Vanessa G Fitcast by Vanessa Gillette, Omar Pozos

January 06, 2025 Ep. 205 Health Hacks I'm Loving For 2025 vs Leaving in 2024

I tried a lot of things for hormone health in 2024…

Some I've shared on social media and on this podcast and some have been complete flops that I will never share. I enjoy the trial and error and being a guinea pig for these modalities.

To save you a bunch of time and effort, I want to share with you what I'm taking into 2025 when it comes to health hacks and self care practices.

I'll list them below in case you want a detailed explanation of each and let me know which ones you take into 2025!

Flush Protocol:

Liver = 10-20% of metabolism
Functional foods, juices, supplements, and medical food powders to nourish thyroid and adrenals
I aim for 1-2x/year for ongoing maintenance, everyone can benefit from at least 1 flush in their lifetime!

Follicular Phase Progressive Overload:

Days 1-17ish I aim to increase my training volume (increased weights and/or reps) compared to prior month follicular phase
I reduce volume (or don’t train at all) in luteal phase (Days 17+)

Silent Walks:

Helps with blood sugar
Silent = nervous system supporting
Overall movement = muy bueno!
I aim to do 1-2 per day, the more the merrier!

Scheduled Play Time:

It’s so important to broaden your life!
Put play on your schedule and treat it as an appointment that can’t be missed

Lymphatic Drainage:

Dry brushing, gua sha, lympathic massage
Helps move lymph fluid for better detoxification (and aesthetics!)

Weekly Yoga Class:

I used to do a lot of yoga at home, but love going to a class 1x/week
Vinyasa or Yin only
I keep my practice restful- goal is nervous system management!

Caffeine Limits:

I’ve gone from drinking 600mg caffeine per day in 2021, to 0mg per day in 2023, to having 50-125mg per day in 2024 and feel great!
This is MY limit that keeps my adrenals happy, yours might be different!

Warmer Cold Plunges:

I used to do plunges as often as possible and as cold as possible, but newer research suggests warmer and less often is more optimal for women
Aim for 45+ degrees
Less frequent during luteal phase

Feast/Fast Cycles:

Most women should NOT be fasting
Fasting only works if you have fed up and restored your hormones!
I usually do light intermittent fasting around my follicular phase, and will throw in longer fasts around ovulation or menstruation every once in a while

Sober periods: