Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40

Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 with Elizabeth Di Cristofano

Are you suffering from burnout? Are the long hours getting to be too much for you? Getting sick more often. It can happen to anyone and it can have a devastating toll on your health. We have to take care of our bodies to perform at the highest levels. Eating right, plenty of sleep, plenty of water, breathing properly, and of course exercise.

About Elizabeth

As a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, Elizabeth sets out to inspire women, specifically women over 40, to take back their life and vitality by getting to the root cause of their overall health. Health and wellness has been in Elizabeth’s world for the last decade and has evolved as soon as she turned 40. Elizabeth’s career was mainly in the apparel corporate world, working for companies including a New York designer brand and a Fortune 500 company. A career that was not sustainable and in the midst of her starting her own health journey she experienced burnout. Taking on a mind/body approach, Elizabeth started incorporating optimal nutrition, meditation, journaling, daily workouts and movement and practicing setting boundaries all in which helps her thrive in everyday life.  But that was not always the case in her life. She battled an eating disorder when she was 15 which showed back up again recently and is just now in recovery. Elizabeth started building her own business in her forties and offers her services as a Health Coach to help high achieving and high performing entrepreneur female 40-60 years old who needs to operate at peak state in order to meet the high demands of corporate, family and social life - an area in which she is really familiar with. She is a host of an alternative health and wellness podcast called The Root Of Our Health, which ties in with her mission of changing behaviors by empowering entrepreneurial women in their 40’s and beyond to know their self worth! Even her message at the end of every podcast episode is “You are worth it” Her motto she lives by is love, laughter and to live la dolce vita!

www.elizabethdicristofano.com

The Root of Our Health Podcast

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:03):

Okay.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (00:03):

Hello and welcome to another episode of feeding fatty. This is Roy. So we are a, the podcast that we are chronically in my journey through getting healthy. Terry is my support mechanism, of course, but you know, the challenges that we go through eating better, making sure that we are eating right, not cutting out, uh, some of our nutrients and things that we need, but also getting in that exercise zone and, uh, really sticking to it. It's been one of our issues as you know, we do good for a while and then fall off the track. But we also like to bring, uh, professionals to the show to talk about different issues that sometimes we don't know what we don't know, but sometimes we also may need a helping hand. And so today is no different. We have an awesome guest and Terry I'll let you introduce Elizabeth.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (00:49):

Yes. Thank you. As a functional medicine certified health coach, Elizabeth DeCristofano sets out to inspire women, especially women over 40 to take back their life and vitality by getting to the root cause of their overall health. Health and wellness has been an Elizabeth's world for the last decade and has evolved as soon as she turned 40 Elisabeth's career was mainly in the apparel world, working for companies, including a New York designer brand and a fortune 500 company, a career that was not sustainable and had that bit in the midst of her starting her own health journey. She experienced burnout taking on a mind body approach. Elizabeth started incorporating optimal nutrition, meditation, journaling, daily workouts, and movement and practicing setting boundaries. All of which helps her thrive in everyday life. Elizabeth, thank you so much for coming on the show. There's so much to cover here, um, but we really appreciate you coming on and talking about your story and, um, your journey to help women over 40.

Elizabeth (01:59):

Thank you for having me on this is going to be great. I'm excited. So,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (02:03):

So you were in the corporate world and, um, did you have a specific health issue or many health issues? W how did, how did that steer you toward being an S uh, functional medicine, health coach?

Elizabeth (02:19):

Yes. Um, so the burnout actually took place, I want to say about five or six years ago. And that was when I was in the corporate 500, um, company. And it was at the same time, I was actually starting my own health journey, meaning, um, I was understanding more of the, you know, nutrition, like whole foods. Uh, I did actually the whole 30 starting that out, uh, took on, you know, uh, workouts or a workout regimen that actually worked for me. So when I started that journey and started seeing some great results, I got a promotion and that promotion to longer hours. Um, and it was only because I worked with overseas. So you had to be on very early and you had to be on at night when they are up. So it was literally probably, you know, like 18 hour days and, you know, it just all in one.

Elizabeth (03:19):

And then obviously, um, the work itself kind of got to me and I, um, I experienced, so what it was was just never ending, trying to climb, trying to, you know, like get my head above the water. Yeah, exactly. Getting nowhere. And I was crying a lot. I was sick. I was, I wasn't working out anymore. I wasn't eating. Right. And, um, I decided after, I think it was a year, um, in that promotion, I decided to walk away. Um, and I decided to kind of take some time off and it was then, um, you know, it was, I, it was actually, you know, going through that kind of taking the time off I knew, and I got into meditation, I think at that point. So doing that mind body after the fact, um, really helped because, you know, I, I'm still in that corporate world now.

Elizabeth (04:21):

I'm still I'm back into it. Um, and, but I understanding how to manage that stress a little bit. So only recently, um, I say that with a caveat and it was two years ago, so it was 41. Um, I, you know, my job right now is not that stressful, but I put a lot of stress on myself trying to be trying to achieve. Right. Right. So I'm like 40, I'm like, alright, I need to do something I'm going to do, you know, kind of be that achieving person. So I'm a high achiever. And when that was happening, I guess I just didn't understand how to manage that stress at the time. So I was, you know, I was getting very irritable. I was bloated. I was, um, fatigued in the afternoon. So the fatigueness really set in and I was coffee, like drinking coffee, like the two or three cups.

Elizabeth (05:24):

And that was, I was trying to like stay awake and, um, the sleep I think was okay, but I think it was more or less like, you know, always trying to be on always trying to do stuff. And I thought to myself, I can't have paramedic pause right now. This is, I'm not, I mean, I could, but I don't think I do and get just before the appointment. So when I went through that and he talked to me, like I was a person and like the language and everything, it just felt right. And so then we did some tests. It, it showed that I had a lot of toxicity. My B my B uh, vitamin BS were low. Uh, at the time I thought doing the cart, um, the carnivore diet was the thing. So I'm like, okay, let me do the carnivore diet to see if this helps prior to that.

Elizabeth (06:17):

And no, I'm actually predisposed to, um, uh, cardiovascular disease. So, uh, you know, cholesterol, my LDL was high. And, uh, it was just, you know, all of that, seeing all of that just like spoke to me. And it was like a ha moment. So he put me on a regimen and I went through, um, you know, like, I think it was a month of detox and it, it worked. So, you know, I changed my diet. I thought it was supposed to be all keto, low carb can't do well on carbs. Well, this was a detox. So I did, I was able to, you know, have carbs on it and just the digestion, it was like, I wasn't digesting food. So I had digestion problems and all of that went away. So I was like, ah, ha there's something to this. And, um, then fast forward, a little bit to about a year ago, I, uh, was, uh, you know, kind of bringing in for my job.

Elizabeth (07:20):

I was kind of like the wellness coach there, there, the wellness coordinator should say, so I was bringing in kind of, um, you know, teachers or lunch and learn, you know, people to come in from lunch and learns and everything like that. So I was talking to somebody and they said, well, you'd be a great teacher, or you'd be a great health coach. And I'm like, ah, ha. So I decided to embark on that journey of going into functional medicine, health coaching, and just recently graduated, uh, about a month ago. So I am here on this journey trying to help others, uh, just, you know, kind of avoid what I had to go through. Wow.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (08:01):

Yeah. And that it's, I think as a coach, it's a benefit to the, um, to the people you're helping because you've actually been through that. And so you have that experience. So that, that always speaks to me. But the, um, also the, you know, well, we always say we're not doctors and you need to check with your healthcare professionals and we kind of go through all of that. You know, one thing that we have noticed is that it seems that in the traditional medicine, it's basically a, Oh, you got a problem. I've got a pill for you and not really well, you know, and I think the other thing that you said that was poignant was that you talked to your functional medicine doctor for over an hour. Uh, my, uh, experience traditional medicine that that's you, if you're lucky, if you went in 10 times, if you would get to talk to them for an hour in aggregate. So, you know, really taking that time to sit down and understand what is going on to try to address that, you know, that underlying issue.

Elizabeth (09:03):

Right. And that's the, that's the key to that root cause root cause.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (09:08):

And we've talked a lot too. We, uh, we actually, uh, did a taping with the guests yesterday and we've had, uh, uh, Dr. Mike, one of our very first guests that came on the show. They, uh, they talk about, you know, food as medicine. And so I think that we, we kind of have to take that approach, especially the older we get that, you know, we need to eat things that are going to be good for us functionally. And, um, you know, sometimes these, uh, we've talked, we talked a lot about this too, is that we, you know, we got us a, um, uh, an app, so we could put food in because you would be surprised when you start cutting this out or this. And even when we thought we were eating good, there were so many micro nutrients that we were missing out on. It is amazing. And especially when you get older, like me, you know, those things will start affecting you more by not having those, you know, your eyes, your ears, digestion, brain health. That's another one that we've talked about as well.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (10:11):

Well, I want to point out that he said, he's that, he's the one getting older, not us

Elizabeth (10:16):

[inaudible].

Terry - Feeding Fatty (10:25):

Yeah. So, um, so stress and burnout for women all over the board, as far as age it happens. And, and we just get so caught up in everything that, uh, you know, our health, you don't realize what it's doing to your health, as far as just everything that's going on in your life, the kids, the, um, work that just trying to say yes to everything we don't say no, you know, we just kind of keep going,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (10:58):

Well, I'll put a plug in for you ladies that, uh, you know, cause I

Elizabeth (11:05):

Know I just, you

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (11:06):

Know, I used to, um, uh, we used to work a lot in the senior living industry, more on the business side than, than the care side. But what, what we always found was that the, um, usually the daughter-in-law was the one tasked with taking care of, you know, the husband's parents. And so I, I guess I will just say is that it seems that, you know, you have a career, you have the kids, you may actually have parents. If you're in that sandwich generation, there's just a lot going on. And you know, I'm very thankful, uh, for Terry every day, because it's just, you know, our kids are older and gone, but she holds us together by getting everything done. And I know it's a lot of stress for her.

Elizabeth (11:47):

Yeah. And I, and I will say, yes, you know, kudos to not only, you know, it is because we take it on, you know, it is because I think that's what we we're caretakers. Right? No we're caretaker. And so when the generations now are not only caretakers, but now we're entrepreneurs. So now we're taking on the role of, you know, again being high, achieving being the, be the role model of, of, you know, I guess, you know, bringing home the bacon. Right. But, um, it's not just that though. I think being everything I think we, we take that badge of honor to be that wonderful. Yeah. Now I will say a caveat to that though. Things are shifting a little, I've noticed that husbands are starting to take the role of the, you know, the, um, at home dad, you know, uh, it's not, it's not widely, you know, there yet, you know, there's not a lot of men who do take that role, but, um, and I, you know, honestly I have my husband help in with whatever I need help as well. Yeah. Like roles have shifted since I took on taken on this health coaching and this podcast. Yeah. Um, I don't claim that much anymore. So I said, can you help me clean? You know, whereas a NASA thing you have to delegate. Yeah. No, we have to be able to understand that it's okay to say no, because we can't do it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (13:28):

Yeah. It's not a sign of weakness. And I think that we, you know, men and women alike, we get into that, that are the other thing is the guilt. And we feel like it's selfishness, but you know, it's something I've been working on for a long time because I've read that, you know, as long as it's not hurting other people, it is not selfish for us to take care of us. And I was going to say that kind of gets back to, even if you want to be somebody that takes on everything, if you don't take care of yourself, you're going to end up not being able to take care of anybody. And so, you know, we kind of have to take that approach that we've gotta be healthy and happy in order to be able to take care of somebody else.

Elizabeth (14:10):

Right. And it's like the it's like that. And I think I hear it a lot. It's like that airplane level right now. So you put the mask on yourself before you put the mask on, you know, the loved ones. Yeah. There's a reason for that because you know, you're no good if you're, you know, burnt out or if you're laid up or, you know, or if you're sick, you're no good to other people right. Or debt, but you know, it, it, it happened stress is actually kill people. Right. You know, so, yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (14:41):

So what are some things that you do to, you know, when you, I think, cause another thing, you know, these, a lot of this stuff ties together. You have to be very self-aware to find yourself getting into that spot. And, uh, you know, we were kind of joking about, uh, we had some equipment failure a couple nights ago and you know, I, I could feel myself getting, you know, anxious and excited about trying to solve it and the problems that he caused. And I just, you know, made the comment to Terry that, um, it's going to be rough for a few minutes here. Let me just work through this. But you know, when you, you have to be self-aware to realize that you're getting to that spot so you can do, you know, help yourself. So what are some things that you recommend that we can do, you know, when we feel that stress building?

Elizabeth (15:26):

Sure. Um, I first want to say stress is not all bad. So we got to get that out of our head. So with stress and then there's chronic stress. So the good stress obviously is, you know, you're preparing for a speech or, you know, you're giving a talk or, you know, something, you know, stressful that's happening. That's like an acute stress, right? So that stress you want because it kind of gets your adrenaline going and it gets you excited. But that chronic stress is when it's kind of the overwhelm, it's the, you know, I'm not getting out of anything and it's just, you know, keep piling on, keep piling on. Yeah. The first thing that you have to do, and I agree with you, right, is that you have to be mindful of that stress of it coming on, because if you're not mindful, it takes control over you.

Elizabeth (16:19):

Now, the first thing you have to do once you're mindful of that is breathe. I mean, that's, it, it sounds so simple, but just imagine just, you know, when you're stressed out, when you were stressed out on Wednesday, where was your heart or would your breathing shallow or even going to pop? Exactly. So that's what happened is that you stop, your breathing gets shallow because your heart rates going and you're just not. So when you don't breathe, you don't get enough oxygen. Should you change your mind to think clearly? So your amygdala is that fight or flight, you know, going on. And so the first thing you need to do is breathe. And what I'm talking about is not just like breathe that shallow, breathe, read your, you know, from the diet, from the stomach. So read through there and do that maybe four times and just that deep breathing. Yeah. And that'll come and get you back because you're in sympathetic nervous system. That's where you don't want to be. Um, so the parasympathetic is that calming state. So when you breathe that gets you back in there and then you're able to, Oh, okay. Think through what's going on. Um, so that's, you know, that's the first and foremost, the second thing is, um, you know, unless you guys want to talk, you know, you know, what's your take on that? No, I think it's, uh, it's interesting because,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (17:50):

Um, I've done a little bit of yoga. I'm not a Yogi master quite yet, but you know, that's one thing I kind of learned through listening and watching is that we would be really surprised to understand all of our functions, that, that breathing can help and control and being mindful of the breathing too. But, um, I used to have a sign that hung over my desk that, you know, had things that I wanted to do that day, you know, like break a sweat, uh, drink my water, get my sleep. But I had breathed on there and people used to laugh and say, he got to tell yourself to breathe. And I'm like, yeah, I really do, because it's not only stress, but sometimes it's intensity. And where I learned this was, I used to do some martial arts and, um, the sensei guy would walk by and he'd be tapped me on the shoulder and say, it's okay, take a breath. And then we went to a, uh, painting paint, you know, where they have the instructor at the front of the class, 20 people out there. And we're all telling, you know, she's telling us what brush and what color and we're, you know, going through the emotions. And she walked by and told me the same thing she walked by and she said, it's perfectly okay to breathe while you do this. And so anyway, that kind of cued me into the fact that when I get intense about something, I quit breathing.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (19:10):

Yeah. I definitely quit breathing. You're you're pretty good about noticing though. I mean, you, you might have a couple of hours and, and, and then you're, then you realize, Hey, you just come back down to earth and, and I hold it all. I can't even get to the point to where I can notice it. I mean, Roy's like, look me in the eyes. It's okay. Breathe. And I'm like, it's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, go ahead.

Elizabeth (19:43):

Yeah, no, I was just going to say, so if you want, I can go into a little bit more of, um, you know, what to do to combat this. Is that okay? Awesome. Okay. So the second thing is, um, along with breathing is, um, take a time out, um, meditating, you know, it kind of goes hand in hand really, but not really. So meditating is really being in the present moment because a lot of times when you're stressed out, you're either thinking about the past, um, or you're thinking about the future, you're worrying about the future. So being in the present moment kind of again, calms you down. Yeah. So, and I'm not saying that you have to like, you know, do go get a pillow and say, you know, you can actually do all that. You can actually do it, you know, at your desk at your, you know, wherever you're at. And just kind of like, alright, I gotta be in the moment, you know, um, w you know, stare at something, look at something, look at, you know, uh, I don't know anything in your, in front of you, and if you're outside, that's even better, but, you know, it's, it's just mainly getting into that present mode.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (20:55):

Yeah. And I think, uh, for me being in the moment too, it's, uh, sometimes okay. If you're, if, if you're working through a stressful situation, sometimes it's snowballed. So the longer you sat there, the more it builds, the more it builds. And so, you know, like the other night, what I was trying to do is just say, okay, I'm going to sit down and work on this for a minute, but then I'd be getting like, okay, let's take the dogs outside and walk around. It was night. So we couldn't go for a walk, but had it been in a, you know, on a day like today with some sunshine, if I would take a 15 minute walk, it seems to really clear my head and put me back to where I can start thinking clearly again, I love taking a walk that just really does. That is kind of my, uh, I guess that is my meditation where I can breathe and think about other things, look at the beautiful surroundings that, you know, and maybe even that kind of goes to, uh, gratitude. Maybe I can start practicing that little gratitude, like, you know what, look at all these beautiful things that we have, whatever this problem is, we'll solve it. It's going to pass just, you know, you just got to figure out the way through.

Elizabeth (22:03):

Yeah. That's beautiful. And that's exactly it like getting out and outside, in nature, out in vitamin D and that is meditation because you're literally appreciating what God has given us. Right. You're appreciating that though, the problems that you have rather tragic or not is small compared to, you know, what's out there. So it's kind of appreciation gratitude. Yes. All of that is, is key to managing it.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (22:37):

Yeah. And that's what kinda makes you, Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (22:40):

Oh, I was just going to say, yeah, you just kind of have to check yourself and if you can see that you are just one mind, you are not the focus of all, everything you are not really. I mean, you know, well, except for you, that's right. You know what I mean? I mean, just everything you are one piece. Yeah. You know,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (23:07):

Also too, I think what makes me kind of feel silly and very selfish when you get away from it, as you like. Okay. Um, I'm kind of bent out of shape about this piece of equipment here, but there are people that are struggling with life and death and health issues, and there's so much more out there that I should be feeling lucky that this piece of equipment is my only real problem with that.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (23:31):

The things that are working and just be grateful, be gratitude right there. Just thinking more positively focusing on that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (23:40):

Yeah. And sorry, I'm going to interject one more thing because that's, you know, that's something that, uh, you, I had talked to, uh, my priest is an awesome guy. And so I had talked with father Darrell. This has been a while ago, but one thing he always told me is that, um, our mind is like a grinder. And so it's always grinding constantly 24 seven. And so, uh, but we have control over what it grinds. And so, um, trying to replace those negative thoughts with the gratitude and the positive, I feel like that's what kind of shortens up that cycle of stress and despair and kind of moves you back over into reality basically is that, you know what, this probably isn't as bad as you were making it out to be just a few minutes ago.

Elizabeth (24:27):

Yes. Yeah. That is key. Yes. Yeah, exactly. That,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (24:32):

Because we typically, you know, we ended up being what I think we can end up making things go the way that we think it, as long as we're in that despair, and this is bad, it's unsolvable, or it's going to be hard, then it, it makes it more complicated to where maybe we turn something into that that really wasn't where if we can step away and say, you know, what, if I can't solve it, I can find somebody that can then all of a sudden we're on that positive path to actually trying to fix the problem. And you're delegating,

Elizabeth (25:03):

Delegated everything. Everything is, figureoutable the, a lady Marie Forleo, um, to wrote that book and it is true. Everything is figureoutable, you know, um, and yeah, it's, it's, it's the stories that we tell in our mind and their stories. They're, they're just made up stories and we're, again, the peanut app future that we don't even know what's going to happen. Right. So it is like, again, going back to that present moment, okay. How can I figure this out? You know, this is a problem that needs to be solved. Everything needs to be solved. So yeah, that is definitely, um,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (25:40):

So let's touch on a minute, if you can. I don't mean to put you on the spot, but like stress eating. So, okay. Sometimes, you know, cause I have to admit that's one of my triggers. It'd be like, okay, I'm getting up from here and I'm gonna, you know, if I, if we had any, it'd be like eat some ice cream and chips or, you know, eat that feel good food and it, I guess it releases the happy endorphin. So you kind of get over your problem. But anyway, let's talk about that stress eating factor.

Elizabeth (26:07):

Yes. Yeah. Um, you know, full disclosure here. I, uh, you know, unfortunately I had to put down my cat last week, almost two weeks ago. Oh. So, and she's 15 years and four months old. So it was hard. It was hard. So, um, I know first and foremost, the whole emotion, emotional eating because that night I, you know, my husband and I were like, you gotta get, we gotta get something. So he got a pizza, I got some chocolate lava cake because I it's just that, you know, that feel good, the comfort food, the, you know, drowning, your feelings, your trauma, you know, the stress in the something. Um, so it happens. It definitely happens. And what, what you do at the moment is you understand, obviously that it's happening because again, we're going back to them blindfold like, Oh yes. You know, I knew what I was getting was not great for me, but it was okay because the next day I would be fine.

Elizabeth (27:17):

So what ends up happening though, with a lot of people is that chronic stress, they chronic eat, you know, it's, it's, it's that comfort. It's that fast? You know, I need chips. I need, you know, I can't do this now I need this, I need that. And it's, it's the salt, the sweet it's the sugary, you know, it's all that where we're just like grabbed our grab and not thinking, yes. So that's why I started out with you gotta be mindful. You have to be, you know, breathe. So this way you can understand what you are doing. Um, and then, you know, there are certain foods that are great for stress and yes, you know, I will say dark chocolate as well. Um, dark chocolate, you know, obviously you want to get a little bit higher, um, in the, you know, cocoa, which is 75% or more.

Elizabeth (28:10):

Um, so you don't have that sugar, but the sugars, the salt, all of that is actually does more damage than good because of what you're, what you're doing is, um, well, there's two things that's happening. First of all, when you're stressed out, you don't want to eat, right. So you're, you're in that fight or flight. So that blood, that the blood that usually goes to your digestion is that now going to your arms and legs, because it is saying for you, you want to flee, you want to fight or flight or fight or flight. And it's when you're in parasympathetic stage obviously are digesting well and everything else, right. But you're, you're holding onto your gut and you're holding onto their digestion and it's, and you don't even want to eat. Or you're just thinking of that, you know, fast food, your digestion that is not going to work properly.

Elizabeth (29:10):

So even if you don't think you're stressed out and you're not product stressed, but you've had that digestive issue, that's not good because you're not getting that essential nutrients, even when you're trying to eat that healthy food. Now why I bring the gut in and the digestion is for the 80% of your immune system relies in your gut. So that is why when you're a chronic stress, um, you get sick faster. And with this COVID, you want that immunity to be like a hundred percent and then stop. So you want to boost that, that is where that, that eating the digestion and all of that comes into play. So probiotics, prebiotics, um, you know, prebiotic food can be, um, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, um, I think garlic, stuff like that. Um, you know, those are previous prebiotic foods that you want to introduce as well as probiotics. So you can kind of get that digestion going here. So yeah, it is, it is hard though. It's in the moment when you, when you just want something quick and fast and easy and sugary and, you know, fried whatever it is. But getting to the understanding that it's only a one time, and then tomorrow I'm going to be, you know, doing something better for myself. That's when that's, when you have that, you manage that stress.

Terry - Feeding Fatty (30:38):

Yeah. Yeah. W you know, some, sometimes we have trouble with that. It's like, if we go off track, as far as eating, if we go off track, you know, once or twice during a week, it's hard to get back into, you know, it's like, okay, well today's today. We finally get to today's today. Tomorrow's another day. And then the next day, the same thing, it's like, Oh, we can't get back on track. It's so hard to do that. Um, I guess, I guess it just boils down to what you were talking about earlier. It just, the breathing being able to be present and all encompassing without adding more stress. Um, and just being able to break out of that cycle.

Elizabeth (31:33):

Yeah. And you know, it doesn't have to be all at once. Like, you know, for example, if you chronically, you know, emotionally eat every meal, just maybe one meal to a nutritional meal or something that helps your, you know, just baby steps. It doesn't have to because when you do it, you know, and we tend to do things full force, right. When you, right. But that adds more stress onto you because you're thinking that, well, you know, either there's two things you're thinking, well, that didn't work. So I might as well just go back to what I was doing. Or it's like, it's too stressful that you're, you know, cheap, you know, either, you know, dieting or counting calories or all that you don't want to do that. You just want that one good nutrition, you know? And then how do you feel after that?

Elizabeth (32:29):

You got to ask yourself, how do you, how does that, how do I feel after this? Does it make me energized? Does it, does it make me, um, you know, think better? So how did that, because food is medicine, right? You said that before food is medicine. So whether it's poisoning you or it's helping you, that is, that is your choice. Right. So it's like, okay, well maybe let's just change out this breakfast to be a nutritional protein shake if I'm in a, you know, in a hurry. Yeah. Right. That's good. It starts your day off it. Right. And then, you know, maybe if you change your mind during lunch, you know, dinner meet, you have a nutritional breakfast.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (33:12):

Yeah. Yeah. And that's, uh, I think you brought up a point about, uh, I will say I'm guilty is that we want to change too much. We want to change everything all at one time. And sometimes it can just be way too much for not only our mind, but for our body. We just can't, you know, because it's like, okay, well, we're going to cut all these calories down and we're going to go out and start exercising or, you know, running and doing crazy stuff like that. So now he's crazy now.

Elizabeth (33:43):

Bad. Exactly. Crazy. Yes. It's bad for your system.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (33:47):

Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's interesting that you say, you know, when you put it that way about we're, you know, we're either poisoning our body or we're being healthy because I'm not sure if, um, when we talked last week, we had a conversation with somebody that was telling us that the incident of these cancers arising in younger people is outpacing that of the baby boomers. And so, yeah. And anyway, yeah, basically it's in the food, the consumption, the consumption habits and everything that, you know, our younger people and, you know, we're, we're as guilty because we're on the run. And, you know, we used to, that's been one nice thing about not being out and running around as much as we are not in the fast food lines, but it's always, you know, we're running behind, you got to go through here, it's getting late, we need something, do this, do that.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (34:43):

And it just ends up making bad decisions. And so I will say that us being at home more, we have been more mindful of, you know, we're cooking just about every meal. I think, you know, we're probably lucky if we eat one meal out a week and we try to be mindful about that, but, um, it's just stopping to make those choices and make good choices. It takes time because, you know, when we do a full cook, it's a little bit more time in the kitchen, but you're right. When we eat a healthy meal, it's like, well, I'm not weighed down. I don't feel these feelings. You know, we were talking this morning about, uh, you know, sleeping good. That's another trigger of mine that we might can touch on for just a minute is, um, yeah. I tend to make very bad decisions when, uh, ha when I'm sleep deprived, I guess, you know, cause I feel like I need to eat more to boost my energy up instead of listening to my body and just saying at night, instead of at 10, o'clock thinking I need to get a snack so I can do one more thing.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (35:44):

Just go to bed, go to bed and wake up and do it tomorrow. Say that tonight,

Elizabeth (35:51):

There you go. That's your accountability partner. Right?

Terry - Feeding Fatty (35:56):

He he'll continue to say, yeah, Terry so great. She's mum. She's, she's my, my, uh, sidekick and helped me on my journey. Yeah. I'm going to go to bed

Elizabeth (36:09):

Terry. Now, do you have that problem too? Or

Terry - Feeding Fatty (36:13):

I, I really like I'd look forward to going to bed, but I fight the sleep. I don't know if it's, because when you're conditioned as a baby, it's like, no, I don't want to go to sleep. I'm going to miss something, you know, it's but it's like, I like to go to bed and I like to have downtime, but I'm trying not to get caught up with my cell phone. I'm trying to read more. So it will make me naturally tired and, and, you know, detox from all the blue lights and all of that. So I can get to a restful state. So my sleep isn't always great sleep, but, um, you know, I like to get into bed.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (36:58):

She knows when to call it quits. And I will say that that is her herself disciplined is she's like, I've had enough. Um, we need to go lay down. Okay. Let me, I'm thinking I've got five more things I think I can squeeze in. And I'm the worst. I know that I'm the worst about trying to do too much, but I was just sitting here thinking that it's, it's not stress. Mine happens to be because I enjoy what I do. And, um, so that can be a detriment just as bad as hating what you do, loving what you can do because, um, you know, it's always like, Oh, I just had this ideal or we can make this a little better. Let's try this. And so, uh,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (37:38):

You know, it's not your thing. No,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (37:40):

But constantly thinking about, you know, how can we improve this? Or, or there's some analysis that I'm thinking about and here's a better way anyway. So

Elizabeth (37:51):

Yeah, no, I totally completely understand. Yeah, because I'm actually going through the same thing. So I worked full time. Um, like I said before, and so what I'm doing on the side is I'm doing either the podcast or, you know, trying to do something for health coaching, you know, stuff like that. So it's literally eating up my nights and weekends. Um, so however I will say, and it's gotten a little, it's got a little off track recently, but I religiously like at nine 30, probably if anything, 10 o'clock shut down everything, no matter what. And I take, um, magnesium and, um, for me, I take a progesterone. So it's, it's very calming at night, especially magnesium. So you want to, um, interior, you, you kind of alluded to this, to where you kind of wind it down. Right. So, you know, reading is great because you're, it's great for, you know, morning and night, but at night you're kind of tired your eyes.

Elizabeth (39:00):

You want your eyes to be a little bit tired, right? No blue lights, so no phone. And if you have your phone, obviously, you know, do that, uh, change the blue light to yellow. So it's like nighttime. Um, and it's just, yeah, it's shutting your brain off because yeah. You can go to bed and all of a sudden you're laying there and you're just thinking and thinking, you're thinking. But the other thing that I'm going to add to that is journaling. So journaling is another thing too, where when you have that brain going, I'm writing it down, it's getting it out. It's like therapy, it's getting it out of your brain onto paper. And then tomorrow morning, the next morning you could read it and then you know that thing. But when you get it out of your system, it's just, it, you know, then it leaves just for a peaceful rest.

Elizabeth (39:52):

Now the number of sleep, the number of hours, you know, they say you have to get seven to eight hours of sleep. Yes you do. But seven to eight hours of good sleep. Yeah. So the quality is a little bit more important than the quantity at this point. So if you're getting up every hour on the hour, that's not good if you're tossing and turning, if you're going up to go to the bathroom three times, um, so stay away from why they're wasting a lot of water. Yes. Um, but that interrupted sleep is not really the best. Um, you know, and then yeah. You know, the next day you're going to feel groggy here to feel irritable. You're going to make the bad choices. So it's, it's getting to that wind down. And then even when you wake up, don't look at your phone, you know, leave your phone in another room. If you have to. I know, I know we just recently got, you know, um, alarm clock, old alarm clock. So our phones are in our, our possession. Yeah. But it's, it's only that, the reason why I say that is because it starts your morning. Like this you're on somebody else's talking about yours.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (41:06):

I'm going to check the chat box on this zoom con see of Terry sending you messages, because we actually just had our big, our, our, uh, thing is she likes to lay in bed at night and do her phone. And so I've been telling her, you know, if you want that sleep, cut that phone off and let's start reading. And so the last couple of weeks, she's been much better about reading. Well then, uh, I guess it was the other day. She's like, okay, well, now that I'm straight on, so what we need to do for you is no phone in the morning. And I'm like, I'm like, Ooh, that is tough because I like to look and see, you know, what's been going on in the world and, uh, it's a little harder. So we've tried to get up. The plan is to get up, take a little walk before we do, you know, any phone things

Terry - Feeding Fatty (41:52):

And get up fast, just get up. When you wake up, get up out of bed. It's not easy to do because you could just sit in bed and do what you're, you know, check your phone and do it. You could be there forever. So it's like an hour or so after you wake up, it's like, Hey, I've been at, I haven't done anything, but I've been on my phone. Yeah.

Elizabeth (42:13):

Right. Right. Exactly.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (42:15):

Yeah. I think it's important. Uh, you know, for me, I'm trying, I look at everything trying to be more balanced that sleep, listening to our body, drinking the water. Uh, don't do that enough, but you know, we got to get that water consumption,

Terry - Feeding Fatty (42:31):

But cutting it off at a certain time. So you're not going to the bathroom all night.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (42:37):

Yeah. And I think starting the morning off, you know, we, we're not, we go back and forth, but having that bottle of water with that first cup of coffee, uh, it seems to kind of, to me, if I can get that bottle of water in earlier, then it's like, I've set a precedent for the day to drink more water where if I don't have it, first thing I tend not to, you know, not to drink any water. So, so many things to wrap up and, uh, you know, we can help ourselves live, put it that way. You know, sometimes we're our worst enemy. And, um, because I think, I, I know I handled the stressful situations much better when I'm arrested. When I feel like, you know, I'm getting my exercise when I'm just healthier feeling things don't tend to bother me nearly as much. And I assume that's the way it is for most people.

Elizabeth (43:27):

Yeah. Like, I mean, again, you know, you can never eliminate stress. Stress will always be there. So it's how you manage it. So if somebody tells you, well, these are the, you know, things you can do to eliminate stress, they're lying because we're always going to have stress. Right. It's how you manage it and how you bounce back from that stress, that trauma, anything that's kind of overtaking that moment. Tell you bounce back. That's the key. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (43:54):

Yeah. Yeah. So let's remember breathe when that stressful situation comes at you. When somebody tells you, you got to do this, just take a few deep breaths or, uh, you know, just be mindful. I think that's another good, good messages. Let's just be mindful of everything. Our breathing, our eating, our sleeping, listened to our body. Uh, we can help ourselves so much better, but I know we are way long Elizabeth. It's just been, it's been awesome. A conversation, a lot of great things to think about. So one question we always ask is, uh, what is a habit that you have a habit or a tool, maybe an app or something that you use in your daily life, personal or professional that you feel, uh, really adds a lot of value.

Elizabeth (44:40):

Good question. Um, the, you were talking to, you alluded to journaling yeah. That you do every day or I used to, um, I used to, um, but now that, you know, time, you should do yes. And it does help because it, um, so yeah, it's journaling is, is key. Um, and I will say, you know, that meditation for me, um, I'm more, I'm better as a meditation. So my morning I'll just like really quick, my morning, I get up, I actually had that warm water with lemon. Um, and then I go meditate for about 10 to 15 minutes. Okay. So that starts the day off. Right. You know, like that starts your day off. Yeah. So it's getting that meditation getting into that moment, getting that a Tet like intention, like what is your intention for the day set it up. So that I think is, is key and I will give an app out. Um, so it's called insight timer. I don't know if you guys heard of that, but that is the app that I use for meditation, for music, for anything. It's a great app. Um, and yeah,

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (46:00):

So anyway, I hate, we could probably talk another hour, but something that, something you brought up that I meant to mention earlier was, you know, in the, in the, uh, trying to decide what we want to take on. I think that's a good question that we can ask is, is that gonna further where I want to go to thing or in life or with my plan. And that's why I think we have to get back, especially if you're in business, you kind of have to have that plan of where do you really want to take this? And then that's how you, um, that's kinda your litmus test for these things that come at you every day. Are, is this going to further my goal, if it's not, and it's not going to hurt somebody else, then we can say no, and we can be okay with that. Whereas if this is something I need to do to further that goal, then yeah. That's something that we want to take on for sure.

Elizabeth (46:50):

Exactly. It's the intention it's yeah. It's all of that. The purpose. Yeah.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (46:55):

And then the meditation, how do you do that? Um, I know there are apps and, you know, some, there's a lot of different methods. I think, I guess, uh, the biggest thing is you just basically kind of want to clear your mind, be in the moment and then, uh, not let these outset, but everybody kind of has to find their own path into that.

Elizabeth (47:16):

Exactly. And you said it perfectly, it's finding your own path into it. Like I do a lot of guided meditation. Some people can do just like breathing meditation. There's so many different types. Yeah. Loving kindness, meditation, um, uh, chanting, uh, you know, getting your shock, froze, you know, align. There's just so much, so many different ones. You just have to try it out for yourself. And don't do like the 20 to 25 minutes at first because you're going to hate it. You do that five minutes and you don't have to clear your mind. People think, Oh, I need to, like, not fake. You're always going to think your minds like working nonstop, it's just understanding and appreciating those thoughts, but kind of getting them a little bit out of the way and clearing, you know, just kind of clearing the way.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (48:05):

Okay. All right. I promise we're wrapping it up now. Uh, tell us how can people, well, who can you help? What can you do for them? And of course, how they can reach out and get a hold of you. And then not only with the, uh, you know, the functional health coaching, but also, uh, your podcast as well.

Elizabeth (48:24):

Yes. Um, so I am doing both so health coaching and, uh, podcasts, so they could reach out to me. My website is www.Elizabethdicristofano.com. Um, I'm on Instagram. So I have two handles. So the root of our health podcast. So T H E R O O T O F O U R health. Um, anyway, so you can reach me on there or Elizabeth.DiCristofano okay. And, uh, so I'm, you know, right now I'm taking, um, you know, anybody who is interested in finding out more of how they could calm, you know, manage their stress a little, uh, if you want, you know, 20 minutes, I can give you a introductory call complimentary. Um, and then we'll just go from there. And then if you wanna listen to my podcasts, I can be found at anywhere. This is a podcast, um, that deals with, you know, health and wellness for women over 40, see it through the functional medicine lens. So getting to that root cause.

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (49:23):

Okay. Awesome, man. Great. You, we, we have a mutual friend, Dr. Uh, Carol, have you, have you had your,

Elizabeth (49:31):

During her interview at, uh, two, one today? So yeah, that'd be doing

Roy - Feeding Fatty - Functional Medicine Health Coach Sets Out to Inspire Women Over 40 (49:37):

Okay. Well, love her. So we have, uh, an episode, a prior episode. You can go back and listen to with Dr. Carol Sherry. If I get this, I gotta get the name right, Carol. And, uh, but anyway, and you can go over to Elizabeth podcast and, uh, hopefully within the next few weeks, that one will be released as well, but a lot of great information, we appreciate, you know, stress controls, uh, a lot of our situations these days. So we appreciate you talking about that very much. We will include all of your, uh, websites and contact information in our show notes as well. So people can reach out. All right. All right, until then that's going to do it for another episode of feeding fatty. We appreciate our listeners very much, and of course you can find us at www dot feeding, fatty.com. We're on all the major social media platforms, as well as this, uh, a video of this interview will go up when it goes live as well. So you can find it on YouTube. Uh, we are on all the major podcast platforms, iTunes, Google, Stitcher, Spotify. If we're not on one that you listened to, please reach out. We'd be glad to add it. So till next time, y'all take care of yourself and take care of each other. Elizabeth,

Elizabeth (50:46):

Thank you. Have a great day, everybody. Thank you. Thanks.

www.elizabethdicristofano.com

The Root of Our Health Podcast

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