Transcript
Speaker: hey, and welcome back to this week's episode of the podcast. Today, i wanted to talk to you about a conversation that I had with a client this past week. We have been working together for a couple of months now, And she was asking me a question that I get often from clients, which is when I see this, what what does that mean? What do I do? And she was kind of starting to major in the minors when it came to symptoms. And as we were talking, i said, really, when it comes down to it, before you jump into trying to figure out what these symptoms mean, there's a list of things that you need to ask yourself every single time before you jump to a more nuanced answer. So wanna talk about what that list is.
Speaker: As I've been working with clients over the last few years, I've really narrowed it down to about six things that really need to be checked when you notice a sign or a symptom. And before we jump into that list, i want to give you a little bit of my reasoning behind that. So if you've been listening to this podcast for any amount of time, you have heard me talk about metabolic markers. If you haven't, very basically metabolic markers are physical manifestations of what your metabolism is doing at that moment in time. They are real-time feedback into how your body is responding to everyday stressors and everyday life.
Speaker: Now these metabolic markers are things like your temperature, your mood, your sleep, your digestion, your libido, your cycle, etc. There are so many different signals that our body gives us to let us know that it needs something. And a question that I get very often from clients, online, from course students, whoever it might be is okay, when my body does this, right, maybe it's veering a little bit away from what an ideal version of what that metabolic marker should be,
Speaker: The question is, what does it mean and what do I do? And that's led me to this list. And the reason why I think that this list is really important is because so often we can get caught up symptom chasing. We can get caught up trying to figure out what does this tiny little symptom mean and how do I treat this one little thing instead of taking a step back and looking at the big picture. Because most of the time, and this isn't all of the time, right? I'm going to Put a little asterisk here because there is nuance to this. So don't hear what I'm not saying. But most of the time, if we can take a step back and look at these foundations and ask these foundational questions before we jump to a more nuanced approach, you will be able to find healing. You will be able to find freedom in whatever thing that you are looking for if you can get these six things down. They are not hard. They are foundational, but they are so simple that I think people forget about them. I think people forget how impactful they can be. And then we just get caught in this loop of chasing symptoms and then...
Speaker: and then chasing those symptoms creates a stress response and then stress is really addictive and that's something that I think a lot of people don't realize when you are stuck in a stress cycle it is freaking addicting and unless you can step out of it unless you can break that cycle you are going to be caught in an endless loop and not even realize it because it can feel really good. It gives you kind of a dopamine rush when you are constantly chasing answers. And so if you're coming to me, if you're coming to my podcast and you're trying to find an answer to one specific thing, this probably isn't the place for you. But if you are here and you are ready to take radical responsibility for your life, welcome, because that's what you're going to do and that's what you're gonna learn. And so with this list that I'm gonna give you today, these are the things that I want you to keep in mind
Speaker: any time you notice any kind of shift in your metabolic markers. So let's say that maybe your digestion starts to get a little bit off, right? I'll give this just as an arbitrary example. Let's say your digestion is not exactly what you would want it to be. Before you jump to spending thousands of dollars on testing, before you jump to the next supplement or the next protocol or the next trend on TikTok, I want you to ask yourself these questions. Okay.
Speaker: Question number one, have I eaten enough today? Better yet, have I been eating enough in general? This is one major question that we really forget can make a massive impact.
Speaker: Have I eaten enough today or have i been eating enough regularly? And again, this is not just digestion. Digestion was just an arbitrary example. This could be for anything. Is your mood off? Are your temperatures lower? Have you not been sleeping super well? Do you feel a little bit more irritable? Do you feel a little more anxious? Any kind of, I would say,
Speaker: out of the ordinary symptom, maybe even a quote unquote negative symptom, which between you and me, i don't believe in negative symptoms. I believe that every symptom is your body communicating and it's our job to learn what it's saying, but that's a whole other podcast.
Speaker: But it doesn't matter. Whatever your body is asking for, we want to start by asking these questions. So again, number one, have I eaten enough today? Number two, have I had a good balance of protein, carbs, and carbs is a big one. Are you getting enough carbs?
Speaker: So have I had a good balance of protein, carbs and fats? And the reason why I put so much emphasis on carbs is because carbs are your cells preferred source of fuel. Your body requires fuel, your cells require energy in order to produce energy. And one major unit of energy is calories, is carbohydrates. Carbs are what your cells are able to take the sugar from carbs and turn it into ATP.
Speaker: Every single system of your body requires ATP. And if you see a shift in any system, whether it's again, mood, sleep, libido, your hair, skin and nails, whatever it is,
Speaker: You need to ask yourself, am I getting enough freaking carbs? Yes. Carbs need to be balanced with protein and fats. Okay. I go into detail into how to do this and how to specifically tailor this for yourself in my course. You can find my course below. it is always linked in my podcast podcast listeners get 10% off if you haven't seen that in the show notes, but I teach you how to build a plate that is appropriate for you based on your biomarkers. in the course but if you are noticing a shift in any of your biomarkers this is one of the top questions that you need to ask have i had a good balance of protein carbs and fats you might need to make some adjustments if you're noticing some things and there's maybe some trial and error That's going to happen. And this is where I see a lot of people get really frustrated because we live in a culture that wants quick fixes. We want it to be easy. We want it to come fast. And if we don't see changes fast, we just throw our hands up and say, oh it's not working. Well,
Speaker: Maybe it is working. You're just not putting in enough time to figure out what's best for your body in this season. And that's something that needs to be asked. Have I gotten a good balance that is appropriate for me? Not based on what the internet is telling me, not based on what that next big doctor on the television is saying. But based on my specific metabolic markers, is my body responding appropriately to the protein, carbs, and fats that I am giving it? And do I need to make an adjustment on those macros?
Speaker: The next thing that you need to ask yourself is, have I gotten enough sleep? Am I sleeping deeply? Am I getting good quality sleep? What does my bedtime routine look like? How do I feel when I wake up?
Speaker: Look at these things first. We forget how important sleep is, but when you take a step back, sleep is when your body is doing the work of actively repairing. Your body is not focusing on repairing during the day. It's got other systems to keep going during the daytime. It needs to be functioning in other ways, keeping other things going during the daytime. But at nighttime, when our body shifts into a parasympathetic state of nervous system function, that is your rest and repair state. If you're not getting good quality sleep, that should be addressed. So if you're noticing a shift in any of your metabolic markers, this is something to ask. This is something that I see a lot with moms, specifically moms with breastfeeding infants. you're probably up a lot during the night so that might be something to look at am i sleeping well am i waking up and staying up a long time with baby what needs to be true in order for me to get more quality sleep do i need to go to sleep earlier am i staying up late scrolling on my phone am i on my phone while i'm nursing my baby to sleep because that cortisol impacts the baby's sleep rhythm
Speaker: There's a lot of questions that you could be asking you're noticing a shift in your metabolic markers, if you're noticing any random symptoms. Have I gotten enough sleep?
Speaker: This should be number one before you jump into trying to solve for maybe a more dramatic issue. The next thing, and this is number four, that you should ask yourself if you notice a shift in your metabolic markers, if you notice symptoms that don't really make sense to you and you really wanna get to the bottom of it, you need to ask yourself, am I getting enough sunshine?
Speaker: This is huge. We are chronically indoors. And if you are not getting enough sunshine, again, your cells are not getting enough energy. So I've already said food is one source of energy, but sun is another source of energy. And the sun is what tells your body when to turn on certain systems, right?
Speaker: Not every system is functioning at the same time. We just talked about that when we talked about sleep. What tells these systems to turn on and when to work? The sun. If you are not spending enough time in the sunshine and you feel off for whatever reason, get your butt outside.
Speaker: Go outside. Try it and see how you feel. Get your eyes on the morning sunshine. Get your eyes on the evening sunshine. Go outside during the day. so Try and spend more time outside than inside. i promise you, i promise you, that getting more time outside will dramatically improve so many issues, quote unquote problems that you could be experiencing. Go outside.
Speaker: The next question that you wanna ask yourself when you notice maybe some shifts in your body and maybe you have unexplained symptoms, would be, am I moving my body well?
Speaker: And the word choice here is intentional. When I say, am I moving my body well? I'm meaning, am I getting enough daily movement during the day or am I sitting most of the day, right? I'm not talking about getting up and just working out for an hour every day and then sitting the rest of the day. I'm talking, are you generally active throughout the day? Are you moving your body and living a primarily active lifestyle? Are you taking time to intentionally move your body, right? Are you listening to the kind of movement that your body's asking for? Does your body need more low intensity movement right now? Does your body need some strength training? Do you need to build strength? Does your body need more stability?
Speaker: Are you moving your body well for what your body needs in this season. This is something that needs to be asked again before you jump to trying to solve a certain symptom or figure out what's going on. You need to look at these foundational things before you freak the heck out.
Speaker: And then the last thing that you need to ask and the last thing that you really need to focus on, and this is one that I don't think people understand just how important it is,
Speaker: But then when they do it and they see the immediate change in their metabolic markers and they see the improvements from this one simple thing, you're like, oh, well, I'm an idiot.
Speaker: I should have been doing this for a long time. And that is, have I been getting minimum 4,500 milligrams of potassium a day, or have I been doing that recently and consistently?
Speaker: And the reason for this is because potassium is one of your primary macrominerals that is needed for all cellular processes. Potassium is what makes your cells sensitive to thyroid hormone. Your thyroid is what drives metabolism. Metabolism is what supplies ATP to all of your cells and all of your systems.
Speaker: That alone should be reason enough to make sure you're getting enough frigging potassium. But other things that potassium does is it nourishes your adrenal glands. It keeps your adrenal glands functioning appropriately. It modulates blood pressure. It modulates insulin and insulin resistance. If you're struggling with blood sugar, if you're struggling with blood pressure, if you're struggling with thyroid, if you're struggling with With digestion, potassium is needed to make digestive juices. You can't make bile salts without potassium. You can't make stomach acid without potassium. If you are not getting enough potassium, you are going to have a lot of problems. And so before you jump to, oh my body is failing me and there's some kind of major issue and I need to get on all of these expensive supplements,
Speaker: Frick, your body won't even absorb all of those fancy supplements you're on if you're not getting enough freaking potassium. You have to be getting enough potassium in order to even absorb micronutrients. Again, why? Because you need potassium in order to make stomach acid. You need it to be able to absorb and assimilate nutrients.
Speaker: If you are not getting enough potassium, you're not going to feel good, period. So just to recap, the six questions that you want to ask yourself when you notice that you are feeling off and any way that could be emotionally, physically, mentally, whatever it is.
Speaker: Maybe you just notice a shift in your metabolic markers away from where we want to see them. Ask yourself these six questions first. Have I eaten enough today? Have I had a good balance of protein, carbs, and fats?
Speaker: Have I been getting enough sleep? Am I getting enough sunshine? Am I moving my body well? And have I been getting enough freaking potassium, 4,500 milligrams a day minimum Ask yourself these questions before you jump to any more nuanced explanations of how you feel. Before you spiral or try to problem solve, start with these foundations first.
Speaker: I would not recommend moving on. That means trying to dive deeper, maybe get more testing, which testing is wonderful. It can be very beneficial. I'm in a whole program right now so that I can offer testing to people in the future. I'm not against testing, but as a practitioner, i won't offer testing to people until we've laid these foundations first because testing won't be accurate unless these foundations are laid. So before you jump to testing, before you jump to getting on specialized protocols, which again, have a time and place, ask yourself these questions first.
Speaker: Only after you have laid these foundations would I suggest moving on and digging deeper into maybe a root issue, maybe getting more testing. um Great testing that you can have done is an HGMA or a GI map, a Dutch panel, even a blood panel can be beneficial in the right context with the right practitioner. Me personally, i did not run any tests on myself until I had been implementing these things consistently for years, years, because when you have been operating in a sub metabolic state for a very long time, it takes time for your body to move out of that stress and into a more healing realm. And so after I'd been laying these foundations for a few years, that's when I said, okay, I really want to get some testing done. I want to what my minerals are like. And that's when I moved on to seeking some testing to just get a little bit more targeted approach.
Speaker: I would never recommend that until you have asked yourself these questions. And I would never jump to a dramatic answer to maybe... what you're feeling before you have laid these foundations first because nine times out of ten if you're feeling off maybe you're feeling anxious maybe you're not sleeping maybe you're having a really hard time with your kids maybe you're really emotionally volatile with your kids whatever it may be there might not be
Speaker: anything wrong with you, you might just need to eat more. You might just need more protein, carbs, and fats in general. You might need more sleep. You might need more sunshine. You might need to move your body a little bit better, and you might just need some more freaking potassium. So I hope you found today's episode, this solo episode without a podcast guest today, but I hope you found this helpful. I found that this list, these questions to ask yourself whenever you notice just something off really is the best starting point because it takes away the analysis paralysis. You can take a step back and observe your body objectively without assigning meaning to anything that you're doing. Meaning when you notice a symptom,
Speaker: not automatically jumping to, oh I'm doing something wrong. Well, you might not be doing anything wrong. Your body just might need a little bit more. Maybe it's lacking support in a certain area. Before you start harping on yourself, before you start spiraling, take a step back and objectively observe the data. And this is something that I'll leave you with because I talk about this with my clients ad nauseum, but we need to be able to objectively observe what our body is telling us without assigning meaning. Just because your temperatures are a little bit lower, just because maybe your digestion's a little off, just because you're not sleeping as well, that doesn't necessarily mean you're doing anything wrong. You're probably doing most everything right.
Speaker: It might just mean your body needs a little bit more support in this season for whatever reason. And it's your job to get curious about that. So take a step back and ask yourself the six questions we covered today.
Speaker: Once you have done that, if you've been doing that for a while and you're still struggling with things, then yeah, let's let's ask some more nuanced, some more detailed questions. But start with these things first. And I promise that they're going to bring more peace to your life and be a helpful guide along your healing journey.
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Speaker: Thank you so much again for listening and we'll see you next week.
