Episode 17. Do You Need to Lose Weight for Your Health?

The health messages we constantly get are all about "lose weight to be healthier." This is the system that has been in place for a long time but it seems like the more we try, the worse our health becomes. 

Let's chat about the difference between focusing on weight loss for your health and focusing on supporting your body with health habits.

Thank you for listening! We love you latte!

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-Ashley & Carrie
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice.

Transcript

[Music]
hey it's Carrie and Ashley we welcome you to the self-care Cafe we are both
health professionals and moms and nature lovers and food lovers and love helping
women get over dieting and just start living we think that talking about
bodies and perfect bodies and dieting is just
boring did we put you to sleep there Carrie yes so if you are ready to ditch
dieting and get to living and talk about more important things then you are in the right place we don't put shame and
guilt on the menu here we don't even have to tip us nope come hang with us the advice is
free we want want to have a bunch of girlfriends to just hang out with and get real with and it's time to start
living
ladies hey ter every
time we're just so excited to see each other I I know it's actually been a
while because Summer and life and yes lots of life things for sure
but yes what's on the menu for today well I thought it' be cool to discuss
how um this whole idea of weight loss
versus other things like do you really need to lose weight to be healthier oh
yes yeah because I just think it's well it's interesting I'm like we were talking before we're I'm seeing more and
more health professionals who are pivoting their own mindsets who have
always been in the you know traditional way of you know you focus on your weight and your diet and you know that's that's
how you do it um who are realizing that through these all these years what
we've been doing just is not working anymore finally right well not anymore it just it never worked it never does it
work yeah yeah and it's so great because I think that that's one of my biggest
frustrations being a provider who focuses on the like Health at every size
approach or um weight neutral or weight inclusive care and we'll talk about what that means during this episode is
there's all this information out there like I didn't learn this in school and I've come across it during my practice
during my career and there's so much evidence out there that shows us that
our our normal Health Care system like Carrie was just saying about focusing on
weight for health just isn't working in it's been around for a long time and it's been my biggest frustration that
why haven't more providers figured this out because they see the same patients
like some patients have the same provider for so many years and most of the time people are
ending up in that weight cycling or that yo-yo dieting where they're losing weight gaining weight losing weight
gaining weight how come we haven't like had that aha moment to have everybody
kind of change their tune about this I think it's because they blame the
patient 130% ding ding like it's not it's not the it's not the method that's the
patient that's to blame which is just so bogus and it's like wake up it's time to
see what is really going on the way we've been doing it and you and I have
known this and and other people on our field have known it for years um but
it's been a small minority of us right that like wait you know this isn't and besides the fact of also where we're
both in tune with eating disorders how focusing on that weight causes disordered eating also right um and and
eventually could lead to eating disorders um so it's yeah it's just been pretty messed up for sure so I think
what we'll end up talking about today is kind of like why the system that we've been following
isn't necessarily working right and then talk about things that actually do help
our health without focusing on um you know intentional weight loss um does
that sound right to you Carrie yes for sure and whatever else we come up with along the way yeah and before we hopped
on we looked up because this isn't just us throwing out our opinion here right
this right this is actually this is evidence-based um the studies on that
you know that show because like we've said before yes dieting you you will most likely lose weight when you're
dieting but the whole point is you have to keep dieting right to the weight off yeah um
and that's and if dieting was easy and sustainable everyone would be doing it
and and and we'd all be maintaining our weight loss we'd all [Music]
be happy right like the the idea that dieting leads to weight loss which makes
us happy because our bodies have changed is not based in facts
because you can't diet well I guess you can diet forever but how miserable is it
um and so we've been around those people right like we know who are yeah just
caught in that diet cycle and it's sometimes I'll be honest hard to be around them because that's their focus
yeah that's that's their it's an obsession yeah and there's not a lot of joy for them I feel like there's no
spontaneity around food um and some people are dealing with this well into
their you know older age of 70s 80s and I think we have to stop and ask
ourselves like is what we're doing something we want to be doing when we're 80 years old right because I think that
there's so much more like better things that we can do and spend our time on
well and so and you have to also realize when you are dieting you are not getting
the nutrients that you need right you I have seen people who do the point
system and you know you can fill up on
quote unquote empty calories you know um and hit your points and not get be
getting the nutrients that you need to support your body for your health um and
and like I said I've seen it I've seen people do it um pass up you know a meal to have um you know cake or or yeah it's
it's h it's mading yeah and a similar example is like I've seen a lot of
clients um after like uh weight loss surgery or bariatric surgery and yes they're losing weight
but they look like hell like their skin color is like grayish their eyes are
really tired looking they don't feel good is that healthy right I don't and
how many also I've heard people say well my doctor put me on this diet or or but
told me not to exercise that's such a big red flag yeah
it's like okay because they'll lose more weight that's what they're being told you'll lose more weight if you don't
exercise um at least like for the first eight weeks or whatever crazy number whatever they come up with right the
reason you're losing more weight is if you don't exercise is because you're losing
muscle and and is that a good thing you don't want to lose muscle that's what
keeps you strong and and moving and easily you know and flexible and yeah so
like if you if you've been dieting in the past or have tried dieting at all if
you ever come to that point where you're like really tired or feeling kind of
like weak I guess like a lot of people that diet feel weak and that's exactly why because you're not getting the
nutrients like Carrie said that you need to sustain your body to do what it needs to do so it's making you tired because
it's not functioning appropriately and then if you're feeling weak it's because
your body's breaking down your muscles for fuel right right and people don't
realize that like your body if you're not eating enough
calories your body will start breaking itself down yes and um I've experienced
that myself um and so it's it's just a it's a
horrible horrible place to be but so many are and then that cycle yeah and so
what part makes it a cycle like why do we all feel like we're getting benefits
when we're doing this kind of question yeah and I feel like it's
because when we're so focused on health improvements but they're so extreme that
they can only be shortterm we're only having those benefits for that time like
we said that we're focused on it right and then the things we're doing aren't sustainable so we go back to doing
whatever it was we were doing before and when we do that we actually lose the health benefits that we gained so it
definitely is that cycle like we get the benefits because we're eating more fruits and veggies or maybe we are
working out or whatever it might be but then when we stop doing those things we lose the health benefits that
we saw like maybe your blood pressure was lower um maybe your blood sugar was lower or whatever it might be
they're all so short term that they go away right a and they're also credited
to the weight loss weight loss right versus really it's probably more because
your health habits you are P paying attention to your health habits you know
it's because study after study shows um you can start getting regular physical
activity and decrease your blood pressure decrease your cholesterol you know manage your blood sugar without
losing a pound now you may lose some weight but also you have to remember if
even if you're losing body fat but you're exercising and maintaining or adding muscle the scale's not going to
change as much and yet your your body is healthier exactly so it's that's the
whole thing with um it's it's your health habits that matter and when we're
so focused on the weight and being obsessed with what we're eating and it
just um there's all kinds of of uh garbage associated with that that we're
going to get into right but I'm wondering do you want to explain what
weight neutral care is sure yeah and I think I use the terms weight neutral and
weight inclusive they're a little bit different but for the sake of today we'll call them the same thing so weight
neutral care is basically what we're talking about is we're not going to focus on our weight in our like quote
unquote treatment plan for your health we're going to focus on the things that we can do to improve our health like if
we're not very active let's maybe work on our activity um stress sleep our
nutrition all those things but we're going to talk about them in a way that has nothing to do with our weight right
right does that make sense yes absolutely it's like you're going to take um the weight you know the dieting
um weighing yourself off the table right and focus instead on the
behaviors which to back back up a little bit for a lot of people your behaviors
also need a mindset change right right yeah so and that's where a lot of it
some of the issues come in with not making these behaviors longer term right
and that's exactly what Carrie and I do with our clients right like right most of the time we talk about well what
behaviors can we work on to improve your overall health but also what's the
mindset shift that has to happen and honestly in some sessions for their nutrition we don't
even end up talking about food all that much like we talk more about
well when are you hungry or what's your schedule look like for eating or what's your stress or what's your sleep or
what's your budget like we don't talk about oh well you should have a half a cup of this or a half a cup of that
that's not something that we do most of the time right and one reason when
you're let's say you change your habits but it's they're focused on weight loss um when you stop losing weight a
lot of times I have a go out the window like well this is dumb this isn't working right right so instead of so
because your focus is weight and weight loss those habits don't stick you
haven't change done that the mindset work to have them change and realize the
all I mean it's a plethora of benefits that the health habits have um and why
don't we start with the First Health habit like activity right physical activity yeah um the scientist it's like
over 70 benefits to regular physical activity that don't include anything to
do with your weight don't include weight loss so there's so many other things you know um physical activity and we're
going to talk about these other health habits um will help you sleep better it
helps decrease your stress it has been shown to help uh reduce depression you
know improve depression um improve or reduce anxiety um it reduces blood pressure it
improves your cholesterol level it helps you manage blood sugar I mean it's it's just on and on yeah you're stronger your
um your heart is stronger your your lungs get stronger I mean it just yeah there's like so many benefits um you're
they're finding even like thinking better so even people um there have been studies if you have
ADHD um if you get up in the morning and you exercise and then do your work
there's studies that show that the chemicals in the brain help you focus better um there just there's so many
benefits to getting regular physical activity um if you but some people have
a block against physical activity right so whether it's your history with it um
you were forced to do it you know like I've seen a lot of military because they were you know the military obviously
stay fit um and then people get out and it's like I'm done with that I don't want to do anything to do with it again
um or uh maybe you had you know as a child in fed you had some bad
experiences or you know whatever it is um it's working on overcoming those
beliefs about it yeah and finding different ways to do it right because like car was just saying the beliefs
that we have about it like exercise only counts if XYZ I'm at the gym right
that's not true and so we have to figure out okay if this is my belief about
activity or exercise well how can I challenge that and maybe think outside the box a little bit for myself and find
a way to do something that is more enjoyable right and
also going against the grain like if you're being told um you know maybe it's your doctor well you know you need to
join the gym that that'll keep you because you pay when you pay for the membership you'll go well I'm here to
tell you I've actually there I've known people who I said whatever I pay it up
front and then you know some people have gym memberships coming out every month and
they've never even set foot in there exactly so it it's you got to figure out
what works for you do you like being outside then go outside and get your
physical activity do you like being in groups you know some people like that social part of it then you know join um
classes and things like that um do you do you just you hate the gym environment
but you've got space in your your house um and you don't need a lot of equipment if anything really right um there's so
many different that's that's another um belief that people have oh I've got to have all this equipment to do it no you
don't I mean your your body is enough there's so many exercises can do it just body weight even so um all kinds of
obstacles that people run into with physical activity but so many different
like ash she said think outside of the box there's just so um you know we've been so conditioned to believe that it's
got to be one way um and there's just so many ways there's there's got to be
something that you enjoy and again I've said this before at the beginning when if you have been more sedentary um
starting to move more might not feel that great especially if you've um got
arthritis or some sort of an autoimmune um that affects joints um it might suck
at first it might not feel great but I usually recommend first before even starting more formal activity is just
start looking for opportunities to move more you know parking I mean it sound it
sounds just so I sound I feel like I'm redundant so but you know parking further away from the store you know
park at the other end of the parking lot so that you just have to walk a little bit further um and starting with things
like that we've talked about before like taking laundry right and instead of carrying
the whole basket upstairs just take one small pile or an item or whatever and so
you have to go back and forth more often same thing with groceries um so just really simple ways
that maybe seem a little silly but just starting to move a little bit more if you have a desk job get up set an alarm
so that every 30 minutes you have to stand up and at least stand up and stretch or get like I recently got a
standup desk so it's a lot easier I'm not sitting as much um and you know even
while I'm working standing up I can do some you know squats and and heel raises
and leg lifts I mean it sounds silly but um think outside the box and get
creative with it yeah I for sure and I think that whole like Chen your beliefs like what's really holding you back from
doing exercise and be truthful with yourself on that and kind of get to the
bottom of it explore that and decide or figure out like what is keeping me from
doing this because is it like I know I should and like we always say don't should all over
yourself like because everyone's telling you you need to that's just going to turn your brain off to doing it anyways
right like that are are you rebelling against it on some way you know like um and we do do that
right um we can have that rebelliousness uh that we kind of dig
our heels and like no I'm not going to do it just because you're telling me I should be right um and just kind of
owning owning your attitude and owning your beliefs it's like okay this is kind of Sly I'm just hurting myself um it's
not doing me any good um yeah and setting like realistic not necessarily goals maybe
but like what's your reason for wanting to do it I've had so many people be like well I want to be able to get up and
down off the floor with my grandkids to play with them or um my daughter really
likes hiking and I really want to be able to go with her or you know really
like Bare Bones why do I want to do this I want to improve my blood sugars I
don't know whatever it is yeah yeah knowing your why and that's where that seven layers deep goes where you might
say like initially some people like well I want to lose weight right or well I want to um I want to be able to do the
5K um or I want to start exercising right why and whatever your answer is to
that well why is that important like keep going deeper and deeper I had a um 13-year-old girl that I worked with and
um I asked her why she wanted to work with me and her first I can't remember
her first answer I think it was for sports or something you know get in shape for basketball and as I kept going
deeper and deeper we got to her answer was because I want to when I'm an adult
I want to be able to be healthy enough to support my family well a like this is
a 13y old that's a big thought for 13 that is a big thought so it was just so
cool to see her get to that level and so that's a really simple exercise um just
going deeper with your why definitely from the service one well what about stress there's
another managing or controlling or mastering um your
stress dealing with your stress how does stress affect why does that matter well
stress affects our whole body like all of the systems in our body stress can
mess it all up for you and I think it's important to realize that like back in
caveman days I talk about caveman days all the time but stress is an important thing for our body because it helps us
like run away from bears or whatever in caveman days and I think now that we
have less of those like Primal problems we have more chronic stress like
finances or relationships or you know it's more of the
mental load almost kind of stress um so stress is there for us for
a reason that biological like keep us safe stress and it's shifted a little
bit yeah exactly or freeze maybe um so
yeah so this chronic stress that we have now um increases our cortisol level which is
a stress hormone which signals our body to kind of put things on hold and it inflames
our body so stress causes inflammation all over which causes different
problems yeah the studies just there's a ton of studies that show that that
systemic inflammation in our bodies um you know when that's like at the
cellular cell level say that 10 times fast um you know
that deeper level inside our bodies that inflammation is now they're saying
causing you know a bunch of chronic conditions from you know arthritis to
heart disease to um diabetes to cancer to autoimmune um so like Ashley said it it
affects every system in your body um and it's that chronic stress so you know
like she was saying that acute stress so if there's a fire in your house that's an acute stressor right like you're not
going to just sit there you're do what you have to to get out of the house um
but this long-term chronic you know that's that stress that eats away at
you is what is causing um you know this inflammation
and the negative Health consequences um
and one one um exercise I like to do with
clients or in workshops is um think of an umbrella and put put what is stressing
you out in that umbrella and then go deeper and take What specifically about
that stressor is really stressing you out so like work is always an easy one to use so if you know if you say well
work stresses me out okay well what's specifically about work is stressing you out so you know is it a coworker is it
the hours is it the pay is it the commute is it your boss is it you know
is it the work itself what exactly is stressing you out and then what can you
do about it so do you need to take action is there some action you need to
take you know do you need to is there if it's a coworker do you need to go to your supervisor and discuss it or you
know is it do you need a raise like whatever it is you know what action can
you take or maybe you need to change your perception of it and this is like kind of the one man's trash is another
man's treasure right so what stresses one person out another person might let just let roll off their back um so it's
like how are you reacting to it do or or your perception of it sorry um is this
really something you know some people are not okay with just being okay like
some people have to always have something to be stressed out over right um so is this something that you are
making maybe a bigger deal of than than needs to be and then do you need to
change your reaction to it um because sometimes it's remember we've talked
about that reaction versus response so are you constantly throwing
out those flares like that emotional knee-jerk reaction how can you change your response to it maybe the cooworker
is reacting to your reaction right versus if you change your
response they may change theirs right so um it's just a it gets deeper a little
bit deeper I feel like of course there's Stress Management um you know that deep
breathing and you know and all that which we also need but when you're only doing that and
not getting to the deeper source of the stress and rooting it out um those become over time more like a Band-Aid to
it right yeah it's kind of like what can I do in the moment yeah is deep breathing or something like that but we
have to figure out what is causing this underlying all the time stress or else we're just always going to have it yes
absolutely exactly well what about sleep there's another um Health habit is sleep yeah I
feel like I think I mentioned this in one of the other episodes but you know talking with clients about their
nutrition or their mindset around nutrition or health we talk talk talk and then all of a sudden it's like oh
but I never sleep and I'm like oh well let's talk about that because that's gonna be something to consider with your
health because sleep is so important like our body needs time to rest and
recover and rest is kind of a different thing than actual sleep um because when we actually sleep it sets a lot of
things off in motion right like our muscles can recover our memories get
stored from that day a couple days ago whatever it is um lots of things happen
when we're actually asleep and we do need quite a bit of sleep and the people
that say I'll sleep when I'm dead like Carrie says I think it's I'm probably gonna be dead sooner right exactly and
getting enough sleep kind of gives us that inflammation or stress response in our body which we just talked about and
so getting enough so like how long are we sleeping but also like how well or
the quality of our sleep is important too because if we're waking up every three hours
or whatever it might be we're not yeah sleep apne like I'm dealing with that
um and uh cannot get used to the seep Pap so those commercials with a cpaps
are hilarious but they're true like um so going to the next step
with an oral Appliance for that but it's so important like if if your partner for instance tells you that you're
snoring get get that checked out because um you know you could have sleep apnea
or or if you're stopping breathing while you're sleeping you know like those things it's really really important to
get checked out for that because it causes you know like Ashley said besides inflammation the sleep
apnea the obstructive sleep apnea causes heart issues as well um so it's
important to get that checked out um and you know when you're what studies show
too like the um lack of sleep like drowsy driving right is causing well and
just mental fog in general not even just with driving but if you're not getting enough sleep and again I think we talked
about this in one of the other episodes recently is we're not clear and then
after a while of having the same feeling all the time it just becomes our new normal right which is really interesting
to think about because we're just dealing with stress with poor sleep for years
it's a vicious cycle it really is you're not getting enough sleep or enough quality sleep you're more stressed out
and it also affects relationships like you're when you're stressed out and
exhausted and you don't feel well you also tend to be snappier and more real
or maybe you're also not eating enough because you're dieting just or you're wondering like
why am I constantly craving like simple carbs right it is not a lack of willpower it
is a simple physiological reason because your brain's like hey we need some
energy and that's going to give you the quickest energy yeah um so it's a simple
you know you're not weak you're not lacking willpower it is just a simple biological
response in your body that's just needs energy um
so which can bring us to the Next One Nutrition you're on register
dietition so I feel like and we talk we've talked about this a lot but there's so many ways to think about
nutrition with our health right like we can talk about the really strict way
that a lot of people are doing it I'll save that for a few minutes but ideally
nutrition has just a couple key things to it it is not that difficult but we
make it so much more difficult than it has to be because we're always looking for the next best quick fix thing right
but but really nutrition is all about patterns like what are we doing on a
weekish basis and variety so that we can get most of the nut nutrients that we
need from our food so that's really pretty much it like eating enough for
your body eating foods that are generally healthful a lot of the time
but also leaving room for fun foods that you like and then getting that variety
and you know I was just talking to a friend about this I as a kid was like
one of the choosiest eaters I ate so much processed food
which probably drove my Dad nuts because he was super into like organic gardening and had vegetables Galore we canned
vegetables so we had them all year long and I barely touched them and
so nutrition is not as big of a deal as we think although fruits and veggies do
give us all those vitamins and nutrients that we need so they do help our health so that's something to consider too like
if you aren't eating enough of some of the food groups right like there's
recommendations on how much we quote unquote should be eating of the food groups and that's based on science too
and we don't have to feel guilty about not getting five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables in a day just
because that's the recommendation but they do help and so start where you're
at right like if you're not eating any adding one a day is
awesome yeah and getting out of that all or nothing right like like Ashley said start where you're at and gradually
progress the other thing too and we've mentioned this before is that a serving size of fruits and vegetables isn't that
big it's certainly not what you know even sometimes I Envision I'm like wow
that's it right know um so it actually
makes it easier though in the long run to get them in when you think oh wow that's not I can do that that's not very
much yeah it's great and I think again like all or nothing like those beliefs
that we have there's a lot of talk out in social media and media about like
canned fruits and veggies not being quote unquote as good or they lose their nutritional value or whatever but really
just have some fruits and veggies like I'd rather have you eat canned vegetables than not have any at all
right they're honestly not that much different right and some people can't
really digest fresh fruits and veggies a lot so canned and Frozen are a really great option for a lot of people yeah
like yeah certain like depending on your gut and your digestion I know um like I
can't do raw apples fresh apples um but I can do a little bit of cooked um because the
cooking process breaks down some of that fiber y um it just makes it easier on my gut to D digest um and the other thing
that we could bring up in nutrition too is hydration yes um is another it can
either be with nutrition or its own health habit too um that really makes a
difference in your health and how you feel and how things work in your body
um you know digestion works better when you're well hydrated and lots of things
do but again we tend to turn it into like the All or Nothing thing or I'm not
doing enough so I'm gonna have this unrealistic goal of like tripling it and
then and we can't sustain that because that's not where we're at and so
exploring like what is the hydration level that works for you um and do it in stages so if you're only
doing x amount of ounces per day bump it up a little bit and see how that goes or
just figure out how much am I doing am I doing any right yeah I mean it's it's
um like Ashley said like and you're better off do spreading out throughout
the day rather then all of a sudden three o'clock in the afternoon you realize oh I haven't had any water today and you start guzzling it and then you
you'd feel sick I mean that's that's not any good it's you're better off you know spreading out throughout the day
sometimes I recommend to people you know like Ashley said get a baseline how much are you drinking and again be honest
with it like some people fill their water bottle up in the morning and then it just sits there right right so um be
honest with how much you're currently doing and then just add a little bit to it so if you're not doing any start with
okay well could you do like half a cup an hour you know like literally a half a
cup of measuring a measuring cup you know of water could you do that sip on that or you know drink it down one of
those every hour um and just you know and progress from there and keep it in
mind that if you've been dehydrated when you first start increasing your fluid
intake you're probably going to get bloated at first and then event your
body you know over a week or two will start releasing it and then yes you will be in the bathroom more but um getting
out of that mindset too with I don't constantly running to the bathroom um
but over time that also will adjust right right and like getting into that
habit too so if you're just starting out we have to keep it consistent for a
little while to make it part of our routine or part of our habits and so
it's easy to give up before that happens so revisiting like why we're doing it
just like with the activity right and going back to all our nothing you know we've talked about um four to five
health habits um you don't have to start with all of them right please don't in fact
yeah choose one fact choose one that you feel like would be the simplest for you so that you have success with it which
one would be the easiest to do at first and get into that habit it first right
and then the last piece about like the health habits and nutrition especially is like not obsessing over it because we
can turn anything into this all Oro kind of thought process and really being
flexible with yourself and with why you're doing it like we just mentioned because the more we obsess over it like
the deeper down the rabbit hole we go and that's actually worse for our health than just kind of setting more realistic
goals over a longer period of time yeah it increases your stress so you get into like this you're you're trying to be you
know improve your health habits and improve your health and you end up causing yourself more stress right which
is exactly the system that we're dealing with right now with dieting with the intentional weight loss that's exactly
what happens we say okay we need to make a change because of whatever thing that you're thinking or
the doctor said to you or whatever and then we make these drastic changes which stress us out and then after a while we
stop doing it and then we lose the health benefits that we might have gotten when we were doing it and it just happens over and over and over again
yeah that becomes a cycle even if you're not focusing on your weight right you're focused on like oh I got to change all
this stuff at once and you go great guns and just burn out y you know it's like
people you know at the beginning of the year I'm gonna I'm gonna exercise every day and they you know go to the gym
three two or three days and they're so sore because when you exercise you know
beyond what your muscles are used to you're gonna be sore and then they can't move for three days and they're like
forget this I'm done right that um Vicious Cycles we get
ourselves into yeah and I think a lot of times a lot of people do it and so it's
that normalized mentality like we think this is what we're supposed to be doing
um which is really difficult because we don't hear about other ways to do things
or they sound like ridiculous right like yeah or if
you're not if you're not doing it you know all out if you're not exercising you know to the point of puking right it
doesn't count yeah yeah it's just so silly so silly so I think we covered
most of the things about the health habits right yeah but I think one other thing to keep in mind and again we've
talked about this one of the other episodes is um our genetics play a huge role in our health outcomes and you know
we can certainly do the things that we've been talking about with our health habits
um and our genetics are still going to be a big piece of our health way more
than I think most of us would even imagine probably yeah they definitely
influence right um I I recently saw uh one of the OB nurses who was there
during my all my boys's deliveries and um with my first pregnancy well I had
highrisk pregnancies with all of them but my first one I had severe preclampsia and she said you know you made me
realize like she goes you you're so healthy like you were so healthy and everything and it I just realized like
how much genetics can still kick kid yeah um and you know with blood pressure
and things like that and it's true um I had this one of my aunts she was always
this tiny little petite thing um and her
cholesterol was high she ate she ate oat brand until it came out of her ears you
know and she it would not go down of course now this was back in the day when
I don't think they were separating out you know LDL HDL triglycerides and stuff but um and now we even know there's
different kinds of LDL right um but you know still her it wasn't coming down and
they put her on medication for it but and that's the other thing too right sometimes you can follow all the quote
unquote rules and that's not what we're talking about here right like right the this is you can seemingly do everything
right and still genetics can influence exactly and it's it doesn't mean that
you then just throw the towel in and say right this is dumb um it's not that at
all it's just that it's just part of your body and right and and I see people like the cholesterol thing all the time
like people are trying so hard to get their levels down you know they're eating a vegetarian style meal pattern
they're exercising regularly they're doing the things and their cholesterol won't come
down and then we have to get to that point of like okay I'm doing things that
are reasonable to help this and if I do more it's going to be unreasonable for
my mental health and even for maybe even my physical health like joint health Etc
like obsessive eating that kind of thing at what point do we have to accept that
our body is genetically inclined for this and it just needs some extra help
with a medication for example like it doesn't mean you failed like Carrie was just saying it just means that our
genetics aren't really helping us out right right and I am all for like
Natural Health and doing what you can first but sometimes you just like ash
said your body just needs a little bit more support and that's where modern medicine you know thank God we have that
too so yeah good old genetics
well this was a good conversation yeah and I think the gist of it right is like
exploring what works for you figuring that out kind of slowly because we don't want to make it this big drastic change
like we talked about because then the health benefits we might see when we stop doing it they won't last right and
supporting your body that's the big message supporting your body with what works for you what works for your
schedule your budget your mental health yes supporting like yes your support
your body and your mental health yeah and keep it in mind too try really try
um to avoid allowing other people to influence like what works for them
doesn't mean it's going to to work for you you have a different genetic makeup
um our bodies are all different and even within the same family um what works for
one person might not work for another and it has to work for you not just physically but like like
Ashley said like for your mental health too so if exercising to the level of that
someone in your family is is doing it at um you're like no
way you know you know being careful not to fall into the Trap that comparison
trap yes yeah because I think we get into the like this idea that so and so
is doing this and it's working for them so I'm going to try it but then I I'm a failure because it didn't work for me
that self-blame when I prefer us all to look at it as oh I tried that I
experimented with it like I gave it my best shot and that just wasn't for me so I would like to try something different
now right yeah absolutely awesome yeah so the health
habits that we went over um physical activity stress Mastery management
whatever you want to call it controlling your stress um sleep nutrition hydration and then those are
the health habits and then genetics um influences our bodies right yep awesome
exactly great well if you have any questions or comments you can find us on
social media you can find us on um on the Spotify listening platform they have
like a little Q&A um comment section uh so you can find us there all the links to everything are in the show notes at
the bottom so drop us a line and let us know what you want to hear more of
or yeah we would we're here for you that's right all right well see you next
time see you next time love you latte love you [Music]
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