What Makes You Wild?

What Every Woman Should Consider in Prep for Pregnancy

Maybe you just went off birth control in hopes of conceiving soon.

Maybe you are just hoping to have a healthy pregnancy and baby.

Maybe you have been trying to conceive for awhile with no luck.

Whatever may be going on get your minerals checked girlfriend! The state your body is in pre-pregnancy will determine how your body handles pregnancy. If you go into pregnancy mineral and hormone depleted whether it be from stress, birth control, diet, lifestyle, or just due to the depleted soils we get our food supply from it will determine how healthy your pregnancy and recovery will be. We are all under some kind of stress whether we want to believe it or not. The world we live in is stressful add a pregnancy on top and bam! We are asking to feel depleted.

We also have to keep in mind that we imprint our mineral and hormonal imbalances onto our children. For example, say we are depleted in zinc and sodium both of which are necessary for proper hydrochloric production and prevention of heartburn and acid reflux this may show up in our babies as GERD aka spitting up repetitively, fussiness during feeding, and heartburn.

We need minerals like copper, potassium, and calcium, just to name a few, to actually be able to carry a baby. Making sure these minerals are balanced and robust is key to a healthy, happy pregnancy.

But Laura, I’m taking prenatals so I’m good! Here is the DL on prenatals. In short, most of the time they are synthetic and junky, contain loads of iron and copper, and do not have the proper balance of minerals and can actually do our bodies more harm than good. Taking too much of one mineral can throw them all out of wack!

So what the heck do I do?

First, I would recommend all women prep for pregnancy for at least 6 months before trying to conceive whether you have been on birth control or not.

Side note: I always love when someone tells me they went off birth control and their doctor told them they can start trying to conceive right away. WHAT IN THE HELL! 🤯😑

Second, I would recommend working with a qualified practitioner and getting a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis to get a clear picture of the state your body is in, how your thyroid and adrenals are functioning and address any mineral and nutrient deficiencies.

Obviously we can’t always plan for pregnancy, accidents happen! But if we have the ability to be able to plan we should take these things into consideration. Women’s bodies are amazing and they will do what they need to do regardless of the state their bodies are in but why go in depleted if you have the option not to do so?

Pregnancy is literally the most stressful event a woman will ever experience in their life making sure you are going into it fully nourished is key. A properly balanced and healthy body will result in a great pregnancy, great recovery, and a healthy baby.

4 Food Habits That Are Wrecking Your Metabolism

Who’s guilty of these food habits? I know I sure am. I have done my fair share of experimenting with each of these in hopes of achieving something. I say something because looking back I literally have no idea why I experimented with any of these things. Was it for weight loss? Was it in hopes of seeing changes with my health? I’l have to go with the latter. I think we can all admit we have tried starving ourselves, eliminating food groups, and following diet trends in the name of a few pounds.

At the end of the day none these things worked and actually caused more harm than good. A lot of times these things can work for a short period of time, some people even years but at some point our bodies will become so stressed out that we will crash. Eventually our metabolism will take the hit and we will start seeing symptoms show up in the form of adrenal fatigue, thyroid disorders, hormonal imbalances, and digestive issues.

Here are 4 habits that are destroying your metabolism:

1. POOR FOOD TIMING
Do you find yourself hangry often? Are you starving yourself without even knowing it? Do you go all day without eating because you’re too “busy”? Proper meal timing is one of the most important ways to get your body back in balance and honestly it’s hard to truly heal without focusing on it. Eating at the same time everyday is crucial and not only that eating every 3 hours is ideal. We wonder why we can’t lose weight or can’t get our hormones in check. Girl, how safe do you think your body feels when it has no idea when it’s getting its next meal? You bet it will be holding on to extra weight for safety.

2. IMPROPER FOOD COMBINING
Are you a carb loader all day and then maybe fit in a bit of protein for dinner? I see this all the time in my practice. Where’s the protein ladies? We need to be having a combination of protein, carb and fat at every meal and snack to prevent blood sugar spikes and dips and keep our hormones and adrenals happy!

3. INTERMITTENT FASTING
Do you really think our ancestors wouldn’t have eaten all day if they could? I love that, “but our ancestors fasted!” okay, they sure did but I can guarantee it’s not because they wanted to. Who wouldn’t eat if they actually could? As if we all aren’t stressed out enough, let’s also starve ourselves? Like I said before, this may be one of those “diets” that works for a little bit, our bodies are resilient and will fight to stay alive. This doesn’t mean we should make it fight! This is where we will eventually see weight fluctuations and that “safety” weight I was talking about. Intermittent fasting artificially makes us feel like we have lost weight and are slimmer because duh we are STARVING ourselves, of course our bodies will feel lighter.
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4. FOLLOWING DIET RULES & TRENDS
Do you find yourself always trying out the new trend? Did some social media influencer “influence “ you to only eat 1200 calories a day? Go vegan? or keto? or paleo? or carnivore? or whatever else trend/ diet is out there. I’ve lost track at this point. The yo-yo dieting is probably one of the most stressful things we can do to our bodies. We wonder why our bodies revolt after going on some strict diet that eliminates a whole food group!
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Why are we stressing out our already stressed out bodies? What it all comes down to is listen to your body! Give it what it needs, nourishment and stress relief.

6 Vital Signs for Women

Do you think it’s normal that you’re freezing cold all the time? Has your doctor commended you for your low pulse rate? Do you have acne and your hair seems to be getting thinner? Do you get raging PMS and menstrual cramps? Are you pooping everyday or all day long? How’s your energy? Are you reaching for that afternoon cup of coffee? Are you waking up throughout the night? Are you urinating all day long?
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I am sure at some point someone told you these symptoms are normal. I’m here to tell you that they certainly are NOT normal.
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Here are the 6 vital signs I think are imperative for women, all of which I use as indicators of slow metabolic rate, mineral deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and poor gut health.
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✖️Pulse: 75-90 beats per minute at rest and should not rise after eating. A good indicator of food sensitivities is if you heart begins to race and your pulse goes up by 10+ after eating.
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✖️Temperature: 97.8 F when waking and 98.6 F mid-day (with a rise in temperature when ovulating). Our hands and feet should be warm all day and we should be comfortable.
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✖️Period + Sex Drive: A healthy cycle is 28-32 days long, a 3-5 day period (not too heavy, not too light), a pink/red color, minimal mood swings and pms, ovulating every month, no pain, cramping or sore breasts, and a robust sex drive.
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✖️Hair, Skin, + Nails: Hair should be shiny, full and smooth (not dry or greasy), skin should look healthy and clear, and nails should be strong.
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✖️Bowel Movements + Urination: we should be having bowel movements at least once a day, three max. They should be easy to pass and a perfect bristol #3. Undigested food, loose or hard to pass bowel movements, excessive gas and funky colors are not normal. We should be urinating 5 times a day (not 10) while still drinking 1/2 our body weight in oz of water.
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✖️Energy + Mood: we should be energized all day and not need a stimulant to keep us awake, we should be sleeping 7-8 hours a night without interruptions (not 5 or 10 hours), and we should feel happy and have a zest for life!
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Start paying attention to these 6 vital signs. When they are functioning optimally it is a clear sign of a healthy, balanced, nourished body.

10 Ways To Get Your Hormones In Check Naturally

Hormones got you down? Here are some basics to getting your hormones out of wack and back on track! (I love a good rhyme)

Every body is individual and some hormone imbalances go much deeper but this is a good start!

1. SUPPORT YOUR LIVER & DETOX PATHWAYS, this is absolutely critical for hormone balancing. Our livers are responsible for regulating sex hormones, thyroid hormones, and adrenal hormones. It removes excess hormones from the body, if the liver is not able to do this physical and emotional symptoms will arise. Make sure you are sweating everyday and having at least one bowel movement, while also doing other liver detox methods. NO I am not talking about those fad juice cleanses or other “detoxes” on the market, those will only cause more harm than good.

2. BALANCE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR! When we talk about balanced hormones we are talking about safety. Our body wants to feel safe and we can do that by not making our bodies guess when it will be having its next meal. Eat at the same times everyday and always combine protein and carb together, never consume alone!

3. EAT YOUR CARBS! Now that we know how important the liver is for regulating hormones, guess what! The liver runs on glucose and what do carbs do? They turn into glucose to be used as fuel by our body! Ditch the low carb diet, it’s not doing you any favors.

4. EAT & MOVE ACCORDING TO YOUR CYCLE! Our hormones fluctuate during the month and depending on what hormone is more dominant will determine how we feel, how much we should be eating and how we should move. There is a reason you could eat an army and run a marathon some days and others you’d rather Netflix and chill. It’s a matter of listening, understanding and embracing it.

5. GET YO’ MINERALS IN CHECK! Girlfriend, hormones require A LOT of nutrients and minerals to function. If you are mineral deficient your metabolism will suffer and you will only be running at a solid 50%. A mineral balancing protocol is KEY to getting those hormones in check. This is why I require all my clients to get a HTMA lab, it’s crucial to see what we are working with on a cellular level.

6. DON’T OVER-EXERCISE & STOP UNDER-EATING! Proper fuel and rest is absolutely critical before, during and after a workout and no I am not talking active rest days or protein shakes or any of that nonsense. I am talking real nourishing food and days of complete rest and relaxation without the guilt.

7. LIGHT THERAPY, get your booty outside or start incorporating red light therapy if you can’t get outside. Getting a proper amount of light everyday helps to build hormones.

8. ELIMINATE TOXINS IN YOUR LIFE, if there is one thing you can do for your hormones especially if you are estrogen dominant do this! Ditch the chemical filled cosmetics, skincare, plastics, cleaning products etc… These are all endocrine disruptors!

9. GET YOUR STRESS LEVEL UNDER CONTROL, this speaks for itself! A stressed out, unsafe body gives 2 shits about producing hormones. Reproduction is one of the first things to go out the window if you are stressed out.

10. SLEEP 8 HOURS A NIGHT & GET TO BED BY 10PM! Yup, call me a party pooper. Girl, get your ass in bed by 10pm, it’s magical! Our cortisol starts to spike again around 11pm because darkness is stressful, by getting to bed prior to this spike we will get deeper sleep. Deep sleep = happy hormones and recovery.

I know, UGH! Overwhelming huh? Nobody said getting your hormones in check was going to be easy but it is possible! You got this! I’m here for you!

What If I Told You Dairy Is The Perfect Food?

I know. I know. This goes against everything you have ever been told. When did we start to lose sight of what REAL FOOD means? At some point the world starting thinking nut milks, vegan soy alternatives, and processed vegan cheese was healthy. Let’s take a quick look at a popular diary-free milk alternative, Nut Pods. Ingredients: water, coconut cream, almonds, acacia gum, dipotassium phosphate, sunflower lecithin, sea salt, gellan gum.

What the F is all that? A whole lot of chemical additives and processed junk that don’t do your body and your gut any favors. I think we can all agree this is NOT real food. Nut milks contain plant estrogens, preservatives, gut irritating gums and chemical additives.

HARD PASS.

Now lets’ look at a 100% grass-fed organic whole milk, what are the ingredients? Organic Whole Milk. Yup, that’s it. Just one simple REAL food ingredient. We have been consuming dairy from animals for decades. If we want to talk about ancestral eating why is dairy being cut from the equation? Let’s take a look at some of the many benefits of consuming dairy:

It’s one of the only ways we can get enough bio-available calcium (trust me I have seen many HTMA tests that tell me the majority of us are deficient as hell)

Contains magnesium, potassium, selenium, vitamins A,D,E,K

Looking for one food that contains the perfect macro ratio of protein, fat and carbs (sugar) you found it!

It is metabolically perfect and helps to lower body fat

It improves bone density and is a blood sugar regulator

It’s even been shown to prevent breast cancer and colon cancer

It also improves the absorption of calcium, Vitamin A and B12

But Laura, it’s inflammatory! Wrong, it’s only as inflammatory as your gut is! One of the main reasons dairy has a bad rep is because the majority of the population is dealing with underlying imbalances such as poor gut function or chronic stress. The dairy is not the problem, the underlying cause is. Not all dairy is created equal. The key is QUALITY when it comes to dairy. Best options are grass-fed raw milk and cheese or organic grass-fed non homogenized.

I went through the nut milk and vegan cheese phase when I too thought it was “bad” for me. When I switched back to eating quality organic grass-fed dairy I can’t even tell you what a difference it made to keep my blood sugar in balance and even helped with weight control! For the longest time I couldn’t handle coffee but once I started adding in whole milk I am able to drink it again without issues. I even eat a few slices of cheese as a pre-workout 😜 Looking for the perfect post workout snack? Try some chocolate milk for recovery! Thank me later.

Who else made the switch from those nut “milks” back to dairy and noticed a huge difference? Are you scared to start incorporating dairy back into your diet?