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- [00:01]
A
Welcome to the Joy Broadcast with me, Ali Mortimer. I was once upon a time an IT consultant, recoding systems in the retail industry to function better. And now I'm turned a life consultant and joy coach, where I'd like to think I reprogram and recode hearts, minds, souls and lives to feel better. This podcast, the Joy Broadcast, is a way to bring joy to your life, whatever the weather, whatever you're doing. So you feel a pocket or of positivity in every single day. If, like me, you've once upon a time found yourself wondering whether you will ever be happy again, or if you're just staring at the kitchen sink wondering how you'll get through the next 10 minutes, this podcast is for you. Get you a glimmer of hope, a dose of happiness or an infusion of joy right here, right now. Welcome to the Joy Broadcast. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Joy Broadcast. Now, we are going to be talking a lot of joy today. I have with me a lovely, lovely friend. I know her, her foremost, really, from many years ago. I know her as a mum of three. I know her as a fellow Ripon resident, I know her as a health guru, but most of all, I know her as my most amazing chiropractor. And I'm very, very sad that she's. Can I say, retiring? I don't know she's retiring, but she's also absolutely wonderful. She's a person I lean to when I want to know all about hormone health, menopause, she does the Dutch testing. And I wanted to invite her onto the Joy Podcast and the festive series so that we could talk all things science and stress and how to keep our hormones happy in what is meant to be one of the most joyful periods of time in the year. Welcome, Debbie. I am so happy to have you on the Joy Broadcast.
- [01:45]
B
Thank you, Ali. Thank you for that lovely introduction. It's a pleasure to be here, absolute pleasure.
- [01:50]
A
You're so welcome. Now, where do we want to start? Where do we want to start? Because this is a really, really big topic, isn't it? We could. Where do you want to start? We could go menopause. We can go hormones. We can go chiropractic. We can go motherhood. We can Dutch testing. I'm going to leave it to you. Where can we start? It probably is all a bit overwhelming for everybody when they're listening, so let's go simple, shall we? Where should we start?
- [02:12]
B
So maybe the best starting place is just going to be my career, because it sort of ends up summarizing how I've ended up in the space that I'm in right now. So I went straight from school to chiropractic college. It was a very last minute decision, but I knew the second I got there I was in the right place. And so I had four wonderful years living in Bournemouth by the sea. Oh gosh, that was such a beautiful place to live. Not so beautiful.
- [02:37]
A
It was a dream for me to live by the sea.
- [02:39]
B
Me too. And I was promised I go back and now Bournemouth's in such a mess, isn't it? So that's probably never going to happen. But there's, there's other seas. The places that I will probably.
- [02:49]
A
Whitby, San's End. Gorgeous places in the north.
- [02:52]
B
That's right, I'll be somewhere. But anyway, I started this career and loved it initially. But within a couple of years I was so frustrated. I didn't work out well. I just couldn't work out in my head why some people got better and some people didn't. I thought I had like the magic answer and I was so frustrated. And 10 years in, I'd had three beautiful children in those first 10 years. So being a mum was something magical. I still think it's the best work that I've ever done and will ever do. Nothing will ever come close to it. So I'm so grateful that that door opened for me. But you know, by the time I got 10 years into my career, I, I was wondering whether I was any good, if chiropractic was any good, whether I should carry on. And it was at that point that I discovered the concept of wellness and lifestyle. And it was like the most enormous light bulb went off in my head. And it was just this idea that it is unrealistic for a patient to walk through the door with a headache, with a back pain and expect me to fix that in 15 minutes. When they pay no attention at all to their lifestyle, their stress, their exercise, their diet. Diet and as we know, you know, things over the last 20, 30 years as far as the food chain is, has tumbled down massively. The one thing I will say is I think we're all much better at exercising than probably we were 30 years ago. But food, not our fault, most of it has really, really impacted us.
- [04:23]
A
And that's tough, isn't it? I think when, when, if we think about our collective audience, you know, I don't know about you, but I have many of my clients who are like, they feel guilty because they're not running and I'm like, please don't worry about running, please worry more about what you've got on your plate. Because 80% of your health is.
- [04:40]
B
Yeah.
- [04:40]
A
Comes from what you eat, isn't it?
- [04:42]
B
Which is 100% focus there. Yeah. And so the, the business, my, my main sort of business, I called it complete lifestyle. And it was a triad, it was a triangle, and it was the physical, chemical and emotional well being of a person. Now, I'd come at that for so many years from the physical side, the chemical side. Health is everything that we eat, is everything that we drink. It's the supplements we take, the medication that we take. Literally everything that comes at us, chemically, internally or externally into our body, that is a factor. And then we've got the emotional side to our health, which is our mental well being. And as we know, the last five years there's been a light shone on that and it's massively impactful. And I think usually if you say stress to somebody, they immediately think mental stress. But it isn't stress comes at us from any of those three sides. It started as, you know, I put that into my chiropractic career. And you touched on the fact I'm retiring and I am. And it's a really hard moment for me to actually drop the chiropractic side because it's magic, you know, it's wonderful, but, and you are magic, Debbie.
- [05:56]
A
You are crying into my coffee this morning.
- [06:00]
B
You're not alone. And I just, you know, I said goodbye to a little 8 month old baby the other day because I've also specialized in pediatrics. 25 years ago I did a master's in that. And do you know, the work I've done with babies over the years has been such a privilege and transformational and so magical. And honestly, when this little eight month old waved at me to say bye bye and I was like, oh, God, I'm never gonna, I'm never gonna have my hands on you again. And I know I've got six, seven weeks of this to go and I'm. But, but I also know that the work that I am now doing to really push this message about lifestyle, we're in such a different place than when I stepped into this arena. You know, I was so frustrated trying to get this message to people originally that I wrote a book and it literally was just me putting pen to paper at first because. Because I couldn't get people to engage with the idea that chronic health is preventable by the lifestyle that you lead. So you might be walking through My door with a backach. It's so much more than that. And I just felt I was doing everybody such a disservice just by giving them an adjustment. So, you know, talk. I did and anybody that would listen to me. And I think that's why I've ended up with such a wonderful, dedicated following that, yeah, I have looked at everybody holistically and it's been. Oh, it's a privilege I think too, for the people that have engaged with a lifestyle change. It's just been a privilege to watch that transformation. And so the next phase for me is just going to be more and more of that and I will continue to work with people on a one to one basis and in groups and get this message out and lovely retreats.
- [07:52]
A
I know you're running retreat in November, aren't you?
- [07:55]
B
Yeah, yeah, we've actually moved it.
- [07:57]
A
Is it November?
- [07:58]
B
No, it's in January now. So it's the last weekend in January and I had gorgeous.
- [08:04]
A
Perfect timing. Perfect timing for this podcast. Anyone? I'm going to go.
- [08:09]
B
Yes, Ali is coming. Ali is coming. She's, she is our, she's our guest. She's. Yeah. I'm so, so excited. So, yeah, it's, it's at the end of January and it's. I wanted to channel like the cozy log burner vibes. Women coming together to learn not just what to eat, but how to shop, how to cook, how to do everything. So it's very immersive for a few days and we'll have master classes and workshops so we can really dive in. Because I don't honestly believe people change their behaviors until they change their belief system. So helping people understand why they're doing something is so much more important than actually just getting them to do something. So if you really have won a strong why yourself? Mine has always been that I, I want to be fit and healthy and current and important in my children's lives and my grandchildren and if I'm lucky enough, my great grandchildren's lives, you know, and I, I don't want to lose independence, fun and a zest for life.
- [09:13]
A
You have those. All of that. I really do.
- [09:17]
B
Thank you. And I, you really, really do. And I, I hope I, I do. And, and so far it's going to plan, But I'm thinking 20, 30 years ahead and the things I do today, you know, are to, to give me that future that, that I want.
- [09:34]
A
I think that's a really important message, isn't it? You know, our health and the future is created by the Way we look after ourselves today. Today.
- [09:41]
B
Yeah, I, I'm the person today that I started building in my 30s and 20 years ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [09:50]
A
Quite shocking. And I think that's where it goes. Not necessarily just the physical. We, you know, you talked about your trifecta that, that comes down to the chemical and the emotional because they have a heavy load on our longevity, don't they?
- [10:01]
B
Yeah, they do. And I very much ended up in the menopause space because I had such a tough ride. I'm 59 now. And you don't look it, though.
- [10:12]
A
Seriously, Debbie. You don't. Well, exactly. Well, I know you're a walking, talking, you know, representation of what you talk about, which is wonderful.
- [10:22]
B
And I'm not perfect. And my daughter often laughs at me, and she, she just goes, mama, I don't know how you get to deliver this information. You, you just, you're not the best at it. And I'm going, I'm real. You know, I, I, I don't.
- [10:35]
A
Who is perfect? Who is. You've got three. You've got three children. You've got a big wedding to plan for next year. You've got a husband, you've got businesses, you've got a dog, you've got a home. I think, you know, like all of the women who are listening today, you know, none of us are perfect because it's not the sole thing that we have to do to look after. No, we don't just look after ourselves. We look after so much more. I think this leads us quite nicely on to kind of like Christmas, when we're not only just looking after our immediate family, when really kind of women are the, the center point of everything that happens at Christmas. We're, we're looking after our homes, the family. I was talking to one of my private clients yesterday, and she was like, oh, I just want to run away and, and be somewhere completely different for Christmas when I know that I've got to do all of these brunches and lunches and hosts for our friends and my family and his family. And, you know, then it's about the decorations, and we've got to organize the ice skating and we've got to organize the Christmas panto. She's just like, gosh, there is so much that we have to consider, let alone all of the presents and the wrapping and the decorating of the trees that I know there's a lot. So, you know, the primary reason I wanted you to speak was to how can we bring some of the science and how can we relieve some of the stress to help give those happy hormones. For the women who are listening today, who are in that, that kind of like crux of what you were just talking about, particularly around the menopause.
- [11:52]
B
Yeah, and it is. And I think women as we, we come into the menopause, we're very focused on what our estrogen and progesterone are doing. That's the message you're like, is estrogen still there? Is progesterone still there? And we're very hung up on these female hormones. These wonderful, wonderful hormones that have led us for decades are going, they are just adiosing the party and they're going to go. So wherever you find yourself in that journey, please know that it is a natural decline in those hormone levels. But there's two other hormones that sit foundationally underneath our sex hormones and that is cortisol, our stress hormone and insulin are sugar balancing sort of hormone. And most people don't realize the impact they can have on their estrogen and progesterone by getting back in balance their cortisol and their blood sugars and an insulin. So that's where the focus is now. When you hit a period like Christmas, you just know that cortisol level is going to be going up.
- [12:58]
A
You know, just think about that stress and sugar, you know they're going to go off the scale.
- [13:06]
B
Shame, because I. If you take a different view of Christmas, it can be about connection, it can be about family, it can be about downtime, it can just about be finding the joy just in some, you know, who gets a board game out at Christmas but they never do it again at any other time of year. You know, you, you can create some amazing memories and amazing moments. But then the flip side of that is the pressure sometimes of being with family. The change in our diet, the fact we travel, we crash so much into it, finances, alcoh consumption, late nights where normally you have a really lovely sleep routine. There's, you know, there's just so many things that we feel obligated to do at this time of year. And I think my number one message to women is just step back and have a think about what you need to do. And if it's not a real sort of hell yes to something, maybe it should be a no. And don't feel bad. I know somebody this year, she's one of my private coaching clients and she's and her husband have taken the very brave move to say to both sets of parents, no to Christmas Day. We're having a family Day. They've got two beautiful children of absolutely prime Christmas age. I mean, you know, when you just the pure joy of everything about, you know, Santa and oh, just beautiful. And they've just said no. They're going to create other day. Yep. And they're going to just put themselves in a little cocoon for that day. They're not going to get stressed and they're just going to enjoy every minute. And it was born out of the, the entire journey this lady is on, basically, and just say, why, why would I just throw all that away just for a day? She says, I know how stressful it would be. So sometimes it's about taking the very brave move to say no and to set some boundaries. And I would, I would encourage people to do that. Other times we have to get through things and understanding we've got a few weeks to go before Christmas. So one of the things, if somebody's really serious about getting their body just a little bit better balanced, I would really encourage people to wear a continual glucose monitor.
- [15:27]
A
Oh, I've done one of those. That was so, so fascinating, Debbie. I can't tell you. So fascinating. I'm just wanted to say one thing, you know, just when you were talking about. Just take, take a step back. One of the things that I often say to, to women and myself as well is that I take a joy moment, where the joy is an acronym for just on you.
- [15:48]
B
Yeah, lovely.
- [15:50]
A
To bring yourself joy. Yeah, just, just take a joy moment. So if we can get everybody to just take that moment just on you, go back and ask that question. If I love what you've just said there. If it's not a hell yes, then perhaps consider a no. Yeah, and that's, you know, just on you. Yeah, just, just focus for you to bring you joy. Because ultimately when you, when you're joyful, you can bring joy to everybody else. If your joy is being sapped, it often ripples out as the woman that nobody else is going to feel it either.
- [16:21]
B
100%.
- [16:22]
A
I just, just wanted to put that one in there. Anyway, do carry on. I'm sorry for interrupting. No, I'm avidly listening and making notes.
- [16:30]
B
Myself because we've got a few weeks. This could be a learning phase for somebody. So I'd say a continual glucose monitor is so informative to find out where you have issues with your blood sugars and sometimes it is stress. Again, I've got another client wearing one at the moment. Her food, it doesn't seem to negatively affect her. Sitting with her son through a Piano lesson sends her blood sugars through the roof.
- [17:03]
A
I have something similar. Exactly the same thing happened to me. I was wearing mine for two weeks thinking that it was going to tell me off when I was having my coffee first thing in the morning or giving me a big spike when I had my dark chocolate in the evening.
- [17:14]
B
No.
- [17:15]
A
But conversations with James spiked and the night where Willy came into our bedroom, you know, crying in pain and vomiting on the floor and I ended up in hospital with him because he had testicular torsion. I was off the chart.
- [17:27]
B
Yeah, I know.
- [17:29]
A
Like, so I was like, right, I don't need to worry about my diet or my lifestyle. I need to focus on my stress.
- [17:33]
B
Yes. And what is so interesting is the body is doing exactly what it needs to do there. Ali. It's, this is the sort of, the science bit is that we, we put cortisol, cortisols released from our adrenal glands and that's why people, you know that.
- [17:49]
A
That you love it when you get sciencey.
- [17:51]
B
I know, I'm so sorry.
- [17:52]
A
Come. I love this. No, I love the science.
- [17:54]
B
I'll keep it as simple as I can. So when we detect a stressor and that could be physical, chemical or emotional somewhere in our environment, James, my husband, I have one of those as well. And yeah, we pump out some cortisol. So when we do need a well functioning nervous system to detect that stressor and that, that was the role I sat in as a chiropractor. But you pump out this cortisol, it goes into your bloodstream and it's there as a chemical messenger to you that there is something that is going to endanger your life. There is a stress that's come into your environment and you must deal with it. And the body has a pre programmed set of physiological responses to that cortisol going into your bloodstream and it does things like increases your heart rate, increases the rate at which we're breathing, it pushes loads of glucose into your bloodstream because it thinks you're going to have to run away or fight. Both of those are physical activities that are going to require more energy. It down regulates insulin because it needs to keep that glucose in your bloodstream rather than store it. So insulin comes along when glucose is detected in the bloodstream and basically takes glucose by the hand to the cell and they go in together like a lovely little partnership. That's how sort of the energy system works and that's what you want to be happening in a very well controlled, sensitive way. When we live with stress we become very resistant and that process doesn't happen, mostly because cortisol down regulates insulin, so it pushes the glucose into your bloodstream for energy, but it doesn't then allow the insulin to spike as well, so it wants to keep it there. And that's problematic, hugely problematic for these two hormones in the balance. But it isn't wrong. It's perfect.
- [19:48]
A
It's, it's, it's doing its job. It was, it's doing the job it's designed to do. Right, perfect. It's having, it's having a consequence that we don't want in this day and age.
- [19:57]
B
Right, that's exactly right. And if, if we were running for our lives, if it was a very sudden, you know, situation we, we had to run or fight from, then that's perfect. It's over, you know, and, but in modern day living isn't like that. And having family round for Christmas with tension every minute of every day for days is going to be having a massive impact on your physiology, on your well being. And if you happen to be a menopausal woman going through this and you can't control your cortisol and your insulin, well, your blood glucose, then you've got a real double whammy going on.
- [20:35]
A
So tell us, if this happens, what are we going to feel? So if we are having this kind of like constant or chronic state of stress over a prolonged period of time, time, and our body is doing what it should be doing with the glucose and the insulin, what, what are the repercussions of not managing our stress? What will we see?
- [20:53]
B
Yeah, sleep is one of the really, really big ones also just really fatigued in the morning and, or having crashes in the daytime. So the, the impact into your energy system is huge. And it's such an irony that those crashes and the exhaustion happen in the daytime, yet at night you can be absolutely wired and wide awake. Sleep. Sleep, yeah. So those two are massive telltale signs. The other one is weight gain. So if, if your cortisone insulin are out of balance, then weight gain is a big consequence of that one. So you might already be in that. It's not necessarily that you're going to feel that just at Christmas straight away. Yeah. But if you feel yourself building as those weeks are coming up and I know what it's like, particularly if you've got children and you're trying to juggle everything with school as well and the ridiculous timetable that they put. Yeah. And then you're trying to do all the present buying and wrapping and hiding. And you want it to be magical. And do you know, sometimes I think the kids just. They want you. And one of the best Christmases we ever had was. And you'll know where this is, Ali. But we went to Fountains Abbey and.
- [22:13]
A
We walked there, my favourite place.
- [22:15]
B
Yeah, we walked there from Ripon, which is quite, Quite a big walk.
- [22:18]
A
That's quite a trek. But it's nice.
- [22:19]
B
Yeah, yeah. And we took flasks of mulled wine and hot chocolate. We took homemade minty pies and we walked all the way there and we sat on this huge big log there that overlooks the lake and, you know, it was just magical. We played, we climbed and. And then we came back and had. Was quite an ordinary dinner. You know, it was. It was like a nice roasty thing, but I. I downplayed it rather than leaned into everything that was expected of me. And I think the kids would still remember that as just absolutely magical.
- [22:57]
A
Magical moments is what we want to create, isn't it? Yeah, I. I love that.
- [23:00]
B
And always free, magical moments. It was free.
- [23:03]
A
Free, magical moments.
- [23:05]
B
And. Yeah, and. And we. We did it because money was tight. So that's another thing I'd say to people, you know, if finally finances are tight and please, if anybody isn't feeling this right now, then wonderful for you, but I feel like everybody at some point is feeling a massive pinch right now, so why put this extra pressure on us? Why not do something different this year? Why not have, you know, an agreement with other family members that we're just not doing presents, I mean, or kids only or something.
- [23:36]
A
Anything.
- [23:36]
B
That's all. I was just going to say, if kids are of an age where, you know, that isn't applicable, then, you know, please make it special for them. But, you know, be the grown up. Do we really need more things in our lives?
- [23:48]
A
No, we had a fun. We did a fun thing last year where we just basically each said we. We did a Secret Santa with just the four of us and we said, right, you've got ten pounds. Who can buy the silliest present? And that was actually more fun than some of the other things that we got.
- [24:02]
B
Yeah, just.
- [24:02]
A
It's like, what were the most silly things that we could buy from Ripon? So we were supporting our local community.
- [24:08]
B
Yeah.
- [24:09]
A
And just, you know, having some really, really fun time, whether it was from the charity shop or, know, pork pie from Appleton. It was really good fun.
- [24:19]
B
I know. And I. I just. The free stuff can be incredible and I think maybe this is the year to do it.
- [24:26]
A
As you said, go back to what you said at the beginning. I love that, Debbie, you said, you know, why don't we make Christmas about connection and family downtime and just joy, where we talk about joy being just on you and every single person has their own joy. Moments. Moments, whatever that might be.
- [24:42]
B
I can I just say not everybody has families that are, you know, well connected and, and bring us joy, but maybe we have friends that bring us joy. And, and so I was like surround yourself by people that really lift you, that bring love to you. I'm. I'm sort of. I don't know, is this a post menopausal thing? But I'm, I'm just done with Juliet wasting time and my energy on people that to say don't deserve it might be a little bit harsh, but you know that, that maybe it just doesn't bring me joy. And I'm sure it doesn't bring them joy.
- [25:14]
A
One of my friends, mums always used to call people either radiators or drains and you want to be around the radiators, not the drains.
- [25:22]
B
You do and have a little bit of a thing. If everybody you're inviting for Christmas is actually a drain, then you're not going to feel great. That's just. You either dig in and expect it and prep for it mentally, physically as well, but you just emotionally, emotionally. But why, why would you want to do that? We, we have a time in the year where everything closes down a bit. The weather also sort of encourages us more to just be, be calmer, be still, be inward and. And yet we're pushing ourselves into a purposely very stressful situation. From a hormone point of view, you. The impact of the Christmas, if you do find it stressful, Will ripple. Yeah, will ripple. And yeah, there was something you just.
- [26:10]
A
Said then that's reminded me of a story that I would love to share because I think it could really help with stressful situations, which we're obviously talking about, that can impact our hormones when it comes to family members or people who you have to invite on Christmas Day. And we were sailing in a few years ago, I think we were in lockdown. So we were on, on the boat with James's parents, who I adore, by the way. They've been my parents ever since I've been kind of like 19, so they're very good, lovely friends of mine and almost like my second parents. But we were on the boat, which sounds wonderful, but really in reality a boat is like a floating caravan, so you can't even get off it to get out. It's quite intense. It's very intense sense. And I love my father in law, but he had just had a knee operation, so he was 80 and he is not as nimble as he used to be. And I think it was a big wake up call. Whether he recognized it consciously or not for him that he was getting older, he just lost his best friend and he was going through his own emotional turmoil of this is my end of my life. And he got very upset. I feel, this is my perception that he could watch his son jumping around the boat, sailing the boat and his grandsons running around sailing his boat. And he got very angry and very grumpy and he started being particularly unpleasant and creating an atmosphere on the boat. And I could witness this. And poor granny was crying and everyone was getting a bit upset. So I gathered them all together when. When he was out of the way for a minute and I said, right, we're going to play a game. Every time grandpa starts throwing any kind of arrows or nasty words or comments, I want you to imagine yourself like a big giant pink marshmallow. The boys were loving marshmallows at the time. And I was like, I want you to imagine yourself being one of those big flumpy marshmallows and let the barbed comment kind of like go in you and pop it out. And then I want you to shout down the boat marshmallow so that the rest of us all know that grandpa's firing arrows so that we can marshmallow too. So we played the marshmallow game and every time grandpa was grumpy, we just shout marshmallow. So there was marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow. Oh my God. We had the most hysterical time and grandpa didn't know what was going on. He was like, what is this marshmallow? And it just made light of a really difficult situation. So if you have a family member, whether that be a grandpa or a granny or an aunt or even a husband or a grumpy teenager. Marshmallow. So joyful moments. Take the joy moment and remember your marshmallows. Right back to the science, Debbie. That was my bit of fun in that one.
- [28:49]
B
Yeah. Just from the science point of view, when we get this wonderful sort of physiological response to stress and it's shoving all this glucose into our bloodstream and things, it also does two very clever things, which one is down regulates your digestive system and it down regulates your immune system. So it's no wonder we get ill at this time of Year when we are adding this stress. And it's no wonder that most of us get to the other side of Christmas and have gained some pounds because whatever we eat is going to sit very heavy if your digestive system isn't working in tip top shape. So the impact of it is, is high. But we're like I say, we've got these weeks ahead and we can prepare ourselves for this with. I, I love playing around with food as well and doing swap outs. So, you know, so.
- [29:40]
A
Hit us, hit us. I hate you. Hit me.
- [29:44]
B
You know, I love a sweet treat as much as the next person. But while we are having these sweet treats, don't, don't say no to them. You know, have your croissant, your cinnamon swirls, what, whatever with your coffee. But just make sure maybe you've had some eggs or some avocado or something like that first.
- [30:00]
A
So add some protein.
- [30:01]
B
Yeah, you have to have the proteins and fats first. Make sure that you've ticked off the good thing. You pop that into your body. If you're, you know, prepping a meal, eat some raw veggies while you're doing it, you know, nibble on some carrots. Carrots, some peppers, things like that. So put. So what we call fresh fiber. Pop it into your body first. Protein.
- [30:21]
A
Do you know what I like? Tomatoes. I always have those lovely cherry tomatoes.
- [30:25]
B
Lovely.
- [30:25]
A
And I find that that's a nice thing to pop in.
- [30:27]
B
Yep.
- [30:28]
A
I'm addicted tomatoes. But tomatoes would be my desert island.
- [30:31]
B
Okay. Some, some people can't cope with tomatoes. But just to choose your love, if it's raw, it's from the earth, you know, then you're doing great. So that's, that's a really lovely, useful one. Swap out white potatoes for sweet potatoes. And another thing you can do with any of these starches, rice particularly is rice and potatoes are quite big ones. Cook them and then reheat them. They develop then something called a resistant starch, which is actually much easier for us to break down and causes a lot.
- [31:08]
A
No, I never knew that, that.
- [31:10]
B
So if you want to experiment with this, do it with the CGM on the continual glucose monitor. Boil some potatoes, mash however you want to eat. It doesn't matter. Eat them and watch your sugar spike then. Yeah, save them, put them in the fridge, cook them up the next day. You won't get the same level of spike from it.
- [31:28]
A
Well, and that also just helps us as well because it means we can cook Christmas roast the day before.
- [31:32]
B
Yeah, yeah. Masses it before.
- [31:34]
A
Oh my God. Amazing, right? Racey's day.
- [31:36]
B
Before everyone, one, try and drizzle things in olive oil. Beautiful, high quality extra virgin olive oil wherever you can. What I do now is I buy organic potatoes. In fact, one of the most useful things that I ask people to do is to Google the Dirty Dozen. So every year in the western sort of countries, there is a published list of the dirtiest, the most highly sprayed, the most toxic fruits and vegetables that are available to us. It does change each year. There are some common culprits up there and potatoes is one of them. So where you can. I would always buy organic for the Dirty Dozen because that is a really good payback for your penny there.
- [32:24]
A
Okay.
- [32:25]
B
Other foods not so impactful. So I like to buy now organic potatoes. Sometimes I get the little ones and I'll roast them with their skins on. On drizzled.
- [32:35]
A
Yes.
- [32:35]
B
In salt, pepper, maybe a few little herbs and things as well. And lots and lots of extra virgin olive oil and I'll roast them like that. So just. I know Jamie Oliver would probably be turning, just going there, don't do my roast potatoes. But it's just a great way to get some added fiber to get a healthier version of the food into you. Instead of white bread stuffing, do a lovely whole grain one. Make it beforehand with nuts and herbs. I mean, these things are available to buy, but nothing is cheaper than doing it yourself. Same with fresh cranberry. You know, make it yourself. Don't just go and buy a sweetened jar of it.
- [33:18]
A
Oh, yeah, Granny always does the cranberry sauce good.
- [33:21]
B
Brilliant.
- [33:21]
A
She's amazing.
- [33:23]
B
Over the top with vegetables. So when you look at your plate, you say, I don't, I don't think, think people think that I'm mindful of what I eat, but I am. You know, I go out for meals with people and I'll order from the menu, but I've thought about how my plate's going to look. There is a bit of a standing joke in my family, is that when I order, I always tweak something. You know, could I just have that? Could I?
- [33:50]
A
Instead of that and that on the side? Yeah, yeah.
- [33:52]
B
Instead of fries.
- [33:53]
A
There's no shame. Just ask.
- [33:55]
B
No, just ask. And everybody's always so accommodating and so really look to make a plate of food. And this doesn't matter if it's your Christmas meal or whether it's any of the other ones through. Through the whole festive season, but always make sure that the protein is on there first, that there is some Healthy fat on there and that vegetables make up the proportion of it. And you're not overloading on the sweet stuff and the starch. I think it's easy now just to have, you know, rather than really sweet, even pre prepared chocolate desserts. Have some just dark pieces of chocolate or make really healthy chocolate mousse. I've become famous for my chocolate mousse.
- [34:36]
A
So I have to put the recipe in the show notes.
- [34:38]
B
Two ingredients. I'll tell you what it is. It's silken tofu and a high quality chocolate, 70% plus. And you melt the chocolate, it. You whizz it in with the silken tofu and pop it in the fridge. You have the most amazing chocolate mousse. So that's today. Yeah. Pictures on Instagram.
- [35:01]
A
Okay.
- [35:02]
B
Greek yogurt is a wonderful swap out. Instead of like heavy cream puddings.
- [35:06]
A
Yes.
- [35:07]
B
You know, just flat and berries. Beautiful. And use beautiful bone broth wherever you can. Whether that's for, you know, soups for, you know, the following days after Christmas or whether it's to make the gravy get used. Bone broth. It's absolutely wonderful.
- [35:23]
A
It's my favorite time of year to do bone broth because I've got the Aga back on.
- [35:27]
B
Oh.
- [35:27]
A
So I always cook a chicken on a Monday night.
- [35:30]
B
Yeah.
- [35:30]
A
In the Aga. And then I cook the bone broth and then we have the soup for the remainder of the week.
- [35:34]
B
Incredible.
- [35:35]
A
Love it.
- [35:35]
B
Incredible. And. And you're using every bit of it. I was something. But I would say bio. Yeah.
- [35:42]
A
The whole carcass.
- [35:42]
B
Buy organic when you're doing that. Because. Because what, what gets released into the broth is, is what that animal is to its very core. So as well as all the good stuff that can.
- [35:53]
A
All the collagen and everything in it.
- [35:55]
B
Absolutely. But if that animal has been fed antibiotics or, you know, growth hormones and things, you don't want that. So that, that's where the investment in a really good quality piece of meat really, really comes. Yeah. I make sure that that fiber's going in there. Don't overeat. Do you know they. The Christmas stupor. I learned this so many years ago. But that, that moment when everybody's eaten their lunch and they go into the lounge and the TV goes on and everybody falls asleep. That is actually a coma. Your.
- [36:28]
A
Your body, The Christmas coma.
- [36:30]
B
The Christmas coma is, is where you, you cannot maintain consciousness and digest your food. So the body sacrifices your level of consciousness just to produce enough stomach acid to even make a dent on it. And the Fact that you're hungry two hours after you've eaten the most enormous meal just tells you that that actually was devoid of nutrients. So your body is still screaming for nutrients. Calories were not the issue. Nutrients were.
- [37:01]
A
Nutrients were. Oh, interesting. Which is why we should never count calories.
- [37:05]
B
Never count calories. Oh, my God. My goodness. A Christmas lunch with all the tr.
- [37:08]
A
That's a whole podcast on that.
- [37:09]
B
Thousands. Thousands of calories. And yet, you know, that's not what we're missing. So if you've been able to start with a salad, change it up a bit. You know, make sure that you sort of get the berries in there, you get, you know, some salad in there, you've got the veggies in there, and, you know, just enjoy the company. I say this to people even when they go out. You know, it's like, it's not about the pizza, it's about the people that you're with. So make sure that everybody around your table, people that you join, you want them to be there. And the food then takes second place rather than first place, which has tons of benefits. You get more. More of the love hormone and the oxytocin from the people that are around you, the laughs, the giggles, etc. Than you ever will from the food. That's all on your plate. So lean into that bit. And I guess the other side of this is just alcohol.
- [38:05]
A
I was just going to ask you about alcohol. I just written that down on my page. And say, what would your. Your practical tips or advice to anyone who's particularly hormonal with regards to alcohol? My personal experience is that I. It doesn't work with me anymore. Yeah, my chemical makeup no longer appreciates too much alcohol. I can have one or two, but then my body just shuts down.
- [38:24]
B
Yeah, that's right. And it doesn't. It doesn't revert. Although, Sorry to say, but. So.
- [38:28]
A
Oh, I don't mind. No, I've never. I've never. But I suppose I've never really had kind of that. I. I've never used alcohol as a crutch or. Or needed it in order to have a good time. I think it's just been, I enjoy the wine or I enjoy my cocktail, but I don't need it for any other reason. And I certainly don't like being out of control anymore.
- [38:46]
B
Yeah, so there's. There's a lot of perimenopausal women, usually in their earlier 40s, that have, through their 30s, developed quite a habit of using alcohol just to relax, even if it's, you know, wine and at first it's the negative effect of it that is the easier and more intense hangovers, more headaches, feeling more sluggish, the sleep goes off. But you don't want to give up the alcohol. So it can be a hard one for people to give up. But finally the body sleep does really make you give it up because there's no denying the symptoms and the intolerance that menopausal women have for alcohol. It's incredibly real and we do a lot better without it. So if you're experiencing weight gain, hot flushes, sleep issues, please, please, please drop the alcohol. It will, it will be beneficial to you to do that. Then we've got Christmas.
- [39:48]
A
Yeah.
- [39:50]
B
So I think there's a lot of beautiful drinks out there now, alcohol free ones. Alcohol free drinks out there that will mean that you're not, you know, you're not the one that's just saying. No. That the majority of younger people are drinking a lot less. It's, it is the 40, 50 year olds that are hanging on to the habit of alcohol as a habit, as a crutch. I'd just say step back, back, have a little bit of a think about how you are using it and in all honesty, how it makes you feel. If you're unsure how it makes you feel, do a period without it and then tell me how it makes you feel. And that's, that's often the telling, the telling bit.
- [40:30]
A
I gave up alcohol for a year. I realized I didn't need it. Well, yeah, there is that one question though, Debbie. You know, a lot of people who don't choose alcohol for whatever reason, you know, if they're driving or they've made a conscious choice not to drink, they often reach for maybe a more. I mean, it really drives me mad that you're always offered like an elderflower cordial, which is so incredibly sweet and sugary. So if we're talking, if we're going back to what we've been talking about, you know, reducing the sugar, what should people be choosing? Because I also know that tonics and various things have high sugar in them. I mean, personally, I love a sparkling water. I just, to me, that's fine. I've got myself to a point where I just love sparkling water and I'm so happy on it. And I sound like such a geek saying that, but I really am, I'm so happy with that. And I think I've trained myself. I've even had a client who, who I've managed to Train out of enjoying Coke. You know, it's just a mindset thing you said right at the beginning. Beliefs and behaviors. Can you touch on that? Because I think that so many people will be nodding along to everything that we've discussed, discussed these days. You know, it's. Everybody knows what we've been talking about. They know about stress, they know about sugar, they know about the menopause. It's very, very mainstream these days. But yet their behaviors aren't changing. Can you touch a little bit about the beliefs? How do you help people to change their belief and how can we help our listeners change the belief that they can do this?
- [41:54]
B
I think you have to educate yourself. You know, you have to start, you know, if you're really into social media, it might be that you start following a few people. Please, please don't confuse yourself by following loads of people.
- [42:10]
A
Curate your feed with intention.
- [42:13]
B
Yes, yes, yes. What a lovely way to say it. So, I mean, follow me.
- [42:19]
A
Yes, do follow you.
- [42:22]
B
Yeah, follow me.
- [42:23]
A
I'll put your link in the show notes.
- [42:24]
B
Yeah, I don't, I don't over send a message, but my message will always be foundationally into lifestyle and trying to help primarily women. But all people just develop the lifestyle that is going to be maintainable for them. So, and that takes time to grow into that and to do it properly, you have to. You say, if I said, here's bar of dairy milk and here's some broccoli, which one's better for you? You know the answer.
- [42:55]
A
Yeah, of course.
- [42:56]
B
But why do you know the answer? Like what, what is it about that? Where have you heard that and why do you believe that? If you do have a belief, then, then you can develop that belief into anything. So it's about reading things, listening to things, following things that make sense. Sense to you. If it doesn't make sense to you, then it probably isn't true. So that's when I explain like the stress response to somebody. I just, my, my hope and my intention is that it has made sense to somebody that they see how a response that was developed to save our lives, when we use it in the modern world, actually it could be quite a hindrance to us. So the same physiology is happening within the body. And you know, like if you, if you're under stress and it's the cortisol that's going into your bloodstream that's put. Making your heart beat faster because it thinks you're going to have to run away or fight, completely perfect response. But you go into your gp, practice at that point, they're going to pick up an accelerated heart rate and probably increase blood pressure. Their answer to that is, oh, here, have some blood pressure measurements, meds, or we'll check in weeks. Whereas they don't sort of say, where is the stress load in your life? Like, where is. How. How can we look at the physical, chemical, and emotional side of things and start to bring you back into balance?
- [44:24]
A
And bless our gps, they don't have an awful lot of time to deal with it, do they? They just have, like, some. I think it's something like eight minutes.
- [44:31]
B
Yeah. And it's tiny. And so I just. I think it's about education. It's finding the people that you want to be educated by. I. I do not want to be educated by a whole bunch of people out there, but the people that I have allowed to mentor me have, have transformed my life and my message to people.
- [44:50]
A
So, yeah, I think one thing that you. You've mentioned there and we've talked about today is the science. And I know that when I started to understand the science of health, it changed my belief. It wasn't just being told what to do, it was realizing and understanding why. Why I had to reduce my stress and reduce my sugar intake and things like that.
- [45:12]
B
Yeah, your body and your health is very like a bank account. And you. You can't make constant withdrawals on it without finally seeing that balance.
- [45:21]
A
Yeah.
- [45:22]
B
Very poor.
- [45:22]
A
Oh, you could say that a lot with everything, couldn't you? Marriage as well. Yeah, yeah. You can't keep withdrawals without giving back.
- [45:30]
B
No, you. You have to. And so one of the things that has stuck with me, I mean, there's podcasts to listen to as well, amazing educational podcasts out there. One of the ones that I listened to many, many years ago, and it was actually Gary Barlow, and he was. I know, I love it. But he had a very tricky time a while back.
- [45:50]
A
I went to see him at the Scarborough Open Air Theater this summer. He was amazing this year. Yes, it was amazing. He is amazing. Anyway, sorry, just slight tangent, Karen. He had a hard time, and he.
- [46:02]
B
Had a really good hard time with. With alcohol, with weight gain, with motivation. You know, just, he. He found himself in a very low place, and for somebody with so much talent and, you know, no financial worries, was. Was troubling. Anyway, he. He finally went into his doctors and bless his doctor, he's basically, you've got to move, you've got to lose this weight, you need to stop drinking, blah, blah, blah. And he sort of listened to and he was walking out and he describes it as walking down the path away from the surgery towards his car. And his immediate thing was, so who can I get to do this? Like, because he was so used to delegating everything in his life and he said before he got to his car, it dawned on him that only he could do this. This was the one thing in his life that he had to take ownership of. And he, he went home and he put on some trainers and he tried to run around the block and he thought, thought it was going to die because he was. But that's how it started.
- [47:06]
A
And we've come full circle because he had to focus just on himself, just on you. This is just on you. It's joy. And we're right back to joy. So I just want, anytime anyone hears that word joy, you have to be just on you. And that's what's going to bring you joy. And that includes your health and why you're going to have a glass of wine or not, and it doesn't matter.
- [47:27]
B
But if you have a glass of wine, have some water as well. Just stay hydrated. You know, there's some really simple rules in there.
- [47:33]
A
Debbie, thank you so much for being on the JOY broadcast today. Let me know or let our audience know where they can find you. And also just a little bit more about that wonderful retreat. If people are feeling like they've listened to this and they want to come in and absorb all of your incredibleness, your energy, learn more about the science from you, can you talk a bit about that? Tell us where they can find you and how they can contact you.
- [47:54]
B
So first off, the best place to find me is Instagram. I'm just the complete lifestyle on Instagram and I'm very contactable through there as well. My inbox is always open, so please reach out. Also, I have a website, completelifestyle.co.uk Again, send me a contact sheet. We can do discovery calls. Very happy to. To help wherever I can. The retreat is amazing. I'm doing it in partnership with a beautiful lady, Kimberly, who's a herbalist and naturopath, whose book I have. Oh, so amazing. Her recipe books are just insane. So I'm. I met Kim in April, May time, when I went on a retreat in Italy and she, she invited me to go and be a speaker there, which was phenomenal. And we knew instantly we would do something together. Didn't quite expect it to be this quick, but when I came up with this idea of it, healthy hideaway for winter, that I I just, I just knew we had to do it and.
- [48:57]
A
What a perfect time to do it in January as well. I know the rush of Christmas when you just need it and it's such a miserable time of year.
- [49:03]
B
So we're half sold out already. But we, we have some, I think we have two twin rooms left and I think two doubles, but they'll probably be for single occupants. But please reach out to me. I'll juggle rooms as much as I can for people. And it is a three day immersive experience where people will. Kim is also a cook, a hormone cook. And rather than preparing the meals for you and just presenting them on a plate and telling you she's going to teach you how to do it. So we're going to deliver master classes together. We've got yoga and Pilates teacher coming, we've got Ali coming, bringing the joy and. Yeah, bringing the joy to everybody. And what my, my goal is that people leave knowing exactly how to eat for their hormones, exactly every single day of their cycle or non cycling women know how to course the rest of their life. Eating in a healthy way, to keep cortisol low, to keep their blood sugars healthy, to keep their bones strong, their brain active, how to sleep well, you know, breath work techniques are so important. Learn it all, doing it all. Because I just, you know what, what I can coach somebody in three months. I, I know I can teach them in three days if I'm right in front of them. So that's the idea that you, you're getting both of us, you know, three months worth of coaching basically for three days. So amazing. Please reach out if you're interested.
- [50:35]
A
I will put, and I will put everything in the show notes. Debbie, you are an angel on this planet. Thank you for being in my life, life. Thank you for sorting me out for all of these years. I absolutely adore you. Thank you for sharing all of your incredible wisdom with everybody today. Thank you.
- [50:51]
B
Thank you for having me.
- [50:51]
A
Thank you.
- [50:52]
B
Thank you, darling.
- [50:54]
A
My mission is to spread love, joy, peace and abundance to as much of the world as I possibly can so that every person knows that they don't have to walk alone in their darkness. So if you've enjoyed today's podcast and this episode, I would be so honoured and happy if you would support my mission and share this with your network, your friends and your family. Please feel free to leave me an honest review on Apple or Spotify. And until next time, remember, the ripple of joy starts with you.