Women’s Longevity 101 & Biohacks for Ovarian Aging with Kayla Barnes-Lentz

Kayla Barnes, welcome to the Being Brigid Show. I am so excited to dive into all things female health. Microplastics, ovarian, aging, hormones, fertility. I can't wait.

I'm so excited. Thank you for having me here. It's great to see you.

Of course. Of course. So you being one of my first guest episodes is so special because we have grown up in this space together. You are now a leading pioneer in the field of women's health longevity optimization. You speak all over the world. You're going on a world tour. You were just interviewed by the Times, like, you have. It's so amazing to see all of the things that you have done in the last 10 years of us knowing each other and being friends and your commitment to advancing the field of women's health in particular.

Well, thank you. And I mean, yeah, same. It's been so fun to have been friends for so long, have had similar interests for so long. And it's always been something, you know, that you and I got to bond over, which I really appreciate.

It's so true. I was thinking about even, like, one of our drives to Columbus when you had first gotten your gut health testing, and we were talking about it for so long because you were like, I can't believe that no other doctor has ever tested my gut. And all this information that you can find out about your gut microbiome.

I know, I know. I mean, I've been, you know, doing this for a long time, and we've known each other for a long time. Obviously, it's. It's been a build, right? Like, it wasn't overnight, but it's been. It's been so fun to be in the industry. And also it's so fun how much we're focusing on women now, you know? You know, I've been in this industry for, I mean, almost a decade. Really dove deep about six years ago when I got ready to open up this longevity medicine clinic. But no one was really featuring women back then, honestly. And the amount of traction that I've been able to get, and it's all just organic inbound is so exciting. And there's also so many other incredible female leaders, like, I mean, you and so many other great women and doctors that are finally. I feel like it's been such a boys club, right? Like this biohacking longevity industry. And I really feel this, like, massive shift and it's so needed. Right. Because biologically, physiologically, we're different as women. And that's kind of how I started to get into all the Nuance of female health because I kind of started with, like, a male health protocol because that's what a lot of the data's on, right? So doing the caloric restriction and, you know me, Bridget, and anything I say I'm gonna do, I just do it so I can have, like, the most intense routines which I have had. You know, I didn't even have, like, a life. I just would live at the clinic. I would do my workouts, I would do all the therapies at the clinic. It was just, you know, entire days doing health optimization, which is still the case. But I learned a lot along the way that as a woman, rest and stress, we're encountering that much differently than. Than men. So as I kind of started in, let I say, like a more male protocol, and I was doing a lot of caloric restriction, and I was doing a lot of these hormetic stressors, just stacking them one on top of the other. You know, I watched some of the labs go in the wrong direction. So my thyroid start declining, my hormones becoming imbalanced. So I know, get into it all. But, yeah, just so fun that you and I have known each other for so long and our lives are just feeling so full, and I feel so grateful, and I'm so grateful that, you know, we're still friends and we get to do podcasting now together.

Me too. I know. So it's so funny that you're saying this, because also, in preparation for today, I was reflecting on a conversation that we had. This was probably like, in 2020, we were driving to Green Goat together. You were driving. And you said to me, because this was when you had been, you know, like, doing, like, diving into Dave Asprey's work and all these, you know, pioneers in the field of biohacking. And you said to me, there are no women that are leaders in this space in. In functional medicine, in biohacking, like, it is all males. And that was really a moment for me because I was in the same kind of, like, realm as you where I was also following male protocols that were written by males. You know, when I was working at the Cleveland Clinic for Dr. Heim and I was doing fasting and a super low carb diet and high intensity interval training. Like, we were, you know, doing the same things and experiencing similar outcomes, where it was like, whoa, this doesn't seem to be working as well as I see it work in a lot of clients who are maybe like, postmenopausal females who have a lot of weight to lose or Males where they're absorbing and their body is experiencing these hormetic stressors much differently than mine. So I feel like even just thinking back to that conversation that we had five years ago where you were like it is just all dominated by men was a really opening eye opening moment for me because I had seen so many clients, like the majority of my client base has pretty much always been 90% female with the exception of when I started out working with high level executives that were predominantly males. But, but the way that you have brought this message forward, the fact that women experience stress on a different level than men, like our perceived stress response is much higher as females than males and all the other things that you have brought into the realm of female longevity is so important.

Yeah, it's wild. You know, you want to have this idea that we're just humans, right. But it's like so clear that there are massive differences that simply just aren't accounted for. Actually my friend Amy kill and she said they just pink it and shrink it, you know, all the data on men. And I thought that was a great way to say it because you know, and Stacy Sims says these are leaders in the industry too. And there it's like we're not just small men, which is all of the data is essentially derived on just making it smaller or slightly different. But it's like no, this is a totally different ball game not only from the day to day. And we can talk about the nuance in every single category, right from sleep to nutrition to exercise to stress to hormetic stressors to other concerns relate as it relates to longevity that we have to think about that men just simply don't. Right. And it makes sense that there's not really a ton of data out there because if men are the ones that are, let's say, leading the longevity biohacking in terms of notoriety, they have no reason to actually think about ovarian longevity or cycling or you know, pregnancy preparation or recovering from. There's. There's just no reason to think about these things. So it makes a lot of sense. But I think it's important that not only do we all think about ourselves and our unique protocols as these super bio individual because even as women, you know, if, you know, you and I compared our lab tests right now and we looked at toxins and gut health and thyroid and hormones and nutrient status, I mean they would be so different. So it's like no one has the same protocol. There's you know, obviously universal scientifically back therapies or protocols Exercise, sleep, nutrition, social circles, all that stuff that are universal. But bio, individuality, definitely. And I try to stress that message, too, by, like, putting out all my labs and walking women through, like, what labs I'm looking at, because I think even that from male to female would. Can Vary, you know, 100%.

It can vary a lot from male to female and. And then female to female, like, there's large variation because, again, it's like, the most important science that you can look at is that n of one trial to say, like, what is working best for me and what is the contributor to the symptoms that I'm experiencing that may look different for different people.

Totally. Yeah. And thinking about our risk, you know, as women, too, we know that about 80% of autoimmune conditions are, you know, women. Right. So I try to think of, like, in the future, like, I'm very happy that, you know, I'm 34. I don't have any chronic diseases of any kind, no autoimmune conditions, anything like that. I would like to say a lot of that's been, you know, attributed to my lifestyle. And, you know, I've been doing this, like, for so long, I haven't eaten pita stuff, inorganic food, I think, in, like, a decade. So. But also, when we think about the trajectory of our longevity and what we might encounter in the future, again, those things can also be different 100%.

So I'd love for you to walk us through what made you interested in female longevity and a goal that you have of living to 150. Was it a personal health experience? Was it something with growing up? Like, what made you initially so interested in it?

Well, first of all, I grew up in, you know, a kind of difficult household. I think you and I have talked about this before, but not a lot of stability, like, quite a bit of stress. Just growing up in general, grew up on a very standard American diet, you know, Reese Puffs, Fruit Loops. I literally was thinking about it the other day, and I would eat the marshmallows out of the. What's the cereal with the marshmallows? Yeah, Lucky Charms. And I would eat that in, like, a pop Tart, was a breakfast, you know, So I didn't grow up healthy. I was always active. I loved, like, sports and things of that nature. But I started, you know, my first business essentially at, like, 17, 18 years old. So as an entrepreneur, I was always highly ambitious, and I just knew that I would have to upgrade myself in order to, you know, achieve a lot of the dreams or goals that I had, which I now have, which is amazing. So that was my initial interest. I love learning. So did a lot of like coursework throughout that. Everything from like the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and Integrative health practitioner and Dr. Daniel Amen's brain Practitioner. So just started to like learn a lot about it right alongside, you know, like reading materials from Dr. Mark Hyman and Dave Asprey and a lot of these people that were doing interesting things either in functional medicine or biohacking. So that was kind of the impetus. And then obviously, you know, when we went to go up and live, that's when I got like super deep in, in the weeds on this longevity because number one, it's like, what tests do you offer? So that was the eye opener. It's like, wow, there's like hundreds, maybe thousands of tests that I've never been recommended by my standard doctor. And I started doing a lot of these labs on myself, you know, so I would run a lab and we were at the same time you know, finding the providers that would be at the clinic. So talking to medical doctors, PAs, MPS, et cetera, and just navigating what services would be offered. And it gave me an opportunity to do so much of this self experimentation, so running the labs, deciding what we'd offer, seeing areas. I mean, I was in, in my, you know, twent. So it's not like there were any massive health issues or anything that I was experiencing. And I know that a lot of people get into the space because of that. Mine was really just this like incredible self interest, I guess initially in being able to improve how I felt, my energy levels, my output, and then eventually getting more really into the science of like, wow, this is amazing that we get one body and we have the ability to improve it or make it quite a bit worse just by what we're doing. And then obviously we. I learned a lot about like therapies like NAD and hyperbaric and cold therapy and nanov and red light and ozone and all of these different modalities that we were offering and got to do them all the time and had essentially unlimited access to testing. So I would just be testing all the time and seeing shifts and really wanting to work to make it optimal, you know.

And it's so interesting that you highlight that because it is things that most people are never even like given the option to look at when they're going into their doctor's office. Like the doctors are not asking them, oh, maybe we should look at. Would you be interested in looking at your nutrient insufficiencies or deficiencies and how that's contributing to the overall picture. And all these things that we know underneath the surface do play a role. So I think that the experimentation and being able to look deeper into exactly what's happening underneath the hood is essentially, you know, what I've seen your commitment to over the years unfold. Like, I even remember when we were at Bobby's, the one day that you were experimenting with the hyperbaric chamber before you guys opened Liv, and you put me in it, and then I was like, wow, this is even, you know, for me, being in functional medicine for as many years as I had been at that time. So interesting to think about how these machines can actually, like, essentially hack your physiology in many ways to expedite the healing process that can happen through nutrition and lifestyle and some of the basics. But, like, on a much deeper level where it's like, wow, the future of medicine is so bright if more clinicians are able to adopt a level of excitement and curiosity around the potential that we have for improving overall health.

Absolutely. And I. I feel that momentum is changing. Right. Because obviously, you know, I have a podcast, too, and I've interviewed, like, hundreds of doctors at this point. I would say that's the majority of my friend group. And it's just so interesting that it's just not really like this multifaceted approach to health as, you know, is not really taught. So that's not really what we're offered. And it doesn't really fit into the standard Western system. And, you know, this, as they call it, the standard of care. But it's exciting that there are, like, longevity clinics popping up all over, or we can call them health optimization clinics or precision medicine clinics, but operating on. Under the idea that, like, let's get deep on what we understand about your biology so that we can choose the right interventions to help you either heal or become optimal, whatever your goals are. But we can actually measure that too, you know, so it's not just kind of like throwing spaghetti at the wall. It's like, let's look at the markers. Let's do an intervention. Let's look at them again. And it's. It was so fun seeing, you know, hundreds of patients or clients that would come into the clinic and coming in feeling one way and doing a protocol and just feeling immensely better. That's so fun. It's, like, so rewarding. And I'm sure you see that just every single day. It's, like, amazing what we can do with the Right direction and a few tools and even just something as simple as focusing on sleep. You know, early on in this, in my endeavors, I suppose, you know, sleep was such a, a lower priority for me than it is now. Now my life is like built around sleep. But before a little bit of that like hustle culture, being an entrepreneur running businesses, it's like, oh well, you don't need to sleep. You just need to be working hard and making progress. And it's like, no, specifically as a woman that might work for a man for quite a long time. I mean, their hormone cycles as we know are 24 hours.

Right.

They're built for that. Women are not really built for that. Can we do it? Of course we can. Am I doing it? Are you doing it? Are so many women, we know it, of course we can do, do it all to aent to a degree, but we're not really built for that. So we have to. The way I see it now is that I build in all of these intentional stress reduction practices throughout the day, even if I'm not feeling stressed. Because I was always a person that I was like, I'm not stressed, I'm fine. I'm so used to this and I thrive on this. And when you get the data, like when Aura Ring started rolling out that stress feature, it was a big eye opener for me. I'm like, whoa, I need to take a step back because it's fun too. Because now that my husband does a lot of the same stuff with me, I'll look at his stress versus my stress. And even though he actually has more of a stressful job than I do, his baseline levels of stress are just so much lower naturally.

I have seen this in cortisol testing. When you look at like an actual six point cortisol test and looking at CEOs of enormous companies, the male and then the wife who stays at home and doesn't work and her cortisol levels are higher than the males. I remember being like, he's running such a large company and his levels are completely normal and she is staying at home. And of course there's stressors that come in anyone's life, but I remember being shocked by it. Like you would think that it would be the opposite based on the actual level of stress that they were both exposed to.

Yeah, but I mean, we now know that females just have a higher baseline level of stress and we're also more sensitive to the same stimuli. Right. So if my husband and I, his name's Warren, get into a cold plunge at this same temperature for the same time, I will have a higher stress response to that stimuli than he will. So it's interesting. There's so many nuances, right? But that's what really prompted me. The second part of your question was how did I get really into the female side of it was just trial and error and realizing that what I was doing based on a lot of the male data and science and protocols wasn't working for me as a woman. So there was. There's a big moment where I'm like, okay, my thyroid is declining, but I'm doing literally everything that I'm supposed to be doing to be in, like, peak health, right. My hormones are becoming dysregulated, which is, you know, crazy for me genetically. I'm like, predisposed to having really strong hormonal patterns. And I'm like, so something is wrong here. And, yeah, just started to really dedicate. When I went to go put out all my labs publicly, I hired, like, a small team of female PhD candidates to pull a lot of the literature that was out there and to help really just add additional layers of, you know, science to the protocol that I was putting out. And then at the same time, you know, I had a female practitioner whom you've seen her too, in the past. But it was great because we just had to got to have a lot of conversations around female health and differences. And then I would try things and then we'd get the results back. And, you know, some things have. I do bridge, Bridget. They work amazing. I mean, I'm doing, you know, all sorts of stuff. Stem cells and therapeutic plasma exchange and HBOT right behind me, all these things. Some things work really well and some things you have to modify. And it's just such a fun experience to have the ability to modify how you feel, how you age and all under the lens of being a woman and sharing it as a woman. Because I actually. I don't know anyone else that is a female that is putting out their labs and their interventions in as detailed of a way as I am. I mean, personally, unless I've just missed.

It, no, I don't know anyone either. Kayla, there's not many people in the world that are as detail oriented as you.

Yes, I am a bit type A personality, so.

Well, it's so beneficial because like you said, there's so many women that have for so long pushed themselves into these extreme protocols that might not seem as extreme to men. And we do have to account for our level of stress, the that that has on our Hormones and then the impact that it's having on our underlying symptoms. Like especially women that are going through perimenopause or that are experiencing autoimmune diseases. It's like they want to just control the nutrition piece as much as they possibly can without addressing the role that stress plays underneath the surface. And I even saw this when I was working with Levels as one of their dietitians. And I interpreted hundreds of different CGM data for Levels clients. And a lot of them would have elevated fasting glucose levels even though they were doing like 14 hour fasts overnight. They were eating super low carb. Like they were very dialed in on their exercise. And the area that was missing was the sleep optimization, the stress reduction and eating enough carbs actually to help to support the different phases of their cycle in order to decrease that hormetic stress response. And I remember like presenting to the Levels team saying some women actually need more carbohydrates in order to improve their overall glucose glucose control. Which seemed at the time like a wild thing because at the time most people thought like, it's just about eating less carbs in order to optimize glucose response. And it's so different for females.

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, that was a big, you know, learning for me as well. I did super low carb for years, you know, and it was something that I've now settled on a much more balanced diet. Right. And I will have even increased levels of carbohydrates, like going into that luteal phase. And. And there's so many unique stages of women's life too, just like you're saying, you know, of course there's, I'm in, you know, the reproductive years. That's where you're at too. And then. But recommendations will change, right. Once you get into perimenopause and menopause. And it's just so much more complicated than kind of what the male counterparts are, you know, dealing with.

So much more. So much more. Okay, so I'd love to talk about the fact that you of course, have a home biohacking clinic essentially at your house. We can see some of it behind you where you do a number of different biohacking devices. And I do want to talk about some of those and what you feel like are the most beneficial, like what you would recommend. But I want to start with the fact that you typically will recommend the fact that you cannot skip the basics in order to support female longevity. That in order to get like 90 to 95% of the way there, the Basics have to be a part of that. And so I'd love for you to outline like what the basics are and how you think about them in the context of female longevity.

Yeah, yeah. I mean everyone always wants to ask me like what supplements are you taking, how many nadivs are you doing? And that's all fun, right? And you can buy that and it's easy. But without a doubt, for every metric of health, whether it be your hormones, whether it be your biological age or pace of aging, mastering the basics is absolutely essential. And anything that you add on top of that will actually work better for you. Right? So if you're going to invest resources into something such as therapeutic plasma exchange or red light therapy or whatever it may be, mastering those basics is key. So obviously first one I think is sleep. I think everybody should build their day around sleep because there's so many benefits. I mean one poor night of sleep can increase your glucose, can increase your ghrelin, your increasing your cravings, it can decrease your energy obviously so you have less willpower when you're sleep deprived. So. So for me sleep is number one. I go to bed at 8:30 and I'm always aiming for at least two to two and a half hours of deep and REM sleep every night. So obviously we can say quality over quantity is probably ideal there. If you don't track your sleep, that's okay too. But what the data gleans, and I think the data says somewhere around 11 to 25 minutes more of sleep that women need. But from my own N of one data that I've done, so I went to bed at 8:30, woke up just completely naturally. I didn't schedule any morning meetings for three months and I need about an hour more of sleep than my husband needs. I analyzed all of our data and of course it can be bio individual but prioritizing sleep for women, women are exposed to more toxins. So we can talk about environmental toxins, but primarily through the forms of personal care, fragrance, makeup, potentially cleaning products. But there's also some literature saying that we detox a bit slower. So our fat storage, we're more prone to storing fat subcutaneously versus men being more prone to storing it a little bit more viscerally, which is good for us. But also, you know, the fat can be stored. We have more subcutaneous fat than men, so we can detox a little bit slower. That might be a reason that we need more sleep. I'm sure it's really multifactorial. But prioritizing sleep Number one, And not feeling that you need to be part of the 5am Club. Right. That you need to be getting up at 5am to work out, but you should allow yourself to sleep. I think that's number one. Number two, when. As it relates to exercise, my exercise regimen is really hitting multi areas of longevity. So strength training, I mean of course is so important. Right. Looking at your bone density. So if you're a woman over 35, I think you should get a DEXA scan and you should look at your bone density. It's. We don't think about our bones. Right. Because we just assume that they're static and they're kind of just there. But. But we know that once you hit perimenopause and menopause, bone density can really decline pretty rapidly. And the numbers of survival. If you get a hip fracture in your later years. It's quite crazy actually, isn't the stat. You probably know the stat really well. If you have a hip fracture over 60 years old, then your increased rate of death goes up by 23% or so. Right?

It's close to 30%.

Okay. Almost 30%.

Recovering to your pre fall function is 50%.

Yeah. So focusing on bone density. So strength training, compound lifting jumps. Like I do a lot of jump roping and just general jumps. I know it's super popular now to do the ruck vest. Do you do the rock vest?

My husband has a ruck vest and I have a different weighted vest.

Yeah, or a weighted vest. Yeah. So I do that on my walks. Then I'm also hitting cardiovascular markers. We know cardiovascular disease is number one killer for both men and women. So doing v2 men max training once a week, it was a really fun experiment. So I was able to take my aura Cardiovascular age from 6 to 11.5 in six months by incorporating just two V2 max sessions per week. And that is incredible. Right. So cardiovascular training, of course that includes the zone 5 and high intensity interval training and then also the zone 2, just light walking speed. So getting some sort of exercise regimen in. But I would definitely stress the strength training for women. Right. So incredibly important. And that narrative is changing too. I mean I feel like we used to only do like cardio and want to be like kind of a cardio bunny. But now strength training is so important. Also the muscle that you add on. For me, it's so much easier for me to maintain glucose control because my muscle mass on body composition is over 85%, you know, between around somewhere around 87 muscle. So. So I Think of muscle as like a metabolic Spanx. Right. It's helping to uptake that glucose and improve our metabolic health. So adding on muscle, improving bone density through strength training. So important nutrition, of course, I think it should be bio individual in terms of supplementation, but I mostly do the Mediterranean diet, so it's the most science backed for longevity and just whole foods. So don't eat any, you know, ultra processed foods for sure. Really limiting any sort of processing whatsoever. It's everything that you talk about and that we've talked about forever. Forever. So single ingredient foods. Things like spinach and kale and broccoli and cr. Cruciferous vegetables and wild caught salmon. Lots of wild caught salmon. I love sardines. I love olive oil, I love avocado. I do consume red meat, you know, in relatively small quantities, but it's always highest quality that anyone can get. And if you can't do all organic, I love like the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen by the EWG. So it's a updated list that comes out every year. I won't stick on nutrition too much because I know that you are just like an all time expert on that. And then I slightly cycle and I don't want to make it too complicated for women. Right. Because just eating healthy is so important. But if you want to take it to like a little bit more of a step up, I consume a little bit more red meat during my bleed because I'm losing blood. And then we know that we're more insulin sensitive during the first half of our cycle during the follicular phase phase, but we might actually need a little bit more carbohydrates going into that luteal phase to help build that progesterone. Right. So and again, it all depends. So if you're a woman and you're experiencing really high levels of stress already and then you're having no carbohydrates on top of that, and then you're doing high intensity interval training on top of that. You know, you might have a need for those more, even more carbohydrates. Right. So having an understanding of your cycles is really helpful. I like to use this at home tester. There's a variety of them out there. I use the Mira. Not saying that they're, you know, 100 accurate all the time, but it's interesting to just see what's going on. I encounter women that don't even have any idea of what phase they're in. So I think even just starting with something like, you know, the aura ring Integration, I love that with natural cycles. So, you know, like, okay, I'm in my follicular phase. And then you can document what types of symptoms that you're having during that time. Okay, now I'm in my luteal phase. I'm in ovulatory phase phase. How do I feel and do I need to make any adjustments based on that? So kind of leading into exercise then. So I don't pre plan. I know it's becoming really popular for people to like pre plan to downregulate in ludal phase or something. So just, you know, days one through day 14 is your follicular phase. So estrogen is rising. Theoretically, you have the best recovery, the most energy in your follicular phase up through ovulation. Ovulation, you could have your highest PR strength gain. And then, you know, know by the book, it would be as you go into your ludal phase and late ludal phase, the energy starts to decrease. Your basil body temperature actually increases. So it could make strenuous workouts a little bit more difficult. For me personally, I don't plan to downregulate in the ludal phase. I don't actually have PMS symptoms. So if you do, you might want to potentially plan, but it's all about listening to our body. So if I'm not feeling as energetic or, you know, because my body temperature is increased in the ludal phase, I will do something a little bit lighter, you know, what are your thoughts actually on this? I would love to hear them. There's kind of like two camps right now on the Internet. It's like one camp that's like, optimize every detail for your cycle. And then there's the other camp that is saying not needed so much to optimize every detail.

When you say not optimize every detail, you mean some people who are saying, like, it's just more important to be consistent with your exercise than it is to dial it into your cycle. Is that what you mean?

Yes.

I think it's hard because there isn't enough data on women across the board. And so that's where you have to do what works best for you. So I think that you bring up a good point that for a woman that does have a lot of symptoms, and it could be PMS symptoms, but it also could be other symptoms that are related to more hpa, AIs dysfunction, like anxiety, like not being able to sleep at night, those sorts of things that extend even beyond pms, where you would want to make sure that you are Tailoring your workouts more closely to the time of your cycle. The thing that I hesitate on with workouts around your cycle is that for people that need to actually just be increasing their exercise and stay consistent, it does seem like mentally I could see how it would be not an excuse, but a reason for someone to not be as consistent in a way that actually helps optimize their health. So I think with exercise it's always like a double edged sword where you need to find the balance, where you're not over exercising to the point that you're exerting too much and you're stressing out. You know, you're increasing your cortisol, which is the base of our overall thyroid and hormone health, but also exercising enough that you're getting those cardiovascular benefits that help to support longevity.

Absolutely. You know, and then there's also, you know, going back to the hit conversation. So just to kind of tie up the exercise component of that, you know, by the book, we have the most energy, can work out the hardest in our follicular phase going up through ovulation. And then some women may want to to, depending on how you're feeling, dial it back a little bit in luteal, late luteal, up through, you know, the early follicular or the bleed. So that is what I think can be really helpful to women that need it. I have a little bit less symptoms, so I maintain a little bit more similar of an exercise routine. But I also wanted to touch on hit training. Right. So that's another really nuanced subject. We know that high intensity interval training can be great for our mitochondria, which is so important. Right. Because we have a ton of mitochondria in the brain and the heart, but also in the ovaries in ocytes is one of the highest densities of mitochondria. So as I've kind of started to reposition my protocol towards longevity and ovarian longevity and things of that nature, I'm really thinking about the mitochondria in my ovaries and throughout my body. So we know that it can be good for mitochondrial biogenesis, mitophagy. So clearing out old mitochondria, increasing new mitochondria. So I think it can definitely help have a place in women's workouts. It's just again, gauging how high is your current stress level. Because if I think about health all the time as a cup. Right. So we all have different size cups based on our genetics. Maybe we have a bigger cup or a Smaller cup. But if you have lack of sleep and then poor food and then you want to add on, you know, hit training and cold plunging on top of that, your cup might fall over. You know, your hormones can become disregulated or your thyroid, HPA access all of this. So. So I like to add in that nuance because I do personally do high intensity interval training. I know now it's kind of falling out of favor, but we know that the data says it's great for mitochondria, good for longevity, maybe just starting slow and seeing how you feel and then really prioritizing a really high quality sleep and recovery that night. But again, that's so nuanced for women trying to share what I do. But then again, you know, everyone has to, to pay attention and be in tune with their body because I think women are so good at that. But we need to do a good job in like, marking it down, writing it down, so we can reflect on when we can push ourselves a little harder and when we might need to recover a little bit more.

So true. And I think too, highlighting the fact that, like, just to bring that analogy home, the small cup versus the large cup, from a genetic standpoint, there are some people that have more genetic susceptibilities to poor detoxification, to hormonal imbalances, to, you know, cardiovascular issues, to more chronic inflammation. And so those are the people that have more of that small cup. And so if you're a person that feels more sensitive to different things that you're exposed to compared to a person that has a larger cup, where, Kayla, you probably have a larger cup where genetically you don't have as many susceptibilities. I have a smaller cup where, like, I can really feel the moment that I'm environmentally exposed to too many things, or like I am more sensitive to too much working out and too much exercise and those sorts of things. And so you have to gauge it based on, like, how sensitive you are are to different things, especially if you are on the path of trying to heal various imbalances that you're experiencing.

Absolutely, yeah. And I think we can have seasons for different things as well. You know, there could definitely be like a significant healing season where you are lightening up. I mean, you always want to be moving your body because that's what we were made to do. Right. In some capacity. And that's why to really achieve like, optimal health, longevity, all of this, we need to be working with providers and practitioners and people like yourself, doctors, oversight, because when you really get into the weeds of female health, you know, you can have a lot to uncover, whether it be autoimmune conditions, it's like, what's the why behind this? And you can dig deep and figure those things out. But that's why I try to really, just when I go over, let's say I'm doing a total toxic burden, for example, I try to explain more.

So you explain what that is for people.

People, yeah. So I do a test called the Total Toxic Burden Test. So it's an. It's a test that is from Vibrant Wellness, and it looks at environmental toxins, molds and mycotoxins and heavy metals. Again, this is not something that most people are looking at, but I think we really should be. We know that we live in a more toxic environment than literally ever. And this is endocrine disruptors, which are a huge problem for women, right? All these BPAs and plastics that we're consuming through, like, things like plastic water bottles or our food or even our cloth, all of these cute little workout sets that we wear, and then we sweat, and then the plastics kind of are able to enter, or the perfumes. All these different endocrine disruptors, a lot of these are mimicking estrogen, right? So we're seeing young girls enter, you know, their bleed earlier than ever, potentially leading to earlier menopause, because our estrogen is being impacted by all of these environmental toxins. So I do this test, I do mine four times per year. But I mean, if you want to do one once a year, that would be great, because a lot of times you have no clue that you're being exposed to a lot of things. You could be living next to a factory of some sort. You. It could be, you know, VOCs coming out of your couch. It could be so many different things. But having the awareness of knowing that we're living in a really, you know, quite toxic environment and then being able to implement strategies to detox, I think is important. To be honest with you, Bridget, I think we're living in a time, and I see this. Like, I consistently, outside of the LA fires, maintain a very low toxic burden, which I think has been beneficial to me. But it's because I'm detoxing, you know, five times per week, meaning sauna. I think sauna should be incorporated into everyone's daily or at least four times per week. Practice if you can, especially women.

And the research supports the benefits. I would say that of all the biohacking devices that are out there, sauna for you know, the last 10 years has been an enormous recommendation of mine because it is true you can only do so much from a nutrition and lifestyle standpoint. And then I think of sauna as being able to like expedite those recommendations results totally. So I completely agree about the total toxic burden for some people. I do feel like it's a little bit too much information. So like we won't necessarily start there especially because we know that like nutrient insufficiencies and things like that do help to support overall detoxification. So if you have poor gut health, you have poor nutrient deficiencies. Like you might want to go in a specific order if you're not a person that like has an unlimited budget to spend, you know, as much money on all these tests every single year. But I do think that it can be extremely helpful as like one the of of those. Let's look under the hood and see like all the areas of opportunity. Like that could be the largest area of opportunity for some people.

Yeah, I actually, I mean personally I think a gut test is the most important test, like one of the most important tests. So I think genetics is interesting because then you can see what you're predisposed to and then also a gut test because, you know, I've known so many people that a lot of their symptoms, whether it be brain fog or acne, me really help to clear up or even nutritional deficiencies. Right. If you're, if you're not absorbing your nutrients, even if you're eating a really high quality diet, you know, that can have a massive impact which then can have a massive impact on our hormones, cycles, things of that nature. It's so important. So I love gut testing, to me is like the holy grail.

Yeah, we do a lot of gut testing. I completely agree. I do think that it's for all the reasons that you said. So let's talk about toxic burden a little bit. And then I want to get into more of the, like how you get from 90 to 95 up to 100 with more of the, the biohacking devices. So from an environmental toxin burden standpoint, can you talk about why women are at higher risk of environmental toxic exposure compared to men?

Yeah, it's believed to be mostly due to personal care products. Right. Like things like makeup and lotions and hairsprays and fragrances, also cleaning products. We are encountering those more often. So just the sheer expectation of when men leave the house versus women leaving the house. It's estimated that women leave about the house with about dou the amount of, you know, these potentially endocrine disrupting chemicals on. So I love the EWG and there's a lot of apps out there now that you can just scan products and start to swap them for a little bit of a less toxic version. It's wild. I mean, in many other countries they have a lot more regulation around what can go into food and what can go into products. And here it's kind of like, okay, people might assume because it's on the shelf that it's safe and not harmful, but I really like to just look at the ewg, run the products through there and as you can start swapping them out. Our homes are also another area that I would really consider, you know, looking at, optimizing if you can. So air filtration, I mean we breathe more than we do anything else. So ensuring that you're breathing, you know, really pure air can be super helpful. There's plastics, there's molds, mycotoxins, all sorts of things in the air, bacteria. And when we breathe it in, you know, our lungs are just filled with these capillaries where it can hit our systems really pretty quickly. So air purification I think is really helpful. But yeah, to my knowledge that's where most, most of our environmental exposures are coming from. Just our home environments, outdoor environments and things that we're putting on our bodies and you know, on our skin.

And water filtration too. You're a big advocate of.

Yes. And what for sure water filtration. I mean, definitely not tap water. If you go to the ewg, the local tap water database, you can actually look at your water source and it'll give you a printout of, you know, everything and an estimate of the levels of what's in your water. So I love reverse osmosis water. So that is a multi stage filtration. And then I remineralize it and then I also like to restructure it, but that's not absolutely necessary. So water filtration or whole, whole home water filtration? There's also shower water filtration. So if you think about ways that we're getting these exposures, when you're in the shower, it's actually creating steam. So not only are you able to absorb any toxins in your water source transdermally through the skin, but you're also breathing it in through your lungs. So considering a little shower water filter too could be really helpful.

Yeah, I don't think people think about that for sure. And then for people that are interested in taking it from 95 to 100%. We talked about sauna and the role of sauna. So you can talk more about the benefits and maybe like the protocol that you use for sauna. But what are other devices that you feel are so important for women to consider?

Yeah, I think red light therapy is one of the biggest ones for women. I have a variety of different kind of red light therapies. I have of course the panel. So again, going back to mitochondrial health and how important it is in our ovaries, I think prioritizing some sort of red light therapy. So I think you kind of get like a twofer. Cuz the, the near infrared light is really helpful for even benefiting like your skin. So maybe wrinkles, fine lines, things like that, skin texture and tone. And then the, the deeper light can actually penetrate your mitochondria. Improve organ health recovery, potentially impact your hormones too. So I think red light therapy is a nice place to start. Have a small, like more of a medical grade laser, it's called a Kenneon that I've been putting over the ovaries. So it's a more of a direct localized support just to see if I can reduce some of the inflammation. So although I don't experience cramping, I think a lot of the women that I have asked how the red light therapy goes, they say it helps a lot. So red light therapy right over the ovaries for potentially cramping. I'm doing it because we know as we build the lining and then she shed it, we're encountering a lot of inflammation in our ovaries. So we don't really know why. The ovaries age at double the speed of every organ. Right. We of course inflammation is one potential reason. So I'm trying to reduce the amount of inflammatory cascade that occurs throughout my cycle. So I think red light therapy is definitely a good one. I would say I love pemf, but you can also do that by going outside essentially in grounding. So making contact with the earth. Earth you get these healing frequencies. The earth is actually admitting frequencies. It's about like 7.8. So I have that device in the house. So I think of that as like grounding on steroids. But I like to think about it as improving the energy of each individual cell. So if we're made up of all the cells and we can improve the energy of each cell, then overall energy and health status should be improved. So I really enjoy pemf. A couple things that you can consider for specific reasons. I mean HBOT is incredible. If you've had any sort of concussion or tbi, they're doing some new studies on AMH or anti malarian hormone and hbot which is great. There's also some research out there about higher toxin levels and lower amh. So we do, we are learning that toxin levels can impact your amh, which is a measurement of ovarian reserve. There's no perfect test of course to know fertility status until you try to. But HBOT would be great for that. They're also using HBOT for some autoimmune conditions. So I kind of think of HBOT as like healing from, you know, the inside out. Can be really good for even blood vessel support as well. So love that. Let me think about some of my other favorite biohacks.

Ozone.

Yeah, ozone for sure. So ozone is a little bit more like in a clinical practice, but I've seen good results with some mycotoxins. We see it as very anti inflammatory for the cardiovascular system system. In the clinic we would use it with people with reactivated viruses a lot. If you are feeling ill or have any sort of illness going on, can be really helpful for detoxification. Ozone sauna, which is really incredible too. So if we think of sauna as like being absolutely amazing for health, which it is, Ozone sauna is, you know, several times more effective. Even in detoxing they're a little bit harder to find. So an Oo sauna will actually release CO2 which opens up your pores and then you sit in a little kind of pod with your head poked out and you are absorbing ozone gas for about 30 minutes. It also has PEMF built inside of it. So you're receiving p PEMF and the ozone therapy and it can certainly help expedite detoxification for sure. So I love ozone. And then at home I have an at home unit for ozone. So I can do ozone water, which is really good for like oral health, killing any bad bacteria. But also I can do rectal ozone if I want. I've heard this is like one of Gwyneth Paltrow's favorite therapies. So it's a way to do ozone systemically. We know ozone is anti inflammatory so I can do that at home. I could do like limb bagging or even like put it in the ears if my kids ever got like ear infection or something. Of course, consult with your doctor. But love ozone for detoxification. Something that's becoming very popular is therapeutic plasma exchange. So it's taking the plasma from your body and then replacing it with albumin. So essentially that's able to draw out a lot of those molds to mycotoxins, environmental toxins, even antibodies. So it was originally used for people in these cyto kind storms with autoimmune conditions or even co to reduce the amount of cytokines that they were experiencing. So TPE is really interesting, to be honest. I think that there could be some benefit to doing plasma donation. So you're not doing as much. Like when I did tpe, I gave away all the plasma in my body, essentially like 2.5 leaves leaders. But if you do plasma donation, number one, you actually get paid for it. Number two, you're getting out some of those, some of that plasma, Right. You're not getting rid of all of it. But I think that that's definitely a conversation in the longevity industry. We're also talking a lot about in use phoresis, which is available in Europe right now, but not yet in the US So instead of just removing all of your plasma because it contains beneficial things as well, you would actually just filter all the plasma. You would get your plasma back, but remove all, all of the, the negative aspects of the plasma. So when I did tpe, I did a test before the total toxic burn before I did a therapeutic plasma exchange and then I did a test after all within, you know, a couple weeks, I saw about an 11% reduction across the board on toxins. Wow. It is a very expensive treatment, but that is a benefit. And then also there is some, you know, anecdotal data and it's being investigated to potentially even be able to reduce LP little A, which we know is a cardiovascular marker, very difficult to decrease, very difficult to augment through diet and lifestyle. So that could be interesting if that ends up panning out for reducing lp. The other thing I think is peptides are interesting. So, you know, peptides can be for a variety of different symptoms or ailments. So I love BPC157 for recovery. Actually oral BPC. I've had some really good results with improving gut health, right? Like improving, improving intestinal permeability, improving the strength of the gut. So oral BPC or injectable for joints recovery, they call it like the wolverine peptide. So faster recovery. MOT C, you know, if you're dealing with some glucose issues or metabolic health issues, MOT C could be something to talk to your provider about. There are other peptides like CJC and Epimeralin or Tessamorelin, which could be good for body composition. So maybe adding A little bit of muscle, losing a little bit of fat. Obviously the most popular one are these GLP1. So I did try microdosing Bridget, a GLP1. I did five units and to me it increased my, you know, resting heart rate, decreased my sleep a little bit. And also it I. My body comp is just already in such for me an optimal place. I didn't want to lose any weight weight. But you know, I've heard some really interesting data on potentially just longevity benefits in GLP1s in general. Obviously there's a massive benefit if you have a lot of weight to lose on your longevity. So I'm not anti GLP1 I think, yeah, they can be super helpful in the right setting.

So yeah, peptides, the benefits outweigh the risk of the side effects is the other thing that I would, you know, just add as any individual people that's thinking about that.

Totally. And I mean, of course, if you are doing that, making sure you have a really dedicated strength training routine. Right. So you don't like lose a ton of muscle while you're losing the fat. But peptides in general, I mean the GLP ones are the most popular, but there's so many other peptides. I mean there's even peptides that, you know, have been used for mold exposure. There's like thymus and alpha, which is good for boosting the immune system a little bit bit. So peptides are also, I think, really, I think that would still be in the biohacking space, but that can be used in the right time and dosing and frequency etc for you. But these are all areas just to potentially explore, you know.

And I think that for anyone that's listening that's still like struggling with the basics. Obviously you want to start with the basics, which was the reason that we started there. But the conversation around all these different modalities that can be used, used is so promising in thinking about ways that we can hack our overall physiology and optimize. Like going back to the optimization conversation. Since most people walk into their doctor's office and the only focus is on treating disease. It's like an enormous field of opportunity. Like this longevity field of we have so much control of how we feel if we're able to plug in the right inputs.

Absolutely. And yeah, I mean, mean, it's super empowering, I think, like the more that, you know and then the more access that, you know, hopeful. And I'm so excited by the way, for this to just become so much more accessible. Right. We know when the first human genome would sequence it was like billions of dollars. Now you can get a test for a couple hundred dollars. So talking about these topics, people pushing the envelope, posting about it, making it more known, will help it to eventually, you know, reduce the cost, I think, which is exciting.

Yeah, that's very exciting. So I'd love for you to talk about health at different stages of women's health. So you and I are both around the age of 35 and you're focused on fertility for women who are in that phase. Talk to me a little bit about that. Talk to me about women. Obviously we know that perimenopause can start as early as 35 years old and then women are going through menopause. So how do you think about health in these different phases? And then I'd also love for you to highlight, you mentioned the idea of, of extending ovarian aging and I'd love for you to talk about why that's important.

Yeah. So if you are. So for me, you know, I just got married two years ago. Took me quite a long time to find the most perfect husband for me. But we are excited to start trying to conceive. I have a little bit of international speaking and then we're going to get into it. So for me, I'm focusing on really optimizing every area of health. So I have a whole like, I think it's almost, almost 45 minutes or something video on everything I'm doing, but really trying to optimize my nutrient status, my gut health, my mitochondrial health. Because we also know that we pass on some of that through epigenetics. Right. So if you have the ability to optimize, I don't think you should be waiting per se, only to optimize. But those are a few things that I'm thinking about. And then obviously when we get into perimenopause, I mean, personally, I'm definitely going to be doing hrt, like bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. I feel so sad that so many women. I did an interview and I've heard that only 5% of women are on hormone replacement therapy. And that to me is devastating because there was, you know, the Women's health initiative over 20 years ago that used the wrong kind of hormones at the wrong age of stage of life, waited too long, etc, and then they stopped the study and basically put out that it would HRT would increase your risk of cancer. That's been disproven in every way. So when we get into perimenopause and menopause pause. Our risk of all cause mortality increases substantially. Right. So our risk of cardiovascular events, dementia, bone loss, we lose muscle mass, it's really a steep just drop. So I think that what I'll be doing is of course optimizing all of the basic lifestyle stuff, but also thinking about at least exploring HRT for me. I already have done that. So I'm going to do bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and I think, think that if more women are exploring that as an option, they can not only feel better through. So I'll use my mom as an example. So my mom lives in Ohio and she went to her just standard doctor and she's 53, she's in menopause now. And the first thing that she was told was that there was no way she was getting a prescription for HRT because it would cause cancer. So number one, you know, there's that because this entire cohort, right. Of like providers were educated on that old data. We now have this new data and I wish we could do like as big of a, you know, press release as somehow that's that research got. It feels so difficult. And we are, we are making progress. Have you seen everything with like, I believe Dr. Rachel Rubin and they're going to the FDA to take off these black box warnings because they're just presenting mountains of evidence that it's actually the opposite and that they need to remove that. So I'll be exploring, yeah, hrt. I'll also be increasing, you know, potentially protein, a little bit of changes within my strength training program when I get to perimenopause and menopause. Definitely very important in keeping, like I said, a great pulse on your bone density. So whatever that may be.

And when you say great pulse on your bone density, I just want to highlight the fact that you can get a DEXA scan, but it doesn't always come with bone density. So you want to make sure that the DEXA scan includes the bone density component. And as Kayla highlighted, highlighted bone density peaks in our 30s. So the fact that most women, like a lot of clients that we work with, we work with a lot of women that have osteoporosis and they don't get their first DEXA scan until they're 55, 60 years old. And it's like, what are we waiting for? The fact that this is the first time that anyone is checking your bone health is absolutely outrageous.

Yeah, I mean, I agree. I mean I've gotten DEXA scans for a few years already and it's exciting because it's malleable. Right. You can, you can increase your bone density, which is great. So the earlier that you can get started and start thinking about that, you know, I think the better. So yeah, those are pretty much the areas that I'm going to be focusing on. And it's so important because as you mentioned, you know, if we can extend ovarian age, that will push off menopause. Right. That means our risk of all causes of mortality will stay lower for longer. Women already live, I believe, between four and six years longer than men on average. But we are also plagued with more chronic disease and less quality of life in the later years because we lose, you know, these protective hormones. Estrogen is so protective. And if we can extend ovarian aging. So one interesting compound that I've been trialing is rapamycin. So rapamycin has been an extra exciting drug in the longevity industry. It was an immunosuppressant. So people are taking it for longevity to kind of reduce mtor, increase autophagy. You have to be careful though, when you're using it, of course, because there you're running the risk potentially of too much immunosuppressants, which we don't want. But there's the vibrant study which hasn't been peer reviewed yet. But they're showing that rapamycin, it can actually slow down the number of eggs that are being released each month. Because we know that we recruit all these, these eggs even though we only really release one to be fertilized, but all of those other eggs just die. So the rapamycin from what they're seeing early can extend ovarian aging by. Push out ovarian aging by about five years because it is slowing down the recruitment of those eggs and follicles. So you are wasting less each month, which is really exciting doing that in combination with things like hbot, the red light protocol, mostly doing red light around the shedding and then phase to reduce that inflammation. Because again, we don't have a lot of data on exactly why this happens, but just first principles thinking that if you're having inflammation every single month in a significant way in an organ, you know, it's probably going to age faster. So I am even now I'm. I'm not recommending this by any means. I'm just trying few kind of like out there things. I'm doing a senolytic which helps to clear out senescent cells or zombie cells. And it's become more popular in the longevity industry. So I'm doing that. That after we get through the bleed to see if it can help clear up any of that senescence in the ovaries. So these are just kind of like some, some wild, wild things that I'm thinking about and have chatted with my, my doctor friends and medical team and we're like, I don't know, let's see. It'll be really hard to track. Oh, but there is something exciting. So I just became an advisor to a company called Timeless Biotech. And they are the first time to menopause prediction AI model. So it will take blood, a few blood biomarkers, and a variety of other labs. There's a few different tiers. So there's like a, a basic tier with just a couple biomarkers or like comprehensive biomarkers. But their goal is to give you the age that you would actually enter menopause. But additionally you can measure ovarian aging. So then I can start to validate some of these protocols, at least on myself. Right. Because now it's incredibly difficult to know the age of the ovaries. But with this new AI, I'm super excited to do a test, try an intervention, do a retest, and just put the results out there.

It's so exciting. I think that, you know, for. For some people that might seem a little bit overwhelmed by all of these things, that it's important to note that like you, this is your profession and you're a leader in the industry that's helping to change the conversation around women's health by doing so many these different experiments that are so interesting and exciting, but not necessarily like where people should feel pressured to, to get to. Right? Like that.

Not at all. Yeah. I mean, honestly, focusing on the basics, getting good night's sleep, getting some morning sun, walking in nature. And we didn't even talk about it. We talked about it a little bit, but not quite enough is building in those stress reductions. So four times on my calendar per day, I have intentional stress reduction instruction. The first one is in the morning where for me, I like, read my Bible, I do some prayers, some meditation. Second one is a morning walk in nature. No phone, no nothing. Third one is a breath work. I have like a little device that I use. And then the fourth one is either for me, hbot, because it actually drops me right into parasympathetic and I stay there for a full hour, which is another really cool benefit or another walk or something where I'm able to actually shift into parasympathetic. But planning that I think is so incredibly important. So, yeah, I mean, if you're listening to this and you're interested in this type of stuff, I mean, you can see my protocol. I list out everything. I do all these wild routines. I'm posting everything on YouTube long form. But the most important thing is just like to make one to two small changes. And that's exciting because I always say one win leads to many wins. So after you get a great night's sleep and do a morning workout, you're going to feel so good. Good, most likely that you'll be encouraged to do other things for sure.

And I love that you highlight the fact that health is the foundation of greatness. I heard you say that a few times in the past. And it's like the why behind wanting to do so many of these things now for women that are listening who have kids, I would love to hear because since having kids, I feel like my routine has shifted a lot where I am listening to some of these things that you do and things thinking like, I don't know how I would be able to have four times of intentional stress reduction in my calendar every single day while also prioritizing them. So how do you think that being a mom will impact your routines as a whole? And how will you still prioritize your overall health?

Yeah, that's a great question. A lot of people on the Internet also have that question. How will my routines change? Obviously, I don't know quite yet. I intend on recruiting great help. To be honest with you. I really do still want to prioritize my help and I also am completely aware of the fact that that's a very, like, privileged position to be in. You know me, I've worked super, super hard, so I'm excited to be in a place that I can do that. But I'm probably going to have a nanny and a night nurse. But I do still want to be as hands on as I can. So I think that if I can have a few hours for sure in the morning to at least set my day and kind of cram, cram in some of my most essential things, some morning sun, some exercise that especially for the first few years, some things might have to go by the wayside a little bit. But I'm certainly going to try my absolute best and, you know, recruit help as needed to maintain because I think I'll also, you know, I want to prioritize this because it's my career, but I also want to set an example for my kids too about investing in health, just like you do, you know, know you're, like, always making healthy meals and, like, doing smoothies, and you guys are on hikes and walks. And I think incorporating my kids as much as I can, when I can, is going to be really helpful. Obviously, when they're tiny babies, that's not going to work, but as soon as they can. I love, like, seeing a lot of our friends, too, like Scott Panchak and his little daughter, like, in the gym. They've been in the gym for, like, so long, and they're so cute, and they love it, and they get to. To see their parents, like, setting this really great example, you know? And listen, I don't want to in any way. I also know that I'm not a parent, and I don't know what that's like just yet. So there's absolutely no shame in just doing whatever it is you can in whatever place that you are for your health, you know?

Yeah. I think that. I mean, you will adapt when you become a parent, and it's so exciting. And what I had shared with you about before we signed on is that I, as someone who's also invested a lot in my career into, you know, like, developing the team that I have and running the business that I run, am constantly in a place of feeling conflicted, where it never feels like I have the perfect solution because I have chosen not to have a night nurse and have sacrificed my sleep and other things because I, like, want to be there in those moments. And so I also think that it's important to not place judgment on. On what works best for you, like, whether it is hiring a night nurse and not working for you in the career that you're in, or it's that, like, you are taking some hit on your. Your overall health in order to be able to continue to do the things in your career that you love, to be with your kids as much as possible, because we have two kids in such a short period of time. And, like, I think to myself, these three years are the only years that we're going to get with them home, and we do have a nanny and we do have support. But I. I have chosen not to go the route of having as much help because I want to be there. And so I think that you will find what works best for you, Kayla, and you're going to be an incredible mom and an incredible role model to your kids and also continue to show the world how you can do this as a mom in prioritizing your health while being transparent around some of the ways that that's possible. Like the support and those sorts of things that might not be the case for all women.

Yeah, I mean, absolutely. And hey, I'm excited to look. I mean I could end up in the same exact place. Right. Like I could want to get up with my kids every time they wake up. I, I hope that I have some sleep reserves from all of these years of going to bed at 8:30 that I, you know, have some built up tolerance that will like get me through. But we'll see. I just, I think every, every kid is going to be different too. Right. Like they all have their own unique personality and it's going to be interesting for me. I'm really glad I have my husband because I'm a very like black and white. I'm an enneagram Type 1, if you know what that means. I just, I don't.

But I know you well enough to know what it means.

Okay.

Yes.

So it's like black or white. So I see things just either right or wrong kind of. And I will need to like have more flexibility in that because my kids, like, maybe they don't want. What if they end up hating working out or something or they, you know, just want to explore their own path. I'm excited. I love learning, I love life experiences. And yeah, I'm gonna just be as honest as I can when we get to that place. Like, hey, I've cut these things out. I've maybe added this or changed this and hopefully it's helpful.

Yeah. I'm so excited. I'm so excited for you.

I'm so excited too. And so excited for you. For everyone. Everyone.

How can people find you if they aren't following you yet? Share all of the work that you're doing so that they can learn.

Thank you. Well, I post content on Instagram. My handle's at Kayla Barnes. K A Y L A B A R N E S. And then my website is Kayla Barnes dot com. I also have my protocol. So you can just, you can find the protocol which breaks down all my lab testing, where I get it from, the costs, routines, all of that on the protocol website. And then I'm also posting long form YouTube videos every sing Saturday at Kayla Barnes Lentz. So Kayla Barnes and then Lens Lentz. But yeah, you can also just google Kayla Barnes and I think a few things will come up.

Amazing. Kayla, you are the best. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you so much for having me. And I can't wait to see you in person soon.

Me too. I know it's going to be so fun.

I know.