samantha said:

“Ultimately, I want to give healthy gifts because I want my friends and my family to thrive. I want them to feel well. I also want them to experience great products, great food, and I just want to open them up to this whole new world that they may not be aware of.”

“Spend the time to curate some really unique and healthy gifts for the people in your life.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

We have a few days left of our Black Friday sale, so go ahead and check out our Holistic Wellness Shop! Get awesome deals with the CleanBeautyU and the Healthy Hormones for Women Online Program until November 30!

Catch me on Facebook Live tomorrow at 3 pm at the Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook where I dive into The Five Secrets to Losing Weight and Balancing Your Hormones!

If you’ve got other gift ideas that I didn’t touch on, come share them with me over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. I would love to hear your healthy gift ideas for your friends and family!

And if you haven’t yet left us a rating or a review over on iTunes or Stitcher or Spotify, it would mean so much if you do! Your ratings and reviews help our podcast reach more women and support and help more people. Take a screenshot of your review and email it to us and get a delicious three-day hormone balancing meal plan.

My Holiday Gift Ideas:

BOOKS

• The Keto Diet: The Complete Guide to a High-Fat Diet, with More Than 125 Delectable Recipes and 5 Meal Plans to Shed Weight, Heal Your Body, and Regain Confidence by Leanne Vogel
• Books by Juli Bauer
• The Autoimmune Solution Cookbook: Over 150 Delicious Recipes to Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases by Amy Myers
• The Epstein-Barr Virus Solution: The Hidden Undiagnosed Epidemic of a Virus Destroying Millions of Lives through Chronic Fatigue, Autoimmune Disorders, and Cancer by Dr. Kasia Kines
• Books by Wallace D. Wattles
• The Prosperity Bible: The Greatest Writings of All Time on the Secrets to Wealth and Prosperity
• The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Green

BEAUTY CARE

• Moov Cosmetics
• Dr. Hauschka Skin Care
• Pai Skin Care
• Skin Essence
• Living Libations
• Consonant Skincare
• Ultra Moisturizing Organic Face Cream for Dry Skin
• HydrExtreme

HEALTH SUPPLEMENTS THAT YOU CAN GET AT PureFeast

• Vital Proteins
• Perfect Keto
• Hu Kitchen Chocolate Bars
• Anima Mundi tinctures
• Natural Calm
• Magnesium Citrate Powder
• Heavenly Sleep Liquid Melatonin
• Teas and coffees

DESIGNS FOR HEALTH PRODUCTS AND OTHER PRODUCTS THAT YOU CAN GET AT THE Holistic Wellness Shop!

• Designs for Health
• Protein powders
• Magnesium bisglycinate
• NeuroMag
• Mitochondrial NRG
• Digestive Enzymes
• Salty Kisses Toothpaste
• Hippie Floss Oil

OTHERS

• TrueDark Glasses

• Aires Tech (EMF Protection) - Use the code HOLISTICWELLNESS to save 10% off your purchase.
• Oura Ring

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Link:

• PureFeast - Save 10% off of your first THREE orders over $75 + free shipping with coupon code HOLISTICWELLNESS

How can we treat PCOS naturally? If you are one of the many women who is struggling with PCOS, take a dive into this topic with Dr. Felice Gersh as she shares lots of amazing strategies and tips for healing PCOS and talks about its root causes, the role of inflammation, nutritional intervention, and so much more!

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode37.

Click here to Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify:

iTunes – Click Here

Stitcher – Click Here

Spotify – Click Here

Be sure to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes and leave us a rating and a review!

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• The different types of PCOS
• Some of the symptoms of PCOS
• The effect of PCOS on fertility
• The negative effects of metformin
• How to heal from PCOS
• The Fasting Mimicking Diet
• Lab testing to get the proper diagnosis for PCOS
• Lifestyle intervention for PCOS

Key Takeaways:

• PCOS covers a spectrum of conditions and at its root cause, there is always some degree of inflammation.
• Studies show that the gut microbiome in women with PCOS is dysbiotic and that leaky gut is prevalent.
• When you have a leaky gut, you produce increased amounts of endotoxins that permeate the impaired gut barrier and get into the lymphatic system that lines the gut and creates an explosive inflammation.
• The immune cells of women with PCOS are more sensitive. It takes less to cause them to release their inflammatory products than other women.
• 80% of women with PCOS are overweight or obese and 20% are normal weight or lean. But regardless of whether they’re thin, overweight or very obese, they all have in common this dysbiotic gut, the leaky gut, and the generalized inflammation, and they tend to have more visceral fat.
• PCOS is the number one cause of fertility problems in women.
• Children born to women who are unhealthy, who have metabolic problems and who are inflamed, their genes are altered and don’t function the way they should. These children tend to have more metabolic problems, and they more prone to diabetes, mood problems, and weight gain.
• Women with PCOS tend to have higher rates of giving birth to children with autism.
• 
  

Action Steps:

• Get lab testing done to get a proper diagnosis for PCOS.
• If you are struggling with PCOS, you need to start making lifestyle changes.
• Eat real food.
• Avoid sugar.
• Avoid processed foods.
• Avoid high-fat diets.
• Switch to a plant-based, fiber-filled diet.
• Go vegan for at least 3 months. If you can’t go vegan, eat very little meat, no more than one small serving a day.
• Eat unlimited fruits and vegetables.
• Take supplements like myo-inositol and resveratrol
• Observe time-restricted eating. Eat a big breakfast and try not to snack. Try to finish eating by 7 pm.
• Take melatonin if you have trouble sleeping and go to bed between 10 and 11 pm.
• Let the light filter through your eyelids when you wake up.

Felice said:

“My philosophy now is, find out what’s going on and then try to address it at the root cause while also addressing symptoms… My goal is to optimize health span for every single woman that I can possibly touch.”

“PCOS is the most common endocrine disorder of women of reproductive age, and it is so common and yet it’s so poorly diagnosed, under-diagnosed, mistreated, poorly understood.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

Don’t forget to check out our awesome Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales going on at our Holistic Wellness Shop!

If you’ve got any questions or other meal prep tips that have worked for you in the past, I would love to hear from you over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. Do share your food prep and meal prep tips and maybe your cooking tips as well!

Links to things we talk about in the show:

• Black Friday/Cyber Monday Specials at the Holistic Wellness Shop:
• Save 10% off Supplements - coupon code BLACKFRIDAY10
• Save 30% off eBooks - coupon code - BLACKFRIDAY30
• Save $200 off the CleanBeautyU Program
• ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet
• PCOS SOS: A Gynecologist’s Lifeline to Naturally Restore Your Rhythms, Hormones, and Happiness by Felice Gersh

Where you can find Dr. Felice Gersh:

Felice’s Instagram

Felice’s Facebook

Felice's Website

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Are you struggling with migraines and headaches? What causes them and how do you get rid of them? Headache specialist Dr. Robert Sheeler talks about the holistic integrative approach to treating migraines and headaches and finding the root causes that we can fix to make them go away.

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode36.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• The functional subtypes of migraine
• Migraine with aura versus migraine without aura
• The four types of aura
• The four hormonal subtypes of migraine
• The steps to take to treat migraines in general
• How sex affects headaches and migraine

Key Takeaways:

• Boys with migraine with aura often get it between ages 6 and 9, and girls will get it between ages 8 and 10.
• People with migraine, in general, will have more depression, bipolar disease, more asthma, more restless legs, and a number of comorbid conditions that go along with it, and it tends to be two or three times as much in the aura patients than in the non-aura patients.
• About 30% of people who have migraine have migraine with aura, which can be visual, sensory, linguistic or motor.
• Women make up more than two-thirds of the people with migraine and tend to get more cycle-related things if they have migraine without aura.
• Migraine without aura is very hormonally sensitive and will often onset on women around the time they have their cycles.
• It’s falling estrogen levels that trigger migraines in the people who are hormonally sensitive.
• Menstrual migraines are more intense and are harder to treat.
• Around the time of perimenopause and menopause when estrogen levels are falling, women will have lots of increased headaches, whether it’s natural menopause or surgical menopause.
• Getting your ovaries out before the age of 40 increases your risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Action Steps:

• If you have migraines, consider taking magnesium supplements.
• Consider doing intermittent fasting. Don’t eat for 2 hours before you go to bed. Eat only during a 7- to 9-hour interval in a day.
• Learn more about migraines and try to go to a doctor who’s interested in what you have.
• Make sure your ferritin is up in the 50 to 75 range by paying strict attention to your diet or taking some supplements.
• Take a dose of three tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseed (ideally organic) a day.

Robert said:

“[The holistic, integrative, functional approach] in terms of headaches is that it allows us to look for a root cause of things. It allows us to try to find something that we can fix that will make your headaches go away or virtually go away.”

“When a patient thinks they have migraine, 98% of the time they’re right. And when they think they don’t have migraine, 83% of the time they’re wrong. So most of the time, what you think is migraine is migraine and what you think isn’t migraine is migraine.”

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

If you’ve got any questions or other meal prep tips that have worked for you in the past, I would love to hear from you over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. Do share your food prep and meal prep tips and maybe your cooking tips as well!

Links to things we talk about in the show:

• Free Webinar: The Migraine Solution
• Medication Cheat Sheet - Overview of Medicines Used to Treat Acute Migraines

Recommended Products:

• Designs for Health Products
• PurePaleo Vanilla
• PurePaleo Chocolate
• PaleoGreens
• Adrenal Products
• Probiotics
• Digestive Enzymes
• Carnitine
• Mitochondrial NRG
• Adrenotone
• OmegAvail Smoothie
• Insomnitol Capsules and Insomnitol Chewables
• NeuroMag
• Magnesium Chelate

*Purchase Designs for Health products at the Holistic Wellness Shop using the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY10 and save 10% off your order.

Where you can find Dr. Robert Sheeler:

Dr. Robert Sheeler's Website (Destiny Well)

Dr. Robert Sheeler's Private Practice Website in Scottsdale, Arizona (Next Level Concierge Care); Phone Number: 480-470-0606

Dr. Robert Sheeler’s Facebook

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Link:

• PureFeast - Save 10% off of your first THREE orders over $75 + free shipping with coupon code HOLISTICWELLNESS.

How do you plan your meals and set aside time to prepare food? Let’s get into meal prep mastery and learn simple strategies on how to prepare your meals, stay on track with your food and schedule them all into your meal plan.

You can find all the info and links about this episode at https://holisticwellness.ca/episode35.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• The mentality we want to have when it comes to meal planning
• Strategies for meal prep mastery
• How to evaluate your schedule when it comes to meal planning
• What it means to start small and to prioritize when it comes to meal prep
• Clever ideas to save time and money
• Getting creative with delicious marinades and dressings

Key Takeaways:

• It’s so much harder to reach your health goals or manage some type of disease or condition if you’re not cooking your food at home.
• Studies show that cooking meals at home are linked to better dietary habits like eating more fruits and vegetables, and spending less than one hour a day preparing foods at home is associated with eating more fast food.

Action Steps:

• Set yourself up for success by having a strategy in place when it comes to meal planning.

1. Evaluate your schedule. Figure out how many meals you think you’re going to need for the week before you even hit the grocery store.
2. Start small. If you’re a newbie to this, don’t go all in and try to make your entire weekly menu ahead of time. Pick one or two recipes for your first week, and as you get more comfortable with that, you can prep more and introduce more recipes.
3. Prioritize. Choose recipes that will make the biggest difference in your week right away.
4. Create a master recipe list. Have a list of those go-to meals that you’ve tried before and you know you can easily put together. Overlap the ingredients whenever possible to save time and money.
5. Write out an actual grocery list.
6. Prep foods you will actually eat. Be realistic about your taste in food, but also try to vary your menu enough so that you don’t get bored and resort to takeout.
7. Chop your food. Prep your meal ingredients ahead of time.
8. Get roasting. Pair vegetables that have a comparable roasting time.
9. Cook your protein ahead of time and store it in the fridge and/or freezer to ensure that you’ve got meals on hand.
10. Find different marinades and dressings that you really enjoy.
11. When it comes to food storage, make sure you have the right containers on hand. Use glass containers instead of plastic.
12. Use the food quickly as best as you can.
13. Label the food in your freezer.

Samantha said:

“Having a strategy in place is so important, that why most of us when we go to the gym, we kind of know what we’re doing. We don’t just really walk in there aimlessly. And it’s kind of the same mentality we want to have when it comes to meal planning.”

“If you’re a new meal prepper and this is all kind of new to you, then stick to ingredients that you know you like, because the worst thing is going to prep something and then wasting the food, and then you feel just like hopeless and you feel like you failed at the whole process.’

Thanks for listening!

Important Announcements:

If you’ve got any questions or other meal prep tips that have worked for you in the past, I would love to hear from you over on Instagram @holisticwellnessfoodie. Do share your food prep and meal prep tips and maybe your cooking tips as well!

Where you can find me:

Samantha’s Facebook

Samantha’s Instagram

Samantha’s Website

Samantha’s Twitter

Holistic Wellness Private Community on Facebook

How you can work with me:

• 6 Week Healthy Hormones for Women Intensive - Use the coupon code PODCAST at checkout to save 60%.
• Healing & Dealing with Hashi’s

Sponsor Link:

• PureFeast - Save 10% off of your first THREE orders over $75 + free shipping with coupon code HOLISTICWELLNESS
• Perfect Keto - If you’re in the U.S, save 15% off your purchase with the coupon code HOLISTICWELLNESS