A Metabolic Chat with Special Guest Host Bev Rella
I was so fortunate to collaborate with Bev Rella of BAR Wellness on a special series regarding Metabolic Health in the month of June. I will post soon the text from that series. So much good information! Yesterday, we wrapped up with a video conference where we fielded some questions submitted along the way and teased a new program I am releasing. Here is the video if you want to watch it, or you can catch highlights by skimming the transcript. I tagged the actual Questions so you can jump around. Enjoy!
If you missed any of the previous segments in the series, you can catch up here:
Metabolic Health: an Intro
Taming the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster
Metabolic Flexibility: two tools to harness metabolic power
Saboteurs and Saviors: how to help and how to hurt your Metabolism
SPEAKERS
Kristin Whitaker, Bev Rella
Questions
What is metabolism? 4:10
Why do I crash in the middle of the day? Is that a metabolism thing? 5:51
My blood sugar isn’t that bad? Why should I be concerned about it? 6:59
Why could I eat anything I wanted in my teens and 20s but now I feel I can’t look at a treat without gaining 5 pounds! 9:10
I’m health conscious, I usually eat low fat whole foods. When I tried to lower my carbs I felt like garbage. What can I do to feel better? 12:17
Is it possible to break your metabolism? No matter what I do, my weight stays the same and I don’t have any energy or motivation. 14:15
I’ve tried everything to lose weight, should I try this keto diet I keep hearing about? 16:32
Isn’t Keto hard? I heard it’s hard to stay on the keto diet? 18:58
What would you recommend to start on intermittent fasting? 12 hours? 16 hours? 21:13
What is your #1 dietary tip for metabolic health? Bev’s 24:59 Kristin’s 25:44
What is the one biohack you’d recommend? 27:04
Other highlights:
Our partnership with Theira Health 32:55
Bev’s biggest CGM surprise 34:36
Kristin’s biggest CGM insight 37:34
Transcript
Kristin Whitaker 00:07
Okay, well hello, my friend. Welcome back. Tell us who you are and where you're broadcasting from.
Bev Rella 00:14
Yeah, hi. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Beverly Rella that relah I operate our wellness, ba our wellness out of, I'm sitting right now in my new home office. That's why it's all blank back here in Indianapolis, Indiana. And I also live in Arizona part of the year, so I'm glad to be a snowbird at this point in my life. I am a Nutrition therapist. And I specialize in the age and stage of people who want the next stage to be their best stage. So I work with lots of folks who deal with digestive issues, hormonal issues, and metabolic health, which we'll talk about today.
Bev Rella 01:09
And you are my friend Kristin, tell us about who you work with primarily.
Kristin Whitaker 01:17
Yeah. Kristin Whitaker here from Salt Lake City, Utah, just outside. I own and operate Nourish with Kristin. And like Bevis. I'm a nutrition therapist, we actually met way back in the beginning of our school days. And we have come a long way through many programs and certifications and, and journeys. And it's been an incredible ride. So I'm glad Bev along for it.
Bev Rella 01:57
We actually hatched this little plot because I was fortunate enough to stay to be a guest at Chateau Bev in Scottsdale. I was there for a work conference and I got to stay with her. We were, you know, typing away on our computers and hashing all the details of our client loads and getting excited about all the things. And we we landed upon metabolism as what we wanted to focus on for the month of June. That sounds about right.
Bev Rella 02:26
The reason we focused on metabolism: One big issue that our clients share is this idea of "why can't I lose weight?" It's one of the questions I hear most frequently. So we wanted to share in the month of June. This whole idea about metabolism: is my metabolism broken? Why do I have a slow metabolism? What is metabolism? And so we wrote a series of four emails together. And the culmination of which is this live presentation on metabolism. And we wanted to take an opportunity to answer some of the questions that clients and other folks in our circles came up with around this whole idea of metabolic health. And so today is that day, and we are going to answer all the questions. And at the end of this presentation, we will talk to you about next steps. We've got a fantastic offer. And we will tell you how to understand how to have your own metabolic health at the end of the presentation. Right.
Kristin Whitaker 03:51
If June was learning/education month then July is action month. It's gonna be really exciting. Well, let's jump right in then with the most obvious question that when I asked a group of friends like, well, what what is metabolism? So help us out?
Kristin Whitaker 04:10
WHAT IS METABOLISM?
Bev Rella 04:11
Yeah, what is metabolism? And what is metabolic health, right. Metabolism is really energy expenditure. You said that to me a couple of days ago, and I'm like, well, that's easiest way to say it. It is helping your body use the nutrients that you take in to produce energy. That is the simplest way to talk about metabolism. Well, it gets really complicated from there, and we're going to talk about the aspects of metabolic health throughout this presentation. But in essence, its energy expenditure. Right and so, if your body's not appropriately expending energy, that results in poor health, brain fog and increase weight among others.
Kristin Whitaker 05:01
right, and if you're not expending that energy, you're storing the energy, right?
Bev Rella 05:05
Exactly. Oh, maybe around your middle? For sure.
Bev Rella 05:14
So another huge question we got was about blood sugar management. And when we wrote the first email, we talked a little bit about what metabolic health what healthy metabolic health entails. And one of the big, big areas that it entails is blood sugar management. Really, really important. So why do I crash in the middle of the day, Kristin? And is that related to metabolism?
Bev Rella 05:51
WHY DO I CRASH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY?
Kristin Whitaker 05:53
Absolutely. And you framed it right away, when you started talking about blood sugar. The most likely reason that you're crashing in the middle of the day, usually smack in between lunch and dinner, you know, usually about the time, it's right before my kids come home from school, or, you know, the afternoon lull at your workspace, and all of a sudden, you can't keep your head up. That's usually because of a blood sugar crash, which can result from irregular eating habits from a high carb diet, from sugary foods from a rebound from caffeine and other stimulants. It can result from the interplay of hormones that are also affected by blood sugar regulation. So there's a lot of reasons why you're crashing in the middle of the day, but they're absolutely every one of them tied to your metabolism.
Bev Rella 06:42
Exactly. Right.
Kristin Whitaker 06:44
To go a little bit further, the next question was right along with this, because like I said, this crash has to do with your blood sugar. We have the question come in my blood sugar really isn't that bad. So why should I even be concerned about it? This one.
Kristin Whitaker 06:57
IF MY BLOOD SUGAR ISN'T BAD, WHY SHOULD I EVEN BE CONCERNED ABOUT IT?
Bev Rella 07:01
So you should be concerned about your blood sugar. Number one, because it's one of the pillars of metabolic health. But don't take my word for it, blood sugar is sneaky. You oftentimes, don't know, if you've got high blood sugar. There's no brain fog or upset stomach that indicates that you have high blood sugar. There's something that we talked about in our series of emails called blood sugar rollercoaster. And I won't go into it. But it's just this idea of when you're not eating a ideal metabolic health related diet. You're constantly moving up and down, like a roller coaster, throughout the day. So you'll get energy from your food. And then a couple hours later, you'll do what Kristin described, which is feel tired, crash get hangry. And that is the constant interplay of a lot of things. Kristin just explained that that's the blood sugar rollercoaster. And I think for many of my clients, and I'm sure many of yours, Kristin, they don't really realize that they're in this blood sugar roller coaster aspect, until we gently point it out. I have many clients who get home from work at five o'clock. Why am I so hangry? Why do I feel like I'm going to yell at my kids or my husband? Well, that's because you're in a blood sugar rollercoaster scenario. And there are many ways to get out of that. And we'll talk about them as we go. But one question that came up related to metabolism. Why could I eat anything I wanted in my teens and my 20s but now I feel I can't look at a tree without gaining five pounds Kristin.
Bev Rella 09:13
WHY COULD I EAT ANYTHING IN MY TEENS AND 20s BUT NOW I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT JUNK FOOD WITHOUT GAINING WEIGHT?
Kristin Whitaker 09:15
Oh I feel this one, don't you?
Bev Rella 09:16
Exactly. I just had a big birthday. And I'm feeling it more than ever.
Kristin Whitaker 09:21
Oh, my goodness. Yeah, I could do a whole pizza and a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper and not blink in my 20s. So I feel this. The fact is, we're not 20 anymore. And it's tempting to feel ripped off. But let me back up. So when we're 20 odds are we're a little more active than we tend to be in our progressing years. We also have a different hormone profile. We're not, hormonally, the same people we are now that we were then. There's a lot of factors at play, that make us a little more resilient in our youth. So, when I look back at that time that I was eating whatever I want, in retrospect, I recognize a lot of this dis ease, like unhealthy symptoms I had that I didn't recognize, it was me being sick. But if we're just talking, you know, can I fit in my jeans, I could eat whatever I want. I can't now. So that has to do with lots of different factors that interplay on each other. The fact is, we do have control, we can fix that. There are things we can do now, if we acknowledge the endocrine parameters we have--the hormones that we have at play in the stage of life that we're in--we can work within that to optimize them so that we function ideally. If we know that we're a little more sensitive as we tend to be as we age to blood sugar issues, we can regulate that with the food choices we make. If we know that our activity level affects our basal, or resting metabolic rate, we can try to be a little more active, we can do a little resistance training. There's things that we can do if we just recognize what's changed between where we are now and when we're 20. We can mitigate and overcome every one of those, and have the metabolic function that we want, we really can, it just takes a little more mindfulness and effort to take care of that.
Bev Rella 11:17
And data, don't you think? It takes a little bit of data, and you have to understand where you are from just a blood sugar perspective, because we talked about that, from a lifestyle perspective, from many different perspectives. And there's so many tools out there right now the Apple Watch of Fitbit, we have more information at our fingertips than we ever had. So it's it's easier and easier to figure out your personal metabolism,
Kristin Whitaker 11:53
Right. It's just this way with everything. In my 20s, I was blissfully unaware of all my biological processes. I just, I was what I was, and I just went with the flow. But now I think it's more important and more critical to really plug in and engage with your biology and to know the data. And then you have the power to control and to shape it. Yeah, I love that point.
Kristin Whitaker 12:17
Okay, so here's another question for you up. So this person says, I'm generally health conscious, and I usually eat low fat, Whole Foods. When I try to lower my carbs, though I feel like garbage. So what can I do to feel better?
Kristin Whitaker 12:32
I EAT HEALTHY, I EAT LOW FAT, SO WHY DO I FEEL LIKE TRASH WHEN I GO LOW CARB?
Bev Rella 12:35
Well, that's an interesting question. Because I would wonder where you're getting your nutrients, because nutrients come from carbs, from fat and from protein. And if you're eating a low fat diet, and trying to reduce your carbs, that may not be the best way to go. You said a low fat diet. And I think that's based on some information that many of us had in the 80s and 90s, that low fat diets were the way to go. I'm here to say that that theory has been debunked. And that really what we believe as nutrition therapists Is that healthy fats are what we should be incorporating in our diet. And we'll talk about healthy fats as a way to look at metabolism later. But I would say the reason why you're not feeling energy is because you're not incorporating healthy fats into your diet. would you add anything to that Kristin?
Kristin Whitaker 13:49
It feels really tricky when you bring up the word, the term fat. Dietary fat should be celebrated and embraced and slathered and enjoyed. So when I when I see this lady, I'm so sorry that you're trying so hard to eat low fat and you're trying so hard to dial down the carbs. I hear a lot of deprivation, when there should be like, hey, enjoy. Enjoy your food, enjoy the flavors, just you need to know how to do it the right way. So that's what we're here for.
Bev Rella 14:15
Right? Exactly. Exactly. Is it possible to break your metabolism Kristin, no matter what I do? My weight stays the same. And I don't have energy or motivation.
Bev Rella 14:27
IS IT POSSIBLE TO BREAK YOUR METABOLISM?
Kristin Whitaker 14:29
Can I break my metabolism? It can feel that way. Right? It can feel like your body is rebelling against you. It doesn't look the way you want it to look. It's not moving the way you want to move. The pounds are hanging on. Your energy is lulling. It can feel like you're broken. But I don't believe it's possible to break your metabolism. What you can do is slow it down and damage it severely by our habits, by our food choices. One tragic case I see time and time again with clients and myself included is the after effects of yo yo dieting. I spent decades on that train: the latest diet, the latest fad, the latest calorie count, the latest magic elixir and restriction and the deprivation and the things we put our bodies through. Well, doing that year after year after year, you know you gain weight, you take it off, you gain weight, you take it off, it's going to take a lot of effort to break that cycle to repair the metabolic damage you've done by fluctuating. And to restore the trust that you have with your own biology, like your body doesn't trust you to take care of it anymore, because you've abused it with this yo yo dieting cycle. So to that effect, I wouldn't say break, but that can really hamper your metabolism. We also slow our metabolism down when we eat with no regard for our blood sugar for our health, for our energy, for nutrient density, when we just put whatever we want in our mouth. And unfortunately, some of the foods that taste the best are the worst for us, it's how it was engineered to be. So we have to be mindful, we have to be thoughtful, we can definitely damage our metabolism. But the on the flip side, we can completely turn that around. With a little patience and a little love and a little knowledge, we can absolutely get right back on track and have a robust metabolism: all the energy we need to get things done during the day, the figure that we want, the strength that we want, we can get that! We're not broken beyond repair.
Bev Rella 16:30
Yeah, absolutely.
Kristin Whitaker 16:32
The next question is a little more specific. So I have tried everything to lose weight. Should I try the keto diet? I keep hearing about? Have you heard that one in your practice, Bev?
Kristin Whitaker 16:42
SHOULD I TRY THE KETO DIET?
Bev Rella 16:43
Yes, I have actually just recently, I heard I want to go low carb. I want to go keto. And I would say absolutely. But keto and intermittent fasting, which we'll talk about in a little bit, are tools. And we use those tools in our practice to help clients get the goals and the results that they want. I love keto as an option. And I love it because it helps to stabilize blood sugar. We talked about blood sugar being like one of the big metabolic aspects to guide us to better metabolic health. Keto helps us limit carbs, concentrate on healthy fats and proteins, and really stabilize that blood sugar rollercoaster. So absolutely. I'm a big proponent of trying keto as a tool to improve your metabolic health.
Kristin Whitaker 17:51
I like that you mentioned that it's a great option to have. I think we're both proponents that there's no one diet for everybody. When I went to school, I was expecting to find THE diet, and there just isn't. So knowing that, if you know what keto offers, you might decide this is what I want. And I want to use this as a tool. It's a great option. But, I like to use the word option, it is a wonderful option. It may be absolutely the perfect diet for what you're trying to do, and it may not. So that's something we can help you decide.
Bev Rella 18:25
That's very true. You bring up a good point. We're all individuals, and our bodies change throughout our lifetimes. So what works for you right now may not work for you in five years. What works for Kristin right now may not work for me right now. And so as part of our intake with our nutrition therapy practices, you know, we're looking at where you are in the state of your metabolic health at this particular moment in time. But isn't keto hard Kristin? I mean, you have been in ketosis for a long time. You've worked with the keto diet. You have worked with your clients with the keto diet. You've written out a wonderful manuscript all about keto. Tell us is it really hard?
Bev Rella 19:21
IS KETO TOO HARD?
Kristin Whitaker 19:22
That's a good question. And like everything, every question that feels like the answer is yes and no. Yes, that it does take commitment. And there's a learning curve perhaps more so than most any other diet I've ever been on. I would say you need to be committed and in a mind space that you can give keto your full attention for six weeks and and do the diet as close to 100% as you can for six weeks. It takes about that long to wake up that metabolic pathway to enable your body to burn ketones and to function in that way. So if I have a client, even if they have, you know, pre diabetes, or this metabolic dysfunction, and I know keto would turn it around and really help them, if they're in a time of their life where they don't have the attention or the bandwidth, if they're in the middle of a trauma, if they are just so busybthey can't even breathe...that is not the time to start keto. So it's very important to look at the settings and surroundings around your decision to embrace it. I love it. Once you get the hang of it, like I said, learning curve, it's not hard. I enjoy it. I feel better in keto than I do out so I choose to use it most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time. And that's, for me personally, I think it's worth investigating to see if the benefits are worth the efforts for you and your own circumstances. You just have to have a mindset that it's going to be hard, it's going to be a shift at the beginning. And then it's easily doable and enjoyable after that. This can be related to keto. I have a question, what would you recommend to start on intermittent fasting 12 hours, 16 hours? So but maybe tell us quickly what intermittent fasting is? And then how you would start that practice?
Kristin Whitaker 21:13
HOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND STARTING INTERMITTENT FASTING?
Bev Rella 21:14
Yeah, absolutely. Intermittent Fasting is just another tool. Obviously, you're fasting, which is going out without food for a certain period of time. There are many versions out there, you mentioned, you know, hourly fasting, where you would fast for 12 To 16 to 17, 18 hours a day. There's also versions out there where you would eat normally, for five days, and then fast for two days. Again, it's It's another tool that we use, to help our clients get to whatever goal that you know, motivates them. So I would suggest, if you are interested in intermittent fasting that you start with the simple time based fasting. So go stop eating at six o'clock at night, and start eating again at six to seven to eight o'clock in the morning. There's a lot of metabolic processes that happen overnight, your body repairs itself, you are able to kind of update the circuitry in your brain overnight. There's just there's so much that happens overnight. So the ability to be in a fasting state, in an overnight scenario is probably the best way to start intermittent fasting. would you add anything to that Kristin?
Kristin Whitaker 22:50
Yeah, that was a great intro to intermittent fasting. I also use intermittent fasting, personally and with clients as kind of a metabolic gauge to see where my health is. So if you attempt a fast, if you try to go you know, push your breakfast out a little bit, do you find you get shaky or hangry or a little like, panicky? If so that that would indicate--it doesn't mean you can never intermittent fast--but it shows you have a little blood sugar dysregulation. If you're off the roller coaster we talked about and you're really good at regulating your blood sugar, you can intermittent fast with your eyes closed; you could forget to eat and it wouldn't bother you. That tool is really easy tool to use. If you're not there, it's a real struggle; skipping a meal can send you into a spiral. So if I if I'm doing my regular intermittent fasting schedule because I do do that regularly, and I find myself getting irritable and edgy I have to stop and think what have I done that's affected my metabolic health? Is my blood sugar off? Is my stress driving up my blood sugar? Things like that. So, like you said, you use it to get these anti inflammatory and metabolic benefits. But I also use it as a check in to see how well I'm running how well the machine is running.
Bev Rella 24:11
That's absolutely a great way to check in with yourself. So we talked about earlier like data's power, you know, the Fitbit, the Apple Watch, but also just try to fast and see what happens and you'll find out a lot about your blood sugar regulation by attending and overnight fast. Yeah, that's a great point.
Kristin Whitaker 24:39
Let's wrap up with two questions that both of us answer--this one came in a couple of times. Tell me the top dietary change you'd recommend from metabolic health was the one thing you would change or add to your diet for metabolic health?
Kristin Whitaker 24:57
BEV'S #1 DIETARY TIP FOR METABOLIC HEALTH
Bev Rella 24:59
Well, I think you just said it gets healthy fats, because I don't think we're used to eating those and incorporating them in their diet. And the other one I would add to that is high quality protein. And what I mean by high quality protein is the best animal protein or plant based protein that you can afford. So non processed, organic, if you can afford it, grass fed, if you can afford it. Really, the quality of your protein is really, really important for metabolic health. And how would you answer that question?
Kristin Whitaker 25:38
I'm just thinking of all the yummy grass fed meats right now. That was a great answer.
Kristin Whitaker 25:43
KRISTIN'S #1 DIETARY TIP FOR METABOLIC HEALTH
Kristin Whitaker 25:44
The number one I would say is actually one that you did a great job describing in our email series. And it's smart carbs, or complex carbs, carbohydrates and these are foods that are not processed, they still contain fiber. Fiber slows down the absorption of sugar, which means it slows the impact on our blood sugar. It's a huge step in quelling that roller coaster we talked about. So complex carbs would be eating a whole apple instead of drinking apple juice, it would be a cruciferous vegetable like broccoli or cauliflower instead of white rice or, or mashed potatoes on the side. It would be whole foods instead of processed foods that have had all the fiber and the slowing agents taken out of them. They just give us that fast hit of sugar and flavor. So unfortunately, a lot of the foods that taste the best are the worst for us, metabolically speaking; they've been engineered to light our tongue up, but they don't do anything for our health. So if you forego those and stick with the whole, you know, nutrient dense food, you're right there--that one change is going to do miracles for you, for your health.
Bev Rella 27:01
Yeah, that's a great answer.
Kristin Whitaker 27:04
Right. And the second part of this, I said it was a two parter. So you're ready for this is? That's right. What is one biohack, you'd recommend to impact your health?
Kristin Whitaker 27:16
THE BIOHACK WE BOTH RECOMMEND
Bev Rella 27:17
Yeah. So I think we've had the same answer for this. And that is one of the reasons why we decided to do this q&a today is we wanted to introduce you to a wonderful biohack. The continuous glucose monitor. So we talked about blood sugar and why that's an important aspect of metabolic health. And I think and you would agree that we, when we started the series, we wanted to give people an idea of how they can incorporate a CGM into their own personal health plan. And so we're out to help you do that. And Kristin, do you want to maybe talk a little bit about CGMs and what they are and what they do and the fact that they're not just for diabetics?
Kristin Whitaker 28:09
With pleasure. So I'm holding one right now because I'm getting ready to do another round on myself. Because I, I love these things. They're like, I'm geeking out. It's my new favorite toy. Favorite. I've been using them for over a year now. So it used to be that the only way to know what your blood sugar was, if you're a diabetic, is to have a glucose monitor and a finger prick and to constantly be measuring that yourself. Or you know, your annual physical when you get your cholesterol and your other numbers up at the top. It'll say your fasting glucose, right? Well, that's just a snapshot in time. That's how you were doing that one day that you skipped breakfast, it doesn't tell us how you interact with your food or doesn't tell us a whole lot really. But if you can have a live feed, if you will, like a constant drip of information telling you about how every bite you eat affects you, that would be powerful. Because suddenly you could see which foods spike you through the roof and which ones your body just loves that it takes in stride without even a bump. Right? It can tell you how fast you recover from a spike, which also is a measure of health. It can tell you if you're in danger of dipping too low, which is not just a diabetic concern. There's just so much information to be had. And we talked a long time about this Bev. No one just wakes up diabetic. You know, nobody just wakes up with metabolic disease. You can see it a long way out if you have the data. So if you know your blood sugar patterns, you know right away if they're off and you can start to tweak them immediately before they become a problem or something your doctor is going to flag and put you on medication for so this is super empowering.
Bev Rella 29:50
Yeah, especially if your doctor is concerned that you're entering what is called pre diabetes And, we tend to have rising blood sugar as we get older, unfortunately, and some of my clients are kind of in that pre pre pre diabetic stage, HbA1C is the measure of three months of your blood sugar. And so that's an important marker to get familiar with. And to understand if you are kind of tending towards that, that metabolic concerning point. So I love the glucose monitor for everyone, because, you know, we're so used to, like I said, the Apple Watch the Fitbit, to understanding what's happening with us in real time, this is just a measure of that, but especially for clients that are really concerned about the creeping numbers on their blood work. And if I had to have like, another piece of advice that I would get to all of you today is get familiar with your blood work, understand what those numbers are telling you, especially the blood sugar numbers, and really start focusing on how your blood work is trending over time.
Kristin Whitaker 31:17
Right. And that can sound daunting. Now two things, One, you have us we're here to help you understand your blood work and even order labs if you need. We're completely up for that. We're trained and certified in methods to help you understand exactly what's going on in your labs. And Two: it's worth the effort. Because if you ask any of your friends, or you know, if you're real with yourself for a second, what are you most afraid of? As you grow older, I hear diabetes, I hear cancer, I hear Alzheimer's, losing my faculties. These are all metabolic progressions of disease. So if you can get these things early, if you can get your blood sugar under control, if you can understand your metabolic health, you're going to catch these before they become crisises. Before they become traumas. It's so empowering that it's almost like a no brainer for me. Like why wouldn't you want to embark on this journey? It lets you steer the boat away from exactly what you're most afraid of!
Bev Rella 32:20
Yeah. And you might be able to figure out how to lose weight.
Kristin Whitaker 32:25
All right, it is funny that you say that, because when most people when they think about metabolism, they're just thinking weight. When you talk to nutrition therapists, we're thinking big picture health numbers, and we're looking like, it's almost like reading your future. When you said pre pre pre diabetes. I can see how many steps away you are from this. This is how we're thinking but really, in general, people are like, Yeah, but get these five pounds off. Yeah, exactly. Skinny jeans. So it's true.
Bev Rella 32:55
Exactly. Yeah. Obviously, it helps in so many ways. Kristen, I have recently partnered with a company called Theia Health. And they're great because they allow us the opportunity as practitioners to also kind of help and guide our clients through their use of the CGM. So our offer number one is to get on our email list to find out more. That's the one thing you can do today. Because we will be introducing this week the offer of a metabolic reset for those who want to learn more about their own personalized health journey through blood sugar management, and we'll be offering the Thea health CGM. Well, it's actually CGM manufactured by someone else. And, along with that, an opportunity to meet with us to talk about your own personalized health situation. And to understand more about how blood sugar management can help you achieve the goal that you want to achieve.
Kristin Whitaker 34:21
Right now we've both tried out CGMs and Theia is great. They're on the cutting edge of technology. They're using the newest CGM. They have a continuous feed so you eat a bite of food, it lights up on your phone and you can see right away how it's affecting you. Bev, tell me what the number one thing is that surprised you about your experience on a CGM. Now keep in mind, you're a nutrition therapist and all your food choices are pristine and beautiful, right?
Kristin Whitaker 34:50
BEV'S BIGGEST CGM SURPRISE
Bev Rella 34:50
What's absolutely, yeah, so my health choices are not all perfect if you're if you're a friend of mine or a relative of mine. you absolutely know that. So nutrition therapists are not perfect. I am also gluten free. So there's kind of a, I think, thought that gluten free foods are better for you than regular foods. One, it didn't really surprise me, because I knew better but it was difficult to see the numbers go up and my blood sugar rise after eating my favorite avocado toast with gluten free bread. So that wasn't surprising, but a little bit sad for me. The other thing is, it was interesting for me to understand real time, this theory that we were taught that blood sugar different foods affect people differently. So something that won't raise Kristen's blood sugar because of her stress level. Because of the other foods she's eating, the combinations of foods you're eating will affect me, for example. And so understanding really those particular foods that affect my blood sugar was really eye opening for me. What about you?
Bev Rella 36:26
KRISTIN'S BIGGEST CGM SURPRISE
Kristin Whitaker 36:27
I love that answer. Because bio individuality is tricky. So you mentioned that you found out your beloved gluten free toast wasn't the best for you. And that was sad for you. But you can also find out, hey, I can eat more of *blank* than I thought I could because my body really loves it and works well with it. So you can actually find some bonus cheats, I guess that you can tolerate. I also liked what you said about watching the numbers in real time. And you're like I knew better but seeing it in on the screen. You know, I went out for sushi. I love sushi. It's a huge splurge for me, and I expected it to go up but my blood sugar shot through the roof. So seeing exactly, you know, I knew it was bad, but seeing how bad I was like, wow, seeing that was impactful. But then also being able to see that I recovered really quickly, which is a sign of metabolic health, that was reassuring. So I'm like great, okay, so I know it's not the best for me, I can see the spike. But I also know that I recover quickly. So I can still use that as a splurge. As long as it's an occasional splurge, it helped me understand the cost and impact. So I love that.
Kristin Whitaker 37:34
What did surprise me that I'm not bragging about my metabolic health, because overall my blood sugar runs higher than is optimal. My waking blood sugar is high and it drops more in the night than it should like I have some dysregulation I would not have expected given that I eat low carb and keto most of the time. And I work out quite a bit. And so when you see something like that show up on your CGM, then you're like, wait a minute, this isn't dietary. What else is affecting my blood sugar and we covered this in our email series. But I knew right away I had to start looking at my sleep quality. I had to start managing my stress a little better. I do run a little bit high-strung. If you know me, you know that. And these kinds of things, because it was actually starting to impact my health and send me in a direction I don't want to go. So CGM is so much more than just about what you put in your mouth, it can give you readings include about lifestyle parameters as well. So that was hugely insightful for me. And another reason I'm excited to help you figure out where your blood sugar is, and what's affecting it and where your baseline is and how to get you closer to optimal.
Bev Rella 38:43
Yeah, absolutely. So the one thing that you can do at the end of this series, when we post this video, we'll post it with links to Kristin's email list and to my email list if our wellness and we will be posting more to our email list about this offer. If you're interested in it. The first thing again, you can do is just sign up for our email list. I know that your (Kristin's) email goes out on Tuesdays, mine (Bev's) goes out on Fridays. And so you'll know this week, kind of the details and more information. If you're interested in learning more we're available to answer any other questions you might have about using a CGM. It doesn't hurt. There's a tiny bit of intimidation when you first put it in, but it's it really is a a not a big deal.
Kristin Whitaker 39:48
Right? I laughed at myself because I was flinching and bracing and scared. I was like, wow is that all you got? It was nothing!
Bev Rella 39:56
I did the same thing. And so We will be answering more questions, giving you more details about how you can participate in the metabolic reset program. And all we ask is that you just sign up on our email list to know more. All right, what else would you? What else would you tell our audience that they would need to know before moving forward with the program?
Kristin Whitaker 40:27
Yeah, just wherever you're watching this video, if it's on social media, or if it's in our email, just respond with a comment. If you have questions, we're both here and eager to help because we both believe in empowering people to take control of their own health. We're not victims. We're not set on this tide of happenstance. We're in control. And so helping you steer your ship, if you will, helping you achieve the health that you want, that's what motivates both of us. That's why I like working with Bev. We're not here to do it for you. We're here for better than that. We're here to help you help yourself. So give us the opportunity to do that. It's an exciting ride, and bring your loved ones along and let's all get feeling better, so we can play more!
Bev Rella 41:09
Yeah, exactly. Okay, thanks for this talk. It was really fun. I enjoyed it tremendously and always fun to work with you my friend. Yeah,
Kristin Whitaker 41:21
thanks, Bev. We'll we'll be in touch
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