← The Dr. Josh Axe Show
The Dr. Josh Axe Show
Meet My Wife, Dr. Chelsea Axe
01:12:05
You asked, and today we’re delivering. My wife, Dr. Chelsea Axe, is finally joining me on the show to answer your most-asked questions—from skincare and natural home births to marriage, homeschooling, and faith. Nothing’s off limits in this candid conversation.
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- [00:04]
A
When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn more@WhatsApp.com what is it like being married to Dr. Josh Axe?
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B
Oh, what is it like?
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A
For me, it was love at first sight.
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B
That's a lie, actually. We throw that term around so loosely. It's iron sharpens iron and you're sharper and better because of it. But think of the process of it again. It's like refinement. Refinement hurts when you're in the fire, when you're being refined, when your iron sharpens, iron like that does not feel good.
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A
Why did we choose home birth? Using a midwife over going the traditional medical in a hospital? This is of course the most controversial question.
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B
Of course, yes.
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A
Did we choose to vaccinate our kids or will we?
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B
Did we choose to vaccinate?
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A
How has having kids changed your relationship with God or your view on God?
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B
Oh man, I just remember with Arwen, man, it just wrecks you, the amount of love. There's so many things I just remember with R when she was little. I think I've told you this story before. Just holding her one night and rocking her and I'm just like, man, R, I will always choose you. I'm going to cry. That emotional. And I just remember like, I hope you choose me back. I'm just thinking like, God is like that.
- [01:52]
A
This episode is brought to you by Jack Daniels. Jack Daniels and music are made for each other. They share a rhythm in the craft of making something timeless while being a part of legendary nights. From backyard jams to sold out arenas, there's a song in every toast. Please drink responsibly. Responsibility.org Jack Daniels and old number seven are registered trademarks. Tennessee whiskey, 40% alcohol by volume. Jack Daniel Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee.
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B
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- [02:48]
A
All right, on today's episode, I've got the most special guest I've ever had on the show. My wife, Dr. Chelsea Axe, is on the show today, and we're going to be talking about everything from boosting your fertility, how to have a great marriage. We'll talk about, answer a lot of personal questions. In fact, one of the things we did on this episode is we asked you questions on Instagram and social media, and you guys poured in so many questions about health, about faith, about natural medicine, about raising healthy kids and families and marriage and so much more. So we're gonna answer those questions that you asked us today on the show. So welcome here to the Dr. Axe's show. So my wife.
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B
Doctor's axe.
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A
Doctor's axe. That's right. Dr. Axe. Dr.
- [03:31]
B
Axes.
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A
And so my wife here, she's a doc as well. And we actually met because Chelsea came up to shadow my clinic when I had a functional medicine clinic. She's a little over six years younger than me. So when she was in school, I was in my first few years of practice, came up to visit, and then it was, for me, it was love at first sight.
- [03:49]
B
That's a lie, actually.
- [03:50]
A
No, it was. It was love at first. So here's what. Here's what happened. It was love at first sight. And then I met her dog. And then it was.
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B
You met the dog before you met me?
- [04:00]
A
That's right. I met the dog before I met you. But. And then I fell in love with the dog. I was not a dog person growing up and became a big dog person through my wife here, who talks about adopting all the animals and, you know.
- [04:12]
B
Save the puppies, Puppy island, my dream.
- [04:16]
A
But, babe, thanks for coming on.
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B
Yeah. Thanks for making me do this.
- [04:20]
A
All right. Well, yeah, I had to drag her on, so. Chelsea also has a very vibrant social media following on Instagram.
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B
I promise I'll get back to posting someday.
- [04:29]
A
Yeah, just kids, a lot of.
- [04:31]
B
I have such good intentions, and then I post once or twice, and then life happens. And it's been four months, and I'm like, oh, should do that again.
- [04:39]
A
Yeah. All right, so. So here are some of the questions. One of the first questions here is, what is it like being married to Dr. Josh Axe?
- [04:46]
B
Oh, what is it like? It is an adventure. That's probably the best way I would describe it. It's very busy. Yeah, very busy day in and day out. But it's super fun. I feel like, again, I'm married to Dr. Josh Axe, but I'm married to Josh.
- [05:03]
A
Yeah, you know. Know that's right. Yeah.
- [05:05]
B
So, you know, there's a difference. I think people see Dr. Josh Axe, but I think there's so much more to you than just Dr. Josh Axe. And that's who I married, and that's who I live in day in and day out with. And that's. That's who I fun with. That's my best friend. So. Oh, goodness. What is it like? It's super fun. Like, we have a blast. We're super busy with the girls right now in that season. I love watching you be an amazing dad at home to them. They love when you're there. They love playing with you. You're so good with them. You. You have such a big heart for people. Seeing the way you pour into them on the computer with health plans all the time. You're super busy with that. Running all over the place to different appointments, traveling the world. That's definitely a part of it. It's an adventure. It's a huge adventure. But the best one.
- [05:54]
A
What's it like being married to Dr. Chelsea Axe? Well, for me, I will tell you, it's been amazing. I mean, one of the things that, like, I remember praying for a wife when I was in my late 20s and I actually had one of my best friends, he was. We would get together on Sunday nights and we would pray for each other. And one of the things he would pray for me to God, bring me a spouse. And I prayed something really specifically. I said, God, would you send me a wife who is mentally stimulating, physically breathtaking, spiritually on fire for you? And that would help me grow more like you. And so that's been such a blessing for my life is that you have just refined me, made me better. I mean, when I married Chelsea, it was so apparent that you had such a deep, intimate relationship with God. And so you would spend so many hours just in your Bible, in prayer, just connecting with God. And so for me, that was something that really, I think, stirred me because the way that I grew spiritually was much more studying the historical facts, the Greek words, the Hebrew words, which I know you like as well, but really studying a lot of those historic facts and getting to know God in that way. And I think I was able to go even deeper in my relationship by spending more of that time in adoration, awe, and wonder. And so that was one thing. I mean, I think you're a person that inspires me Continually. And that's such a big part of being married to you. Being married to you is being married to an amazing mom, too, because we've got two daughters, a 20 month old and a five year old. And the way that you pour into them and really are intentional about stopping them and getting them to look you in the eyes. Anytime the kids do anything wrong, Chelsea's like, look me in the eye. Look me in the eye and make them look you in the eye. What did you do wrong? What does the Bible say about how we need to live our lives? Really aligning them with. Here's what the Bible says and getting them to act in that way is so, so powerful. And then, so Chelsea's very deep, deep conversations. And then I think we love to travel together. Like, Chelsea is a big time foodie. And so being married to her, I'd say we're both. We are both big time foodies. And so like last night we went to a French restaurant with our friend Steph and Isaac Meek, and it was amazing. It was so good living in Nashville. I think it's the top five food city in the entire country right now. So many people are moving here from California, opening restaurants come a long way, and it's amazing. So we are very much into cooking in the kitchen, making different meals, mixing it up, going out to eat. So we love really good quality food. So there's sort of that level adventure. And then we both. We love the beach and we love the mountains, and so we do a lot of trips to like 30A, West Palm beach, the Caribbean, and then also Park City snow skiing. So being married to Chelsea, it's awesome an adventure, but it's also a Iron sharpens iron. Really an incredible relationship for growth for me and inspiring for Faye. So that's what it's like being married.
- [08:55]
B
To Go T Max.
- [08:56]
A
All right, next question here. Chelsea, your skin always looks so glowy. What is your skincare routine? Wow.
- [09:05]
B
Thank you. Thank you very much. I think it first starts with your diet. Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, really, anything that's going on internally obviously shows on your skin. Stress hormone off gut imbalances, all things like that. So, you know, there's so many things that play into that, but that's foundational as far as eating clean, all that kind of a thing. But if you're talking about actual skincare routine, I love the skincare brand True Botanicals. It's like my tried and true. I've used them for years. I've tried many other brands. I'll add Some here and there back in. But I always come back to true botanicals. It's like my foundational cleanse. And then they have a couple like serums. They have a radiant serum that I'll use night. They have a great moisturizer. But that's essentially the foundation of what I use for skincare.
- [10:01]
A
Yeah. And let me share. I feel like it takes you a long time, but maybe all men would feel that way about their wives. In terms of.
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B
It really doesn't, I feel like, compared to most women, if you actually watch.
- [10:12]
A
Well, let me say this. On occasion you do things like that, the jade roller on your face. Yeah, exactly.
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B
How do you do that in the shower?
- [10:19]
A
The gua sha, you've done some red light. On occasion you also do those on a few spots, those stickers you put on a couple.
- [10:28]
B
I do frownies. I do frownies while I sleep.
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A
Yes.
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B
I did not mention that. I've done that for years as well. Don't do Botox or any injections or fillers or anything like that.
- [10:37]
A
Yeah, you've never done any of that. And you have no lines anywhere. It's amazing.
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B
I do, but the frownies and everything have definitely helped with that. So you put them on at nighttime and it kind of helps retrain the muscles to just lay flat. If you're like an animated talker or sleeper, like when you dream and everything like that, you can end up making all these facial expressions and things, like while you're sleeping.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And it just kind of helps to keep everything like flat and retrained and stuff. At night. It's essentially like if you were to think about, like, if you had like a wrinkle or something and you were to like hold it like this flat for, you know, however long you were in bed for, like, what would that do for that, like that spot? You do that every night.
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A
Yeah. And I'll just share too. I mean, your diet is really clean. So for breakfast you do a smoothie. And typically in there, I know you do a scoop of like a stem cell or bone broth protein, so about 20 grams of that. You do another scoop of a plant protein. You do goji berry powder. So like super fruit powders. You do a, like a super red, super green powder in there in the morning too. And that's a big. And then maybe you do like a fourth, a cup of blueberries or something like that. But I mean, it's a very like berries and greens and a lot of protein and collagen in that morning smoothie. I know and then some of your other meals. I know that you do a lot of. I mean, very high protein.
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B
Very high protein.
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A
You're probably doing 40 grams of protein.
- [11:55]
B
A meal per meal, at least. And then snacks on top of that.
- [11:59]
A
Yeah. So you do very high protein. We do a lot of steamed vegetables.
- [12:04]
B
A lot of steamed vegetables.
- [12:05]
A
And. And then outside of that, you do a fair amount of, like, sweet potatoes probably is your biggest carb.
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B
I love sweet potatoes. Yeah.
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A
Good.
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B
Caramelized sweet potato.
- [12:12]
A
Yeah.
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B
Once in a while, I mean, I'll do some sourdough.
- [12:15]
A
Oh, yeah. And sourdough bread. That would be sourdough bread and butter. And maybe some yogurt. Cottage cheese. Those sort of foods.
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B
Yes, Love cottage cheese. That's a big.
- [12:23]
A
So that's. That's. That's pretty much your. Your diet.
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B
Yeah, that's a pretty. Pretty good foundation. You add a couple things here and there and then.
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A
And then chocolate a few days a week. Your favorite dessert is chocolate chip cookies.
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B
It is.
- [12:35]
A
Okay, well, that was the next question. What's an example of what you eat in a day? That's pretty close. And our diets are pretty similar in that. What are some simple ways to optimize fertility, especially for women in their 30s?
- [12:49]
B
Well, you start on that one. You're better at this.
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A
Yeah.
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B
Yeah.
- [12:52]
A
So I'll take that and share some things you've done. I mean, you've definitely done some research on this. But I would say that if you are in your 30s, you really want to. I think the first. It starts with your mind and your spirit, because I think that what I've seen is one of the biggest reasons why women have a hard time with fertility is their stress. They're trying too hard, and they don't feel safe and secure. So when we think about Chinese medicine, if you don't feel internally safe and secure, it's hard to get pregnant. I remember when we were about to have. Before we had r. When we were starting the discussions around having a child, we were in a house or maybe even before renting, and you had said, now, like, I want to live in a home. I feel really good about. In an area I feel really good about. And it's sort of this thing. And you brought up a word, nesting, and I literally never heard it before. You remember this conversation? And I'm like, okay, well, let's get a house you feel great about. Let's do that. And then we had, you know, had Arwen not too long after that. But I think that's really important is to get in that mindset of I'm safe, I'm secure. The way I talk about it is you're on a couch. Like, this is totally Chelsea's vibe. You're on a couch wrapped in a blanket. Your favorite. It probably starts off with a warm latte with almond milk and maybe transitions into cacao or hot cocoa. And the family's there. It's like we're decorating for Christmas. We're playing Christmas. And you feel safe, secure, warm, this deep family connection. I mean, the more that you can get into that state, and this is why warming foods are better. Doing more soups, more pumpkin pie, more cinnamon, more of those sort of foods is gonna sort of get your body in that right state and really work on your emotions. Getting rid of fear and worry, those are the two biggest emotions that disrupt fertility. Getting into that state's important. And then. I know, why don't you share the supplements that you take when you're well.
- [14:50]
B
Just off of what you were just saying, Getting out of the state of, like, the fear and control. Like, Right, control. Trying to be in control and controlling a situation is what you do when you're afraid. Right. To be able to surrender and release something is what you can do when you step out of a state of fear. And one of the biggest things that I see inhibiting people from getting pregnant, I even struggled with this in the beginning. Remember, we had a good friend come and talk to me. They're like, you just need to let go.
- [15:14]
A
Yeah.
- [15:15]
B
I was trying to track everything, Remember? I was like, well, this. If I'm ovulating this time, and then my hormones are spiking here, so I need. We need to try this day and this day, and that's not a bad thing. But if it gets into too much of that state where you're just hanging on and clenching your body actually isn't in that safe place where it's going to allow you to then bring new life. And I remember a good friend, our actor, Gil Gilbonami, he was like, you need to stop tracking and just let it go and trust your body. Your body was created to do this, trust it, trust the process. And I think that's so important for getting pregnant, but then also something you just have to learn. I mean, it's pregnancy, and then it's a whole nother thing with parenting. Right. But when you're pregnant, you literally can't do anything to, like, force your body to do something with the pregnancy. Like, you can't. Because at this point, body, I need you to create this for this baby or anything, it's. You have to literally let go, release, just surrender and trust that your body knows what it's gonna do. Your body was created to do this, and it's gonna do it. Think about even in, like, doctors, if they suspected something was wrong in the pregnancy, there's nothing they can do. Right. They even have to step back and trust and see what's gonna happen with the body. Like, there's no interventions. So I think even before going into a state of trying to conceive, just again, releasing control, coming into a state of like, I'm not gonna be fearful in this and just really focusing on that before even stepping in. Because it's even harder once you get pregnant, right? To release that, to fight that state of, like, being afraid. Like, oh, my goodness, is everything okay? And then even beyond that, all of a sudden, it's like you have this baby and it's like trying to control all the aspects of having a kid. And, you know, we're even talking about, like, schools and everything like that. And it's just like, man, releasing this child back and trusting that God's going to meet her where she's at, not just us, you know, it's like, on her behalf. That's a whole nother level of trust. It just kind of builds from there.
- [17:17]
A
Well, we've heard a lot of stories of people who say, one way, stop trying to. That's when I got pregnant. I mean, this happens so frequently.
- [17:23]
B
The body knows.
- [17:24]
A
It does.
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B
The body 100% knows.
- [17:26]
A
Yeah. It's amazing. You know, one of the questions I know that we had come in was about home births.
- [17:30]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [17:31]
A
And both our daughters were home births.
- [17:33]
B
Yes, they were water births.
- [17:34]
A
And what an amazing experience. I was talking to some about this the other day that it was like one of the most. Probably one of the most spiritual experiences that I've ever had. You know, you're just living in an amazing state. I know for you it's probably even another level. So why did we choose home birth, using a midwife over going the traditional medical in a hospital?
- [17:56]
B
For us, we felt more comfortable in our home environment, in our home setting, with even being able to make choices and trusting our providers and everything like that.
- [18:04]
A
We had an amazing midwife, didn't we?
- [18:06]
B
Oh, my goodness. 10 out of 10, Mary Ann, both births were her. If we have another baby, definitely having her again, she's the best.
- [18:13]
A
I mean, there's something to be said if you have a great midwife or doula to help you through that process. I think some people maybe are hesitant about having it at home, but, you know, it's very easy to get to a hospital. And the other thing is, it was so amazing for us to be able to, after you give birth to Arwen, for us to just be on our own bed in our own home, resting in that way, and even in the.
- [18:38]
B
Middle of labor, not having to, like, oh, contraction's a certain point. Let's get in the car. Like, I can't even imagine, like, women having to, like, be in the middle of labor and then drive somewhere. Oh, man. I'm like, props to you guys.
- [18:50]
A
Yeah. You know what I mean? Our birth story with Arwen, the first one, was a little bit crazy, too, because Chelsea said she was keeping track of her contractions. You had your phone in the shower, and then at some point, she lost track of the time. And I go in there, and I'm like, chelsea, your contractions are. You're gonna have this baby in, like, 30 minutes. And I ran, got the phone, called the midwife, and then I started. I went to go fill up the bathtub. The. The tub handle came off.
- [19:22]
B
He broke the. Like, the nozzle because I was, like.
- [19:24]
A
Running, and I was like. And I literally ripped the handle off. And I'm like, oh, no.
- [19:28]
B
So he's trying to fill up the birth tub and the handles off, so water's spraying all over the place.
- [19:32]
A
There's this whole list of things to do. I need warm towels. Like, you know, get. You know, get a. Get a. You know, a thermos ready with electrolytes or, you know, And. And so I didn't lose track of time.
- [19:44]
B
I was just so set on. I did not want to call the midwife too early.
- [19:48]
A
She lost track of time. But go ahead, go ahead.
- [19:51]
B
I didn't want to be, like, that person, you know, you hear the stories, they call me, no, you're in false labor. So I was. I was like, I'm going to be so sure that I'm like, at this point before I give you.
- [19:59]
A
Forty minutes later, after I made the call, she had the baby. Baby was out. Arwin was out. The midwives got there 10 minutes before that. Arwen came out. I got to catch the. I got to catch both our daughters, which was so great. Got to be part of the delivery and. And. And. And help out there. But it was. It was. We played praise and worship music the entire time while, you know. And then the water birth was great, too. And so it was an amazing experience. And it's A very similar thing with Aylin. I knew what we called much earlier and still it just was two hours later. I mean, both your births were pretty fast. One of the reasons why I think your births were so fast is you really prepared your body. You didn't rush it. I mean, a lot of women don't realize that it's 10 days after the due date. It should be closer to 42 weeks, not whatever they have listed typically in terms of the due date. So a lot of women go and get it scheduled and even schedule C sections ahead of time. And we know via the medical studies you are better off if you can. And listen, we understand not everyone can sometimes we have really close friends that are 100% natural plan home births and they had to go to the hospital. And if that's what happened, that's what happened. And you do your best, but I think it is best to try and do it at home or. I'm sorry, I think it is best to try and do it naturally rather than scheduling it ahead of time. Is better just because of the good bacteria that's happening via vaginal birth, via C section. I mean, there's studies on this in terms of all of those good bacteria. And if not, you can still wipe the child down some the best you can with your mucosa and some of the good bacteria. But that's the ideal. But I know post pregnant or pregnant, before pregnancy, especially the third trimester, you were doing a lot of or several things to sort of support your body in preparing for birth. I know some of the things you did were raspberry leaf tea.
- [21:49]
B
Yep.
- [21:51]
A
Evening primrose oil. Maybe later. And then you did a lot of dates. Right. Anything else in my. But those were some of the big things.
- [21:57]
B
Yeah, I think those were the main things. And then too just specific exercises, making sure, like hip mobility, being adjusted, different things like that, so that your body and your hips can actually move correctly. And they're, you know, because your. Your hips have to open up to make space and for the baby to drop into the earth canal and everything like that. So supplements and everything like that. But then, you know, a lot of specific physical movement and stretching too, just to make sure that baby can move quickly and easily into the correct position.
- [22:26]
A
Yeah, yeah. So you're getting chiropractic adjustments. You got some acupuncture as well, those sort of things. Just sort of preparing the body and then just a lot of walking. You continue to exercise pretty much the whole time, you know, through pregnancy.
- [22:39]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [22:40]
A
And then Post pregnancy, you know, I know, not exercising hard, but walking. And you got in the infrared sauna a little bit after just short sessions, like 10 minutes, just to kind of warm your body and really focus on building blood. That's something a lot of people miss.
- [22:53]
B
Yeah.
- [22:54]
A
And so you did placenta.
- [22:56]
B
Yep, we encapsulated our placenta. Yeah, we did that. A lot of what we did for meals after were the big, like the soups, the red meats, warming, things like that. And just very calorie dense, too, really. Lots of healthy fats. Because, you know, obviously you lost a lot of blood, but then you're also utilizing the blood that's there to make milk.
- [23:16]
A
That's right.
- [23:17]
B
So you're losing blood that avenue, too. So even some blood builders, like, we added those supplements and everything back in.
- [23:22]
A
I think a lot of women feel so weak and even get worse postpartum depression than they should because there's so much blood loss and they never build their blood afterwards. And if you look at Chinese medicine, I mean, they're really focused on once you give birth, really focused on building that blood back up.
- [23:37]
B
Yeah, yeah. And then, too, taking the time after as much as you can to rest. It's hard, especially once you have kids, to not have to jump back into it and chase them around the house and everything like that. But when you're so deficient and your body just went through this huge exertion of energy and again, losing all the blood and everything like that, like, you need to take that time to rest and recover and allow your body to come back to, you know.
- [23:58]
A
Yeah, I know one of the things you're not as inclined to do, but I think you did a good job of this last time, is asking for help and relying on, like, your mom and myself and others, your dad kind of, you know, support that first three months, especially after giving birth.
- [24:11]
B
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think. What. What did they say that. What it's like the quote of. It's like five days in the bed. Five days. I don't know if it's five days. It's five days. Five days in the bed. Five days on the bed, five days around the bed.
- [24:24]
A
Yeah, yeah, five days.
- [24:25]
B
Something like that. But that's kind of like your general. Like, what the. You should kind of strive to do. So five days in bed where you're not moving, like going to the bathroom, that's kind of like what you should be baseline doing. Five days on the bed where it's a little bit more, but still you're on the Bed. Five days around the bed where it's, you know, just more close to the house, still close to bed, but you're still adding and just slowly movement back in, which I know a lot of people can't do that with numerous kids and partners are working and things like that. But that should be a. That's a good thing to try to do.
- [24:54]
A
Do your best to take it easy.
- [24:55]
B
Yeah.
- [24:56]
A
All right, next question. What are your thoughts on homeschooling your kids? Is that something you're considering?
- [25:02]
B
I think homeschooling is always something we're considering. I think every year, I think that's something I want a purpose to do, is every year reevaluate where we're at, where our kids are at, what the environment is. I think there's so many variables that go into it. I think homeschooling is incredible. I think it's an amazing thing. I love being able to have that time with your kids that you're not, you know, giving to other things and places that you can have back with them, being able to choose how you're pouring into them, what. But every kid is different. Every situation is different. And so I think it depends. I think right now Arwen is in preschool, right. Four days a week for four hours each time. And she loves it. She does amazing. She loves being with other kids. She loves having a teacher outside of us. She's in the stage right now where she does not love us educating her, giving her any instruction. So having somebody on the outside, it's great. And she loves it, too. Like, she really takes instruction from them so well, and she loves being under their wing with that kind of a thing. So, like, right now, I feel like even if we were to, like, I want to homeschool, and that was, like, super heavily on my heart for her, it wouldn't be the best situation for her in this scenario. Next year, you know, we'll reevaluate again.
- [26:24]
A
Yeah, Yeah. I think our take is very much. It depends on the. On the child. Like, for us, again, we are huge homeschooling fans. Huge. We've got a lot of friends at Homeschool, But I think for us and our daughter, like, we have in Ensign, there are some amazing Christian schools, too. So right now we have our school called Mustard Seed, and love that. But I think for us, we just really love for our oldest. It's such a fit for her being at this school. Her teachers are amazing, super supportive. She has a lot of friends. She loves that. And we still get a lot of Time with her. So that's good. With Aylin. We'll see, obviously, over time. But, yeah, I think, you know, I think so. I went to a Christian school through 8th grade and then went to a public high school. And I think for me, it was really great. I mean, I had a 10 out of 10 experience. I went to Troy Christian High School in Ohio, or I went to Troy Christian School in Ohio and had just so many teachers that really loved me, that cared for me. I built lifelong friendships there. Some of the. I'm still friends with some people. I went to preschool. I mean, it's crazy. So I had an amazing experience. But even when I went to high school, my parents made sure I was very plugged into things like youth group. So we went to church on Sunday, then Sunday school, then I had Wednesday nights. I was going on mission trips. Very active. So I think if you go to a public school, that can be fine, too. But as a parent, you've got to be, I think, very, very intentional with all your kids that it's not just about the school system educating them and training them up in the way you should go. We have to do that as parents, first and foremost in supporting the teachers in the school.
- [27:59]
B
Yeah. What is it? You're the person. You're the average of the people that you're around most, right?
- [28:04]
A
Yeah.
- [28:04]
B
So that would include teachers, that would include the peers. So you had to look at how are the other kids in the class being parented. Right. Because those behaviors and those principles are rubbing off on your kid. So obviously, school and everything should be supplemental. But that doesn't negate the fact that it is helping to average out who your kid is becoming.
- [28:24]
A
Yeah.
- [28:24]
B
Right. So it is important that you look at it and it's like, well, it's just for this many hours. It is. But that still is a piece that's being poured into your kid, and that will help to determine, you know, who they're gonna be and what they're gonna believe. And. Yeah. So it's. It's important.
- [28:39]
A
Yeah. I don't think a lot of people realize that, like, if your kids are in daycare or a certain school or have a certain even coach, like, if they're spending. If that's one of the five people they're spending the most time with or one of the top 10 people, that's a person that's really rubbing off on them in a major way. And is that what you want versus yourself or someone else that's virtuous that you're Spending time with. So I mean, that's such a, it's such, such an excellent point for people to really, really, really think about.
- [29:03]
B
Yeah, I think so often we think about that for ourselves. We don't necessarily think about that in terms of our kids. Like, who are, who are the five people that my kid spends the most time with? And then thinking about those people and who are the people that those. Like if that's a, if it's a friend. Well, what are their parents like? Because their parents are the ones that are dictating the kid. Right.
- [29:20]
A
Well, I remember growing up, my parents saying things like, you know, trying to dictate who I've spent time with. And I remember not loving that.
- [29:27]
B
Sure.
- [29:27]
A
A few times. But now I'm thankful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Another question we just had. This is of course the most controversial question.
- [29:36]
B
Of course I could guess.
- [29:38]
A
Did we choose to vaccinate our kids.
- [29:40]
B
Or will we, did we choose to vaccinate. No, we did not vaccinate our kids.
- [29:46]
A
No, we chose not to. And the biggest reason is that it's this sort of, I think it's this biblical idea that Jesus said, by your fruits you'll recognize them or by the results, by their health. It's this thing like see the fruits of their lives. And when I think about the healthiest people that I know, it tends to be people that are in functional medicine, chiropractors, naturopaths, like those families that are in the natural health, like everyone from Jack lalanne, a lot of people don't realize, like he was a chiropractor, he was in natural health. People like that lived a long, healthy life. All of those people that I know, or at least 90, 98% of them, chose not to do vaccines. The healthiest people I know physically that have the longest lifespans, best health, you know, you even look at like the Amish and like some of their, they don't have some of these chronic illnesses and all the allergies and things today. And so when I look at that, those families do that the least amount. And then after that it's the people that do a spread out schedule are the most thoughtful about it in terms of what I've seen and what we've both seen and we've both talked about this quite often. So I think for both you and I, we're just very, very aware of looking at the fruit of people's lives and saying, okay, if I want to have that sort of success and my health and my wealth and my faith, that's the person I want to model. I know that we've done this even in our spiritual life. We looked at certain people and said, okay, this might be a well known pastor, but how's their marriage? How is it really behind the scenes with them and then allowing those types of people to help lead and guide us in our own faith? The CDC now estimates that one in every three adults has pre diabetes. The signs are there long before a diagnosis. Things like constant fatigue, stubborn belly fat, sugar cravings, brain fog, frequent urination and increased thirst. And these are all symptoms of insulin resistance, the root cause behind most cases of type 2 diabetes. Now here's the good news. This condition is completely reversible with the right diet, lifestyle and healing herbs. And if you or someone you love is struggling with blood sugar issues, head over to draxediabetesclass.com to watch a free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms. That's DRAPE diabetesclass.com to take back control of your health today. All right, so as we went through this whole Covid, the lockdowns, everything else that happened, you got into making sourdough bread, which has been amazing. How did you start making sourdough bread? And then what are some of the other sourdough sort of recipes that you've been making come from them?
- [32:38]
B
How did I get into was Carrie Underwood right?
- [32:40]
A
You saw her post and you reached out to her?
- [32:42]
B
No, no, that was. I think we connected on it because I saw that she was doing it too. And I was, I just started.
- [32:48]
A
Oh, you'd both started about the same time.
- [32:50]
B
Yeah.
- [32:50]
A
Okay.
- [32:51]
B
Or at least I saw she'd been doing it. So I connected with her on that. But I went and got a starter from like a bread company that I knew that their starter had been like around for a long time. Which means, you know, lots of good bacteria in there, lots of microbes, lots of differentiation there, which is good. You want a good healthy starter like that. And then I just kind of started playing around with a couple recipes essentially that I found on the Internet. And I love the fact of being able to obviously control what goes into the bread. If you look at the ingredients on like store bought bread, all the different things. So I was like, I'm going to give this a shot. Obviously we know that there's better bacteria and it's fermented so it's easier to digest and good enzymes and all the things and obviously controlling the flour and so making. And then all of a sudden then you have the taste which you compare it to store bought. It's just not comparable.
- [33:40]
A
And we've got a combination. I mean you've got ballerina farms, right? Some of their flour and then we've done some Einkorn, some of the ancient Einkorn wheat which with butter is amazing. Grass fed butter.
- [33:49]
B
But next step is milling our own. You know, it's like.
- [33:52]
A
Yeah, that is the next step is.
- [33:53]
B
The next step which I have not done that yet. That is on the list. At some point we will do that. My friend does it, Corey does it.
- [33:58]
A
Oh yeah. So amazing.
- [34:00]
B
Well, next step up to do that. But yeah, we've done that. We've. And then once you have like a good starter and you have that base, we've done what we've done. We've done English muffins for like our pizza nights. We make our own now. Sourdough crust for pizzas. We've done bagels. Yeah, we have done muffins, little bite sized muffins. We do pancakes. Pancakes and waffles, cookies.
- [34:25]
A
Sourdough everything.
- [34:26]
B
Sourdough everything.
- [34:27]
A
That's great. What a lot of people don't realize is sourdough is it kills off something called phytic acid. So now you can absorb all the B vitamins, all the nutrients, all the minerals in there. And again when we read about bread today, it's got such a bad rap versus when you read in the Bible, Jordan and I, we wrote on this in the biblical diet is just getting into like it's so much more nutrient dense doing it the ancient way that we've talked about. And so I think that way bread can be. I don't think it should be a main staple of some people's diet if you've got maybe a chronic inflammatory condition. But I think for a lot of people and for kids and if you're generally healthy, it can be a big staple. We know it's one of the top foods along with red meat that Solomon ate, that Jesus ate. So I think for a lot of people they could benefit from doing. But there's a big difference between doing real sourdough you make at home or you buy from like a local bakery that specializes in it versus versus others. But I think even Whole Foods, I think one of the brands has, I can't remember the name has a little bit of yellow on the label. It's in the frozen bread section. But there's a sourdough spell so. So people can get it in different places. But it's been a. I know we've loved doing it as a family.
- [35:33]
B
And the girls love like getting in and making it too. And it's been a good like jumping off point to like educate the girls too on helping know what's in our food and different ingredients and yeah, things like that too. So like, you know, Arwen asked, why are we doing this instead of buying? It's like, well then being able to use that to teach and about the different ingredients and what's healthy and not and then also balance too.
- [35:53]
A
So. Yeah, so some people know, not a lot of people know. We are building out our own homestead. We bought 10 acres and so we're going to have a large barn, a big pond of a lot of animals. We're going to have ducks, chickens, cow, cows, A couple, couple sort of mini cows. We might do a mini zebu and for a 2 milk. And then we may do sheep as well, maybe goats. But what are you most excited about with us building our own mini, mini farm here in Nashville?
- [36:20]
B
I'm so excited to make my own cottage cheese and butter.
- [36:22]
A
Yeah, yeah, butter.
- [36:25]
B
Like fresh milled butter, like in sourdough.
- [36:27]
A
Like it's gonna be fun.
- [36:29]
B
It's gonna be so good.
- [36:30]
A
So I tell our daughter every night, this is her favorite story. I tell her about our farm and.
- [36:34]
B
I kind of sleep story.
- [36:35]
A
Yeah. Or going to sleep story. So my five year old, I'm putting her to sleep at night and so I say we drive down a long driveway and then we walk into a garage.
- [36:42]
B
But you do it in a certain voice, like do the voice like at the very moment.
- [36:46]
A
Let me see if I can do.
- [36:48]
B
It to like put her to sleep while she listens.
- [36:50]
A
And we drive down a really long driveway and then we go into the house and mommy says, I need some eggs and I need some fruit and I need some honey and milk to make breakfast. And so Arwen and I grab a bucket and a basket and we walk down a little stone path into the garden and we grab broccoli and cauliflower and squash and zucchini. Then we go to the fruit tree orchard and we grab apples and pears and plums and cherries. Then we go to the berry bushes. We get blackberries, raspberries, strawberries. Then we go to the cows and we milk the cows and fill the bucket with milk. So as you keep going. And then we go the duck eggs and they're all different colors. We've got red, we've got green. So her and I go through this whole thing at night together. And then by the end she just, you know, she's out she passes out as we go through sort of this, you know, vision of this future farm that will have. It's taken longer than we want. It'll probably be another year and a half, two years. But we're so excited, I mean, so, so excited to be able to do that and have the girls just sort of get their hands dirty on the farm and be able to experience that growing up. And of course there's major health benefits. I mean, you look at the studies around.
- [37:56]
B
Eat dirt.
- [37:56]
A
Yeah, eat dirt. I wrote a whole book on this years ago. So loads and loads of benefits. And we saw this more and more people moving out in the country, getting more land. We have so many friends that just decided, hey, I don't have a lot of land, but I have enough where I can do chickens in a home garden.
- [38:10]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [38:11]
A
You know, so there's, there's man, so many.
- [38:13]
B
We attempted our home garden this year and we have a lot to learn.
- [38:16]
A
But this was the best one we'd done. Here's the problem. We, we got overeager. So where you're supposed to plant one tomato plant, we planted four or five in that and they just, it was, they didn't get enough sun. So now the tomatoes we had were amazing. And a lot of the cucumber, the zucchini, we got a lot of, we just, we got to, we planted way too many seeds close together. So we'll, we'll learn, we'll follow the directions. Yeah. So what, what does your vitamin and supplement regimen look like? For the most part, like, like over the past five years, what are maybe your top five non negotiables? Go tos you always take a supplement or could be your top seven. But what are your, what are some of your top.
- [38:53]
B
Top would be in the morning? I either do bone broth protein or stem cell protein.
- [38:58]
A
Yep.
- [38:58]
B
And a collagen like mixed in. That's like my non negotiable. You were making fun of me other day just because of how predictable I am in the morning, like with my routine.
- [39:08]
A
And like you're very routine. Yeah, I'm very.
- [39:11]
B
But at the same time, like that's, you know, it's a good thing you have your baseline, especially when it's like healthy. It's like your, your staple. So I would start my day with that. That's the very first thing I do in the morning. It's like I need to get my protein in. And that's before I'm able to do coffee, before I have any like a carb or Anything like that. It's like protein's my foundation. So that's definitely one. Probiotics. I definitely make sure I get some probiotics in there. Probably magnesium. I feel like that's been a big staple and keeping that in, I feel like for recovery wise sleeping, I notice a big difference in just making sure magnesium is a consistent part of my diet. After that I'm consistently doing what a greens powder probably.
- [39:55]
A
Yeah, you've done a greens really consistently. I'd say turmeric.
- [39:58]
B
Yep. I do turmeric a lot. You're right. Anti inflammatory. Just especially with the way for fitness and working out. I'm definitely keep turmeric in my diet.
- [40:06]
A
And then you've done a fish oil.
- [40:07]
B
Yep. I'm not a. I wish I liked salmon. I really don't like salmon. Consuming it.
- [40:13]
A
So you try and get other fish. But yeah, you don't. I eat. You eat way more so much salmon.
- [40:18]
B
But yeah, it's. I wish I liked it. I've tried so hard. So because of that I've tried to stay really consistent with my Omega 3 supplements and just because I know I don't get it a ton in my diet.
- [40:27]
A
And then you've been taking a mitochondrial supplement. You said you've really noticed a difference with that.
- [40:31]
B
Yeah, huge difference. Energy wise, recovery wise. Yeah, yeah. With my oura ring. And even if like my sleep isn't great, I still like my readiness score. My recovery is still so good every day, which has been awesome.
- [40:45]
A
Yeah. Those are probably your top seven. I would say that you've done really, really consistently over the past, like my staples.
- [40:49]
B
I feel like regardless of like what changes in life, those are still like part of like my baseline.
- [40:54]
A
Yeah, yeah. And mine are pretty similar. I mean I do a little bit more. And you do an organs and glandular sometime too. That might be the other thing. If there's an eighth on occasion that.
- [41:02]
B
You do and multi. Obviously that's the obvious part of it. But yeah, I do the organ blends.
- [41:06]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And my, my regimen's pretty similar. I probably do a little bit more like in the morning. I know we have our routines. You do your coffee. I do my matcha most mornings there as well. And so that's our routine. But for most mornings we're doing like a superfood smoothie. Either like sweet potato or some blueberries. Water, loads of protein again, 20 grams of a collagen or bone broth or stem cell. That's like that type of protein along with another 20 or 30 grams of a plant protein. So we're getting like 20 grams of a collagen, another 30 plus grams of a plant based protein or eggs, something like that. A very high protein and then same thing, protein and more protein. I think that's one of the bigger things that women probably are missing is that they probably need more protein. And a lot of people in their diets absolutely so critical for metabolism, for blood sugar, for everything. And so that would probably be one of the. That's probably been the biggest staple in our diet, is getting lots of that in our diet over the past few years. How has having kids changed your relationship with God or your view on God?
- [42:09]
B
Oh, man. Drastically. But like, how? I would say in the beginning of like having kids, I remember spending some time with God and just being like, okay, like, I know I want kids and I want this like, further down. But that was like in the place. Am I ready? Like, is now the time? It's, you know, kind of wrestling with that back and forth and like, okay, I'm gonna do it. Like, we're gonna do this. And I remember just being like, okay, God, like, I need you to meet me in this for doing it. And I just remember him, like, so gently. Just being like, this is gonna be a fast track almost of like you and me being like in our relationship. If you jump on this and you do this, having kids will be a fast track. And you like, in our. Just be like, you knowing my heart essentially. And it was so true. I just remember with Arwen, man, it just wrecks you, the amount of love you have for. And I talked about. There's so many things I just remember with R when she was little. I think I've told you this story before. Just holding her one night and rocking her. And I'm just like, man, R, I will always choose you. I'm gonna cry that emotional. And I just remember, like, I hope you choose me back. Like, just thinking like, God is like that, you know, like, he just wants us to choose him. Just that simple baseline of just pick me back. I mean.
- [43:35]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [43:37]
B
It's so simple, but so profound when you feel it so deeply. What else? Another example. Oh, Arwen for like, discipline. Things like that, man, it's hard to discipline her. And it's not because, like, it's just hard to discipline. It's because, like, my heart is so, like, I want her to have everything she wants so to be like, yeah, we can't have dessert tonight because this is a consequence for whatever. It's like, I so Badly want to give her everything in her pantry. That's dessert. Like, literally, that is my heart. But I know that that will not help her to step into and become who she's meant to be. But seeing that as the heart of God, and he doesn't want to give consequences, it's not his heart to bring discipline and judgment and all these things. It's. I love you so much. And it's hard. It's hard for me to see like this on you, where you have to walk through this, because that's not my heart for you. Like, my heart is that you would do it right the first time. And you get to step into everything, you know, all the blessings and everything like that.
- [44:42]
A
Yeah.
- [44:43]
B
So just like, even those two little examples of just man, it's shown me such a different side that you think, you know, like, you know, God is a father, you know, like, that he loves you and he's a good dad. And like, you think you know that, but until you step into, as a parent, that deep connection with your kid of man, I love them so much. It's more than you can logically think or comprehend. It doesn't even make sense. You think, you know, until you walk through it, it's just different.
- [45:13]
A
Yeah. Yeah. I remember we were on a. It was like we were on a golf cart. You might remember this. We were in watercolor, 38th Florida. We were with Sean and Andrew east. And Andrew actually asked us that question. I remember you sharing this. Something very similar when he had asked that. And we all kind of talked about that as parents. And I think for me, it's very similar, but for me, very specifically, it is. When I think about how much I love our daughters and thinking that God loves us even more, I mean, it's amazing because it's like when you have kids, you would do anything for them, even giving your life for them. I mean, you would do anything in order for them to be blessed and have fun and to grow and all those things. And I think for me, that was. I already had a sense of a really deep, intimate relationship with God. But I think it brought it at a whole nother level, deeper. Because just thinking about, okay, God is always working out things for our good. He's never withholding out of punishment. He's only withholding because to help us grow, to help us become more like him, to have us have more joy and a more abundant life. And so to just think that God loves us so much, He. He never stops thinking about us. He knows us to have the Very hair on our head. He is always when we're sad. He's sad to think about and know that God's love is so deep in that way again, beyond even what we love our own kids. It really sort of changes our view of God. I think a lot of people have this view of God that he's sort of like angry in the distance or he doesn't care, he's aloof. Versus knowing that you've got a God that loves you so much, who wants a relationship with you. And to your point, we have to choose him back and pursue him back in that same. We have to choose him and we have to pursue him as well. And he'll meet us every time. He'll meet us every time.
- [47:07]
B
It's a different level of trust too. Like, it's a level of opportunity I would say brings about different opportunities for that. I know a friend of mine, she had an episode with her daughter at school where she needed a miracle, like, for a different, like a spot to open up at this school. And it did. And for her daughter. And I just. It was so cool just being able to see, like, talk to her through it and then after and be like. And just see, like, you know, trusting God for something in your life is one thing, but then trusting him to meet your kid outside of you is a totally different level of trust. Because, like, I want to step in and make it happen for my kid, but can you let go and trust that God's going to meet them? Yeah, it just. It's a totally different thing. And so to be able to see God show up on behalf of your kids, like, because he loves them and it's not, you know, outside of just your relationship with Him. And that's a whole other level of trust too. Again, like you were saying, because, you know, I love our kids so much. Like.
- [48:06]
A
It'S this combination of you've got to seek and knock and find and go after and pray earnestly sometimes, but also take your hands off the wheel sometimes. Now sometimes you need to go after it too in a different way. But sometimes you just need to just surrender. I mean, these are amazing lessons we've been able to learn as parents. And so I do think being parents has allowed us to grow deeper and more intimate in our relationship with God. And I think everyone can do that if you really kind of get in that spot of thinking and for not everybody. Listen, we had amazing parents, I'll say that. I mean, you're mom and your dad are extraordinary. My mom and dad are Amazing. And so we had parents who did everything they could to pour into us and to love us. Not everybody has that. So I think some people don't maybe have that same reference point for what God's like, if you didn't have a really virtuous parent or you didn't have a parent there. And so I think trying to find that equivalent and knowing God is more is a powerful thing. I think that also leads us into. We had a question here about marriage. And it's another thing. It's so funny, I think, about some of those interesting questions we've ever had. Again, Andrew east and Sean, we were in LA at that restaurant, and Andrew asked, like, what's your most difficult? And we literally got that question. I don't know why every. Why does everyone always want to know what are your deepest problems that you've ever had?
- [49:26]
B
I was like, it's like, what is the biggest disagreement you've ever had? Or something that he. Out of the blue. And it's always, you know, you find the biggest one. It's something that, like, you've compromised on, but it's not. I mean, it's resolved, but it's like you could still, like.
- [49:38]
A
Yeah.
- [49:38]
B
You know, kind of go at it still with. So everyone at the table was just kind of. It was just funny.
- [49:43]
A
Oh, yeah, yeah. So. So I. So, like, let me. I'll answer. So.
- [49:49]
B
So what's the. What's the. What's the question? Everybody wants to know. Disagreement or.
- [49:53]
A
Yeah, so. So the question here is, what is something you and Josh have disagreed on in your faith and how did you work through it? I can answer this or you can. You let me know.
- [50:05]
B
I want to hear your answer, but I think I have an answer, too.
- [50:08]
A
Yeah. So here's what I would say. So Chelsea and I, honestly, our biggest disagreement in our entire marriage came like six months in. I mean, it was our first year marriage and it was around. This is a very theological thing, but, like, should you take a day of rest or not a Sabbath?
- [50:27]
B
Is it a sin? That's what it was on. We're going to still get disagree right now.
- [50:32]
A
No, And I've never believed it was a sin ever. But what I believed was, is that actually my belief is. And I've always brought this up, it's very much in a line with should you eat pork or shellfish or those sort of things in the Bible. Is that should you or shouldn't you? Well, I believe you always should take a Sabbath. That was my belief. You should always take a Sabbath, it necessarily has to be a sin to or not to, but you should. And the reason I did is that not only in the. My point was, it's talked about in the Ten Commandments, but also God took a day of rest all the way, starting in Genesis. So I really believe that Chelsea and I should both take a Sabbath. And I really tried to, I would say, pressure you into doing that, as I did. And I think that created a lot of tension. It was very, very tense because I feel like I was trying to control the situation, say, no, we really need to take this day. And I think for you, it was more. Every day could be seen as being a Sabbath. I mean, I'll let you share in your own words or thoughts kind of what that was, and then I can share how we work through it. But I'll just say, here's how we work through it. One, we went to Wise Counsel. We went to your cousin Pete Sulak, and then he actually had a pastor in Knoxville, I remember, who we got on the phone with, and we talked it out with. With a pastor, and we said, you know what? That makes sense. We understand what you're sharing, your viewpoints on this. And even though I don't know that we agreed 100% theologically on the idea, I think we both realized, and here's what I know about Chelsea and where I needed to get to as well, was Chelsea loves God so much. She cares so much. If we think primarily of religion as a relationship and building, the biggest thing we want to do is build a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus and become more like him and spread his kingdom. Well, then again, I think that that's where Chelsea's heart is. And Chelsea and I are very much like this. We are very much in alignment on where we want to get. Where we want to get our kids, where we want to be ourselves, thinking eternally, raising up kids that are Christlike. We're both there, but we tend to. Would often take maybe different paths on how we would get there.
- [52:56]
B
That's what I would say, actually. And I wouldn't even call it a disagreement, but I would say our continual disagreement in marriage has been, is that we both have the same destination, but the way we both get there is very different.
- [53:11]
A
Like, for me, I'm probably much more structured and logical on, let's strategize every step and plan out every moment to get to the point. And you want to create a little bit more freedom and looseness.
- [53:21]
B
I'm like an outline person.
- [53:23]
A
Yeah. And hey, let's Have a general outline. But I don't want to plan every step. I want to kind of have like this, you know, I want room for freedom and flow as we go to end up there. And that's kind of the.
- [53:33]
B
Yeah. So I would say in our Christian walk, whatever, you're very much more like, you said this in the very beginning. Like you are so you're a learner. You love to learn like the Hebrew and the Greek. And let's break this down. What does the Bible say and like how does that relate to like historically, what is the context? What are all these things? And then that's how you learn and that's how you communicate. And I'm much more like, I had a dream from God last night and I have this word and I felt this. The spirit of God was saying this when I was praising and worshiping the other day. And things like that, which neither are wrong. And you need both. Right. He is in spirit and truth. Right. It's a balance of both. But in balance they're still different. So finding a way to be able to meet and connect in those two things has been, I would say, not a disagreement necessarily where we've been disagreed, but it's been more where we've had to work and be super intentional about connecting in that area.
- [54:29]
A
And I think the other thing though is if we embrace it with the mind of Christ, it allows us to grow more because like I need more of that free flowing, free spiritedness and in me and maybe in elements, my structure and planning and strategy is helpful for you. But I know for me I've grown in my faith tremendously because you've really helped me now because of you, I spend more time in silence and stillness. I spend more time in prayer and adoration because of you. So being married to you has strengthened my faith in just such an amazing way. And that's what a marriage should be. It's iron sharpens iron. The two become one. I mean it's oftentimes opposites attract and opposite those opposite gifts, if you allow it to, will help you to grow. I think what happens in a lot of marriages is you could start to see that person being different as you and it could lead to resentment or thinking they're not doing it the right way. And sort of you get on opposing sides versus saying their difference allows me to. And I appreciate that. Difference allows us to be better together and fill each other's holes and allowing us to. To be one.
- [55:36]
B
Yeah, Stronger. You feel each other's weaknesses, synergy and Essentially, that's what it is. Right. It's not just strength in one area. It's both. You come together and it's better together. And I think it's what you said earlier, it's iron sharpens iron, but I think we throw that term around so loosely. It's iron sharpens iron and you're sharper and better because of it. But think of the process of it again. It's like refinement. Refinement hurts when you're in the fire, when you're being refined, when your iron sharpens, iron like that does not feel good.
- [56:04]
A
Yeah.
- [56:05]
B
It's, you know, it's a conflict, it's a hitting up together. It can feel like a disagreement, but in the end, if you toughen through it, you're sharper.
- [56:14]
A
Right.
- [56:15]
B
You're more refined in the end because of the refinement. So that's what it is. I think it's so much of its perspective and it's hard in the moment when it feels like it is a disagreement, even though it's not. It can feel like it.
- [56:26]
A
Yeah.
- [56:27]
B
So it's about maintaining like the big picture and again coming back to the foundation of they love God, they love Jesus, they love me. Like we're in the same team. And I think keeping that mindset is super important when talking through these types of things.
- [56:43]
A
Yeah. Do you have unexplainable illness, hormone dysfunction, weight loss, resistance, brain fog, and you're tired of being dismissed when you know something isn't right? Well, get my at home testing of targeted biomarkers, including hormones, thyroid and metabolism. Plus a full hour with one of my senior health advisors to help you understand your results. The truth is your doctor's probably reading your blood work all wrong. They're missing the cellular issues behind the symptoms. This new testing flips the script. The future of interpreting test results is here. I'm currently offering a simple at home blood test that actually tests for the right things. And just as importantly, it comes with proper interpretation of your results. If you want to check it out and grab one before they're gone, just go to mybloodwork.com now one thing that a lot of people may not know about you, and this is switching gears a little bit, is your background in fitness. So Chelsea is a D.C. doctor of Chiropractic. She's also studied and read a lot about nutrition. She's also a cscs, which is a very advanced type of strength and conditioning coach and trainer. So when you graduated with your doctorate, you still actually I was in practice but we were about to move and travel. And so you did actually a lot of physical training, PT and physical and exercise stuff with a lot of people for a period of time. One of the things that you're great at is helping. I think women do the exercises that move the needle the most. So I think for most women, they want to be lean and fit. They don't want to get big and bulky. But they also don't want to just be skinny and scrawny. They want to have definition. They want to be fit and healthy. What are your biggest pieces of exercise and fitness advice for women who want to get a lean, fit body?
- [58:34]
B
Don't be afraid to lift heavy weights. I think that's my number one for women. I think they're so afraid that if they lift a weight bigger than whatever number, whether that's 15 or 20 pounds, they're going to get bulky. Where if you want to get bulky, you have to try so hard. I mean, really, with eating so much protein and all these different things. Essentially, if a woman feels like she's bulky, it's because her diet's not on point because she's eating too much carbs and things like that. And it's actually more of that than it is like muscular, bulky. There's a difference, right? There's a difference between if you're like muscle bulk versus just bloats or that kind of a bulk. Right. So I think number one is, I mean, hormonally and everything like that. Having muscle is so important, especially as we age, hormonally for women. And that's by far the biggest thing, especially lower body, because the muscle groups in your lower body are bigger. So you can have more muscle mass there, which means you have higher metabolism, you have more hormone balance. So, yeah, long story short, that's my number one tip.
- [59:36]
A
Yeah. Like when I look at your exercise routine, you're doing at least three days of weights and you're really focusing on bigger muscle groups. You're focusing a lot on your legs and butt, your lower body, and then you're doing back and shoulders a fair amount, too. And then along with that, you tend to do maybe two days of peloton. Like you get on peloton, do hiit, training hills, tabata, that sort of thing. So when I'm looking at your exercise.
- [59:55]
B
Routine, one day I do lower body, which again, I'm focusing more posterior chain.
- [60:00]
A
Because that's if you don't want your butt, your hamstrings.
- [60:03]
B
Hamstrings, essentially. Other day I do, like One day I do a push. So again, it would be chest, shoulders, this kind of motion. Other day would be a pull, which I focus mostly on back. And then I do one day of just a full body circuit. So it's like a circuit. So I'm getting my heart rate up, things like that. Because I'm only hitting like one body part one time. So, yeah, I'm not going to like extreme fatigue. Um, but because of that, you can kind of go pretty quickly.
- [60:29]
A
Yeah.
- [60:30]
B
Um, so you're getting your heart rate up while lifting heavy weights, but it's like a full body exercise. And then I'll do what you said. One day of like a 20 minute peloton, where it's like a tabata, where it's, you know, which is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, or something similar to that, where you're going as hard as you can for those 20 seconds and 10 seconds, really resting and pushing hard. So which again, if you. Side note, if you're pregnant, doing a Tabata again or trying to get pregnant, I should say this. You don't wanna necessarily add it in if you're pregnant, but that is one of the best things you can do to train for labor. Because labor is tabata.
- [61:05]
A
It is.
- [61:06]
B
Labor is Tabata.
- [61:07]
A
Yeah. It's intervals.
- [61:07]
B
It really is. It's intervals. It's like you have a contraction and it rests. Contraction, rest.
- [61:12]
A
That's true.
- [61:13]
B
So, like, if you wanna train for labor, do Tabata. It's horrible, but it will help you train mentally. Like, just get through that timeframe and that's all you're focusing on. And it works.
- [61:24]
A
That's so good.
- [61:25]
B
Yeah.
- [61:25]
A
All right, rapid fire round of questions. Are you ready? Okay. Favorite family tradition so far.
- [61:32]
B
I love doing Opryland before Christmas. Looking at all the lights.
- [61:36]
A
Yeah.
- [61:36]
B
Yeah.
- [61:37]
A
Okay. My favorite is, and this is my favorite weekend of all time, Thanksgiving weekend. Because typically the Friday before now, sometimes we do it even earlier, but we have gone. We do Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday, football, pumpkin pie. I love it. And then we pick out a Christmas tree together. And doing that with the girls is so fun. And then we'll go back and I watch football all day the next day, which is Ohio State Michigan for me. I grew up in a big Ohio fan. And then that Sunday, we'll decorate the Christmas tree and we'll do hot cider, hot cocoa, play Christmas music, decorate the tree with the girls. So for me, that is my. That whole weekend is the great, I mean, the greatest holiday. So good. Okay, next one. One beauty or Wellness product you'd never give up.
- [62:24]
B
I mean, probably my protein shake in the morning. It's probably my. I travel with it. It's gotta come with.
- [62:29]
A
Yeah, for me it's gonna be the same.
- [62:30]
B
Yeah.
- [62:31]
A
Yeah, I would say that Collagen based bone broth stem cell, like protein in the smoothie. Okay. What is your go to homemade snack for you, but then also for your kids?
- [62:43]
B
Honestly, like cottage cheese and berries. I know it's like not homemade, but like that's what we go to and the girls love it. If they see me take the cottage cheese container out of the fridge, they both just want spoons. They don't want a bowl, they want a spoon right out of the container.
- [62:57]
A
Cottage cheese. And I've noticed a lot of blackberries lately, so cottage cheese and blackberries for sure. A homemade snack for me. I mean, I.
- [63:06]
B
You like to make your own special non good cookies.
- [63:08]
A
Well, I was gonna mention. Yeah. So I make these cookies now that I love and I flavor them with no sugar. I just put in vanilla protein powder and I put in dark chocolate chips. I make it with a mixture of typically oat flour and sometimes tiger nut flour. Might sound weird, tiger nut or almond flour. But I'll. Do you use carob chips?
- [63:28]
B
You don't use chocolate chips?
- [63:29]
A
Recently I've done carob chips, but historically I've done a lot of the hue kitchen dark chocolate chips. And then for another snack, I love hummus.
- [63:36]
B
Yeah.
- [63:36]
A
And like cucumbers or bell peppers, but some sort of hummus and veggies.
- [63:42]
B
Obsessed. Low key obsessed.
- [63:43]
A
Yeah, I mean I do a lot of hummus. It's my favorite dip and it's pretty healthy. Beans, extra virgin olive oil, tahini, garlic.
- [63:51]
B
Like to the point. He eats hummus so much he had. He actually gave himself like a sensitivity to chickpeas back in the day because he ate so much hummus.
- [63:59]
A
Well, listen, I don't think that test I did was accurate, so. But that's a whole nother. Whole nother thing about IgG antibody tests. Okay. Bible verse you're clinging to the most right now.
- [64:10]
B
Oh, man. I have to pick one. Psalm 27:4, I believe. It's one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the beauty of the Lord and dwell in his temple. And it's just that frame of just intimacy coming back to like regardless of what's going on. That's how the verse starts with all these things are happening. But in the midst of all these things and people coming at you, there's one thing that I'm seeking. It's not about this conflict, it's not about this things happening in my life or the busyness I'm coming back with. No, there's one thing, and that's what I'm focusing on. That is what I'm gonna seek. And this is my heart's desire. And coming to that is foundational because out of that overflows everything else. Right? You seek first the kingdom, then all things are added.
- [64:53]
A
Well, it's such a powerful thing to lock your eyes and fix your eyes on Jesus and his kingdom in that way. Because something's not going right with your house, something's not going right with work, something's not going the way you want. Somebody said something mean about you. Whatever it is, you lock back in on Jesus. You fix your eyes on him and everything's okay. You know, you fix your eyes on the things that matter most. And I love that. You know, one thing I've reflected on that you and I have talked about recently is in Proverbs where it says, lord, teach me to number my days that I may gain a heart of wisdom. And you know, we've looked a lot. We were watching videos of Arwen the other day when she was 2, she's 5 now. And we're like, you said something the other day, we have a dog named Snoopy. And Aylin wasn't able to say, she was saying Snoopy in such a funny way. And now she actually says Snoopy and you're like, you know, she'll never say it that cute, funny little way again. But just taking in those moments and realizing, like, if you've got a five year old, they'll never be five, they're only going to be five once. So like right now I'm trying to really treasure that. And putting Arwen to bed at night telling her stories, doing those things is like, like in 10 years, like I will have really wished that I had these moments again.
- [66:11]
B
Yeah, like they'll never be younger than they are in this moment right now. They'll never be this young again. Whereas they are right now. Like in a moment from now, they're never gonna be, you know, and it really is just taking those moments and trying to be as present as possible. You don't wanna miss it because it goes so fast.
- [66:26]
A
Yeah.
- [66:26]
B
Yeah.
- [66:27]
A
Well, I think one of the things I know we're both aware of is that health is being healthy, mentally, physically, Spiritually, in marriage, in your relationships and all these things. And I think just keeping our eyes fixed on what matters most is so important. That's one of the things I've just loved being married to you, is priorities, you know, God, family, health, down the list. And so even though we're both very, very focused on health and fitness and longevity and raising healthy kids, all of that, it's secondary or tertiary. It's later on down the list compared to focusing on our faith and these other things. And I think this is an important thing, too, because I see sometimes people start to obsess about certain areas of their health, and you want to focus on it, but it shouldn't be the number one thing. And I think when you're focusing on God and honoring God with our bodies, as it says in Romans, you know, but just remembering, like, our body's a temple, right, and we're called to honor God. And so that just naturally leads to healthy eating. It leads to being active and not saying yes to everything because we're not God, you know, and being able to prioritize. Here's the things that matter most. And that's one of the things, I think that allows to have a great marriage, a great, great health, great kids, is saying, here's the things that matter most. Like, right now we're having to do this with. What are we going to put Arwen and where could she be gifted? Right now we have her in swimming, gymnastics and jiu jitsu. Okay, so here's the things. And then here are the family traditions that matter the most. Here's the date nights or the couples we want to hang out with. Here's the things. And we're going to have to say no to everything else because we also need to have time just to sit in the backyard, push the girls on the swings, go for a family walk, do these other things that allow us to build a great family dynamic and relationship and also time for forgotten connection there. So I think this element of saying, prioritizing those things that matter the most is always important.
- [68:17]
B
I'd say one of the things you're saying, the hierarchy of, you know, how we've tried to, you know, your best with God first, and then family and then health and all the things. But the cool thing is, too, it's like once things are in the correct order, they all kind of go like this. Like they are intertwined. Because it's whatever you do in word and deed and eat and drink, you do all to the glory of God. So in family life, so it's like, yes, I'm eating this way because I want to be healthy, but I'm also being mindful of that in doing this. I'm actually bringing glory to God because I'm stewarding this gift that he's given me of my body in playing with my kids, in choosing to spend that intimate time with them and being intentional. It's. No, I'm actually doing this. And doing this is actually bringing glory to God because He's given me this gift of this moment now to steward and to pour into these kids. And this is part of that.
- [69:02]
A
Well, one other thing is creating healthy rhythms. Like now, Saturdays we do brunch.
- [69:07]
B
Yeah.
- [69:07]
A
Sundays, we do church. And then. And then, like, you know, and then our daughters, like, Arwen loves working out with you. Like, anytime you go in the gym, she wants to go, Which I know sometimes you're also having to keep her from hurting herself. But, you know, you know, that's such. It's such a fun rhythm, like working out as a family, eating healthy as a family, worshiping God as a family. I mean, all these things. It's such a. It brings such a sense of fulfillment because I think we get a sense of fulfillment because it's what we were designed to do. We're not meant to go through life alone. We're meant to go through it as a family, growing more like God together, spreading his kingdom as a family. When you do that, it brings a sense of joy. It brings a sense of fulfillment. And I know that for me, you've been such an amazing wife and partner in doing that, growing in my faith and in my health and all these things. So thanks so much for coming on the podcast. We did a ranking of who are the most requested people to ever come on this podcast, and you were. Well, I'm sorry, you were number two. This wasn't me. You were my number one. Jordan Rubin was the most requested in terms of coming on the show, but thanks so much for coming on.
- [70:17]
B
Bring Jordan and Nikki sometime. That would be a fun.
- [70:20]
A
Yeah, that is fun. It's always fun seeing the other couple seeing couples together. So Nikki's a great counterpart to Jordan, for sure. Well, everybody, hey, thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe show and today, the Doctor's Axe show with my wife, Dr. Chelsea Axe. We hope you've enjoyed it. Thanks so much for all of you who submitted questions here for the show. We really enjoyed chatting today and going through this and sharing some more of our personal lives today here as well. Also, I encourage you subscribe. It's the number one thing you can do to support the show. And also we've actually had the show shadowbanned a little bit on YouTube sometimes because we're covering controversial. We did talk about vaccines and a number of things today, and sometimes those are controversial. And so if you're not subscribed, oftentimes these sort of episodes will not show up on your feed. So make sure you subscribe on YouTube, on Apple, on Spotify. Thank you, all of you that are subscribed and if you enjoyed this, please share it. Every time you do, it allows us to teach more of the truth about health and faith and so much more. So thank you, all of you, for your support. Also, we've had so many great online reviews recently of people going on Apple and Spotify and giving us five star reviews. So thank you for doing that as well. We hope that this has blessed you. Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with another episode of the Dr. Josh Axe Show. Limu Emu and Doug. Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.
- [72:03]
B
Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.
- [72:06]
A
Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Ferry unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.