In today’s episode re-release from 2021, Dr. Lisa and Dr. Toni discuss habits and Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies framework behind why you keep or don’t keep habits. If you’ve picked up some bad habits or have let go of some healthy habits during the pandemic, you’ll want to listen in to find out why and how to start changing your habits.
In this episode, we cover:
Why do you have certain habits
What can you do to interrupt automatic habits and behaviours
Why you keep habits or don’t, described by the Four Tendencies, as outlined in the book Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
Consider the following Habit Hacks:
Approach your habits and behaviours with self-love, compassion and forgiveness, as we discussed in Episode 55
Be intentional and recognize your autopilot behaviours
Remember the why
Commit and schedule it in your calendar
Pair it with something else – making your own lemon water while making kids’ breakfast
Break it up into bite-sized chunks
Be accountable – text a friend or post on social media, join online community
Monitor progress – track in calendar or journal with gold stars or check marks, post on social media (see Episode 11 to learn more about using a bullet journal)
Avoid “all or nothing” thinking – you can start over anytime
Resources:
Four Tendencies quiz by Gretchen Rubin: https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/
The Alcohol Experiment and This Naked Mind Podcast: https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/the-alcohol-experiment-registration
This Week’s Mama Must Have:
Dr. Lisa is a big fan of Australian Carob Co carob chips to keep her chocolate intake in check.
Dr. Toni loves Smart Sweets gummy bears and peach rings for a sugar free treat.
What’s Happening?
Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing info session for expecting parents looking to trust their instincts and their body during labour and birth is happening again in 2023. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register
Dr. Lisa’s Wild Collective in 2023: get on the waitlist: wildcollectivetoronto.com
Dr. Lisa and Dr. Toni are together again! Listen in to find out what challenges and surprises they dealt with/had in 2022; books/podcasts they enjoyed; areas in their life that could have used more attention; what made them happiest; and who was their rock during the ups and downs of 2022.
Did you know that fever is an evolutionary response that humans (and other animals) need to mobilize the immune system and fight off infection effectively? And that not all fevers are bad and do not reflect how severe an illness is? Listen in as Dr. Toni dispels the common myths about fever and find out how to support this natural process in your kids and yourself to recover effectively.
In this episode, we cover:
What is a fever and how to measure it
The most common myths about fevers, such as:
All fevers are bad and must be treated with medication
Fevers above 40oC or 104oF are dangerous and can cause brain damage
Seizures are often caused by fever and can harm your child
Fevers should come down to normal when treated with medication and once it comes down, it should stay down
Why you might want to think twice before giving your kids medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen
What you can do to make your child more comfortable when they have a fever before considering medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen
Dr. Toni is a big fan of having several homeopathic remedies on hand at home to use when her and her family are having symptoms of viral infection like fever, especially aconite, ferrum phosphoricum and belladonna, as well as herbal teas like elderberry, echinacea, yarrow and peppermint.
What’s Else is Happening?
Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing session for expecting parents looking to decrease fear and anxiety to support their natural instincts around labour and birth is next month. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register
Join Dr. Lisa’s new Facebook group Wild Woman Adventures Toronto if you want to get out in nature, connect with other women and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Activities include: sunrise/sunset SUP, tree-top trekking, a new moon workshop and more!
We’d love you to subscribe, leave us a review and a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this episode.
You can also support us by visiting our Patreon page.
Please tell your perimenopausal mama friends about us, too!
Stay safe and healthy everyone!
Disclaimer:The information provided is not meant to replace treatment with a licensed health care practitioner. It is for informational purposes only. Consult with a Naturopathic Doctor or other licensed health care professional to determine which treatments are safe for you.
In this episode, Dr. Lisa discusses how to ditch food guilt and feel your best by following intuitive eating principles with certified nutritional practitioners Carly Rodness and Laila Peterson-Tannis. It’s tiring reading all of the social media headlines that tell you the way you’re currently eating isn’t optimal.We teach our children to listen to their bodies and eat the foods that serve them and there is even more power in doing it yourself!
Carly Rodness and Laila Peterson-Tannis are certified Nutritional Practitioners and the owners of ebb & flo nutrition, who can help you feel at peace with your body and food. Instead of dieting, they guide their clients through the Principles of Intuitive Eating and gentle nutrition to help women reconnect with their body, all while ditching dieting and food guilt once and for all.
In today’s episode, we cover:
Why it’s important to break up with diet culture and give yourself permission to eat whatever your body wants to eat
The misconceptions around intuitive eating
The importance of self-awareness and assessing your individual body’s response to different foods
Why intuitive eating isn’t for everyone and there is still a place for different therapeutic diets
How to question and unlearn the food rules and dogma that you take on
The connection between your emotions and how your body can digest your food
The importance of recognizing that you will naturally expand after eating
How labeling certain foods as “bad” and restricting processed food is involved in binge behaviour
How restricting certain foods can maintain that food’s power over you
What to expect when you start to follow intuitive eating principles
You can connect with Carly and Laila on Instagram or by booking a free consultation to find out more about their 12 week group program to work through your relationship with food, ditch dieting once and for all and eat without any guilt.
Today’s Mama Must-Have:
Dr. Lisa is a big fan of using the 5 minute smiling meditation on Insight Timer in the evening to release tension from the day.
Carly and Laila love finding a community of supportive mama friends who are aligned with their beliefs.
What’s Else is Happening?
Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing session for expecting parents looking to decrease fear and anxiety to support their natural instincts around labour and birth is next month. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register
Join Dr. Lisa’s new Facebook group Wild Woman Adventures Toronto if you want to get out in nature, connect with other women and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Activities include: sunrise/sunset SUP, tree-top trekking, a new moon workshop and more!
We’d love you to subscribe, leave us a review and a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this episode.
You can also support us by visiting our Patreon page.
Please tell your perimenopausal mama friends about us, too!
Stay safe and healthy everyone!
Disclaimer:The information provided is not meant to replace treatment with a licensed health care practitioner. It is for informational purposes only. Consult with a Naturopathic Doctor or other licensed health care professional to determine which treatments are safe for you.
In this re-released episode from October 2021, Dr. Lisa and Dr. Toni are discussing everything you need to know about vitamin D. Vitamin D isn’t just needed for bone health – it is crucial for your immune health. Also, could low vitamin D be the cause of your aches, pains and low mood?
Vitamin D deficiency is still underdiagnosed, under prevented and under treated in between 60-90% of the worldwide population. In Canada 59% of population are vitamin D deficient (below 75 nmol/L).
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is best absorbed as a supplement when taken with food.
What increases your risk of experiencing vitamin D deficiency?
Dark skin
Obesity
Older age
Malabsorption
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (due to malabsorption and inflammation)
Sunlight overprotection and/or deprivation
Chronic use of prednisone and other anti-inflammatory steroid derivatives, anticonvulsant medications (due to upregulation of liver detoxification, promoting excretion of vitamin D and metabolites)
Why should you care about vitamin D?
Vitamin D plays many roles in the body! It’s not just for bone density, which can decrease as estrogen decreases in perimenopause and menopause.
Vitamin D is known as a pro-hormonesynthesized in the skin and activated in the liver and kidneys. Cholesterol is its precursor.
Why do you need vitamin D in your body?
Reduces cellular growth
Improves cell differentiation
Regulates and controls genes
Reduces inflammation, risk of cancer, autoimmunity
Reduces muscle aches/pain, fibromyalgia
Improves mood (and energy)
Enhances bone health
“The most common manifestations of vitamin D deficiency in adults is:
Depression
Infection
Chronic Pain”
Alex Vasquez (vitamin D monograph available at academia.edu)
Low vitamin D status or deficiency can manifest as:
Bone and muscle pain
Fatigue
Depression
Infections/dysbiosis
Frequent falls and cognitive impairment
Statin intolerance and myalgia
Preterm birth
How does vitamin D support your vagina?
Research shows that vitamin D supports the proliferation of vaginal epithelium in postmenopausal vaginal atrophy. After using a suppository with 1000IU vitamin D over 8 weeks, vaginal pH decreased, while vaginal dryness and pain significantly reduced.
You can think about your skin and mucous membranes (including epithelial cells and immune cells) are like bricks in a wall, with tight junction proteins acting like mortar and weather proofing or waterproofing provided by antimicrobial peptides, as well as lysozyme and secretory IgA, on surfaces.
Mucous membranes are present in your mouth, digestive tract, genitourinary tract and respiratory tract. Strengthening your exterior barrier defenses prevents infection.
Research shows that people with low vitamin D levels are 27-55% more likely to get an upper respiratory tract infection. Higher doses of vitamin D are more protective, improves lung function and decreases inflammation.
Synergistic nutrients for vitamin D include:
Magnesium – cofactor in the synthesis of vitamin D from both exposure to sunlight and dietary sources
Vitamin K2 supports getting calcium into bones and teeth
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) produced in skin and consumed in diet, preferred form for supplementation.
Food sources provide low amounts: fatty wild fish like mackerel, herring, sardines, trout, salmon, cod liver oil, egg yolk, milk, soy milk, fortified foods, beef liver, cheese
Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) produced by irradiating fungi and mushrooms, less efficient precursor to biologically active 1, 25 dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol), also potentially less effective and more toxic.
Some examples of research using cod liver oil as a source of vitamin D:
study with 10 patients with multiple sclerosis over 2 years, daily supplementation of 1000mg calcium, 600mg magnesium and 5000IU vitamin D (from 20g cod liver oil) reduced number of exacerbations with an absence of adverse effects
studies with cod liver oil showed significant reductions of type 1 diabetes, while a study of more than 10,000 infants (less than 1 year of age) and children with 2000IU of vitamin D daily reduced incidence of type 1 diabetes by almost 80%
How do you know if you’re getting enough vitamin D?
Get your blood tested!
Reference ranges for serum 25 (OH) vitamin D3 in adults can vary:
Example:
Deficiency: <20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L)
Insufficiency: 20-40 ng/ml (50-100 nmol/L)
Proposed optimal: 40-65 ng/ml (100-160 nmol/L)
Excess: >80 ng/ml (200 nmol/L)
Proposed updated ranges:
Depletion: <20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L)
Insufficiency: <32 ng/ml (80 nmol/L)
Marginal sufficiency: 30-40 ng/ml (75-100 nmol/L)
Sufficiency: 40-50 ng/ml (100-125 nmol/L)
Proposed optimal physiologic range: 50-90 ng/ml (125-225 nmol/L) – based on levels found in pregnant rural Africans, lifeguards in USA/Isreal, farmers in Puerto Rico
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – for more info, see Episode 47
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) – for more info, see Episode 71
What Else is Happening?
Dr. Toni’s next HypnoBirthing monthly info session for expecting parents looking to trust their instincts and their body during labour and birth. Join her at https://www.hypnobirthingcalgary.com/register
Dr. Lisa’s Wild Collective begins again in 2023. You can get on the waitlist at wildcollectivetoronto.com
Today’s Mama Must Have:
Dr. Lisa is a big fan of board games for lots of family fun, including Despicable Me Minion Game of Life, Mousetrap and Don’t Make Me Laugh.
Dr. Toni loves her emulsified vitamin D drops plus vitamin D/K for the whole family.
Email us or connect with us on Facebook and Instagram. We’d love you to subscribe, leave us a review and a 5-star rating if you enjoyed this episode.
Please tell your perimenopausal mama friends about us, too!
Stay safe and healthy everyone!
Disclaimer: The information provided in this presentation is not meant to replace treatment with a licensed health care practitioner. It is for informational purposes only. Consult with a Naturopathic Doctor or other licensed health care professional to determine which treatments are safe for you.
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