In this episode, you will learn how stress contributes to heart disease. Resources mentioned in this episode:
- 7 Day Spark
- Wellness Circle
- Submit a Question for the Show
- Join the 5 Day Cravings Mini Class
- LiveWise D3 + K2
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Q&A: Booze, Vitamins, Veganism, HAES, Exercise
Wow, QA episodes are so much fun! First, because I LOVE LOVE LOVE the interaction and second because answering YOUR questions are one of my very favorite things to do! Just so you know - in case you are worried about me calling you out in front of 1,000s of listeners - all questions are Annon unless you specifically ask for a shout out. ANd I do answer the questions via the mode they are sent too! Let’s dive in!
Q: I hate exercise. I do it because it is good for me but I hate it. Any advice?
A: Honestly, it sounds like a reframe is in order. I would guess that you don’t hate moving your body, you just hate the idea that you SHOULD do it, you may even hate the type of exercise that you are doing or maybe you are bored with the type of fitness you are doing. Let’s start by reframing it - if you could do anything to move your body - because you want to move - what would you do? Walk? Ride your bike? Dance? Yoga? Garden? Swim? Do more of THAT. Start thinking of exercise as a celebration of what your body CAN do not a punishment that has to be taken. And keep trying new things until you find the thing that clicks - even if it's not traditional cardio/strength training.
Q: What are your thoughts on b12/lipo injections?
A: B-12/lipo injections are offered all over the place many family docs and some chiropractors offer these injections touting the benefits of increased energy and weight loss - sometimes they market them as “skinny shots” - these offerings hurt my heart tbh, It's not that they are "bad" per se or inherently dangerous its just that they don't fix the problem. A b12 deficiency or lipo need "fixed" by injection only temporarily masks the symptoms. It can give a boost in energy and it can increase the serum levels of B12 temporarily, BUT the evidence that it helps metabolism is inconclusive at best because its only increasing blood levels of the stuffs, not the body's ability to put it to use. Often the other markers I use to discover root cause clues in blood work still remain unchanged like Uric Acid, Phosphorus, Total Protein, Total Globulin, SGOT/AST, RBC, and/or MCV, MCHC, RDW levels.
The deficiency in b12, the anemia, the lipo "deficiency" is a downstream effect of an upstream issue. Its a branch on the tree with several different roots (causes).
All that said - are they dangerous? Nah. I do tend to see some rebound weight gain when the treatments stop. And they defiantly give you an energy boost. It's essentially main-veining an energy drink.
Q: Why did you change your recommendation on vitamin d?
A: Well, I didn’t exactly change it, D3 is still a critical nutrient you need to be getting naturally via 20-30 minutes of un-mitigated sun exposure (meaning not through a window or through sunscreen). The beauty of science and evidence is that when new findings come out, you can adjust course. When the new evidence came out, I investigated and deemed it important to change my recommendation slightly, if you are taking d3 as a supplement - you need to make sure you are taking one that includes k2. My favorite brand is LiveWise.
The primary reason is that d3 helps your body to put calcium to use (this is just one of its functions) and the k2 is needed to tell the calcium to go to the bones, or other places it is needed, instead of settling in the blood vessels.
Q: I see you drinking Kombucha in wine/cocktail glasses on IG, do you drink alcohol? Why or Whynot?
Very perceptive! I LOVE kombucha - I like making my own and I also love GTS and Holy Kombucha brands too. It has so many benefits and tastes great! I mix it just like I would an alcoholic beverage and often drink it out of a cup traditionally for alcohol use. Most often I mix it with water or club soda, always over ice. Sometimes I even make like an herbal cocktail of sorts that is alcohol-free.
For all of that, the short answer is - I do not drink alcohol. I will go into the full reason why in an upcoming episode this fall all for the sober curious, but I am just that, sober.
To sum it up, alcohol didn’t do my body good, and I did the party life from way too young all the way up to around age 35 - and I am 38.5 now (with the exception of 2 stints during pregnancy). Essentially, I had some of what I like to call "aha moments," no rock bottoms or anything too exciting there - but some real moments where I started to re-think my relationship to “mommy juice.” I stopped once around age 35 for about 4 months - starting with a personal 108-day challenge (yogis out there understand why that particular number is significant) where I abstained from the sauce and practiced yoga daily for 108 days. Whilst I didn't need alcohol drug rehab and intervention, I know that this is something many others in a similar position to my own have tried. However, after that, I started drinking again, intentionally, and slowly wound up back in the same position - then I made the decision to stop - for good.
I get why people like drinking, it releases all of the inhibitions and it is a great anxiety shield, and shield from all of those uncomfortable emotions, its a great way to have an oopsie card "the beer made me do it." I am (I think I am anyway) the only sober adult I know. BUT I can say - after coming this far - I’m not sure why I used it as a crutch for so long.
Now I’d also love to say that if you drink regularly, whether you consider yourself an alcoholic or not, it feels so amazing, like so amazing NOT drinking.
For the record, I personally don’t resonate with the word "alcoholic." Many people don't. I don’t consider myself an alcoholic, or in recovery, or anything like that, but if you were to look up the clinical definition of "alcoholic" I don’t know anyone that drinks that wouldn’t clinically be considered an alcoholic because it is a very narrow definition. Crazy right?! However, if there are people out there who are drinking considerable amounts and it is affecting their lives on a deeper level, then they do need to get the neccessary help. Checking out websites like https://westcoastrecoverycenters.com/addiction-types/alcohol/ can be very important in this case.
All that being said, it's not all roses and glitter with sparkles and sunshine, there is for sure a period of time of learning to cope with those emotions you would normally drink away, there is a time of learning to adjust when the people around you don’t adjust their drinking habits, and there is a period of learning who is really your ride-or-die friend and who was just your party friend. People who drink regularly get uncomfortable sometimes when you choose to be sober, and that’s okay too, when I was partying I was uncomfortable with sober people too.
Here’s the thing - when you drink you are literally consuming something with a skull and crossbones on it - actual poison - it is just such a common thing that its not seen that way anymore, but if you look physiologically at what alcohol, even a little bit, does to your body, it poisons you and you feel buzzed as a result. I decided I didn’t like the effects of that on my body, my performance, my mind, and my mental health any longer.
Obviously, the choice is yours - and I won’t judge you for it. If you are sober curious let me know and I will help you on your journey - if you aren’t that’s okay too - I won’t judge you for drinking, I still love to go out and have a lot of fun, I even go to bars! I will drive you home, hold your hair while you puke, or listen to you drone on and on about the same thing on the 4th day of your bender.
Q: Are you vegan?
A: In short, no probably not by anyone's standards.
I am whole foods and plant based. Meaning, I eat almost exclusively plants and rarely eat animal products. I avoid them when I can. This means if I get some mayo that has eggs in it accidentally I won’t flip out, but I do my best to avoid it.
I have been dairy, gluten, and soy free for a long time because of the effects on my body and the evidence of the issues it causes. I never eat tofu or any of that mutant plant stuff. If I do intentionally eat an egg, it's from my chickens. If I am craving a burger, I make a black bean burger or maybe the occasional beyond meat product (they are soy and gluten-free).
To some people's standards, I might be considered somewhere between vegetarian to vegan, however, I don’t like the label. When I have used the “V” word label I have drawn some of the most hateful comments of my career - such as commenters bashing me for having chickens - if I didn’t have them where would they be? For letting my kids and I ride and owning horses - for having chickens in cages - for all these things, not to mention personal attacks and threats.
Because of all of that, and my overall disdain for labels, I don’t use the label "vegan."
I landed in this whole foods plant-based lane because as I recommended foods to help people heal - I noticed I was never once saying: "wow you should really eat more beef" or "increasing your chicken intake will heal that right up." No, I was saying you need more leafy greens, you need more fats, increase your mushrooms or add holy basil. To that end, I started eating more of the healing stuffs and less of the things that weren’t so healing. I am always checking in, staying connected to my body, and noticing things when I start to make changes. Some of the positive changes I have noticed: no more bloating, my menstrual cycle was regular before but is perfectly timed now, my skin has improved, I recover from workouts much faster, I have more energy, my hair and nails are crazy healthy and growing, and I’m sleeping better, and taking next to no supplements. Negative stuffs - I had a little knee pain that is gone now. I initially attributed it to leaving behind the animal products but it was likely just an aggravation from running.
In short, I eat as few animal products as possible, I eat as compassionately as possible for my body, for nonhuman animals, and for the planet (means packaging too). I focus on whole plant foods and steer clear of junk food regardless of the label.
Q: How can you be a Health At Every Size practitioner and still workout and eat healthy all the time?
A: Ohhh okay that is a good one. Simple, I don’t focus on weight loss at all. Yes, sometimes weight loss is a byproduct of reducing inflammation, healing the body, improving gut function but it is never the goal for myself or for my clients or patients. Personally, I have lost and kept off nearly 100 lbs without dieting. I eat foods that make me feel good physically and sometimes emotionally - because comfort food is a real thing - but even my comfort food is created in a way to have the least inflammatory impact on my body.
I work out and move my body 6-7 days a week because it FEELS good, it helps me sleep, and I am often working towards a particular goal: an expression of an asana or pose, a half marathon, or just some stress release. I move always because it feels good not to change the shape of my body. Health at Every Size as a practitioner simply means that I look for the root cause of issues beyond weight and that as a practitioner - when you come in and say you have x problem you need help with - “lose 20 lbs” isn’t my canned response. Neither is calorie counting or restriction because they don’t work plain and simple.
So let’s do a quick recap.
To wrap this up, I just love answering (and asking) questions! I’m so glad you asked these questions and I know I didn’t get to all of them but we hae more question segments coming up over the next few months! As well as digging into my personal connection to autoimmune disease, and interview with an autoimmune kid, losing 100 lbs without dieting and tons more.
Starting July 15th we are working through a new mini-course "Understanding Your Cravings" this is complimentary (for now!) so join us here.
As always if you need more help? Be sure and check out AudreyChristie.com/work-with-Audrey to schedule a complimentary virtual session.
And thank you so much for reading and listening, if you would like to contribute be sure to subscribe, share, and leave a rating on your favorite podcast provider! I would be so grateful!
Be well!