Made For Living Well

We're living in what many are calling a "rest era." After decades of hustle culture and the relentless push to "be a boss," it's no surprise that we've swung in the opposite direction. Rest became a necessary cure for burnout. But as with all things, the pendulum can swing too far, leaving me to question: is your body bored? The law of balance proves the pendulum will always swing in the opposite direction to the same degree you pulled it out of balance. Naturally, we're going to see a big pull towards rest, considering how hard we pushed. Unfortunately, health, even life, doesn't work based on extremes, but through the balance of both work and rest. You need both work and rest to fully thrive. Rest, while essential, isn't meant to stand alone. It's the balancing act to work. Without enough work, rest becomes stagnant, leaving us with a new kind of stress – a bored body. Your body was designed to work. It thrives on movement, effort, and engagement. And while it might feel comforting to settle into rest after years of overexertion, this comfort can lead to imbalance. Life, after all, is about rhythm—an ebb and flow that mirrors the patterns found throughout nature and within our own bodies. In this podcast, I discuss specifically how to determine if you're living in extremes, creating a bored body, and how to change your body to promote health. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/360. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here.

Growing up, I often heard my mom say, "Stand up straight!" At the time, it was little more than an annoyance. But now, as an adult working to repattern years of poor posture, I understand the wisdom in her words. So, Mom, you were right. Posture, or more specifically, your postural patterns, influences much more than just how you look. It has profound biological impacts. Like any sense, your posture constantly sends signals to your brain about your environment—or at least your perception of it. These signals shape how your cells respond, influencing everything from movement to mood. Body language experts have long observed how posture reflects emotions like confidence, sadness, or fear. But what's exciting is that posture is not fixed. Patterns that were learned can be unlearned and repatterned. In this week's podcast, I sit down with body posture expert John Friend, a veteran in the field with over 40 years of experience. John introduces us to Bowspring, a body practice designed to align the body with its natural design. Together, we explore how proper posture can transform not just how you carry yourself but how you experience life. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/358. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here.

A healthier mind doesn't start with healthier thoughts. It happens through nourishing your body – your body builds your thoughts. Learn how to use micro-resourcing to change your thoughts. The last thing you want to hear when you're struggling mentally is to "do more" or "try harder." At least, that's how I used to feel. When your mind is already gasping for air, being told to add more to your plate can feel like the final blow. Yet at the same time, you want to feel better, creating a frustrating paradox—too overwhelmed to take action but desperate for relief. I know that space well. I lived in it. And the shift didn't happen when I mustered up enough energy to push through one more strategy. It happened when I started to understand why my mind was struggling in the first place. The Mind-Body Connection Over the years, I spent time in therapy, determined to feel better. I did the work, but the relief I expected never fully came. It confused me because I didn't have major trauma (what many call "big T" trauma). Instead, I had accumulated "small t" traumas—yet I still couldn't get my mind to function the way I wanted. I was floundering, searching for answers. That's when I started studying the connection between the body and mind—their deep, energetic interplay. And what I learned changed everything, including my belief that you can "think yourself healthy." For years, I clung to the idea that mindset alone could fix everything. If I couldn't heal, I figured it was because I was broken. But the truth is, changing your mind is only possible when your body has the resources and capacity to support that change. Your mind and body aren't separate; they function in a loop. If your body is depleted, your mind struggles. If your mind is stressed, your body suffers. It's not a chicken-or-egg situation—it's personal to each of us. Understanding this connection is the key to shifting your mental state. In my latest podcast episode, I explore this in depth, including what the Minnesota Starvation Experiment revealed about how nutrient depletion affects mental health. It's a must-listen. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/356. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here.

I was the child who, as my family said, "had a weak stomach." For most of my childhood and part of my adult life, I struggled through numerous gut-health issues. Nothing was severe, but it was always persistent. It ranged from vomiting to excessive bloating and GI-induced headaches. I also seemed to react to a random array of foods consistently. These issues are, at least partially, responsible for why I got into the health space. I've worked in the health space for the last fifteen years, and gut health problems and remedies have skyrocketed. I've seen clients who are sensitive to nearly every food, even foods considered to be the healthiest. Age no longer seems to be a factor. Within this time, I've also witnessed the birth and high promotion of probiotics, which recently flipped gears to the warning against them. Similar to most situations in health, there doesn't seem to be a good answer as to why we're here and how we get ourselves out. We can certainly put some blame on the massive influx of "toxins" or highly-processed foods (many of which are also considered to contain toxins). This, of course, stresses the GI system and strains your gut bacteria, creating an imbalance. But you could also blame our eating patterns and our movement away from our circadian rhythm, eating the majority of our calories at night and failing to practice any sort of light hygiene. You could also blame our farming practices, the depleted nutrients in our soil, or our overly sanitized environments void of healthy bacteria. There are a lot of fingers we can point and arguably should point, as these all can cause an excess burden on the body. But to simplify it all, I think that burden points directly at our "problem." We don't have the resources to deal with the burdens. Most gut issues happen because you're under-resourced and overburdened. You may struggle with gut-health issues simply because you don't meet your basic and foundational needs on a daily and consistent basis. In this podcast, I share more about the needs you need to meet, how your lack of food consumption or low energy available states are destroying your gut, and why supplementation is not the best answer. Listen to the podcast to learn more. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/354. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here. Ready to go deeper and take back your health? Learn how to nourish yourself in a way that is personal to you while also helping you to fully embrace all of you. Take back your hormones, get more energy, and learn how to thrive inside Health Made Simple. Follow my day-to-day life plus mini tidbits of health encouragement on Instagram.

The topic of metabolism tends to focus on only one small piece of a very broad system, your weight or how metabolism can change your structure. And while metabolism can influence how you look—positively or negatively—it's much more than that. A true understanding of metabolism starts by looking at the bigger picture. Metabolism is the sum of all life-sustaining biochemical processes in your body. It governs how you create and conserve energy, which directly affects how you heal, rejuvenate, remove waste, build, and preserve. It's not energy itself but determines how your body generates and utilizes it. Think of metabolism as a thermostat, constantly working to maintain balance. It's influenced by external factors and, in turn, influences internal systems, making it one of the most critical aspects of your health. And here's the kicker: metabolism isn't static. It's not something you inherit and can't change. Instead, it's dynamic, always adapting to your actions and environment. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/352. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here. Ready to go deeper and take back your health? Learn how to nourish yourself in a way that is personal to you while also helping you to fully embrace all of you. Take back your hormones, get more energy, and learn how to thrive inside Health Made Simple. Follow my day-to-day life plus mini tidbits of health encouragement on Instagram.

The health space often boxes everyone into a single narrative: if you're overweight, you must be overeating. But that's not always true. In fact, undereating can lead to many of the same problems as overeating. Surprisingly, most people today are underfed—not just in quantity but in quality—leading me to ask: are you eating enough? One of the most comprehensive studies on the effects of undereating is the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. This yearlong study documented what happened to participants during prolonged semi-starvation and explored the process of refeeding. I believe it offers a great understanding of the impacts of under-eating and how to better understand the effects of food on one's physiology. Inside this podcast, I dive deeper into the Minnesota Starvation Experiment and discuss why undereating is a hidden problem in the health space. I also explain how chronic undereating leads to metabolic adaptation, triggering a cascade of health issues. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/350. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here. Ready to go deeper and take back your health? Learn how to nourish yourself in a way that is personal to you while also helping you to fully embrace all of you. Take back your hormones, get more energy, and learn how to thrive inside Health Made Simple. Follow my day-to-day life plus mini tidbits of health encouragement on Instagram.

I've spent more than a minute in the health space. I've tried my fair share of extremes. At one point, I even quit health altogether. While I don't discount any part of that journey, I can't help but wish I'd known ten years ago what I know now: the three non-negotiables required for health. A few years ago, after "quitting health," I realized something important: I still wanted to be healthy. It wasn't my desire for health I was over. I was over the approach we're told to take to get there. Through years of research, experimentation, and frustration, I uncovered a truth that's radically changed my perspective: The problem isn't you—or your body. The problem is the system you're trying to use to get healthy. You might be thinking, I've changed my approach, tried different things, and still, nothing changes. I get it. But here's the thing: nearly every approach to health—even when wrapped in positivity—stems from the same flawed foundation, restriction, deprivation, and scarcity. Sure, some approaches focus on addition, like crowding out the bad with the good. While that's better, our skewed understanding of what it takes to get healthy often twists even the best intentions into forms of restriction. And this, my friend, is what needs to change. Because health doesn't thrive in restriction, health grows through expansion. In this episode, I'm breaking down the three non-negotiables for health—the principles that will shift you from surviving in restriction to thriving in expansion. I'll also share one simple way to get started living this approach today. Listen to today's episode to learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/348. Be sure to take my Free Energy quiz. Take things to the next level: Get health advice that works delivered straight to your inbox. The only place guaranteed to make you healthier and happier. Join The Weekly Fill here. Ready to go deeper and take back your health? Learn how to nourish yourself in a way that is personal to you while also helping you to fully embrace all of you. Take back your hormones, get more energy, and learn how to thrive inside Health Made Simple. Follow my day-to-day life plus mini tidbits of health encouragement on Instagram.

Every Sunday brings a moment of alarm. The moment my phone sends a notification of screen time averages for the week. I can't say I'm surprised. I know I spend more time than I would like on my phone. But the amount is still disturbing. Have you ever considered what you could accomplish or genuinely enjoy if you reclaimed that time? Looking back, I can't say my screen time ever feels worth it. Most of the time, I can't even remember what I was doing on my phone fifteen minutes ago, let alone justify the hours I spend scrolling through the week. It's embarrassing, but I know I'm not alone. Recent statistics show the average person spends about 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone daily. And that doesn't include time spent on computers or watching TV. Rather than justify it, I've decided to take control, inspired by my friend and author Hannah Brencher's book, The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World. On her 33rd birthday, Hannah realized something had to change. She challenged herself to spend 1,000 unplugged hours over the course of a year. In a recent podcast episode, I interviewed her about this journey—what she learned, what surprised her, and whether she plans to continue. If you're ready to rethink your screen habits, give it a listen. It might inspire you to live differently in the year ahead. Learn more about today's episode: https://thelivingwell.com/346. Don't forget to track where your energy level using: This FREE energy quiz to determine your metabolic output. Follow my day-to-day life plus mini tidbits of health encouragement on Instagram.