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Candida is an elusive syndrome that is very hard to diagnose. Learn what to look for, as well as ways to treat this oft-debilitating condition.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 2
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1511ns3b.mp3
- Featured Speaker Ricki Heller, PhD, RHN
- Book Title Living Candida Free: Conquer the Hidden Epidemic that’s Making You Sick
- Guest Website Ricki Heller
- Guest Twitter Account @RickiHeller
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Guest Bio
Ricki Heller, PhD, RHN, is an award-winning blogger, author, and instructor who has worked with food for more than 20 years. An Associate Editor for Simply Gluten-Free, Ricki is also a regular contributor to The Balanced Platter and Fitalicious.com. She lives in Ontario. Her new book is Living Candida Free: Conquer the Hidden Epidemic that’s Making You Sick—100 Recipes and a 3-Stage Program to Restore Your Health and Vitality.
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Internal Notes repeat guest
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
"If I can make my health better, YOU can make your health better." -Carol Alt
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1511ns3a.mp3
- Featured Speaker Carol Alt
- Book Title The Raw 50: 10 Amazing Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Drinks for Your Raw Food Lifestyle
- Guest Website Carol Alt
- Guest Facebook Account https://www.facebook.com/modelcarolalt
- Guest Twitter Account @ModelCarolAlt
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Guest Bio
Carol Alt is the ultimate pioneer and chameleon; constantly on the lookout for new ideas and new frontiers. Since her days as the world's most renowned Supermodel, Carol Alt has gone on to be multi-award winning actress, bestselling author on Raw Food Nutrition and hosting her own show, A Healthy You, on Fox News. Having twice graced the cover of the coveted Sports Illustrated Magazine's Swimsuit Edition and in February 2014 Alt was featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: 50 Years of Beautiful, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit franchise. Alt's other activities include hosting various TV and radio morning shows and newscasts, including Good Day Live, GMA, Access Hollywood, and E! Entertainment. Forever touted as "the model that started the Supermodel trend" by John Casablanca, the owner of Elite Models – made Carol the first ever "Super Elite Model in the Supeer Elite Division." The press therefore dubbed her the first "Supermodel."
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: March 11, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Carol Alt
Whether you are new to the living healthy lifestyle or a healthy living veteran, this is the place for the honest answers to your questions. Naturally Savvy with registered holistic nutritionist, Andrea Donsky and health journalist, Lisa Davis, on RadioMD.com
LISA: Here on Naturally Savvy, we are huge fans of Carol Alt and we are so glad that she joins us twice a month on the show. Well, she is back today to talk about her new book, A Healthy You.
Hi, Carol. So glad to have you back.
CAROL: Hi. Yes. Thank you for having me back.
LISA: Alright, Carol. Tell us all about A Healthy You.
CAROL: You know, first, if you don't mind, I just wanted to interject a little bit because I know both of you girls wrote books and, Lisa, I had you on the show about your book, which was a very interesting segment. But, Andrea just sent me a book called Unjunk Your Junk Food. I have to tell you this is like a very cute little book, but I wanted to just say to your listeners is, what's great about this book is it's kind of a bridge to raw because what Andrea's trying to do is teach people how, if you're going to eat junk food, to find the least junky junk food, if that's possible. You know what I'm saying?
ANDREA: Yes. Exactly.
CAROL: And what I try to do when I teach people to go raw is, I try to give them the junky food to transition from first and then to take the next step, so that you're doing things in steps and it's not overwhelming. So, you know, this is a nice little adjunct to what I do because if you can, from here, once you start being aware of what's in your food, you can become more and more aware and then possibly, add more and more raw as you go along. So, it's a cute little book, Andrea. Thank you for sending it to me.
ANDREA: Well, thanks, Carol. I appreciate that. Well, I'm very excited about your new book. Tell us a little bit about what inspired you to write it.
CAROL: Well, I think what happened was, is there were a lot of people asking questions for the "Ask Carol" segment of the show and then there were people who would write in after the show was over and say, "Oh, this was a great segment, but I didn't catch the lower third on the bottom of the TV with this person's website, so could you send it to me or how do I get it?" And, even though we were doing a lot of stuff on CarolAlt.com, I was re-running segments and doing recaps of the show and trying to give the information and everything. I just realized that sometimes people miss it, because they're listening to the show, but they might not be watching, which is cool, too, because as long as you get the information, I don't care how you get it.
ANDREA: Right.
CAROL: So, I was talking with the people up at Fox and I was like, "You know, the best way to get all of the best of the best information on my show to people is to put it down. Write it somewhere." And they went, why don't we just put this in a book?
ANDREA: I love that.
CAROL: I was like, "You know what? That's a really good idea because in a book, what I get to talk about, "Now, this isn't every exercise out there, it's the best of the exercises we had on the show for my watchers, you know? It's the best of the best nutritional information." That goes across the board because, you know, I'm heavy into nutrition because without good nutrition, everything else is just not worthwhile, really. If you don't feel good, you can't work out. If you don't feel good, you don't look good in those new jeans you bought. If you don't feel good, you're not nice to the people around you. So, if you don't feel good, you're not going to age well, either. So, for me, nutrition is the lynchpin which is where we start in the book. So, the best of the best doctors who came on the show and this is also things that I have been doing for 17 years and, you know, I like to hold myself out as an example, not because, "Oh, you know, I'm so proud of what I did." No. It's because I've had such health issues and I have come back from the brink several times and I just want to teach people that if I can do it, you can do it. If I can make my health better, you can make your health better. These are the things that I did and here's a doctor who backs up what I did because, you know, I'm just a model. I get it. But there are certain things that just really, really work. You go out there in the marketplace and you have all these people marketing all this garbage to you. Things that don't work; they didn't try; they wouldn't even put their face on the product because they're like 90 years old and they look terrible. They put some 20-year-olds on there to sell you wrinkle cream. So, this is just…Sorry. But it's true. I mean, you know, I was that 20-year-old and I was like in a studio with 50-60 year old people who were pushing a wrinkle cream and I'm like, "Man, do you use this because, you know, I don't want to be 60 and look like you."
ANDREA: Seriously.
CAROL: So, you know, I see them selling with these 20-year-olds. You know, a 20-year-old doesn't need wrinkle cream, but you want to look like that 20-year-old, so you buy that wrinkle cream. I'm going, "You know what? It starts from the inside." So, it's nutrition. The best of the best nutrition. It's fitness. It's anti-aging. We do some great home remedies so you don't have to spend a fortune because beauty shouldn't be just for the rich. You know, stuff like that. Of course, I put a lot of anecdotes and things that I've learned over the course of the years to help guide you through this. It's a labyrinth of garbage out there. When someone is sitting there and saying, "Listen, this is tried and true. I did this. I'm 54 years old. I did this. It helped me. I would be dead right now if I didn't do some of these things."
ANDREA: Wow.
CAROL: A lot of people, unfortunately, they wait until something happens instead of saying, "Hey, this is so easy to do every day." It's just so easy to do, girls. It really is.
LISA: Yes, it makes a huge difference and exactly, if you have somebody who's done it and it's worked for them and we look at you and you're such a perfect model, no pun intended, of perfect health. But, I have to say something about those wrinkle creams. When I was a kid, and this is true, I would watch those commercials and I would think, "Those girls are so young. What? Like, this is totally false advertising. They don't have any wrinkles." So, I was on the ball. I'm just telling you.
CAROL: Right. And, as you get old, you go, "Geeze. I'd really like to look like that. Let me try that cream." You forget that little voice in your head when you were a kid looking at television going, "Hmmm. That's silly. Why does she need wrinkle cream?"
ANDREA: Yes. You know, it's very true. Listening to this and then laughing because, you know, as we age, most of us, I mean, I only started to care about wrinkles, as I started to get older, like you're saying, Carol, and I think the key is like you're saying, it's not so much on the outside, it's from the inside and we really have to nourish ourselves to make it inside out. Having the experience that you've had and interviewing the people that you've interviewed, you've really got the best of the best information so I think it's amazing that you've compiled it.
CAROL: Yes, it's a resource book. We compiled it and took the best of the things; the things that I know work and I compiled and I think that I know that everybody can do. You know, but you just said something that was really quite interested, however. You said to me, I didn't really care about wrinkles. But, you know, that's the problem. You know, that statement I always think of as the older I get that, "Youth is wasted on the young." I didn't think about wrinkles when I was a kid. I didn't think about getting sick or having health issues. In fact, when I turned raw, it wasn't about health issues at that moment. It was minor health issues. It was heartburn, etc., I just thought if I could feel a little better, great, but it really was about vanity when I first did this.
ANDREA: Right.
CAROL: I'm the first to admit it. It was, "I'm starting to look old." If I had done this when I was 20 or 30, I would have saved myself so many issues: the fear, the waste of time going to doctors and all this stuff that just interferes with your life and the lack of joy because you're not feeling good and maybe they don't even know what's wrong with you. The truth of the matter is, I don't ever wish that on my worst enemy. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy because it's a horrible way to live. So, I do these things exactly because of what you said. Not because of, "Oh, you're going to get old and wrinkly." But, because you forget or you don't want to face the fact that you're going to get old and wrinkly. This is like, do this every day and keep yourself from getting into that moment where you go like, "Oh, shoot. I need to do something." But now, you've got to dig yourself out of a hole.
LISA: Yes. And then you've got to do something bigger. Cosmetic procedures or surgery. It is. So, if you can start young and, even you can't, any age you can make a difference is huge.
Carol, this is so fantastic. Tell us where we can pre-order your wonderful book, A Heathy You.
CAROL: For sure on Amazon.com. Those guys are amazing over there. Amazon.com has our book pre-ordered. Or, you could go to your bookstore and ask them to bring it in. I even say, "You know what, go to your library and ask them to bring it in." Then, you could borrow it. You know?
LISA: Oh, that's a great idea.
ANDREA: That's a great idea.
CAROL: For me, these things aren't about raising money. This stuff is about me getting this information out there. You guys do such a good job in helping me do that. Thank you so much, always, for having me on your show.
LISA: Oh, Carol, it is our pleasure. I want to thank everyone for listening. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @YourRadioMD and @Naturally Savvy.
Have a great day and stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
There's never a more important time to be in optimal health than prior to conception and during pregnancy.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 5
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1510ns3e.mp3
- Featured Speaker Rea Frey, Author
- Book Title Detox Before You're Expecting: A Cleansing Program to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy
- Guest Website Rea Frey
- Guest Twitter Account @nashfitfam
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Guest Bio
Rea Frey is an award-winning author, nutrition specialist, and International Sports Sciences Association certified trainer. She is the author of Detox Before You’re Expecting: A Cleansing Program to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy, Power Vegan: Plant-Fueled Nutrition for Maximum Health and Fitness and The Cheat Sheet: A Clue-by-Clue Guide to Finding Out If He's Unfaithful. Her work has been featured in Oxygen, Fitness, Ladies’ Home Journal, and Whole Living. She lives in Nashville with her husband and daughter.
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: March 4, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Rea Frey
Whether you are new to the living healthy lifestyle or a healthy living veteran, this is the place for the honest answers to your questions. Naturally Savvy with registered holistic nutritionist Andrea Donsky and health journalist, Lisa Davis on RadioMD.com.
LISA: Hi. I’m Lisa Davis. So, glad you’re listening to Naturally Savvy on RadioMD. Andrea is off today. We’ve all talk about detox and heard about detoxing, but what about detoxing before you’re expecting?
Well, Rea Frey joins us. She is the author of Detox Before You’re Expecting: A Cleansing Program to Prepare Your Body for Pregnancy.
Hello, Rea. Welcome back.
REA: Thank you so much. Nice to be here.
LISA: It’s so nice to have you on. When our show first came on, you came on to talk about Power Vegan and Plant Fuel Nutrition for Maximum Health and Fitness.
REA: I did.
LISA: And now, you’re here to talk about detoxing before expecting. I know that you like to use whole food detoxing. Jump right into this and tell us how if you’re trying to get pregnant; what if you’re already are pregnant. So, I guess that’s not before, right? But, what do you want to do for both situations?
REA: Yes. So, detoxing is not a new concept. It’s been around for quite some time, but I find that a lot of the detoxes that are out there with fasting, using the herbal cleanses, the juice cleanses, they’re not really sustainable and they’re not safe. So, I really wanted to kind of devise a plan for people who could do this kind of year round and do it in a very safe way using whole, unprocessed foods. There’s never a more important time to be at the optimal level of health than before conception. I think, a lot of times, we just kind of use pregnancy as this time to eat whatever we want and to kind of gain weight and, of course, you’re going to gain weight, but you want it to be the right kind of weight. You want to go into pregnancy at the absolute best level of health that you can get and cleansing the body prior to that is one of the greatest things that you can do.
LISA: You know, I totally agree with what you’re saying about women. Kind of giving them a pass, in a way.
REA: Yes.
LISA: “Oh, I have a craving. I have to eat 4 chocolate cakes,” and so, you know, I’m not saying you have to be completely strict, but it’s not like a free for all, right?
REA: It’s not a free for all. Yes.
LISA: So, you definitely want to take care of your body.
REA: Absolutely.
LISA: And, I know that you write about something called toggling calories. Am I saying that right? Toggling?
REA: That is. That’s right. Yes. That is right.
LISA: What does that mean?
REA: So, a really cool way to kind of reset your metabolism and kind of jumpstart your metabolism and cleanse naturally is this idea of toggling calories. So, not everyone wants to count calories. I’m not really a calorie counter, but if you take a little bit of time to do this, it can absolutely change your life and change your body. So, what you have to do is basically find your baseline caloric intake which, all that means is, the number of calories that you’re ingesting where you don’t gain weight and you don’t lose weight. A lot of us are probably there right now. I give a way, in my new book, to figure this out. You can get your lab work done and do it that way, or there’s a cool calculation where you can find out what that is. But, say your baseline is 1800 calories and this is the calories that you consume where you won’t gain weight and you won’t lose weight. All you’re going to do is reduce calories by 25% for 2 or 3 days and that’s it. You can do this every 3 weeks and then, you go back up to that 1800 calories. By reducing it by just 2 or 3 days, you’re not adapting to that new number. So, what happens when we do a diet, right? We go down to that 1200 calories or 1300 calories or 1500 calories even and we stay there for a long period of time. So, our bodies naturally adapt to that lower number. So, any time we’re going out to eat and we eat 1800 calories or 2000 calories a day, then we’re in a surplus and we’re going to gain weight. That’s why diets are not effective and they don’t work, but when we toggle calories and we only reduce those calories for 2 or 3 days, we’re just jumpstarting the metabolism. We go right back up to where we’re comfortable with the calories and we haven’t adjusted to that new number. So, we can kind of shed weight, shed toxins without it being dangerous and it’s just a really, really cool way to kind of jump start that metabolism every 3 or 4 weeks.
LISA: Now, these calories that you’re toggling, you want to be doing the whole food detox during it or is this just when you’re back to your regular healthier eating? Give us a little bit.
REA: Yes, you can do it, actually before you do detox, like right before you do detox. You can actually do it during the detox, if you want or after. It’s a very safe thing to do just, obviously, you don’t want to do it while you’re pregnant or nursing, but other than that, it’s really safe to do at any point.
LISA: Alright. So, take us through the detox.
REA: Sure. So, in the book on this detox before you’re expecting, I have 3 different levels of detox. I think that’s really important because we’re not the one size fits all with the way that we eat or our food sensitivities, so I have a beginner detox for people who really just eat fast food; they drink sodas; they just don’t really know what healthy food is. There’s an intermediate detox for people who eat healthy about 50% of the time; and then, there’s this super advanced detox for people who eat incredibly well, but still need a little bit of help. So, each program has a different set of criteria, different rules to follow, and different food suggestions for them and they’re each for different lengths of time, so you can really kind of pick and choose where you want to be, but you are using all whole, unprocessed foods. It’s mostly plant-based for the beginner detox. A lot of people are not going to give up meat which is completely fine, but there are just really good suggestions for healthy swaps along the way.
LISA: Oh, great. Share some of those swaps with us. For example, I am very much Paleo, so I’ll have a ginormous salad with tons of vegetables, an avocado and olive oil and then I might have a little grass-fed beef on the side and maybe a little bit of a yam, so I am, you know, very vegetable focused but I do like my meat as long as it’s grass-fed. But, I know it’s still meat, but anyway, it’s all good.
REA: Yes and, again, meat, as long as you know where it’s coming from.
LISA: Sure.
REA: The thing with Paleo what’s kind of happened is, the Paleo diet is actually based on a moderate protein consumption. It’s not this crazy high protein and I feel like we’ve really gotten out of control with it and that’s what we’re focusing on. The focus should really be more on kinds of vegetables and things like that. But with Paleo, or anything when you’re excluding whole food groups, you can still kind of miss out on some important nutrients, so it’s really good to vary the way that you eat. That’s something that I talk about as well. We reach for the same 5-10 foods on a consistent basis and it’s very, very important to change up the way that you eat. So, if you’re eating grass-fed beef, for instance, maybe try some fish. If you’re eating kale every single day, let’s try some Swiss chard. You’ve got to change it up because our bodies can actually become allergic to the foods that we’re eating even if they’re really healthy foods. So, that’s just very, very important.
LISA: Now, what about people who are not just sensitive to gluten, but maybe whole grains? They just don’t agree with them for whatever reason.
REA: Don’t eat them. Yes, don’t.
LISA: Okay. But, they are part of your detox, correct?
REA: Well, not all of them.
LISA: Brown rice or quinoa. Not all of them? Okay.
REA: That’s suggested for people who can absorb and digest grains. You know, I do always suggest to soak and sprout grains whenever you can because it’s the phytate selectins in certain foods. Those are what really messes with people and the nuts as well. So, if you can soak and sprout your nut seeds or grains, that really helps a lot of the time, but really looking for things…You know, if you’re not going to do grains, if you can do root veggies, if you can do sweet potatoes or things that you’re still getting a little bit of those complex carbs in there because our bodies do need that energy. We can’t just be all meat and all veggies all the time. We need a little bit of variation.
LISA: No, I agree. I make a smoothie that I love with a little bit of mango and a lot of like 5 different types of grains. I actually learned about something new: tatsoi. T-A-T-S-O-I. Do you know what that is?
REA: Oh, I don’t actually.
LISA: I’ve got this like green blend. Oh, anyway, and then I put an avocado in there and an orange and it’s delicious. We’re already out of time, Rea. This goes so fast.
REA: Oh, my gosh!
LISA: Tell us how…I know…Tell us how we can learn more about you.
REA: Sure. You can go to my website. It’s ReaFrey.com. I kind of have updates, my books are on there, where they’re sold everywhere. Yes. And that’s kind of the easiest way to get in contact.
LISA: Well, you’re a fabulous guest.
REA: Oh, thank you so much.
LISA: You always have such good information. I’m so glad you came back. I want to thank you.
Thanks everyone for listening. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @YourRadioMD and @NaturallySavvy. I hope you all have a great day and stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Some people give you energy, some people zap your energy.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 4
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1510ns3d.mp3
- Featured Speaker Cornell Thomas, Author & Motivational Speaker
- Book Title The Power of Me
- Guest Website Power of Positivity
- Guest Twitter Account @cornellthomas
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Guest Bio
Cornell Thomas is a basketball coach, trainer, life coach, motivational speaker, and author. Through his program Crossroads Basketball he has helped hundred of kids in the last nine years reach their goals. For the last four years Cornell has been inspiring and motivating people of all ages through his own motivational quotes and blog site at www.powerofpositivity.net
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: March 4, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Cornell Thomas
Your organic search is over. Here’s Naturally Savvy with health experts Andrea Donsky and health journalist, Lisa Davis.
LISA: Hi. I’m Lisa Davis. Andrea is off today. You know, some people give you energy. Some people zap your energy. Today, we’re going to talk about how to handle energy vampires with our fabulous friend, Cornell Thomas.
He’s a basketball coach, trainer, life coach, motivational speaker and author and he joins us now.
Alright, Cornell, let’s jump in and what is an energy vampire?
CORNELL: An energy vampire. We use this term a lot in sports. It’s someone that just sucks the life out of the team, so when I go and speak I talk about energy vampires in terms of people that we have in our lives that just kind of suck the life out of our day. You know, like we all have that person who is just a drama bomb. You know, everything is going good and you’re like, wanting to talk about your new promotion and as soon as you talk to them, there’s like this big, dark cloud over therm. It’s just like, “Well, this is what happened today and this is terrible,” and “this sucks” and it just kind of takes all your energy away. So, I try to stay away from energy vampires. I don’t have too many of them in my life and I think that’s just good advice for everybody. Try to be aware because no matter how good your day is going, they can suck the life out of it.
LISA: Now, what if you love someone who’s an energy vampire and you care about them and you want to approach this with them and say, “Hey, I really care about you, but I feel like sometimes your energy brings me down,” or like what would you say? Have you had that happen or is it just these people that are on the periphery of your life, so it’s not that big of a deal?
CORNELL: Well, I have this happen pretty much every day where there’s someone that comes up to me and talks to me and they’re just super negative at first and especially if you love someone, Lisa, you should be able to have that open communication. So, if I have a friend of mine that is just super negative, I’ll just approach them and be real with them. Like, “Look. What you think, you attract. So, if every day you wake up, you’re in a miserable mood and everything’s going wrong and the sky is always falling, you’ve got to think about that. Like why is that happening every day? Because it’s what you’re thinking. You’re attracting it into your life. You’re manifesting it into your life.” And that’s the conversation I have with people and it’s hard for people to see things that are right in front of them. Things like energy, you can’t really just see it in front of you, so it’s hard for people to understand that, but that’s what I write about. I mean, that’s what I talk about. It’s just what you think, you’re going to attract it. So, if you’re negative all the time, usually, negative things happen. If you’re positive all the time, usually good things happen to you.
LISA: Now, sometimes when you’re positive, negative things can still happen, but it’s how you handle it, right?
CORNELL: Yes. Yes. Life is 90% of, you know, to me, how you handle adversity, I really do believe it. The 10% is what happens to you. Ninety percent is how you handle it. I mean, if you have a flat tire, you can do two things: you can sit on the side of the road kicking your car or you can try to fix it. It’s either…You only have two options there. There aren’t a lot of things you can do. It’s like, even though I’m a super positive person, I’m human. There’s days where I’ll wake up and things are not going the right way and that cloud is starting to form. The key is, when I see that cloud forming, I just take out my umbrella. I don’t sit there and cry about it.
LISA: Oh, I like that. Yes. You know, I injured my leg and I’ve been kind of down because I can’t be as active and, quite frankly, it really flippin’ hurts, you know?
CORNELL: Yes.
LISA: I can’t bend my knee without pain. I can’t get comfortable sleeping without pain and I can see where if you’re dealing with like a chronic pain situation or there are certain people where, I feel badly because I can understand why they’re an energy vampire and then maybe they need to talk to someone. Do you know? Like there are certain circumstances that make it tough.
CORNELL: Yes.
LISA: I mean, I’m hoping I’m not an energy vampire.
CORNELL: Definitely not.
LISA: But, I just feel lately like I’m not quite myself, right? Because it’s hard to deal with things that are…Or, if you constantly have things going wrong in your life all the time. Big things, like people dying or you divorce.
CORNELL: Yes, for sure.
LISA: Not like, “I stubbed my toe,” or something, right?
CORNELL: Yes.
LISA: So, you have to have tools.
CORNELL: Yes.
LISA: So, you yourself, Cornell, went through a pretty big change in your life where you were going to be a professional athlete and you were injured and how did you--for people who don’t know your story, tell us about that. How were you able to handle this situation?
CORNELL: Well, I was two weeks away from playing professional basketball in Europe. I was going to go to Portugal and I blew my Achilles tendon and if you want to talk about an energy vampire, for that first couple days, that would be me. I was in my room. I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I didn’t want to see anybody. I was just miserable and I told myself that this is transitory. It’s eventually going to pass and it’s up to me to either work towards getting back to where I was, or I could sit there and just whine about it and be miserable. Me being miserable, sitting in my room just looking at the four walls really wasn’t doing anything, so I just turned it around. I seriously looked at people that have it worse than me. You know, we all have aches and pains, if we’re working out, we all have injuries that happen and you have to look at it…I look at it in terms of yoga. You know, I’m there shaking like leaf. My whole entire body’s hurting in a pose. My yoga teacher’s always saying, “Cornell, this will pass. You’ll go to the next position.” And, I’m like, “When is that next position going to ever come?” but you know that eventually it will and that’s the same thing in terms life. Eventually, that storm’s going to pass. You just have to fight it out until that happens.
LISA: That’s true. Well, talk to us about The Power of Me. Your first book is The Power of Positivity: Controlling Where the Ball Bounces. This is The Power of Me: Army of One. Tell us about it.
CORNELL: Well, The Power of Positivity, the first book, was my story and I wanted to tell people how I dealt with adversity. The Power of Me is really, I look at it in terms of a workbook. It’s to help you. It’s all about the reader. So, The Power of Me just talks about positive self-awareness and self-belief even when things are happening in your life that don’t make you feel very confident. And, the difference between this book and the first book, another difference is, there are worksheets in there and there are actual drills you can do to be more positive and to believe in yourself. So, that’s what people were asking me after my first book. “Well, how do you do this and what are some of the things I can do to fix my negative mindset?” Now, I have them in this book, so there’s really no excuse now.
LISA: So, give us an example. There’s no…You’re like, “No excuses!” Give us an example of one of these things in the book that we can actually do. I love that.
CORNELL: Okay, so one of the examples, one of my favorite ones is the chapter called, “I will” and in this chapter, it basically is just me saying just different positive affirmations. Like, you know, “I will accomplish what I set out to do. I will overcome adversity. I will be great.” What I have you do in this drill is every morning, I want the person to look in the mirror and say they will do something that’s on their goal list. So, say for you, it’s like, “I will be on Oprah one day.” You know? You’re going to look in the mirror. You’re going to look yourself right in the eye. It doesn’t matter if you have your make-up on or not, you’re going to say, “I will be on Oprah Winfrey.” Or, “I will have a national television show.” And, I think when you say it, it might not hit your conscious all the time, but it’s hitting your subconscious and that is so powerful and so much more powerful when it hits your subconscious because it doesn’t go anywhere. So, that’s one of the drills that’s my favorite one. I actually wrote down today--I was in the middle of shoveling and I just wrote down some more affirmations that I want to tell myself every day. And, that’s what I say in the mirror every single day I wake up.
LISA: Now, are you saying you’re going on Ellen? Is that one of them? Because that would be so awesome and you have to take me with you.
CORNELL: That’s one that’s written down. Me and Ellen have a date. She doesn’t know it yet, but I’ve already put it out there. We have a date and when me and Ellen do have this date, I’m going to come on the show and I’m going to say, “Remember when we were talking about me being on Ellen?” And you’re going to be like, “Yes, Cornell. That’s great. I was on Oprah yesterday.” So, I mean, we’re going to go back and forth for a very long time.
LISA: I think it’s so cool because having these affirmations, again, you have to believe in yourself and that’s The Power of Me.
Cornell, I just love everything that you do.
You can find out more about Cornell. Your website is PowerPositivity.net.
CORNELL: Yes.
LISA: And, you can follow Cornell @CornellThomas and he joins us here once a month on Naturally Savvy and I’m just so grateful. I think—has it been a year? Or, I think it’s been a year and a half since we met. So, it’s been…
CORNELL: I think it’s been a year and a half.
LISA: Fabulous.
CORNELL: Our anniversary’s coming up soon. I’m pretty excited.
LISA: Oooh! Alright, we’ll have to do something special. Well, I want to thank you, Cornell.
CORNELL: Thank you.
LISA: And, thank you, everyone, for listening. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @YourRadioMD and @NaturallySavvy.
I hope you all have a great day. Write down your affirmations. Look in the mirror, make up or not and believe in yourself just like Cornell and stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Tests conducted by the CDC show that over 90 percent of Americans have traces of health-damaging parabens in their bodies.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 3
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1510ns3c.mp3
- Featured Speaker Lisa & Ron Beres, Certified Green Building Professionals
- Book Title Just GREEN It! Simple Swaps to Save the Planet + Your Health
- Guest Website Ron and Lisa: The Healthy Home Dream Team
- Guest Facebook Account https://www.facebook.com/RonandLisaTheHealthyHomeDreamTeam
- Guest Twitter Account @RonandLisa
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Guest Bio
Ron and Lisa Beres are Certified Green Building Professionals, Building Biologists and published authors of several books including, Just GREEN It! and the children's book, My Body My House. In addition to testing the health of homes, their consulting business includes celebrities and Fortune 500's. They are award winning television media experts and have appeared on The Rachael Ray Show, The Suzanne Show, The Doctors, Fox & Friends, The Today Show with Matt Lauer, NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams, Discovery’s Greenovate and Chelsea Lately on E!
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Want to pump up your fitness and/or weight loss efforts? Work out smarter, not longer.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 2
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1510ns3b.mp3
- Featured Speaker Gina Harney, The Fitenessista
- Book Title HIIT IT!
- Guest Website The Fitnessista
- Guest Twitter Account @fitnessista
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Guest Bio
Gina Harney is the blogger behind Fitnessista.com, a healthy living site with over one million monthly page views. She is a personal trainer and fitness instructor in San Diego, a military wife, and mom to a three-year-old daughter. She is the author of HIIT It! from Demos Health.
- Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Internal Notes repeat guest
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Your body is approximately 75 percent water. Does the water you drink have any impact on your bodily systems?
Additional Info
- Segment Number 1
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1510ns3a.mp3
- Featured Speaker John Willard III, CEO of CAW Industries, Inc.
- Guest Website Dr. Willard's Water
- Guest Twitter Account @DrWillards
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Guest Bio
John Willard III is the CEO of CAW Industries, Inc., the company founded by Dr. John Willard, PhD, to sell his now famous Willard Water products. Dr. Willard, who earned his PhD from Purdue University, invented what he called Catalyst Water in 1964 while attempting to develop a high density trace mineral water from fossilized organics. When conducting basic toxicity tests on the product he noticed it was significantly increasing the movement of platelets in his bloodstream. This promoted him to conduct more tests in conjunction with Dr. T.W. Perry at Purdue and they eventually realized Dr. Willard’s had invented a product that serves as a catalyst in the body affecting a variety of bodily functions which results in a number of positive outcomes such as more complete digestion, better cellular absorption of nutrients, enhanced free radical scavenging, and better toxin removal. Dr. Willard founded CAW Industries to sell his invention in 1973 and thousands of customers worldwide have been buying his products for more than 40 years.
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: March 4, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: John Willard III
Whether you are new to the living healthy lifestyle or a healthy living veteran, this the place for the honest answers to your questions. Naturally Savvy with registered holistic nutritionist, Andrea Donsky and health journalist, Lisa Davis, on RadioMD.com.
LISA: Hi, I’m Lisa Davis. Andrea is off today.
If you’re wondering about how to enhance your water, because we all drink water, and if you’re not drinking enough water, you really should, but we have got John Willard here from Willard Water.
Hello, John.
JOHN: Good morning, how are you doing?
LISA: I’m doing well. How are you?
JOHN: I’m doing fantastic. Thank you.
LISA: Well, that’s great. Well, I have a big glass of water with me right now and it’s so important to stay hydrated and, you know, there are a lot of things out there, aren’t there, about enhancing your water and getting enough vitamins and minerals. Tell us your thoughts on this and tell us the story about your grandfather.
JOHN: Absolutely. I think, personally, for me, I think it’s really quite fascinating to see how much the mindset toward water has really changed maybe in the last couple of decades or so. Certainly, 50 years ago, people thought, “Well, whatever I drink, whatever water I drink, whatever I put in my body really doesn’t make that big of a difference,” and I think that goes for the natural products industry as a whole. People didn’t really think in terms of supplements 50 years ago either, but we’re definitely in the middle of what I think is one of the golden ages of water development and certainly for companies like ours, the Dr. Willard’s water, that people are starting to realize that what we do with the water, the kind of water that we drink can absolutely affect the body’s ability to do a variety of different things.
LISA: And, your grandfather was a chemist. Tell us a little bit about him.
JOHN: Yes, my grandfather was a chemist. He was Dr. Willard. He got his PhD in chemistry from Perdue University and in the mid-1960’s, he began to play around with a solution. He was actually trying to develop a trace mineral water and I won’t bore you folks with all the details of what he was doing, but he was in the lab one day and he always just called it “dumb luck”. He was working on this trace mineral water and he starting adding a couple of other things to it and he realized when he added it to water and he began to drink it actually testing his blood cells for the effects of toxicity, he noticed it was boosting the movement of platelets in his bloodstream and that product, what he called “Catalyst”, eventually “Catalyst Additive” to water is today what we call Willard Water. But, my grandfather was, I really believe, one of the first, if not the first, to really start experimenting in how the water we consume affects the body and he began to do a lot of research throughout the late 60’s in conjunction with a biologist at Perdue by the name of Dr. T. W. Perry on his product and then he began to try it out on a variety of different things. He began to use it on plants, for example, and on some humans drinking it around the area and then he also was giving it to livestock in the area and he began to realize that what we were seeing was an increased efficiency in the bloodstream, in the water that was in the bloodstream and that was actually what seemed to be serving as a catalyst in the body. Eventually, 60 Minutes did a story on my grandpa in 1980 and I happen to believe that’s one of the things that really launched what we call today the structured water revolution.
LISA: Oh, structured water. That’s so interesting. How has it changed over the years?
JOHN: Well, I think, like I said, 50 years ago, people really didn’t think in terms of any difference in their water and most people don’t realize, when we talk about things like my grandfather talked about, altering the structure of the water by adding our Willard Water to it. People say, “Well, you can’t really alter the structure,” but, in fact, any time you add something to water—if you add Kool-Aid to water, it’s actually altering the structure of that water. So, what my grandfather was basically saying was, the liquids we consume can have a difference, can make a really big difference in our body’s ability to do a variety of different things. Keep in mind that our bodies are what? About 75% water. And so, the efficiency with which that water is moving throughout your body absolutely can affect a variety of different bodily functions and that was what my grandfather was basically saying.
LISA: Well, let’s talk a little bit about filtered water and why it’s so important. What’s your opinion on this, John? Do you have any recommendations? Because my 10-year-old daughter does not like the water we have and I have a water filter, but maybe it’s not high-powered enough, but I don’t know. She’s like, “This water tastes like toes.”
JOHN: I honestly think you can argue it both ways and I think my grandfather did. Now, my grandfather always used distilled water when he added Willard Water to it because he felt like it was important to have what he called a “blank slate” when you were dealing with water. But, I also think that there are a lot of, especially where I’m from in South Dakota, there are a lot of naturally occurring minerals that come into the water that we drink. So, when you’re filtering that out, you’re also filtering out those minerals. So, I think the argument can be made both ways.
LISA: Oh, I see. Now, what about people that say that, you know, if you live in the city then you have to be careful because of all the chlorine content in your water and then you have other people say, like my father-in-law is always like, “Oh, our town does a great job. You don’t need that filter. What are you doing? They take all the impurities out.” I’m like, “How do you know?”
JOHN: I don’t think you do, to be quite honest. I mean, it’s…
LISA: I’m thinking that after I asked.
JOHN: Yes. I don’t think you do. I certainly think, in some places, absolutely. I mean, geeze, some of the testing they’re seeing in places like New York and L.A. and in other big cities, it’s not just the fluoride in the water, it’s a variety of different things. I mean, they’re finding traces of drugs in the water now. You know, people dumping their pills down the drain or whatever that ends up in the city’s water supply. So, yes, I do think there’s a very legitimate argument to be made to filter the water in places like that. Here in South Dakota, we don’t have as much of a problem with those things and I think in a lot of rural American communities, they probably don’t have those problems.
LISA: John, what do you think about the fluoridation? You have the people who are against it and the people who are in favor of it. Where do you stand?
JOHN: Honestly, I’m generally more in favor of it, but I think that there’s always a situation where you can get too much of it and that goes with just about anything that we drink or `anything that we eat. There’s a possibility you can get too much of it, but I think that there’s also the opportunity that if there’s the obvious fact that our teeth are much better than a lot of other developed countries and that we have a much lower incidence of gum disease and what not. What people tend to forget is that can actually kill you. I mean, gum disease can cause a variety of different problems for you. Just like we see that in dogs. They always tell us, you know, you have to watch your dog and you have to brush your dog’s teeth because the gum disease can lead to a variety of different ailments. It’s the same thing with human beings and so, once again, I tend to be a on the fence a little bit on that. I’m still alive and kicking and one thing we also forget about here in developed nations is that we have the luxury of having these arguments because we’re living to our 90’s. In a lot of underdeveloped countries, of course they’re living until their 30’s and so, I tend to take all of that with a grain of salt.
LISA: Yes. That is a good way to think about it. Now, John, another thing, too, as I notice that a lot of these water enhancers are colored. Now, hopefully, most of them are not artificially colored, but what do you say about that? You know, people just find water boring. That’s not what Willard Water’s about. It’s not about whether it’s boring or not, it’s about adding more nutrition.
JOHN: It’s not even necessarily about adding more nutrition. It’s about adding more effectiveness to the water and, once again, we actually do have two different Willard Water products. We have a Willard Water product that does add trace minerals to the water and that goes back to what my grandfather really believed in. What he was trying to do was develop a high-density, trace mineral water. So he believed in that, but the product that we call the “Clear” is basically nothing more than a catalyst when it’s added to the water. It is somehow, and we still don’t know, after 40 years of science at the University of British Columbia; University of Washington; University of Central Florida; obviously, Perdue; South Dakota School of Business & Technology, the list goes on and on of all these people who’ve done research on this and we still don’t understand why it’s doing what it’s doing. We can replicate the effects in the human body; we can replicate the effects on cells; we can replicate the effects on plants. But, what we can’t figure out is why it’s doing it. Certainly, we understand that the way we’re consuming this water is having an impact and, as I said, I think my grandpa was a little bit ahead of his time on that.
LISA: Well, he sounds like he was an incredible man, but I’m such a fan of 60 Minutes and especially in the 80’s. You know, before we had the internet and you could find out everything, everywhere, I always found that so interesting.
John, tell us how we can learn more about you and Willard Water.
JOHN: Sure. We have, I think, a great website. It’s DrWillard.com or they can call us directly. We also have a great customer service staff here. It’s 888-379-4552.
LISA: Terrific. John, it’s been great having you on.
I want to thank you all for listening. You can like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @YourRadioMD and @Naturally_Savvy.
Have a great day and stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
If you don't have the "typical" yoga student's body, you might feel intimidated to try it. Learn how one woman has created a yoga concept for ALL shapes and sizes.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 5
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1509ns3e.mp3
- Featured Speaker Anna Guest-Jelley, CEO of Curvy Yoga
- Guest Website Curvy Yoga
- Guest Twitter Account @CurvyYoga
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Guest Bio
Anna Guest-Jelley is founder and CEO (Curvy Executive Officer) at Curvy Yoga, a training and inspiration portal offering classes, workshops, teacher trainings, retreats, a virtual studio and lots of love and support to people of every size, age and ability. Anna is a writer, teacher and lifelong champion for women’s empowerment and body acceptance. She is the author of, Permission to Curve: Inspiring Poses for Curvy Yogis & Their Teachers, and co-editor of Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery & Loving Your Body.
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: February 25, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Anna Guest-Jelley
Whether you are new to the living healthy lifestyle or a healthy living veteran, this the place for the honest answers to your questions. Naturally Savvy with registered holistic nutritionist, Andrea Donsky and health journalist, Lisa Davis, on RadioMD.com
LISA: Hi, I’m Lisa Davis. Andrea Donsky is off today.
Yoga is something that I used to do regularly and I used to teach kids yoga and then I kind of fell off the yoga wagon and got on the Pilates wagon, but I want to get back and one of the things that’s really encouraging me is the wonderful Anna Guest-Jelley. She’s the founder and CEO, I love this, “Curvy Executive Officer” at Curvy Yoga.
Hi, Anna.
ANN: Hi. I’m so excited to be here.
LISA: It’s so great to have you on. As a curvy woman, I think in the earlier segment, I talked about being 5’9¾”, so I just say I’m 5’10”. Size 12. Very shapely, I might add. You know, I think I would go to those yoga classes or even watch the videos and just feel like an Amazon and just feel out of place, so talk to us about your own experiences and tell us all about Curvy Yoga.
ANN: Yes. I really relate to what you just said. I also, when I first started practicing yoga, felt very out of place. I was almost always the biggest person in the room and I practiced for years thinking, “Okay. I really like this, but I feel like I’m just not getting it. Like, surely that will happen once I lose “X” amount of pounds,” which is really what I was focused on at that time in my life.
Over time, I started to see how being on diet after diet after diet was not working for me in my life and that I needed to find a different paradigm. That’s when I started learning about and started to practice body acceptance in my own life. What I found was that what was really helping me was yoga, how it had helped me learn to really connect with my body. And then, those two things kind of clicked and I realized, “Oh, maybe the issue isn’t my body having to change, but just that I need more information and maybe my teachers haven’t learned how to teach curvy-bodied students.” That is what prompted me to eventually become a teacher and start Curvy Yoga to really get the word out and get the tools out to people of all shapes and sizes, especially curvy people that, yes, yoga is absolutely for you.
LISA: That is so awesome. So, what are some of the differences would you say, in what you do with the Curvy Yoga versus just a mainstream yoga class?
ANN: Most likely, people are going to see a lot more use of props in Curvy Yoga classes. So we do everything that we can to make the poses work for everybody because I’m a huge believer that everybody can practice their own version of every pose, even the poses that feel really scary like headstands. There’s a way that you can work with dolphin at the wall or something like that. There’s always something that can be done. So, we’re really coming at it from this angle of, “How can you really make it work for you even if it doesn’t look like what everyone else in class is doing?” and it’s the kind of class where everyone is doing something at least slightly different which is usually different from the kind of mainstream class that you’ll run into.
LISA: I really love that. The whole idea of modifications and doing what your body is able to do. I’m terrified to do a headstand, so, apparently, I need to come and work with you.
ANN: Yes. Well, it’s scary and I mean, it’s one of those poses where you have to question if it’s really a great idea to be practicing it because of all the risks, but being able to find a way that works for you can lower peoples’ intimidation level for going to classes because sometimes people will think like, “I’m scared. Now, what if they do this? I don’t know if I even want to go to class.” So, if you have a resource, you know you can do something, even if the teacher doesn’t offer it to you.
LISA: It seems like, because we’ve spoken before, and just looking at all your great material, Anna, that this has really helped you love your body and I am so big on the “Health at Every Size” movement and I just think it’s so encouraging what you’re doing.
How has this affected your relationship with your self-esteem and your body image?
ANN: I mean, it’s been completely transformative and what I think happened for me is, when I first started working on body acceptance, I was reading books and going to therapy and journaling and all of that was so helpful. I couldn’t have done it without that, but it wasn’t until I brought in the piece of the body—so, being able to connect with my body, feel what it needed, figure out how to meet those needs--that I could really accept it. Sometimes, I’ll explain it as this kind of a friendship. So, if you think about becoming really good friends with someone, it’s pretty much impossible to do that if you don’t know anything about them. The same is true for your own body. Until I could really start to feel what was going on and connect more with my body, I couldn’t accept it—really.
LISA: And, I think in our culture, we make it so hard for women, of any size, really, to connect with our bodies because we’re trying to make everybody feel bad about themselves. “You’re too thin. You’re too fat. You’re too this…” I remember in high school, I was so skinny--this was in the 80’s—that the jocks used to tease me and call me Olive Oil because I have really frizzy hair, so I would slick it back and put it in this like kind of high ponytail braid thing. It was not a good look, but still. So, I’d eat peanut butter sandwiches late at night and then, of course, as I got older I put on weight and I filled out nicely, but it was really hard, you know? And then, I’m like, “Geeze, I’m too thin. You’re too fat. When are we just going to be okay?”
ANN: Right. I know. When I first started the Curvy Yoga, I thought that the only people that would be interested would be other curvy-bodied people, but, much to my surprise, pretty much from day one, I’ve always had students of all shapes and sizes and it’s for exactly that reason that you said, because I would have women write to me and say, “You know, I’m a Size 2 and you’re a Size 20, but I totally relate to everything you’re saying about feeling disconnected from your body, not loving your body, feeling like your body’s not right for yoga, etc.” and that really opened my eyes to what you said that so many of us, due to media, family or whatever institutions, are getting the message that we need to be turning to the external to sort of fix our bodies and I think what yoga can do is turn us to the internal, no matter what our shape and size is, and help us really be with, and accept, our bodies.
LISA: It’s so true. You know, yesterday, I saw this interview with Ashley Graham, who’s a plus size model and she was in Sports Illustrated in a paid advertisement, but she’s the biggest model. I mean, I thought, “Wow, she looks…” Her swimsuit, man, her curves are banging. I mean, she looks amazing. So, I reached out to her and she’s going to come on the show. I’m really excited, but do you think it’s starting to change more with more plus size models? I hate that term, but that’s what they call them.
ANN: Right. Yes, I know what you mean. Yes. I do. I definitely see that. Both in that world and I see in the yoga world that the conversation’s growing around size diversity and getting more people into the practice and I think that’s great. We just have to keep it up.
LISA: Yes. We do. So, tell us. Where can people find your classes, Anna?
ANN: Yes. So, I teach locally in the Nashville area, if anyone is listening from there. But if you go to CurvyYoga.com, we have a class locator and we have teachers all over the world and you can look and see if we have someone in your area.
LISA: Oh, cool. Now, in order to become certified, you have to already be a yoga teacher and then you take some extra classes, is that correct?
ANN: That’s right. There are two avenues. So, there’s one for people who are already yoga teachers and that training takes place online and then there’s one for people who are not already yoga teachers to become them and that takes place here in Nashville and information about those is on the website.
LISA: And, tell us a little bit about Permission to Curve. I love that. “Inspiring poses for curvy yogis and their teachers” and also Yoga and Body Image: Twenty-five Personal Stories about Beauty, Bravery and Loving Your Body.
ANN: Sure. So, Permission to Curve is something where I was talking about earlier. You could find resources to sort of figure out how to support yourself in the practice even if you go to a local class where you’re not getting that information. This is the book for that. So, the book has 60 plus poses in it. There are photos; there is video of quite a few of them and a video library available. In that book, I really break down all the different steps: ways you can support yourself, props you can use so that you can use that information in your own practice or in local classes, whatever it is that you’re doing. So, that’s a great “go to” tool that you can refer back to at any time.
And then, Yoga and Body Image, that is a collection that I co-edited with this wonderful woman, Melanie Klein, and we have 25 stories in there from all different kinds of people including Alanis Morissette and Seane Corn, who is a very well-known yoga teacher.
LISA: I love Seane Corn.
ANN: And, it’s all about peoples’ stories about how yoga helped them accept their body. It’s wonderful because they are so diverse in their stories that I think anyone can find at least some commonality with one of the stories.
LISA: Anna, you are absolutely fabulous. Give us your website one more time.
ANN: Thank you! It’s CurvyYoga.com.
LISA: Great. And you can also follow Anna @CurvyYoga and speaking of following, you can like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @RadioMD and @NaturallySavvy.
Anna, thank you so much. This has been so great. I hope you all check out Anna and Curvy Yoga. Have a great day and stay well. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
There's been some recent buzz lately about the safety of supplements - or rather, lack of safety - even in some of the popular Big Box store brands.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 4
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1509ns3d.mp3
- Featured Speaker Ashley Koff, RD
- Guest Website Ashley Koff: Better Nutrition, Simplified
- Guest Twitter Account @ashleykoff
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Guest Bio
Ashley Koff is an internationally-renowned registered dietitian who believes better nutrition is simple and is on a mission to help anyone achieve their personal health goals by providing simple but highly effective tips and strategies. A self-described “Qualitarian,” Koff emphasizes the value of quality nutritional choices in achieving optimal health and has developed tools such as The AKA Qualitarian Nutrition Plan and The AKA Personal Shopper to help facilitate this.
Koff is widely sought after for her knowledge and ability to translate nutrition science into practical and motivating messages and appears regularly in the National Media, has authored two books and speaks frequently on the topic of better quality choices for better health. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
Have you continuously failed at your weight loss efforts? There can be many reasons for it.
Additional Info
- Segment Number 3
- Audio File naturally_savvy/1509ns3c.mp3
- Featured Speaker Michelle Rogers, Healthy Living Blogger
- Guest Website Healthy Beauty
- Guest Twitter Account @Healthy_Beauty
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Guest Bio
One of the top healthy living bloggers on social media, Michelle Rogers was inspired to start her blog, Healthy Beauty, after losing 60 pounds in her 40s and getting fit, and the difference those accomplishments made in her life. Michelle struggled since childhood with yo-yo dieting and weight gain, but turned things around six years ago by starting with small changes. Today she enjoys a fit, active lifestyle while juggling career and family.
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Transcription
RadioMD Presents: Naturally Savvy | Original Air Date: February 25, 2015
Hosts: Andrea Donsky, RHN & Lisa Davis
Guest: Michelle Rogers
She’s not here to judge. She’s here to report the honest news on healthy living. She’s Andrea Donsky along with Lisa Davis. It’s time for Naturally Savvy.
LISA: I’m Lisa Davis. My lovely co-host, Andrea, is off today.
So many of us have tried to lose weight and we have failed and there are many, many different reasons for that.
Well, we have a woman here today who’s a fabulous blogger, Michelle Rogers and she was inspired to start her blog, Healthy Beauty, after losing 60 pounds and this was after many years of having trouble and struggling. She did 5 key things that really helped turn this around. She’s going to share those with us now. Hi, Michelle.
MICHELLE: Hey, Lisa. Thanks for having me.
LISA: It’s great to have you on, Michelle.
Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your background in terms of your struggle with weight and then let’s jump right into those 5 things.
MICHELLE: Oh, sure. You know, my whole life, I’ve struggled with yo-yo dieting and on and off exercising. I mean, I’ve been every weight from 124 as a teenager to 230 when I was pregnant. I mean, I’ve really been every size in the store. But, by the time I reached 40, my weight had steadily crept up and with my non-pregnant weight, the scale was hovering at 200 and I was kind of getting desperate to try to get control of that. I’d see a magazine cover that promised, “Lose 20 Pounds This Month” and, you know, I’d believe that and tried it.
But worse than what the scales said, I just didn’t feel well most of the time. I mean, I was stiff and sore and I didn’t have energy and I just felt so kind of helpless to overcome it. Well, about 6 years ago, I’d had enough and I decided that I was done with dieting. I was done with losing only to gain it back. I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired and too young to feel this old. So, I figured that, if nothing else, I needed to get my body moving to try and relieve the stiffness and tiredness. But, most of all, I was determined that this time was going to be different. I really didn’t want to go back and make all that effort to lose weight and just gain it back again.
LISA: So, what made this time different for you?
MICHELLE: Well, you know, looking back, I realized that I did a few key things differently this time around and the one thing that I decided to do was to start small and keep it do-able. As it turns out, starting small and being consistent was a key point in my success this time. You know, every other time in the past, you know, I would try that diet on Monday morning—the one in the magazine—but the problem is, even if you’re highly motivated, it’s difficult to make a sudden big change and maintain it. That’s why we give up. We’re starving after a week of dieting and we realize we can’t go cold turkey on all of our favorite foods. Or, we find that an hour at the gym practically kills us, and we never go back. So, I basically changed my mindset on that and I realized that, you know what? It’s okay to start small. So, that’s what worked for me—starting with small changes but sticking with them. So, this time I didn’t start out with a 1-hour workout and I didn’t drastically change my diet all at once. I began with 15-minute daily workouts. For me, that was walking on the treadmill and I gradually increased it from there. The next week, I did 16 minutes a day on the treadmill. And then, that kind of made me want to start eating better as well. So, I started making some simple, healthier choices such as less fried foods and lower calorie substitutions and things like that. So, I very gradually increased my healthy eating and my exercise habits from there.
LISA: It makes so much sense to do it small because when you take on too much, then you fail and you get discouraged and then that’s where that horrible cycle gets in the way, right?
MICHELLE: Yes. It sounds so simple, but you know what? It takes a great deal of patience to actually do that because we all want that quick change. We want to lose 20 pounds in one month and things like that. But, if you can just be patient and just stick with it, I promise you it will work for you.
LISA: Alright. So, you decided to start small. What are some of the other things you did, Michelle?
MICHELLE: Well, in terms of exercise, what really has made a huge difference and I think probably the number one key to my success is to schedule it. This is really important. I work out in the morning at 5:30 before I go to work and the reason I work out in the morning is not because I’m a morning person. I’m definitely not, but that’s the time that works best for me because I can do it and get it done. Then, no matter what the rest of the day throws at me, my workout is finished. I come home from work and I’m tired. Who wants to work out then? Maybe for some people, that would work out well, but for me, doing it in the morning has worked out great.
LISA: Oh, that is so wonderful and it’s so worth it because you’re right. When you get home, you just are like, “You know what? Now it’s done. I don’t have to do it.” Now, for some people, they like to do it after work.
MICHELLE: Yes.
LISA: But, the biggest thing is find the time that works for you and do it. Make it a priority.
MICHELLE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Schedule it. Make it a certain time that’s just as an important part of your day as getting up and going to work. Put that in your schedule and that’s your workout time every day and don’t make excuses about.
LISA: You know, another thing that you did that I think is so key is not making it all about the scale. I’ve been avoiding the scale lately because I think we get too obsessed and then we get down and dah dah dah dah dah.
MICHELLE: Oh, I know. And, something about the scale for me. I mentioned I used to kind of make exercise all about the scale. I thought it was all about losing weight and all of that, but when I made it too much about the scale, it actually had the opposite effect for me. I mean, I found I almost sabotaged myself sometimes by being too focused on that number. It sounds ironic, but I kind of had to let that go and kind of forget the scale in order to have weight loss success this time. I really needed to make it more about my health and my well-being and feeling good. When I changed my motivation away from just the scale and away from just the dress size, ironically enough, that’s when I started losing weight and things really clicked for me.
LISA: It does make a big difference. You know, I’m all about that. I just say, “I want to be healthy.” I’m 5’9 ½”. Well, actually, I’m 5’9 ¾ “. I usually say I’m 5’10”. I’m tall. Let’s just leave it at that. And, I’m a size 12 and it’s taken me a while to embrace my curves, but you know what? I exercise every day. I eat clean, I take care of myself emotionally and I think that’s the thing with women. We’re so hard on ourselves, but I think you can be bigger and you can be healthy. It’s all about how you feel and how you’re taking care of yourself. I just think it’s important to emphasize that because we’re not all going to be twigs.
MICHELLE: Oh, absolutely. We’re all beautiful and, you know, God made us a certain way and it’s great. We should embrace that, you know? And so, I think it’s important, you know, just to keep focused on your health and your well-being and not trying to look like the model on the cover. I want to be the best me I can be.
LISA: Oh, I love that! Well, tell us about Healthy Beauty, your wonderful blog.
MICHELLE: Oh, thank you. Yes, the web address is HealthBeauty.me and I started this, oh, about 2 years ago. I just really enjoy working on it. I post articles about health and fitness. I’ll post headlines that are in the news. I’ll post things about maybe what’s worked for me as well as what’s worked for celebrities out there. I do giveaways and I have videos and recipes and it’s just a lot of fun. I really enjoy working on it and I really, really enjoy the social media aspect of it and really connecting with people online.
LISA: Isn’t it nice? I have met the most fascinating people because of social media. I love it.
MICHELLE: I love it, too. It’s wonderful. And, there’s so much support out there, too. And information.
LISA: That’s a great point. And, looking for that support and guidance, right? I mean especially if you are trying to, maybe not lose weight, but maybe just trying to get healthier in general, when you have that support and you know there’s a site like yours or like ours at RadioMD and you can find the information you need. It makes a big difference.
MICHELLE: Oh, it does and I wish that there had been resources like this all those years ago when I was struggling. You know, we didn’t have all these wonderful websites and social media that now there’s so much out there. So, definitely take advantage of that and I would love for people to connect with me online. I would love to hear from you through Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or whatever you’re on. I would love to hear from you. You can find links to all of our social media on the website.
LISA: Oh, great. Tell us your Twitter, though, real quick.
MICHELLE: It’s Health_Beauty_. And, probably the easiest way is just to go to my website. I’ve got links to all of those things right in the sidebar. The web address is HealthyBeauty.me.
LISA: Oh, Michelle, you’ll have to come back. This has been so much fun. I want to thank everyone for listening.
You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @YourRadioMD and @NaturallySavvy. Have a great day. Stay well and have fun. Thanks. - Length (mins) 10
- Waiver Received Yes
- Host Andrea Donsky, RHN and Lisa Davis, MPH
