Women's hormones, gut + metabolism

What’s Your Food Rule Story?

From day one my relationship with food was fucked.

I remember being 10 and my grandmother eating a box of peeps, telling me they are good for you because they don’t have any fat and that fat is bad for you. There began my journey into low fat dieting.

I remember in middle school my mother doing all those slim fast shakes and only allowing herself to eat wheat thins or pretzels if she needed to.

I remember when I was a teenager and the biggest thing to hit the news was that Oprah had lost weight. During all of her interviews she said all she did was “not eat past 7pm. Not even a grape.” – Yes, I literally remember hearing these exact words. There began my journey of always thinking I would get fat if I ate a grape past 7pm.

Then in my early 20s, YouTube bikini competitor influencers were the hot new thing. I started watching videos religiously and began inheriting food rules- always work out fasted, have coffee on an empty stomach for weight loss, always have nut milks because they are lower calorie, sugar is a no, sugar free sweeteners are better, avoid fat at all costs and the biggest one…

Never enjoy food or allow yourself to eat unless you earned it at the gym.

THIS.

This is a constant mind fuck that we have all been exposed to at a young age. At this point we are so damn confused about food it’s honestly quite sad.

We have such anxiety and stress around food no wonder why are guts are fucked and our hormones are wack.

I can talk about all the “sciencey” things and how food works with our biology but at the end of the day, its all about LIVING and reducing stress.

At what point do we just live? I mean truly live.

I have come to realize the happier a person is in their life, the easier it is to heal.

Nutrition doesn’t need to be hard. At the end of the day it’s about nourishing your cells, getting in the most nutrients possible so you can live a happy, fulfilling, symptom-free life, one of joy and excitement, every damn day.

Eat real food. Eat like your great grandmother ate. It’s that simple.

And fuck the rest.

Oh and incase you were wondering all the above rules are bullshit and do not work with our biology. ✌🏼

I Don’t Know Who Needs To Hear This But…

What are we doing… Really tho. What the F are we doing.

How many times have you felt guilty for having the white rice, the potatoes, or the bun?

I will never forget the time when I was deep into my orthorexia. I went to chipotle for lunch and they put white rice in my bowl instead of lettuce (I would have even felt “safer” with the brown rice). I was starving so I ate it, the guilt that ensued for the rest of the day was unbearable and because I had the white rice I knew I needed restrict at dinner to make up for it. At this time in my journey, the biggest thing to hit social media was that all white foods were evil including white rice and that brown rice was so much healthier for you. Bullshit.

Why are we so carb phobic that we now replace nutrient-dense carb sources with alternatives that are far less superior and anti-metabolic leading to mineral deficiencies and carb intolerance?

How did we get so lost as a society that we think REAL FOOD, ones that have been consumed for centuries are all of a sudden the bad guys?

Why are we so afraid of sugar that we are replacing real cane sugar found in nature with zero calorie, sugar free, artificial sweeteners that our bodies don’t recognize as food or energy and are destroying our guts?

We are told dairy is terrible and it’s the root of all our problems, replacing it with nut alternatives that are creating oxidative stress and irritating our guts.

What is all this? Marketing, propaganda, and diet culture at its finest.

I mean at what point will we stop listening to this bullshit and start enjoying food again?

I can guarantee you that a person that has never followed these diet rules and just truly enjoys food (all the foods) is a hell of a lot healthier inside and out than someone thats stressin over eating the rice or the french fry.

Oh and incase you were wondering. White rice is the real MVP. It’s easier to digest and trust me, you will be a much happier human adding it back into your life.

What Social Media Tells You to Do to Be Healthy

I’ve been there.

I fell for each and every one of these at some point in my health journey. I tried them all only to be left more depleted, more confused than ever, and sicker than before.

“I need to be eating more vegetables and less carbs”

“I should only eat red meat once a week”

“I better get rid of dairy, it’s causing my acne”

“I gotta get in a HIIT workout or else I didn’t work out hard enough”

“I’m still hungry but it’s past 7pm, I can’t eat”

“I ate so much tonight, but it’s okay i’m fasting in the morning”

Vegan propaganda, marketing, social media and diet culture has done a great job at making us all so confused about what is right for our bodies but from a biological standpoint, this is what our bodies need to thrive. This is what our bodies need to have healthy hormones, thyroids, adrenals, and menstrual cycles.

Nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated and confusing. Eat an abundance of real food without restriction, choose superior foods that will give you an abundance of energy and are loaded with nutrients and honor your bodies needs and signals.

How many of these fads have you fallen for?

Are Some of Your Symptoms Related to Your Anxiety Around Food?

“I can’t eat the dessert unless I go for a run”

“I earned this wine!”

“I eat ‘clean’ most of the time”

“Too many calories!”

“I’ll pass on the rice + potatoes, too many carbs! But I can have cauliflower!”

“I should really eat more vegetables”

“It’s the weekend, I can have a cheat meal”

“Good thing I am working out tomorrow to burn all this off”

You start learning more about nutrition + your thoughts turn into…

“God knows what oil that was cooked in, I can’t eat it!”

“I don’t trust that meat, who knows the quality and where it came from”

“I can’t eat the sugar, it’s so bad and will cause diabetes and insulin resistance”

No matter what end of the spectrum you are on, these thoughts are FUCKED. And quite honestly, It is hard being a woman.

It is so sad that diet culture + propaganda makes us feel so much guilt, shame, + confusion around food.

I remember living in Chicago 5 years ago + the only way I would allow myself to eat out at a restaurant was if I walked at least 3 miles there + back. I remember all the times I stayed home rather than going out with friends because I had anxiety around going out to dinner at an “unhealthy” restaurant. I remember only having a few restaurants to choose from because they had a “safe, healthy option” on the menu.

Whether you are eating to earn your food or being hyper aware of everything that goes in your mouth, it’s not the food that is unhealthy, it’s these thoughts that are. These thoughts are what causes stress, these thoughts are what causes physical symptoms from hormonal imbalances to digestive distress.

Deep healing only happens once we let go of these thought patterns and start enjoying food for what it is- fuel and energy so we can live our happiest most fulfilling lives. If you don’t have the energy + your stressed out about your food all the time you can’t truly expect to heal.

Once I found food freedom, became less obsessive about every damn thing I put in my mouth + started to understand my body better that is when I found true happiness in all aspects of my life + began to heal on a deeper level.

Do you think some of your symptoms are related to your anxiety around food?

Could Your Overburdened Liver Be Causing a Hormonal Sh*tstorm?

I know what you’re thinking. What the heck does the liver have to do with hormones? Well, a whole lot actually!

⫸ Do you wake up between the hours of 2-3 pm? or have trouble sleeping?
⫸ Do you deal with skin issues like acne, eczema or psoriasis?
⫸ Do you have allergies?
⫸ Do you have stubborn belly fat that won’t seem to go away no matter what you do?
⫸ Are your breasts sore and painful or do you have rough periods?
⫸ Do you find yourself irritated and/or angry?
⫸ Do you have any menstrual symptoms or disorders like PMS, PCOS or endometriosis?

Girlfriend. If you said yes to any of the above you have got to start supporting that liver!

The liver is our main detox organ. It filters all the toxins and waste from our body and gets them out to keep us safe.

So what does the liver have to do with hormones?

⫸ The liver helps us detox excess hormones, in particular estrogen. If it does not get detoxified from the body it will build up and be reabsorbed into the body causing a major hormonal imbalance known as estrogen dominance. This leads to PMS, moodiness, breast tenderness, PCOS, endometriosis, bloating, fatigue, low libido, headaches/migraines, and cramping.

⫸ The liver is everything when it comes to thyroid health. T4 gets converted to the active T3 in the liver. Your thyroid is the main metabolic gland and what does the metabolism do? Literally every process in the body. If your thyroid is F’d you will started experiencing cold hands and feet, irritability, constipation, infertility, anxiety, restlessness, acne, aging, etc…

How does the liver get sluggish?

First things first. The liver needs tons of energy and nutrients to do its job. The liver is going to be F’d if we are not providing our body with proper nutrients, have poor digestion and are also overburdening it with things like:

⫸ chemical filled makeup and skincare
⫸ toxic cleaning products
⫸ chemical laden tap water
⫸ plastic water bottles, food containers, etc…
⫸ too much alcohol
⫸ candles and perfumes
⫸ pharmaceuticals including birth control
⫸ pesticide covered food and conventional meats

How can you support the liver with real food? No fad diet or cleanse here..

⫸ mineral and vitamin rich foods like beef liver, egg yolks, saturated fats, dairy and grass-fed beef
⫸ get enough protein everyday
⫸ raw carrots
⫸ chlorophyll
⫸ castor oil packs
⫸ coffee enemas
⫸ epsom salt baths
⫸ sleep before 10pm
⫸ dry brushing
⫸ vitamin C
⫸ Remember those gelatin gummies I posted about the other day? Guess what! Gelatin contains glycine which is super liver supporting.
⫸ Last but not least provide your liver with enough carbohydrates (glucose) to do its job! Girl, ditch the idea that sugar and carbs are bad- your liver depends on them. Eat the fruit and root veggies!