← Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark
Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark
Getting Back To God’s Design In A World Of Conflicting Health Advice | Jordan Dooley
01:04:49
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- [00:00]
A
What does it mean to have discernment when it comes to filtering advice given to us in the health and wellness space?
- [00:06]
B
Anytime you're receiving or seeing information advice cause we live in an information overload culture, right? But I think it's just having a pause. Is this for me to apply right now? It's good to know. I'm thankful to know it. But is this something that I need to do something with now? I think having that mindset when it comes to our bodies as a vehicle given to us to carry out our calling. So when it starts to give you problems or it starts to have symptoms you don't like, or you start to experience breakdown or you can care for it well, not because you're obsessed with your body, not because you love your body like culture tells you to, but because you love the one who gave it to you.
- [00:37]
A
We're either obsessing over health and our bodies and how we look and things like that, or we're like, I'm going to die anyway. Yeah, God knows what I'm going to die, so why does it matter what I eat?
- [00:46]
B
Literally every single thing you do has weight and eternity and I think we forget that.
- [01:15]
A
Well, I've read your dm so I know that the answer is yes, but I'll just go ahead and ask the question anyway. Are you feeling completely overwhelmed by the health and wellness world? Maybe you're just totally checked out entirely because it feels too complicated or contradictory. You're not alone, and neither extreme, by the way, is the answer. On today's episode, I sit down with my friend Jordan Lee Dooley, bestselling author of Be Good to youo Body, who knows firsthand the struggles of navigating health, faith and motherhood. Jordan shares her personal story of battling disordered eating, severe acne, infertility, and more, and how she discovered timeless God honoring principles for caring for her body without shame or extremes. We talk about how to shift your mindset from my body is a problem to My body is a God given gift distinct distinguishing timeless health habits from trendy advice that can overwhelm us. Practical ways to nourish your body without restriction or obsession Reconciling physical health with spiritual wellness and eternal perspective. Whether you're exhausted by conflicting health advice or apathetic because nothing seems to work, this episode will give you clarity, encouragement and actionable steps to steward your body well without guilt, shame or burnout. Pause right now. Leave a five star review letting everyone know why Culture Apothecary is your favorite health and wellness podcast. Watch this episode on the real Alex Clark YouTube channel or culture Apothecary on Spotify. You can follow the show on Instagram at Culture Apothecary and find me at Real Alex Clark. Please welcome Jordan Dooley, mom of three under three and author of be good to your body to Culture Apothecary.
- [02:46]
You're a regular mom helping other moms fight overwhelm in the wellness space, which I think everybody is kind of feeling now. Like, you know, almost six years after Covid, you have battled severe acne, infertility, disordered eating. Can you walk us through your body's story?
- [03:04]
B
The thing that I always say is I struggled a lot with not liking the form of my body when I was younger. I wanted to lose weight, I wanted to be as thin as possible, kind of the cultural beauty standard, live up to that. So that was kind of the initial. I don't like my body because it doesn't look the way I want it to. Did a lot to try to change that in terms of restriction over exercise, all the things fast forward. I think I did a number on my hormones in college and in that time when I was restricting and just pushing my body to the brink and, and not only that, but just staying up late, studying and not eating well and all of those types of things. And so flash flash forward into my mid to late 20s, I all of a sudden started struggling with things like acne and miscarriages and really heavy periods, things that were suddenly like, wait, why is my body having all of these? Like, why is it failing? It's kind of what it felt like, like, why is it doing all these things wrong? Why am I having all these symptoms? Because I had multiple providers, obgyns, etc, say, oh, you're young and healthy, you'll be good, you know, because I was fit essentially. And so I didn't really understand why I was experiencing breakdown, why I was experiencing loss, why I was experiencing infertility, why my face was breaking out like that of a 14 year old, you know, when I was 24, 26. And so that was kind of what prompted me to start investigating and looking into health and wellness from a more holistic view. Because before that I looked at health as fitness and green juice and kind of being as lean as possible. And I really discovered, wow, actually I've gotten so far from how God designed me to live. Like, I'm living at such a fast pace. I'm staring at blue light, I'm, you know, working myself into the ground. I'm restricting major food groups because I've heard that's healthier, you know, and so I had to kind of unlearn a lot that I thought health was and relearn. What does it look like to actually care for my body? Well, and so the last several years of my life have been the journey of implementing that and seeing the fruit of doing that.
- [04:55]
A
Yes. You literally went back to Genesis and you looked at the basic principles of health, what God lays out for us, and you completely ended up healing. What were those principles that you saw God lay out for health?
- [05:08]
B
It was actually really simple. When I looked at when God created not only man and humans, but the world, that was all at the same time. And he put us in a garden is the one of the first things that really stood out to me. And the reason that stood out to me is because I'm like, well, it's God. God could have put us in a city. He could have made a city. He could have made, you know, offices of fluorescent lighting and bad coffee. Like he could have done anything like that. But he put us in a garden and he told us to tend to it and care for it. So that told me, okay, we're made to be outside, we're made to be in nature. We're made to work with our hands. He commanded us to. To rule over creation, to eat plants and animals, to eat from the earth. Right. He could have created doordash at that time, you know, but like, he made it so simple. He gave us food from the earth. He told us to move our bodies and work with our hands. I think another big principle in creation that we often overlook in the health space is commun. Community and relationship. He created another human. He said it's not good for man to be alone.
- [05:58]
A
Yes.
- [05:58]
B
And so we often think about health in terms of what we eat and how we move. And those are huge pieces. But I'm like, gosh, the community and the relationship part is so important. And God himself felt that that was important enough for a man or human's goodness and flourishing, that he created more human beings. And he told us to be in community with God and others. And so that was another one that really stood out to me, especially because we tend to overlook it. So those are just a few.
- [06:22]
A
How do we change our mindset from my body is a problem to fix. To my body is a God given gift.
- [06:28]
B
It's hard. It's really hard because we can. We're constantly being told that our body's a problem to fix. Like, we're always sold the next solution and we, and we do experience breakdown in our bodies, we do experience problems, but that doesn't make our body the problem. Sin is the problem, really. Like, if we're honest, that's like we live in a fallen world. And so that's what can create, I think, just shifting, like what do I actually believe? And asking ourselves that honestly. Because everything we're told essentially is your problem. Your body's a problem, it's giving you problems. So it's a problem. No, it could experience problems. But I think to shift your mindset, you have to ask yourself like, well, ultimately, do I take God at His word? Do I believe that? When he said, when he was finished creating the earth and he said he called everything in creation good, when God called everything in creation good, remembering that your body was part of that, like your body was part of God's creation, and he said everything that he created he called good. So like, do I believe that? Do I take him at his word? It's, it's tricky because our culture does kind of make us, it can make us glorify our bodies as a God. Didn't say our, our bodies are a God, but they are good part of creation. And do I believe that? Do I take him at his word? Because if I do, then I don't have to treat it as like this project or problem to fix. I treat it as a God given gift to take care of and to steward.
- [07:47]
A
And it's a gift given to us so that we are able to use it to carry out the work God has put forward for us to do. You know, and that looks different for everybody. But there's certain things, you know, even if it's like waking up and literally leaving your house to be able to be in fellowship with your church body, if you are too sick, you know, to get up and get out of the house all the time or in too much pain or whatever, I mean, that is literally preventing, you know, from, from being with, you know, your brothers and sisters in Christ.
- [08:20]
B
Yeah. One thing I want to talk about with that is exactly that I thought about when I was thinking about the mindset we have when it comes to is, am I looking at my body as a problem to fix or a project to work on or as a God given gift to care for? Well, I often think of this metaphor of like if you borrowed your friend's car, if you lent me your, your car because mine was in the shop or broke down, I'm probably going to take the utmost care of that car. Right. I'm Going to take probably better care of it than I would if it were my own car. Not that I don't care for my car, but like, I let junk pile up passenger seat sometimes. I, like, have been known to run on empty and my husband has to come save me. You know, things like that. But if it's your car, I'm not going to run out of gas. I'm going to make sure that I get the oil changed. I'm going to keep it tidy. Why? Because I'm obsessed with your car? No, but I care about you. I care about the one who lent it to me.
- [09:04]
A
Wow.
- [09:04]
B
And so I think having that mindset when it comes to our bodies as a vehicle given to us to carry out our calling, like our, our bodies really are like, that's. They're kind of like that borrowed car. It gives you more of an eternal lens on the body that you've been given. And so when it starts to give you problems or it starts to have symptoms you don't like, or you start to experience breakdown, you can care for it. Well, not because you're obsessed with your body, not because you love your body like culture tells you to, but because you love the one who gave it to you and because you view it as a gift. And so when you view it rightly, you're much more likely to care for it.
- [09:32]
A
Well, what does it mean to have discernment when it comes to filtering advice given to us in the health and wellness space?
- [09:40]
B
That's a good question. Because there's so much advice, I think at the, at the core it means to take it back, like anytime you're receiving or seeing information advice. Because we live in an information overload culture. Right. And I love to share information. You love to share information. It's good to have knowledge. But I think it's just having a pause. It just means like, is this for me to apply right now? It's good to know. I'm thankful to know it. But is this something that I need to do something with now? Because I know I spiral when I learn new information. I'm like, oh, my gosh, we have to have our house tested for mold and I need to change all these things. And it's like, well, yeah, at some point I would, I think that would be great to do. But is this for me to do something with now or is it something for me to put in my back pocket?
- [10:19]
A
I want you to pause right now and then I want you to rewind 10 seconds and I want you to listen to that about five times before you comment and DM me and say.
- [10:28]
B
Well, this guest said this and this guest said this.
- [10:30]
A
Now what am I supposed to do? Exactly what you're talking about. And part of this is knowing your own body.
- [10:37]
B
Yes.
- [10:37]
A
I mean, I obviously, I do this for a living. People are like, well, how do you know what to take from all these different guests that come in? I'm like, I know my body. I know what's going on with me at any given time. I know, you know, what advice I might need from Jordan versus Ashley versus whoever. Like, so it just depends on, like, the season I'm in and what's going on. I don't apply every single thing everyone.
- [10:58]
B
Says, but it's like, you literally can't. And that's like, what I want every woman to hear is like, you can't do all the things. And even if you did, the reality is you can do it all right, and things can still go wrong.
- [11:10]
A
And some of these people. I love what you're saying about putting it on the shelf for later.
- [11:13]
B
Yes.
- [11:13]
A
I just love learning. I love learning. And I'm like, why? We need to get back into. You don't have to do everything but learn everything that you possibly can. And so there's so many episodes where it's like, okay, I'm not going to be able to do anything with this. Like, especially parenting advice ones. Obviously, I don't have kids yet, so it's like, I am learning this stuff and I'm like, okay, I'm going to put that on the shelf for later. I know that when I do have kids, I'm going to go back and listen to my interview that I did with so and so. And then I'm like, oh, yeah, that's the thing I need to buy or do or whatever, because, you know, for having a newborn, it's like. But I. No one is, especially me as the host. I'm not expecting everybody to, like, start doing all this stuff. It's just whatever works for you. And that's why there are some episodes that contradict because somebody else and their body might really need the advice that this guest is giving.
- [12:01]
B
Yes. It's like that. I don't know if you've heard people talk about it, but kind of the. The what about me Kind of culture that we live in, it's like, not everything applies to you. Not every piece of content is something for you to implement in your life or that you need to do something about right now. You're going to come across a Lot of content, you're going to come across a lot of information, and it is good to learn. But also when you start to feel overwhelmed by all of the things, whether it's, you know, this show or something else, I think the important thing to ask yourself is, is like, am I even doing the basic things right? Am I even getting outside enough? Am I like, before you block all the blue light and do all the things that you could up leveling your environment, Are you getting sunlight like, every day? Are you laughing? Are you, like, in healthy community? Are you drinking enough water? Like, the free things, you know, it's like free to shut your phone off, you know? So if you're experiencing that information overload, it's like, okay, well, one of the healthiest things that you can do if you're spiraling is like, just take a pause from it. Just take a break. You don't have to constantly be kind of.
- [13:01]
Consuming, I guess is the right word, and then applying or feeling wrong. Like feeling like you're failing if you're not applying. Because you just can't apply every piece of information that you learn. And it's not always for you.
- [13:12]
A
I call this bean soup culture. I don't know if you saw this, but like, a couple years ago, there was this viral tick tock of this girl making bean soup.
- [13:19]
B
Yeah. And it's like, if I don't like.
- [13:20]
A
Beans and somebody said, well, I can't have beans, so what's the substitute? It's like, this is a bean soup recipe.
- [13:26]
B
Yeah.
- [13:26]
A
And my OG audience knows because I did, like, a really viral video, like, making fun of this. It's those people. It's like, well, this doesn't apply to me. Oh, my gosh. I don't remember what it was the other day. You think I'm making this up? I posted something, and I don't know if it was about shoes or what, but. But I got a DM saying like, well, my husband's a paraplegic. This doesn't apply. I'm like.
- [13:47]
Do you think maybe not everything on the Internet has to do with you? Like, you can see something. Be like, okay, that's obviously not gonna apply to my unique situation. But yeah, it's weird that, like, everything has to be for me on the Internet. It doesn't.
- [14:00]
B
Yeah. And it's like, has my algorithm not learned perfectly? You know, it's like, come on. But I will say, I think that to answer your question in a nutshell, it's to take a pause and not lunge forward at Everything. I think it's just like, oh, that's interesting. I didn't know that. And then even just taking your own, like, response, like temperature of your own response, like, is this enraging me? Is this stressing me out? Is this making me feel like, anxious? Okay, maybe I just need to sit with that for a second before I feel like, oh my gosh, we have to overhaul this or change that or I need to see this doctor. It's like, maybe you do, but maybe you should do it in 30 days or maybe you should do it next year, like table it. Maybe you should do it when you have kids, whatever it looks like. So it's just kind of like I'm the same as you. I love to learn, but it can be really easy to start spiraling when you learn more and more and more. And it's like, pause, just take a breath.
- [14:43]
A
I love that tip. About 30 days and taking a pause before some of these big purchases. Because, look, I do that. I'm the same way with expensive designer items. If it's a really pricey clothing item, I am somebody that will wait several weeks or a couple months. And if I am obsessively thinking about, I'm like, wow, I really love that. That's going to be an investment piece for me. Like, I'm going to use it for a long time and get a lot of use out of it if I, you know, decide not to purchase it. And then I completely forget about it. Like, I didn't like it that much. So I'm glad I didn't spend that much money. I mean, it can. The same thing can be said for some of these pricier extras when it comes to health and wellness.
- [15:20]
B
Yep. And also just do the honest evaluation of am I even doing the basic things consistently? Because why would I go buy these expensive additional gadgets and tools that can help my health? But why would I go do all of that if I'm not even like opening my windows consistently and eating like mostly home cooked food and, you know, like doing the basic things.
- [15:44]
A
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- [17:53]
When we're on our healing journeys, do you think we're making a mistake where we tend to separate the physical from the spiritual?
- [18:00]
B
Yeah, I think it's really easy to kind of start focusing on the body body and then like my faith and my spiritual life over here. And the reality is, like, there's an Elizabeth Elliott quote that I love that says, like, it's a failure to not recognize that everything really begins with the body, like, the body is simply the starting place. Because if your body is experiencing breakdown or you're neglecting the health of your body, then that will take a toll on you physically. And on the contrary, if you are obsessing over everything that you are doing for your health and you're just so, like, focused and fixated on that, it's so easy to make that your God, like, that can become the end all, be all, and it can really take a hit on your mental, your emotional and your spiritual health. Like, all of those things are so closely intertwined, and so often we tend to think we can separate them. And then we're like, well, gosh, why do I feel terrible? It's like, well, either you're completely neglecting the body or you're potentially obsessing over it. And either can be like, there's a ditch on either side of the road.
- [18:56]
A
Yeah. I think that we tend to oscillate as people, especially women, when it comes to health, between idolatry or complete apathy.
- [19:06]
B
Yes.
- [19:06]
A
We're either obsessing over health and our bodies and how we look and things like that, or we're like, I'm gonna die anyway. Yeah, God knows what I'm gonna die. So why does it matter what I eat? Yes, why does it even matter? Why does any of this matter? I'm not listening to the show anymore. Because you know what? None of this even matters. And. And neither of those, I would say, are correct.
- [19:23]
B
No, Literally every single thing you do has weight and eternity. And I think we forget that if you are neglecting the vessel that you've been given or you kind of take this whatever, anything, everything is going to kill me approach. And I think we say that whole phrase, everything's going to kill me one of two ways. Either from a place of fear and obsession or from a place of, like.
- [19:45]
Apathy, essentially, like. Of like, whatever. Like, everything's gonna kill me. Exactly what you just said. And the reality is everything that you do on this side of heaven, yes, it's temporal, but that doesn't mean the decisions you make, the things that you do, the way you care for your body, doesn't have eternal impact. And why? Well, because if you go back to the. The truth that your body is a vehicle given to carry out your calling, think about what your calling actually is. Like, it's ultimately loving God and loving people and making an kingdom, eternal impact. And so when we are living a life that glorifies God and that has an eternal impact, that's going to Impact other people in some capacity in the work that we do, whether you're a veterinarian or a podcast host or something else. And if you're showing up, dragging to that and not feeling well or you know, pushing yourself to the brink or you're just obsessed with your health, either way, like getting too obsessive or too apathetic can really detract and take away from the impact you're made to have. Right. Like it can really take a hit on that. And what you're doing in your day to day life, even if it seems mundane, has eternal impact. It's impacting other human beings. And I think if we lose sight of that, that's when we begin to completely separate the spiritual and the physical. I think it just takes a lot of, on a self reflection and, and just constantly taking like a, a little bit of a pause to be like, am I getting too apathetic about this to the point where I'm actually like not even thinking about how, how I feel now does impact other people, which does have an internal impact, or am I getting too obsessive and too focused on the temporal? That there's a bigger picture when it.
- [21:09]
A
Comes to the apathy piece. Jordan, what I think is interesting is like you're like, well I'm going to die, so it doesn't matter what I do to my body forgetting, especially if you are still having children or you are or you haven't had children yet and plan to. What we do to our bodies impacts our granddaughter's eggs.
- [21:29]
B
Yes.
- [21:30]
A
So it does matter. It, it is, it is not just like it ends with you. This is multi generational in your family line. Your health right now is impacting. So I just think that's important to, to put in perspective. But what I'm hearing you say is that it's not necessarily longevity that needs to be our main focus and that we need to be after it's stewardship.
- [21:52]
B
It's that and legacy. Yeah. Like exactly what you're saying. Yeah, stewardship.
- [21:56]
A
What are some tips to replenish the body with good things created by God versus just restricting bad things?
- [22:04]
B
Well, the world constantly tells us to restrict things, right. Like whatever the next new hot thing is bad, whether it's sugar or something else. And it's like, okay, but going back to what did God create, right? What are the good things he's invited us to put back on our plate and to put more of on our plate? Well, real food from the earth, plants, animals and it's most whole form and it's you know, like we've tried to make food faster, quicker, better, cheaper. We've adulterated food as humans, right? Lots of processed food, lots of pesticide use, lots of preservatives, all of that. And so it's just like now in our generation, it's like it takes a little work to get food in the form that's closest to how God created it. Unfortunately, it takes a little bit of intentionality. It's not always the most convenient or easily available thing. Restrictions. Choosing to rest and not looking that, not looking at it as a reward, but actually looking at it as a rhythm and as something that is like, well, if God himself rested when he created me and when he created this whole earth, and when God, when God came to earth and was a human, rested like, okay, that's the example that's been set. So putting more of that on my plate or my, you know, metaphorical plate, intentional movement, living purposefully, being in relationship. There was actually. Have you heard of the Rosetto effect?
- [23:15]
A
No, tell me.
- [23:15]
B
Okay, so there's this town, I believe it's in Pennsylvania. Quote me, don't quote me on that because I could be wrong. But basically they looked at this town that was like a really close knit community and that community where they had really strong ties, they had lower rates of things like heart disease, who obsessed and they kind of were like, okay. When people are living in, in good, intentional, healthy community, they're less likely to be making decisions that are poor for their health. They're more likely to be joyful in life. And therefore that has a positive impact on their health and their well being. And so just putting more like if you think about choosing the good things God created and giving yourself more of those things, it's not just the food, but that's a big part. And putting that on your plate literally is a good thing. But also just like on your life plate, your metaphorical plate, like filling your time with intentional connection, intentional relationship rest, fresh air, healthy movement, you know, and, and not movement that makes you miserable, but like movement that you actually want to stick with, right? So filling your plate, filling your time, filling your life with these good things God made for you, relationship with him, relationship with others, real food movement, fresh air, sunlight, rest. Like these things are the things that are kind of the foundation for like caring for your body well, and also feeling good and being able to fill out that calling we talked about.
- [24:27]
A
What are the big Cs that are sabotaging our health?
- [24:31]
B
Okay, so I just made this up, but I feel like, these kind of embody the big things we're up against in our culture. One big thing is cultural beauty standards. There's just so much pressure to look a certain way, to change certain things, to, to modify the. And there's nothing wrong with caring for your appearance. And I want to be very careful with this because I think you can again, swing to the opposite end of the spectrum and start to feel like, well, I should just neglect my, my appearance then. Like, it's not, it's. It's more holy to neglect my appearance and just focus on the spiritual. It's like, well, no, it's not. It's just we can, we can, I think, face a lot of pressure. And there's a lot of things from a beauty standpoint in our world, whether it's like injections or implants or anything that have a negative health effect. Sex, Botox is literally toxic in many ways. Right? Or breast implant illness or just all the things that are like, gosh, like, yeah, it might healthy appearance, but is it hurting my health? Like, am I sacrificing health for beauty? And if that's a yes, then it's probably maybe something to consider making a. No careers. Not that working is wrong. Not that having a career is bad, but I think that the, the work culture and the whole girl boss culture, I feel like we're all just recovering from a little bit. Yeah, you know, it's like hustle, get up at 5am like, it's very masculine. It's like very much in no way supportive to our hormone cycles. And especially for women. Right. It's just like, gosh, like working and working ourselves into the ground, chasing after some elusive goal or breaking some glass ceiling or whatever pressure or idea we have in our minds. Like, I think that. I know for me there was a period. I'm like, gosh, I'm up till like 11pm on my laptop every night. Just what am I chasing? Like, this is hurting me. It's like, no wonder my hormones are a mess and everything's all over the place. So I think just the career culture of our, of our modern world and that we've all kind of walked through, or many of us have walked through, takes a toll on our health. It takes a toll on our, our cortisol levels, our hormones, all of that. So I think careers, cultural beauty standards, convenience, we just live in a convenient, driven world.
- [26:26]
A
Huge. I think we are sacrificing our health at the altar of convenience. Majorly.
- [26:31]
B
Yeah. I think getting back to God's design, getting Back to a more sustainable way of. And a healthier version of not only ourselves, but just a healthier society requires a slower life. Might require us to do the things that aren't as quick and convenient. Right. Like perfect example is cooking meals at home. Don't. That's not to say I never order out. Right. But like I think we've just become such a doordash culture and we've just become such a like packaged food, quick everything that it's like, gosh, we've almost lost the art of like cooking a meal. For me, one thing that was really eye opening during COVID was like, like if I didn't have the grocery store, like where would I. So how would I know how to source food? Like can I go out of my way?
- [27:09]
A
Same aha moment.
- [27:10]
B
It was such a, like yeah, it was. Yes, yes. And I was like, gosh, I need to know how to go out of my way to source good food for my family if it's not just available on like a quick instacart. And again, nothing wrong with utilizing those tools now and then, but I think when we've become so heavily dependent on them as like culture, it's like well, no wonder we're also sick, right?
- [27:29]
A
Well, I interviewed a couple years ago this fifth generation rancher, A.J. richards. Such a good interview I did, I love, love. And he gave me one of the biggest light bulb moments when he said that if Walmart, you know, due to another pandemic or what have you, were to run out of food, Americans would starve in as little as three days. I believe that because hardly any of us know who our local farmer rancher is. We don't know where to get food. We only, most of us are getting food at Walmart. The average American shops at Walmart. And so without that, what do we do? And that is very scary.
- [28:03]
B
Yes, it is really scary. So you know, just convenience in various forms. But specifically when it comes to food, we have a lot of great tools that can make life easier, but they can all. It can also make us a lot less active. It can also take a toll on our, on our ability to feed our families and feed ourselves. Like convenience is a blessing and a curse. So that's one of the things that has definitely taken a toll on our health for various reasons. So corporations and chemicals is another one. I kind of put those together in one because I kind of blame corporations sometimes. Obviously not all corporations, but our products for the last however many years have been filled with hormone disruptors, known carcinogens allergens, things that take a huge hit on our health. And a lot of those have been put out by corporations that for the last several decades we've just trusted baby products, household products.
- [28:48]
A
Oh, yeah, like Johnson and Johnson or dupont with Teflon.
- [28:51]
B
Yeah, exactly. They've all been just kind of in these, like, conglomerates and they're all. And honestly, even a lot of the, like, healthier brands are bought by big corporations. And then they. Their formulations or their recipes are modified or changed and suddenly they're no longer as clean or healthy. And so you think about all of the just toxic sludge that we live in. And unfortunately, some of that's just not avoidable. Like, you can't avoid every toxin you're going to come into contact with, but you can be the gatekeeper of your home. And so I look at, you know, the amount of chemicals that you're exposed to that we are exposed to through so many of the products we used growing up. I mean, I think about my Bath and Body Works era. I think we all had that. Right? It's just like all the body fragrances, all of the tied, like all of that is. There's just been a toxic sludge, I think, that so many of us have been exposed to for so long. And so that's taken a toll on many of our health. I know so many women in our generation have struggled with things like fertility, endometriosis, post pcos, chronic illness. And so all of that can be like, tied to our toxin exposure and toxins and hormone disruptors. And all of that can influence our health in various ways, especially negatively. And then the fifth one is conflicting health advice advice. Like, we can talk about all the chemicals and all the things, and all of those things absolutely impact our health. But we also are just in a world of a lot of information, like we talked about earlier. But we can almost, instead of just taking a pause when we come across advice, we're like, oh, my gosh, I'm confused because so and so said this and so and so said that. Or there's. I remember at one point in my health journey, I was sipping almond milk because I had heard, like, you know, dairy is so bad for you and it's causing acne and all these things. And so I'm a year into my almond milk phase, and then I come across a whole different school of thought that's like, wait a second. Almond milk may not actually be the most beneficial for your health and it doesn't have all these bio. And I'm like, I like chuck my almond milk. I'm like, well, is this even good or not? Like, I don't know. But it's the confusion, I think, because we live in an information age and we're constantly consuming information and it's good to learn. But that can take a toll on our health too because our cortisol's spiking and we're all over the place and we're just, we're just like cherry picking all this stuff and not actually going to like, well, what does my body need? Maybe I should just work with a provider and help me. Like that can help me understand where, where to start for myself and make some small changes here and there. We actually can start to really spiral into the information overload and then the overwhelm that comes from that and then just start throwing random supplements and stuff at our body without actually understanding. What does my body actually need?
- [31:09]
A
Growing up, I peaked early. I had the most chic lunchbox in school. It was a baby blue hello kitty tin that snapped shut like it contained nuclear codes. I really need to call my mom and see if she still has it. But listen, your lunch bag shouldn't be the only classy thing about lunchtime. The food should be too. Picture this. A turkey sandwich on freshly milled sourdough, artisanal, practically baked by monks. And next to it, chips that taste like the ones you grew up with, only better. Better ingredients, better flavor, better for your body. Because back in the day, all chips and fries were cooked in beef tallow. And then the corporations ruined everything in the 90s and shoved everyone into seed oils. Now seed oils are 20% of the average American's daily calories. That is not a diet. That is a crime scene. You need Vandy crisps, heirloom potatoes, sea salt and 100% grass fed beef tallow. No seed oils. Light, satisfying, no crash, no blow. American made, no compromises. My favorite flavor, herbs de province. Vandychips.com code Alex Clark for 25% off. That's vandycrisps.com code Alex Clark for 25 off. Your first order. If you don't feel like ordering online, you can buy Vandy and Masa chips at Sprouts. You know how winter hits you. Less daylight, shorter days, cold weather, and suddenly you feel sluggish. Skin is dull, joints are creaky, mood is down. I used to think, ugh, that's just winter. Especially when I lived in Indiana. Then I discovered juve. Juve uses clinically proven wavelengths, red and near infrared light the same spectrum of natural light that your cells crave. So what happens when your skin and muscles tissues really soak that light up your mitochondria? The little power plants inside your cells ramp up production of ATP, that's cellular energy. They boost your circulation, reduce oxidative stress and enhance repair mechanisms throughout your body. So for me, I plug my juve in first thing in the morning while making my smoothie. I'm half asleep. I just sit in front of it for 10 minutes. Okay? Within weeks your skin is going to look clearer, you're going to have more energy. Midday even my achy winter joints will start feeling less like old wood and more like well oiled machinery. Nice Hashimoto's perk for me. On top of that red light therapy helps with skin health, inflammation reduction, better sleep, muscle recovery. Very, very important. When natural sunlight is scarce. Joovv isn't a toy or a gimmick. This is a true medical grade panel, independently safety tested and certified. Delivering safe effective dosages of therapeutic light. Not the cheap spa gadget nonsense. If winter throws you into a sluggish mode or you just want to stay on top of your health game, give your body the light it's missing. This is the Christmas present you want. Go to Joovv.com Alex J-O-O-V-V.com Alex There will be an automatic discount that applies. Joovv.com Alex.
- [33:55]
One of the parts of your book that I think will relate to so many women is talking about how you know when you were kind of experiencing this disordered eating in college and really you're like, like running a ton and working out a ton but you're not getting enough calories and all this. You were the thinnest you ever were. Now you're saying, I think you said you are now the heaviest you've ever been. But also you are like I know I'm my healthiest. So can you kind of talk about that relationship with weight and the epiphany that you've had there?
- [34:23]
B
Yeah, and it's a really nuanced conversation because I don't want to make the suggestion that like just gain a bunch of weight, right? Like that's not always going to be the healthiest thing. But when I was in a period of really intense restriction and honestly chronically undereating, even at some, even at the point where I didn't intend to, a lot of, a lot of women actually under eat, you're so busy, you're skipping lunch. Like you're not actually Eating enough nutrient density. That's me. Yeah, well, and you might be eating a lot of, like, snacks or processed food or whatever, but you're not actually getting enough, like, nutrients in your diet every single day. And so there was a. Definitely a period when I, When I struggled with that. And so what I actually really found was when I started nourishing my body well and being really intentional about, like, am I getting enough, like, collagen? Am I getting enough protein? Am I getting enough fiber? My body actually started to gain a little bit of weight. And now I've, like, had a couple kids, so it's a different. A different weight gain. But I was like, wait a second. Why? I thought being skinniest was, like, the healthiest thing. But as my body gained a little bit of weight, I started to have clearer skin and I started to, like, have more balanced hormones. And my body was like, thank you. We just needed to eat more. Not more of anything, though. More nutrient dense, real food. Right. And so, you know, for me, it was like, okay, sometimes getting healthy looks like losing weight. There are absolutely situations where it's like, okay, I actually am overweight. I need to work on this. But there are also situations where it's like you're chronically under eating. You've spent so many years restricting and over burdening your body with trying to be as thin as possible that it's taken a toll on your hormones, your thyroid, your adrenal glands. And that was my situation. So when I started giving my body more nutrients, my body was like, oh, we can heal now. We can, we can. Can feel better now. And my skin cleared significantly. My hormones balance and made such difference. So it's like, it's. The point of. It is like weight is a nuanced conversation, because sometimes being a little bit heavier than your leanest possible weight might actually be where your body finds that equilibrium and can heal. And other times it's like, no, I actually need to lose weight. So it's. It's really individual.
- [36:21]
A
Why is body positivity incompatible with the Bible?
- [36:24]
B
Because it makes the body the focus. And it's not to say don't be positive about your body or thankful for your body, but it's going back to that metaphor of do I love my body or do I love the one who gave it to me? Health becomes the end. But if you look at it from a biblical worldview, health should be a means to an end. Caring for the vehicle you've been given to carry out your. Carry out your calling while caring for your Body, the vessel you've been given is so that you can fulfill your calling. Right. It's not because you want to create this like, perfect body that just is optimized in every possible way for the sake of what? If you think about body positivity in the way that we've kind of seen it in culture, it's self love. It's loving the body. It's why, why, why do we love the body? If you're honest with yourself, we love our body a lot. Like, we love ourselves. We think about ourselves. We spend most of our time thinking about ourselves as it is. We do most of the things we do to make ourselves more comfortable, to make ourselves feel better. And again, nothing wrong with wanting to heal and, and care for your body. Well, especially if it's showing signs of breakdown. But that's so different. That's biblical stewardship is very different from body positivity or self love or obsessing over the body itself. It's saying, this is a vehicle to carry out my calling, so I want to take good care of that so that I can accomplish that.
- [37:34]
A
We could stand to love ourselves a little less.
- [37:36]
B
Exactly.
- [37:36]
A
If anything, not more. Because people go through something hard. They're like, I just need to love myself more. No, you don't.
- [37:41]
B
No, we actually really already love ourselves. Yeah. Sometimes it can be actually be like, kind of masked in self hate and like self deprecation.
- [37:46]
A
But it's ruminating on yourself 247 when.
- [37:49]
B
You'Re thinking about yourself and your body all the time and how you can. Like, you're actually starting to make the body a God.
- [37:55]
A
Yeah.
- [37:56]
B
And you know what you were asking me earlier? How to fill our plate with more good things. God made things. All of these things that we do for our health, they're all good things. It's like, yes, please exercise, Please put real food in your body. Please get some rest. But also, like, be careful not to turn good things into God things. And your body is one of those things. Be careful not to turn the body into a God because it starts to like, it's gonna let you down. You'll be like, what the heck? I've been doing all this stuff to take care of it, and now it's like going bonkers for some reason. Why? Because we live in a fallen world. I feel like we've had so many messages about our body thrown at us. Like, whether it was like skinny culture and diet culture growing up, or then it was like whiplash body culture. Just love your body as it is. It's like, what am I supposed to do here?
- [38:37]
A
You know, it's been a roller coaster for millennial women.
- [38:39]
B
Yeah. It's like, are we okay?
- [38:41]
A
Like, I don't know, is everything going to kill us?
- [38:44]
B
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I know that sounds a little morbid, but the reality is, like, if you're honest, yes, at some point we live in a world that is full of toxins and full of all sorts of things that we can do our best to reduce our exposure to, and we can do our best to care for the bodies we've been given. But the reality is, like, yeah, we all have an expiration date, and that doesn't mean we just throw in the towel and don't care. But in some way or another, like, yes, everything on this side of heaven is in some ways working toward our end because, I don't know, last I checked, the death rate's 100%. Right. Like, everybody dies at some point. And so I think, think caring for our bodies and. And pursuing health and wellness should not necessarily be for the sake of avoiding death, but to, again, care for the vehicle we've been given so that we can live as best as we possibly can while we have days on Earth.
- [39:37]
A
You had surgery. You were diagnosed with endometriosis. What have you learned about the condition, its prevalence, and how to heal it?
- [39:44]
B
Oh, my gosh. It's like, one of the most prevalent illness or, like, reproductive illnesses and chronic illness illnesses among women, like, young women. And it takes for most people over 10 years to get a diagnosis.
- [39:54]
A
Wow.
- [39:54]
B
Isn't that crazy? Most women wait 10 years either in pain or unexplained infertility or both. And they're just told, like, we don't know. And unfortunately, up until now, like, one of the most accurate ways to get a diagnosis is surgically. So, again, that's kind of a big commitment. I know for me, I was very hesitant. I'm like, I don't know that I want to go through surgery to be told that I might have, you know, so it's incredibly prevalent. It's one of the most common chronic illnesses, reproductive issues that women are facing today. And it's really connected to, like, hormones, like, estrogen dominance. Having excessive estrogen is a huge piece of endometriosis.
- [40:29]
A
Like, it's in stuff that fuels excess estrogen in your life. Are the chemicals in these endocrine disruptors, beauty products and fragrance?
- [40:37]
B
Yep. It makes sense why so many women in our generation are experiencing things like pcos or endometriosis, these illnesses or These diseases that have been really heavily be influenced by the amount of endocrine disruptors or the endocrine means hormone, right? So hormone disruptors that we've been exposed to since the time we were infants, like literally in diapers, all the way through the detergents, through the beauty products. Like, thinking about the different phases of your life, it's like, well, of course, like that's. It's no shock then that so many of us are experiencing these things that are so influenced by hormone disruption and by imbalance in our hormones.
- [41:09]
A
It took you many years before you got results on several different health issues that you are struggling with. When we are in a battle for our health and the answers and the results do not come quickly, how do we keep trusting God?
- [41:23]
B
I think it's ultimately like trusting that God is sovereign over even when we don't get the outcome we, we want or as quickly as we want. So often we can look at it like, gosh, my body's just failing and I'm not getting the answers I want. I know for me, when I did get the endometriosis diagnosis, when I started to get some answers from a health perspective, I was a lot more like, oh, okay, God. Like, I can better understand because I just felt like my body was revolting against me for no reason. Right. You can get so mad at God or your body or both if you're not getting the, the answers to the fertility struggle or you're not getting the clarity as to why something is happening. But I think it's, for me, the biggest lesson I learned is like, God is trustworthy whether or not we get the outcomes we want on this side of heaven. That doesn't mean it's easy. But I think that's where, again, the community piece is really helpful too, is just going back to, like, I need people who can rally around me and help me remember like, that this is so much bigger than the healing, the hoped for outcome, the answered prayer in the timing that I'd like it to be, because if it were up to me, I would have had answers a lot sooner. I would have had things solved a lot quicker. Right? And I think that's, that's how we all feel. But just trusting like God is sovereign over even the things that are out of my control and the timing of everything. And it's so much easier said than done. But that's where I think asking for help with that is actually really, really beneficial.
- [42:34]
A
Can you articulate the importance of timeless health habits versus trendy ones?
- [42:39]
B
The question That I always have to ask myself. And, like, before I jump on any new information that I come across or any new really awesome tool that could really help my health and that would be beneficial to have in my home, whether it's, you know, fitness tools or air doctors or whatever, air purifiers, it's okay. But am I doing the timeless things? And the timeless things are things like sunlight, movement, real food, rest, honoring my circadian rhythms, not looking at a screen till midnight, Right? Like, shutting my phone off at a decent hour. Am I doing those basic things that the trendier things are like, the biohacking things that we come across, absolutely beneficial. But am I jumping on, like, the next biohacker, gadget or tool, or even, like, healing diets? Whether it's like keto or whatever we come across, it's like, those are things. Intermittent fasting. Like, again, it's kind of like. Like, you'll see it come in waves, where all of a sudden everyone's intermittent fasting or everyone's doing keto or everyone's using these, you know, the next gadget or tool. And so if you're like, okay, wait, we weren't just talking about that five minutes ago. And now it's like, everything. If you're. If you're not doing it, something's wrong with you that's probably in the trendy category. Might be really worth, worth it and beneficial for you. But again, before you even jump into the trendy, it's like, am I even doing the timeless kind of basic, free things? And if I'm not, then, like, I really can't afford to be adding trends into my life. Yeah.
- [43:54]
A
What did you find out was causing.
- [43:56]
B
Your severe adult acne, huge hormone imbalance and gut challenge? Gut issues kind of in tandem.
- [44:02]
A
Was it leaky gut?
- [44:03]
B
Yeah, leaky gut. And then, like, estrogen dominance. And that went right with the endometriosis. So it's kind of one big old mess. And then I also had some thyroid issues, too, which is hormonal.
- [44:14]
A
What were the changes that you implemented where you started immediately noticing results in the acne going away?
- [44:19]
B
A couple different things. Things. One was significantly reducing my toxin exposure. I started changing my beauty products, my personal care products, my household products. Not all at once, but I did some of the big stuff that I was using every day kind of really quickly. Things like laundry detergent and deodorants and what I was putting on my skin all day, like makeup, you know, those types of things. So that was one of the big shifts I made. And Then after I focused on reducing toxin exposure, another big thing I tried to do is support my cortisol in my. My circadian rhythms. Because the adrenal glands or your adrenal health is kind of like the foundation for your thyroid and your hormones in general is essentially the biggest thing I learned. And I'm like, okay, well, let me get that checked and see. Kind of I thought, I have to be so burnt out. Like, I was just feeling so exhausted. I would be, like, wired at night, tired in the morning, didn't sleep well. There was, like, some sort of. Something was off. So I did this test with a, like, a functional doctor or a functional practitioner. We did a Dutch test. Are you familiar with Dutch? Yep. Okay.
- [45:13]
A
I tell everybody the dry P test. This is the number one thing, you know, should. Everyone should do it, men and women, and it will change your life.
- [45:21]
B
It was so eye opening for me.
- [45:22]
A
It's worth it.
- [45:22]
B
I learned so much. But I did the such test. Okay. And I wanted to see where my cortisol was because I'd been learning, like, cortisol can influence your adrenal glands, your hormones, your. Your minerals, your thyroid, all the things. And so I was like, okay, I get this test and my cortisol line. Like, it's like the. You. You test your cortisol over several. Like, I think it's 24 hours, if I'm saying that right. 24 hours or 48 hours, but over the course of a period of time. And so you should have, like, this curve. Well, mine was, like, flat. Like, my curve was just like. Like it was not. Not there. And I was like, oh, my gosh. Amazing. I'm not stressed. And the practitioner was like, no, actually, you've been so. Like, your cortisol has been just like, you're chronically elevated for. Elevated for so long. Yeah, you're fried. She's like, you have severe adrenal fatigue going on. I was like, oh, well, how do I fix that? So anyways, that was kind of where I was like, okay, I have to focus on supporting my sleep, my circadian rhythms, and getting my cortisol to a healthier place. Because cortisol does give you energy. So that's a huge thing I started doing as well.
- [46:23]
A
I was at the grocery store last night, and there's this guy just standing, watching. But get this. He's carrying a book of memes, like, he's judging humanity one Pepe the Frog at a time. He's muttering to himself about John Pork and six, seven. I'm like, okay, this is Gen Z. Tick tock rot gone so bad. I run home. I throw myself on my cozy earth bamboo Visco sheets and it's like a wormhole straight to sanity. Temperature regulating, soft, comforting. Like lying in a hug from a very calm meme savvy angel. I put on the all day tea and studio pants and suddenly I feel like a functioning human again. Not some creature haunted by a man who studies memes as if they were scripture. 100 night sleep trial, 10 year warranty. You try it, you hate it, return it. But you won't because these sheets will literally save your life. Life upgrade your sleep. Go to cozyearth.com use code Alex for 40 off cozyearth.com code Alex for 40 off okay, it's Christmas shopping season, which means many of us are about to walk into a store, pick up a skincare gift set, flip it over and immediately panic. Because, well, if you listen to this show, you're too educated. Now you know what endocrine disruptors are. You know what synthetic fragrances do. So the guilt hits hard when you imagine handing someone a gift packed with chemicals that you act, actively, warn people about. That's why this year I'm gifting Adele Natural cosmetics. And honestly, it's become my guilt free. Go to Adele is a Christian founded family owned company rooted in first Peter three three, four and everything they make is handcrafted with purpose, integrity and love. Their studio is right in Central Texas where every batch is artisan made small, intentional and clean. And their products are nourishing, not harmful. From their lightweight aloe vera hydrating sprays to their rich essential moisturizer eyes to the body oil that locks in hydration all day. It's exactly what our skin needs in the dry winter months. Plus they partner with sustainable US farmers using locally grown organic ingredients. Their top sellers the moisturizing foundation it feels like wearing nothing at all. Their buttery soft lip conditioner with hyaluronic acid and their gorgeous glow highlighter. It gives you a bright lifted Christmas morning glow all year round. Go to Adele natural cosmetics.com use code Alex for 25 off that's Adele natural cosmetics.com code Alex for 25 off your first purchase.
- [48:36]
What were the first steps you took to fix your circadian rhythm?
- [48:39]
B
Huge boundaries around the phone. I mean really like getting daylight first thing in my eyes before I looked at a phone, turning it off an hour or two before bedtime like that was one of the easiest, simplest things. And then adding minerals into my water, trying to support just like my because, again, adrenal health and minerals and all of that goes together. So I was really trying to support my adrenal health.
- [48:57]
A
And do you take King tons of one?
- [48:58]
B
No.
- [48:59]
A
Oh, that's a good one.
- [49:00]
B
Okay.
- [49:01]
A
They're like these little glass vials. It's called Quinton Q U I N T O. And I talk about. I've talked about this in so many episodes. Like, everyone in the health space knows, like, this is the bee's knees, but it's this teeny, tiny glass vial that has, like, mineral seawater in it. It just tastes like salty water. You snap the end of it off, and then you just down it.
- [49:19]
B
Okay. It sounds similar. So I do the buoy hydration drops.
- [49:21]
A
Okay.
- [49:22]
B
Or Ravi mineral mix. Those two are really, like, clean. Good options as well. So I'll do. I'll do those. But, I mean, I've done all sorts of stuff. I've done mineral mocktails. But the biggest thing was, like, supporting my minerals, making sure I was getting quality, like, sea salt, even just in my water.
- [49:36]
A
And now I think this is important because people, when I talk about circadian rhythm and optimal light diet and all that, they're like, well, it's so easy for you. You live in Scottsdale. It is easy for me. But you live in Indianapolis, which is actually where I moved to Phoenix from. And I know that it is gray all winter. So what do you do in the morning when it's, you know, negative 20 out, out?
- [49:56]
B
Well, just at least open your windows. There's. Even if it's. Even if the sun isn't, like, bright light, you're still getting natural daylight. So that was a big thing. My mom and I got into red light. We have, like, red light little machines. And so some red light, like, just. And one thing that that practitioner had suggested for me at the time, you can actually get, like, little, like, daylight bulbs that instead of, like, looking at your phone, you can have that. So she'd be like, hey, would you do your skincare in the morning? Like, turn that on. So I did get one of those when I was in this period of trying to kind of heal the. The. The adrenal fatigue and kind of get back into a healthier place from a cortisol and adrenal health standpoint. And honestly, just supporting quality sleep, like, reading before sleeping or before. Before sleeping, instead of scrolling, shutting off screens, getting enough protein minerals, like, all of these things kind of help regulate. And it did really help my adrenal health because I started sleeping better when I wasn't living on 17 shots of caffeine a day. I mean, I was literally drinking two to three double shot lattes a day to stay awake, like to have energy. I didn't have kids then.
- [50:50]
A
That's crazy.
- [50:51]
B
I'm like, something is wrong here. Right. So kind of tone down the caffeine and up the minerals and tone down the blue light before bed and up to the red light and just went to bed earlier and read before bed. Like, it's not complicated. I just kind of started doing a few of those things.
- [51:04]
A
Yeah.
- [51:05]
B
Still. Even when it was a cloudy gray day, still opening my window because there's still UV light. Like it's still coming through the clouds. It may not be amazing, but like, just little things like that. It was wild. Like within six months, I did the cortisol test or the Dutch test again. And it was like I had this really normal, like cortisol curve.
- [51:20]
A
Crazy. You're saying that because this summer I did an interview with my friend Illy, and she pissed a lot of people off because Illy was saying if you are relying on multiple coffees a day, you are sick. There's something wrong.
- [51:35]
What you just said, personal testimony, talking about your adrenals being shot. And so you know, Illy, she's done all this. She is this like, product that's sold everywhere called Minerals and Chill. And it's an adrenal, like drink mix. But she talked about that with the coffee. So it's interesting you bring that up.
- [51:51]
B
Okay, so now I'm a mom of three, under three free. So it's interesting because I found myself like, reaching for coffee a little bit more. But what's interesting is when I shifted a lot of this and I started supporting my minerals especially. So my last postpartum experience a couple years ago, I found that even when I wasn't sleeping that well, I wasn't like reliant on coffee. I enjoyed it. Like, I looked forward to like having a cup in the morning, but there was a period where my son just was not sleeping. And I was like, maybe I just need to cut out caffeine altogether. Maybe he's getting it through my breast smoke. And I was able to do that without like dying. Like, I was like, because I was supporting my minerals, I was getting enough protein. Like, yeah, I would have. I kind of missed my coffee a little bit. But it wasn't like I was getting these terrible headaches or like falling asleep at 2pm and then when you cut.
- [52:27]
A
That out, did he sleep?
- [52:30]
B
He wasn't a kid that slept Very well. But, yeah, until he was, like, 14 months. And that was. Yeah, that was humbling. But. But I was able to, is the point. Yeah. Three or four years prior, before I had any kids, I was like, you know, I could get all the sleep I wanted. I. I could not easily do that. It was, like, a process. And so that was, like, a huge thing for me. I was like, wow. I kind of have, like, freedom from this, where it's a ritual and something I enjoy. And I've learned how to consume coffee properly. Have you talked about this in the show?
- [52:53]
A
No. What? Toast?
- [52:54]
B
Like, not just waking up and drinking coffee on an empty stomach because that messes up all the adrenal. It's like, you want to try to have coffee with, like, a balanced breakfast. Yeah. And quality coffee. Right. So I switch to organic and mold and mycotoxin free. And then if I have coffee, I put, like, some Taylor Duke's Wellness protein in it, and I have it with some eggs or some. Something to balance your blood sugar out so you're not just, like, having this huge caffeine spike. And on an empty stomach, essentially.
- [53:18]
A
What protein powder do you put in your coffee from her?
- [53:20]
B
Oh, my gosh. Depends on the day. Pumpkin spice in October and candy cane in December and vanilla candy cane.
- [53:26]
A
People are in my DMs, like, rabid animals, like, candy cane. Like, I'm like, what is going. I told. I texted Taylor the other day.
- [53:33]
B
I was like, what did you put in the stuff? For real? I know, Melinda. I was talking to her the other day. She's like, I'm giving it to my kids. I'm like, oh, yeah. Because it's bone broth based. Yeah, it's so good. So I'm like, putting, like, a little bit of a candy cane protein and milk and giving it to my boys, and they're like, I want the candy cane drink. It's the best we have our little kidney cane lattes. But just getting some protein and some nutrient in your ideally quality coffee, I just shifted the way I was doing it, and I'm like, I still can enjoy it. It's not like coffee's the enemy, but I kind of try to keep a pulse on that. Of, like, am I relying on this?
- [54:02]
A
Right.
- [54:02]
B
Because there are days where I'll have a second cup because I want to, but not necessarily because I need you, and that's a big difference.
- [54:07]
A
As somebody who struggled with over exercising in your past, what fitness routine have you settled on now as a mom to three little kids?
- [54:15]
B
Well, none.
- [54:19]
Routine Like, I don't know if I'm just being honest. Just walking, keeping up with kids.
- [54:25]
A
That just might be your season. I love the honesty.
- [54:27]
B
No, it's true. Like, honestly, the biggest thing, I wouldn't call it a routine because it's just kind of like we're just doing what we can here.
- [54:32]
A
Sure.
- [54:33]
B
But in terms of what it looks like in the season, it looks a lot like, like out getting outside, going for walks, or like, incline walking on my treadmill. And then I have the Moves app. Have you. Have you seen the Moves app?
- [54:43]
A
No.
- [54:43]
B
They've got really great, like, postpartum stuff. So I've done, like, some just focus on, like, core and strength and whatnot. But I literally turned to my office in my house into my workout space because it used to be in the basement, but I couldn't hear the kids when they were napping. So I just kind of like, use that space and my routine looks like, honestly, intentionally trying to move my body every single day. Sometimes that's chasing kids, which is just built into my life now, but usually that looks like trying to get some sort of walk or just like a 10, 15 minute, quick, like, strength training in, if I can.
- [55:08]
A
By the way, there's no shame in starting with walking.
- [55:11]
B
Yes.
- [55:12]
A
Like, postpartum, you know, you've gone through all of that. It's like, okay, how do I start, like, getting. Getting moving again?
- [55:18]
B
I don't know. My first workout, when I was postpartum, a year postpartum with my son, my first, like, official workout. What? It was literally a walk jog. Like, I was like, I'm just gonna go around the neighborhood and just like, jog and walk a little bit. Because I don't know if you know this whole story, but we had two under a year for a year. We saw my. We adopted my son when I was a few months pregnant with my youngest son. And so we had two that were under six months for a period, and I had a C section. And so I just was, like, in survival mode. And so when, like, there were opportunities to, like, go to a workout class, and I was like, no, no, we're just not there yet. And so then I had gotten to a point where I was like, gosh, I just have regressed so much. I'm, like, afraid to start. Like, I was afraid to embarrass myself to myself, like, no one was watching, but I was just like, I don't even know where to begin anymore. And I. I used to be such, like, a fitness freak. It was crazy. And so that was the first thing I did. I was like, I'm just gonna go for a walk and jog like a hundred meters. Walk 100 meters. And I did that for like a mile or two and it was humbling, but it kind of got me back in the rhythm and then I was able to kind of get back into something from there. But yeah, start with walking, start with walking and like jog a little.
- [56:15]
A
Wear your baby and walk.
- [56:16]
B
Yeah, yeah, walk up and down your stairs if you need to. Like that's something I do sometimes during nap time. I'm like, well, I just need to do something. And I like.
- [56:23]
A
It's honestly a good hack for if you live in a really cold state during the winter.
- [56:27]
B
Yes.
- [56:27]
A
As a stay at home mom, what is your budget advice for living a healthier, non toxic lifestyle?
- [56:32]
B
Take advantage of sales, first thing. Second of all, it's, you know, doing what you can, where you can. The biggest thing I think we've kind of forgotten is the goal is to lower your toxin burden, not replace every single thing you possibly could at the at one time. Like, yeah, that would be ideal and optimal. But if you want to kind of do this on a budget and you want to do it from a financial stewardship standpoint too, because you don't want to just like put yourself in financial ruin to take care of your health. Right. Like, there's going to be cortisol spikes with that if you do that. So, so just changing what you can as you run out of things. Like, okay, can you find a healthier swap that maybe is just somewhat comparable even if it's not like in terms of from a price point standpoint, even if it's not like the cleanest, best, top of the. Okay, but is it better? Can you find something that's a little bit better and just like doing that a little bit at a time and taking the pressure off yourself of like, I have to overhaul everything overnight and I need to get the top of the line brands. It's like. Or you could just get something a little less hormone disruptory. Yeah, you know, just like a little better. And start with like the things you use most often and take advantage of sales.
- [57:28]
A
How did you get your husband on board with a healthier lifestyle? And how. What's your advice for other people?
- [57:34]
B
Yeah, I think because for us it really began during our fertility struggle. He was like, okay, I'm on board. Like he was on the same page. Like, I want to do anything we can. But at the same time there were definitely things he Was resistant to. Like, the man still hasn't given up his AirPods. It like, kind of stresses me out a little. I'm like, honey, I got him on board. But I think it was not so much that I was trying to get him on board. I was just making changes I needed to for my health. And he was part of it. And so it wasn't like, hey, you need to do this, this, and this. I just kind of shared what I was learning, and that was a big thing. He was, he was so much more likely to get on board with something or participate or willfully change something if I was able to share what I was learning. Because I think sometimes what we can do is we consume information or we learn something and then we're like, I need to change all this. And they're like, what is happening? Like, all of a sudden it's like, it's fear based. It's scary, it's, it's emotional, it's whatever. And I found that when I would just present, like, hey, here's something I learned. Here's, you know, the study that they did, or here's the information, or here's what this. Doctor, what do you think? Do you think maybe we could change this? He was so much more receptive than to the times where I was like, hey, we shouldn't get this kind of yogurt because it's bad for you. And I go down this whole tangent. He's like, okay, where did this come from?
- [58:38]
A
This is good advice.
- [58:39]
B
Yeah. So just, I mean, he's, he gave it. I did a whole podcast interview with him where it was just kind of like, tell me from the man's perspective, the way that you're most likely to receive this. And also, I just had to compromise on some things. Like, I just had to be like, okay, like, I'm not going to get you to give up everything and change everything. But what are the biggest things that we can get on the same page about, honestly? And the other thing is I had to kind of present it to him. Like, I, like, feel. Feel like my role as a woman is to be the gatekeeper of the home. Like, he is too, in some ways, right? Like, we, but we both have ways of protecting our family. And at the time, we didn't even have our children yet. But I felt like I was making parenting decisions before the kids were even there. Because what you do for your health, like you were talking about with the eggs, right? Like, what I was doing for my health and my fertility impacts our future family, right? And so, you know, I kind of presented it to him like that. Like, I'm the gatekeeper of our home. The way the things that you do to protect our family, whether that's have weapons or have a security system or research the best, you know, know, car safety things or whatever, like, that's totally your world, and I'm gonna trust your recommendations and choices on that. When it comes to the things in our kitchen, the things in our bathroom, the, the things, like, in our home that we allow in, those are going to influence our kids as well. Not just the media we allow in, and not just the people. Those are things that influence our kids, but the products we use, the foods we eat, et cetera. Like, that has an influence on them too, from a, from a. Not only, like, on their ability to potentially exist, but also on, like, their future health, their future fertility. And so kind of, of presenting it to him like that. Like, I look at this as a holy and sacred and important role to be the gatekeeper of our home. And these are the areas I feel like I want to make really intentional choices. He was so much more receptive to that than, than if I were to be like, oh, my gosh, this is so scary. Like, we need to change it, because I did that too, and it wasn't very effective. So I think just having a going back to, like, why do I even care about this? And what's the, like, bigger eternal value here? He could get on board with a lot more.
- [60:21]
A
Tell us again the name of your book and who should read. Read it.
- [60:23]
B
Yeah, it's called be good to your body. Really? I feel like anyone who's felt overwhelmed in, when it comes to health and wellness or just kind of apathetic, if you feel like you've kind of, like, toggled between those two or been stuck in one camp or the other, this is really going to be refreshing for you. But also, I feel like a survival guide a little bit in our world of, like, we have so much information and information overload that we can either become very, like, whatever, everything's gonna kill me, or, oh, my gosh, everything's gonna kill me. I have to do all the things to fix it, right? And if you've ever felt one of those two mindsets, like, read this book.
- [60:52]
A
Because it's so good, you guys. I loved this book. She covers every single aspect of physical health, emotional health, struggling with mom guilt, mom shame. Even before you had kids. Oh, yeah, you had gone through this. You talk about that in the book. I, I, I really Knowing my audience like I do, I know this book will be an absolute must. So good for Christmas season. Get it for your sisters, your daughters, nieces, what have you at any age, really. I think this would be a great book for a high school, college age girl to read. Also.
- [61:22]
B
It's what I wish I would have had. Yeah. When I was younger and also at the beginning of my health journey, like, I was looking for a book that kind of gave me like a biblical but practical. Like this combines scripture, science, like all the things that I care about. I wanted something like that that was like a biblical worldview, like map to wellness, essentially, because there's so many body image books, there's so many books on conference confidence from like a Christian lens. But there was nothing that was like, okay, but like, what about when I'm wanting to like pursue health and wellness and heal my acne or I'm struggling with infertility, like the practicals of that, or like, if I want to get into taking care of my health a little bit more, but I don't even know where to start and I, I'm just like, kind of like whatever right now. I'm just kind of floating. So I wanted to write something like that for the person that I was, for the person I was when I was younger and I thought health was just like fitness and green juice and the person I was when I was struggling with fertility and went on like the deep dive into all things holistic and was like, I have to fix everything. And then, you know, to kind of find like a, a balanced and practical approach to doing this and to caring for your body. Well, in a world of self, love and body positivity and toxins and all the things that just like crowd our minds and can really take a toll on our health.
- [62:32]
A
So be good to your body. Jordan Lee Dooley. Available anywhere. Books are selling.
- [62:36]
B
Books are sold.
- [62:37]
A
Yeah, what should your Instagram at?
- [62:38]
B
Jordan Lee, duly.
- [62:39]
A
If you could give one remedy to heal a sick culture, physically, emotionally or spiritually, what would it be?
- [62:44]
B
All the good things we talked about on our plate, the rest the, the moving our bodies, the real food, all of these things. You can put all of these good things on your plate and they are good things, but be careful not to turn them into God things. Don't turn health or anything that the world tells you is good for your body. Don't turn that into a God. Go back to God. Get back to God's design in the small, in the small, simple ways. I think if we're going to heal a sick culture. We have to encourage the culture and individually choose to just do one simple thing a day to get back to God's design in our life. We're never going to go back to the garden. We're never going to go back to Eden on this side of heaven. And it's a delusion to think we can recreate that here. But we can do little things to get 1% closer to God's design. And I think the more that we do that, the healthier we're going to get.
- [63:25]
A
Jordan, it has been so fun to watch you grow, become a mom. All of the blessings that God has bestowed on your life. I love you and Matt, like, I just, just, I am so happy to call you a friend and have you on the show. It's. It's so cool having an Indiana girl.
- [63:42]
B
It's so fun to be here. You know, you interviewed me for my very first book. Do you remember this? No. You interviewed me on a radio station in Indianapolis, working there for Own your Every Day. I did like six or seven years ago. So it's like full circle.
- [63:54]
A
Well, I remember going to lunch with you, but I don't remember interviewing you.
- [63:57]
B
Yeah, it was like a brief little, like, radio spot.
- [63:59]
A
Oh.
- [64:00]
B
So I was like, this is fun. This is so fun. Yeah. Such a good, cool, like, full circle.
- [64:04]
A
Thank you for coming on Culture Apothecary.
- [64:05]
B
Thank you for having me.
- [64:09]
A
I love Jordan so much. Put this book in your Amazon cart for you and a friend. It will edify you, uplift, bring peace and encouragement. New episodes of Culture Apothecary drop every Monday and Thursday at 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern. Full disclosure. There are a few weeks that are coming up here during the holiday season where episodes are going to release on different days just because the holiday may fall on a normal release day. So, you know, just be surprised. We're trying to heal a sick culture physically, emotionally and spiritually. Let me know how I'm doing with that with a five star review on Apple or Spotify. My name is Alex Clark and this is Culture Apothecary.