Why Everyone Feels Sick, Tired, and Overwhelmed | Functional Medicine & The Modern Food System

But people are realizing, you know, to directly answer your question, people are realizing that they're going to their doctors, they're asking all the questions, they're not getting any answers, they're just getting more medication and they're getting sicker.

Yeah.

So I think a lot of people are waking up in that aspect and they are looking for more integrative, holistic, functional routes. Not just in myself but with my clients, like, your body is self-healing if you give it the right environment. But you have to be intentional about giving it that right environment.

For me, I'm this way, and you probably have got like, you know, I just want to lose 250 pounds and I want to do it in 3 months. I think I'm going to go on a sardine fast starting right now. Like, I want to do all the things. I'm going to drink methylene blue every Tuesday, right? So how do you approach that type of client? Hey everyone, Caleb with the Finding Home Podcast. I have a very special guest joining with us today to talk about functional medicine and natural healing. Her name's Aaliyah, she goes by Aaliyah Marie. On social media. So we got to talk a little bit about the struggles with living in a rural area and trying to live the healthiest life that you possibly can without a lot of the same resources that other places have. A little bit about Aaliyah. Right now she's based in Alabama, but we actually are from the same community, same county, in good old West Virginia. Aaliyah is a board-certified functional medicine coach. She specializes in hormone health, fatigue, anxiety, and gut restoration. She is the creator of the Be Well Company Method, a comprehensive functional wellness program that's rated in the top 12%. It's the only program of its kind integrating labs, nervous system regulation, detox, and metabolic restoration in one framework. She helps women address the root causes and restore lasting energy by creating the right internal environment for healing. I think you're going to be blessed by the conversation that we have and just be motivated to live a more healthier lifestyle. So let's jump in. You're in Alabama right now, but we are connected by a little town or a little county, county called Mingo County, West Virginia.

Yeah.

Uh, how long have you been living in Alabama?

2018. Moved here in 2018.

Oh wow. So it's, it's okay. I didn't know you were in Alabama that long.

I've been here for a minute. Yeah.

All right, so we just have a lot to talk about if you've got the time.

I do.

I, I know that what you're doing is amazing. We follow you. My wife and I follow you. We're hoping to connect in the future. To do some really, really cool stuff. Yeah, um, we're still in Mingo County where there's a Dollar General everywhere, probably in, in someone's closet. Um, and then there's fast food, McDonald's, Walmart, uh, and you know because you used to live here. Uh, I want to kind of go back a little bit into your journey arriving to what you do today. Like, what did your health journey look like growing up in Mingo County?

As you know, that area is just a very poverty-stricken area. And I was a Medicaid baby, as most people were. So my mom would just buy whatever the, I guess, food stamps would buy, which is processed foods. You know, I mean, people in that area don't have, and I don't feel like have ever had, I don't know if knowledge is, is the right word. Um, an interest, I guess, in anything other than just quick, easy, like the country fried foods, box foods. Um, so that's what I grew up eating was just basically the standard American diet, whatever was quick quick, whatever was convenient.

Um, did you go to public school?

I did, yeah.

So they had like the, the brown cinnamon oatmeal in the mornings?

Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.

Yes, yes, Super Donuts, all that stuff.

Super Donuts.

But you brought up a good point because I, I don't remember ever having this conversation even beyond 18 years old. Of healthy food, healthy choices, what I was eating, that was— it was a, it was a foreign language.

Yeah. And we're always told from a young age, like, the school food is healthy, you know, it's— it has all the food groups, it has the dairy, it has, you know, all these things, but it's still highly processed. It's not— it's not healthy. It still has— if we look at the ingredient lists, of the packaging of that food, it's horrific. It is horrific. So it's not— it definitely is not healthy. And this is what we're fed from a very young age, and it starts at home, and then we go to school and we continue. And it creates an addiction, in my opinion, um, because that's what the food companies do, really. They put, um, The ultra-processed foods have all the chemicals and preservatives and all those things in there that make, that make these foods like how highly like palatable and the flavors enhanced. And then when we go to eat real foods, the real foods taste bland to us and boring because we're used to that, the enhancement of those flavors of the processed foods. So that's really hard to get away from for a lot of people. Because it's in our homes, it's in our schools, it's at our churches. It's— we can't get away from it. It's very hard to get away from. I was at the bank— this is probably last year— at the bank, and they were selling candy bars at the bank. And I'm like, we can't get away from it in our culture. It's so convenient. And kind of going off topic here a little bit, but as you know, I was raised Christian, um, as a Christian community or just a culture in general, I guess, when we see somebody who drinks alcohol or we see somebody who maybe smokes weed or is on some kind of drug, we tend to just look down our nose at them like, oh, they're addicted to this or they're addicted to that. But what about the food? There's so many of us who are addicted, and I was one of those people. So I feel like I can talk about this because I would, I would eat a box of Little Debbies in one sitting. I would have brownies for breakfast.

Little Debbie, man, she betrayed us.

She did.

We trusted her and she betrayed us. Yeah.

Big Deborah. Yeah. I mean, and I never cared if I had real food because I was so addicted to the process, the highly processed foods. That I ate my way into disease. I was diagnosed with, um, rheumatoid arthritis and Raynaud's disease when I was 16, um, and then it just progressed from there. Few years later, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I had chronic migraines. I was chronically fatigued. Nobody ever told me that it was the foods that I was consuming. That's just not what our, our culture doesn't talk about that because food is acceptable and it's accessible anywhere, right? Like going back to the bank, like it's, it's at the convenience stores, it's at our churches, it's, it's literally everywhere. There's a McDonald's on every corner. And we get addicted to those foods. So I don't feel like we have a place to, to really judge the alcoholic or the drug addict when we can't, we can't crucify the addiction that we have. To the highly processed foods, to the fast foods, to the sugars, to the sodas, all of those things. So I think that's something that people really need to kind of just reflect on and think about that, because you, you can eat your way into disease. And if you're not living abundantly, the Bible says we're supposed to live abundantly, right? If you're not living abundantly, that's not biblical. I don't, I don't think that's pleasing to God. If—

clip it, clipping it. That's a good one. Yeah, what you're saying— I, I'm gonna have to calm down because you're saying things I'm thinking, oh, there's 5 different questions that I just want to hit on that. And let's address that, what you just said, because it's so important. I would say processed food and sugar may be number 1 in terms of addiction, especially in the West. 100%. And I'm being vulnerable even with myself, even looking at the mentality of it. Even when you're on a strict diet or you're, you're doing performance weightlifting, you always give yourself what we call a cheat day, right? And it's the, it's the day where we associate this food as a reward.

Yeah.

So I have lived the last almost 40 years thinking that this food that's really killing me is actually my gift to me. And there's this psychological war that we just have to really realize, hey, I have a food addiction, I have a sugar addiction. You have an alcoholic dish, you have a meth addiction, I have a food addiction. I think, and I think it's like the root, and correct me if I'm wrong, it's our— the way that we think about food. If we can really change that first, I think that behavior may follow it.

Yeah. And, um, another thing that I teach actually is I have a Growing Healthy Children workshop because I think it's important to obviously teach our kids a good relationship with food. Because I mean, going back on, you know, if we just reflect back on our childhood, when we got good grades, we were rewarded with a treat. If we're good at school, we're rewarded with a treat.

We had surge parties. We had a legit, like, surge party in elementary school. Like, people were raving out on the parking lot, like, 6 surges deep, okay? And that's, that's not good for some people, you know? Like, it's— it was wild back then.

Yeah, yeah. And we're rewarded with food. Our culture, if we're— we associate emotions with food. So I think that's where the addiction really stems from. Is an emotional aspect because I mean, look at our culture. If somebody dies, we eat. If somebody gets married, we eat. If it's Friday and it's pretty outside, we eat. If we get good grades on our report card, we eat. I mean, we eat for— if we're sad, we eat. If we're happy, we eat. And then we associate every emotion with eating and we feel like we have to have a little snacky snack, you know, every time we feel any type of way. So it triggers that dopamine receptor. It triggers that reward system in your brain. To think that you have to have a snack. And then when we eat that snack, we get really happy, which is that dopamine hit, which is the same as alcohol and drugs. It's no different. I mean, tell somebody that they have to give up their Little Debbies and Sprite for a week and see how they act. It's the same as any other addiction. Most people can't do it. And I was one of those people. I could not do it. It was very hard for me. I had a legitimate sugar addiction. It's a real thing. Food addiction is an addiction that is not talked about enough, in my opinion.

Yeah, and I, I noticed something, and you can probably put some science language behind it. I would eat clean, I'd feel really, really good, and then I would eat something that I know is terrible, and all of a sudden— and I didn't associate it yet— I just get depressed. Like, I would get in these moods, like, I don't know why I'm sad. Everything— like, I can't pinpoint what— like, there's nothing— there's not a sad event that's happening. But I didn't realize, you know what, my diet changed and I'm eating something that's so chemically mixed together like a bag of Skittles. And all of a sudden I'm in this funk. I'm thinking, how powerful are the things that we put in our body? It tripped me out. I think that was my wake-up call. Like, there's no reason why. And you know what I'm talking about. You get in this place like, I don't want to go outside. I don't want to go talk to people. Because I ate a bag of Skittles.

Yeah, yeah. No, no, it's a real thing. So ultra-processed foods, the highly processed foods that are packed full of chemicals and preservatives and artificial dyes, all of that interferes with your gut flora, your gut microbiota. So most people who eat the standard American diet, people who are on medications, who have a high stress level, things like that, their, their gut health their gut balance is off. They have too much of the bad bacteria, not enough of the good. That's what we call a gut dysbiosis in functional medicine, and it's an imbalance. So it can hinder your serotonin production, which is in your gut. 10% of serotonin, which is the happy chemical, is made in your brain. 90% of serotonin is made, made in your gut. So if your gut health is not optimal, from eating the Skittles, from eating the standard American diet.

Yeah, Skittles.

The serotonin production is not there, so you're not having— you're not getting that happy chemical. Wow. So that, that would explain that.

A lot of people don't know that. I, I've been reading a book. I've read it once before. I'm rereading it now. It's TJ Power, uh, The Dose Effect, and it's about neurotransmitters. It's about kind of breaking a phone addiction, breaking bad eating habits. It's connecting to your dopamine base level. And what he has suggested in the book— it's a really good book, you read a chapter and he gives you homework— and one of the pieces of homework was, when it's time to eat, I want you to really cook your meal. I want you to spend the time to, to make your meal. If you have a garden, go out, pick it, put it on your plate, because that is, you know, holding back that instant dopamine hit that then shrinks down your dopamine base level. And I— we've been trying to do that. I've been eating, trying to eat pretty early in the day and kind of do a little bit of fasting in the evening, but it's really helped. It's, it's, it's really, really helped, and it's kept me from just falling to convenience.

Yeah, no, for sure. I think that's, that's great advice. And your brain, like you said, our brain is neuroplastic, meaning the neurotransmitters can be you can redirect those neurotransmitters. Like, your brain can literally change. Your mindset can literally change. So doing things like that is super beneficial. Also, I'm really big on words of affirmation and like speaking things out loud, things that I want to be in existence. The power of life and death is in the tongue, right? So speaking things out loud is really important. So anytime I want any type of change, and I need a little help with my mindset, I will start speaking those things out loud as if they've already happened.

Okay. Yeah, my mind went to, uh, Anger Management when he makes Adam Sandler sing, I feel pretty, oh so pretty. Uh, but no, that's so true though. That, that is so true. Like, I know that parents have made— with, with a lot of parenting classes that I've seen, you know, just affirming your children and affirming them, you know, in the mirror. I think it's important, like you just suggested, to do that over yourself.

Mm-hmm.

Because you were talking about like your health journey, having all these things that were going wrong. I want to ask you, how was that experience for you? Because you're not probably hearing from the doctors, hey, it's your diet. Um, it's, it's, here's a medication for that symptom. Here's a medication for that symptom. I find myself in circles with people that talk about all the medications that they're on. Like, it's, it's a great time. Like, this is the time of my life is I get to share you all the new medications I'm on. We're sitting down, it's like, this is so strange, like, how this has been normalized. So I want to ask you, like, how your journey was, because you got a lot of stuff happening, um, with your health. What are you hearing from doctors? What's your, you know, what's the hope in your heart? Is there any, or do you like, I'm just going to be on medication my whole life?

Of course. When I would speak to my doctors about getting off of medications, they would always say, this is just something, you know, my hypothyroidism, for example, you know, this is just cards you've been dealt. Your thyroid is not working optimally. There's nothing you can do. You're going to have to be on this medication for the rest of your life. And that's what I like to call now that I've, that I've been down this rabbit hole in this journey is called learned helplessness. And it makes the patient feel like they're helpless. It's genetic. It wasn't your fault. There's nothing you can do. So that, that made me feel helpless. And I'm like, okay, well, this, these are just the cards that I've been dealt. There's nothing I can do. So I'm just going to have to take the medication. Right. And that's a very vulnerable place to be, to feel like you don't have any kind of power and you're just helpless. Because I was chronically fatigued. I was miserable. So I was irritable. I wasn't the best spouse. I wasn't the best mother. I wasn't the best employee. I wasn't the best person because I didn't feel good. And like I said, that's a terrible place to be. When I look back on, I have a 16-year-old son and a 14-year-old son. And when they were little, all they wanted was their mommy to play with them on the floor. I just remember them asking, hey, will you get down and play cards with me? And I would parent from the couch because I was so miserable. I would just lay on the couch and say, no, mommy's not feeling good. And those are the memories that I have of my kids who are almost grown. And it breaks my heart. If I can tell anybody anything, it would be you are more powerful than you were ever permitted to believe. You can take your health into your own hands. You can take your life into your own hands and literally become the person that you want to be. You just have to be willing to take that first step. If you're wanting off medications, it's absolutely possible. If you're wanting a better mindset, it's absolutely possible. You just have to be open-minded and willing to be receptive to information and do the work. And I'm so glad that I had a cousin actually who had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Crohn's disease, and she went down this road 20 years ago.

Oh, wow.

So I had her kind of in the back of my mind at some point. I think it was around 2016. I was still living there in Mingo County and I was talking to her and she's like, we need to start with you changing your diet because she had overcome those diseases through holistic healing, functional medicine, really focusing on health at a cellular level, right? Just beyond diet because health really is more than just what you're eating. So she was an inspiration for me and I reached out to her and I was like, hey, I really am miserable and I want to get off all these medications. So she helped me get started. With eating more organically, eating more whole foods. And then I started to feel better, right? So that's what started my journey. And I realized, okay, I'm more powerful than anybody has ever permitted me to believe. I can do this. And I think that was like the aha moment for me, like the moment that clicked, because I went from being super miserable, irritable, into feeling a whole lot better. I hadn't come off medications at that point, but I, I felt better and I was losing weight. And that's another thing, I was probably like 70 pounds overweight. So it was just, it was just a whole situation. And everything that I have learned has not been from a doctor, has not been from the medical system, it has not been from a medical doctor.

Yeah, I, I see like poverty mindset and victim mentality kind of go hand in hand. And it's a really hard place to be because you, you think of like the couch parent. A lot of people are going to relate to that statement that you made, a lot of people that, you know, feel shameful over that. But if you look at their situation, yes, we didn't have the education growing up. No one really told us what was going on. I think that's changing now, but You look at the facts. Yes, you've been put on medication that's probably making you a lifetime customer. Um, so yeah, if you look at the cards that you were dealt, you can act— you have every right to feel sorry for yourself. The problem is, is you will stay there. Yeah, there's no change. And that's that poverty mindset. It's, it's when that, that, like you were saying, that little glimmer of hope comes in through the window, be like, hey, you can be more than this. It's going to be kind of difficult. You're going to have to really think differently, but it can happen. I just think a lot of people are going to relate. People listening to this that are sitting on the couch now, like, it's hard to move, it's hard to, you know, have access to, to healthier foods. In their mind too, it's like, I don't know what you felt when she was starting to suggest like, hey, you got to start eating different. Did you think, oh man, we got a tree hugger over here? Or, oh no, we've got a hippie, blah blah blah blah blah.

I'm telling you. Okay, so she, she is my cousin, so she came to all the family events every year, and she was always the weird one. She was the one who brought her— made her own toothpaste and brought her own— she brought her own food. She would not eat the food that we prepared, and we always just thought she was very odd. Um, But who was the first person that I reached out to? It was her.

Yeah, she's probably a great time.

Yeah, no, she is. She's, she's a whole— she's a character. She's funny. Um, but no, like, she's the first person I reached out to, and I was like, okay, obviously you are doing something right and I'm not, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna like swallow my pride here and ask you to to teach me some of the things that you've learned in your journey, because overcoming non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Crohn's disease is huge.

Yeah.

I mean, you don't hear that every day. So that's when, that's when I realized, okay, if she can do this, I can do this.

Yeah. A lot of people that are listening to this, like, unfortunately this isn't common knowledge, right? Unfortunately it's not the fad. In most families. So people that are listening to you say this, they may have to pioneer and be the only one in their family—

be the black sheep.

Hey, that's being the black sheep, that's bringing their own toothpaste to the party, you know. That was the moment that you switched everything and you started pursuing. So talk to me through, like, you start getting better, you start feeling better. From that point to now, what you're doing now, because what you're doing now is phenomenal. You start eating right, you start following some advice, and you start feeling better. So what kind of unfolds from that point? Do you cure your diseases? Do you get off medication? What was that process like?

Okay.

And, uh, where'd it take you from there?

Yeah, so like I said, in 2016 is when the door was open for me with my cousin. In 2018, uh, my husband at the time, we had moved to Alabama and he was diagnosed with MS, multiple sclerosis. So that was really the turning point for me. That was the point where I just became a bulldog. I was pissed, I was mad, I was overwhelmed. I was like, okay, we've been kind of eating a little healthy And my, and my husband at the time was very health-conscious, seemingly health-conscious. Like, he would go to the gym, he would seemingly eat healthy. But now, the things that I know now looking back, our definition of eating healthy in this culture is completely wrong. So we thought we were eating healthy, but we really were not eating healthy. Um, so he was diagnosed with MS, and that's when I really went down like the medical corruption rabbit hole and then started learning about the culture, processed foods, and just the vicious cycle of eating the foods, our high-stress lifestyle in this culture, going to the doctor, getting on medications. And it's just like this cycle. Like, once you're in the system, it's really hard to get out of the system unless you're very intentional about getting out of the system. So at that point is when I invested in a coach of my own, and I started learning about holistic healing, like true healing, functional medicine, all of those things. Um, and then he and I would implement everything that we would learn. And then I was able to come off of all of my medications. I mean, I dropped the 70 pounds I dropped in just a few months. Um, I was eating real whole foods. I was focusing on gut health. I was focusing on nervous system regulation, all of those things, like the totality of the lifestyle. Which I think is really important because again, going back to our culture, a lot— we're in a diet culture in this country. Everybody wants to be skinny. That's everybody's goal is to be skinny, right? It's not everybody's goal to be healthy per se. So all of the fad diets that we have in this culture is focused more on like calorie counting, being skinny, dropping 20 pounds, which is not necessarily healthy. So I believe in the totality of the lifestyle. I really focused on like what I was eating, how I was sleeping, reducing my stress level, focusing on gut health, mindset, all of those things. Because again, like the totality of the lifestyle is extremely important. You can't out-exercise a bad diet. It doesn't matter how many times you're going to the gym. If you're eating even a portion of the standard American diet, it's, it's interfering with your body on a cellular level. It's disrupting your gut health. It's disrupting your hormone health, your metabolic health. So Again, you can't out-exercise a bad diet. It has to be done in the totality if you want true sustainable healing.

I probably need to get a class with you because I— you were saying things like, oh, I do that. Oh, I do that. I'm on a calorie deficient diet right now. Oh no.

Yeah, but which is not— it's not long-term sustainable. This is what I teach my clients. Like, if we're going to do something, it needs to be long-term sustainable. This is not something you want to do for 3 months to drop 20 pounds. Like, this is something you want to do for the rest of your life if you want longevity, if you want true healing. Um, Blue Zone areas of the world— are you familiar with Blue Zone areas?

Probably not as much as you are.

Yeah, so the Blue Zone areas are the areas of the world, the healthier population, so the, the populations that have the lowest disease rate, the longest lifespan. So think like Costa Rica, Brazil, Okinawa, Japan. Have you ever seen an unhealthy, sickly-looking Asian? Probably not. It's because they focus on the totality of the lifestyle. They get out, they get outside, they get in the dirt, they get in the sunlight, they eat whole foods, they eat intuitively. They don't count calories. They eat intuitively and they eat whole foods. They move their body. They have a spiritual journey. They're doing all of the things on a daily basis. And that's what I strive to be and teach my clients to be as well.

Do you want to learn learn how to homestead? Are you tired of that stuck feeling, not being able to find that piece of land that you can call home? This might be the community for you. I love helping homesteaders find that piece of land that they're looking for so they can let their roots grow deep and they can build family. I've helped reclaim over 20,000 acres using permaculture design and regenerative agricultural principles. I've helped develop land. I've also helped acquire land for future homesteaders, often at a very, very low price and even free. In this community, you're going to learn how to, one, find that piece of land. Number two, if you found the land, how to design it where it's sustainable, where it flows, and where you prevent burnout. Number three, how you can get a return on your homestead to exit out the 9 to 5 and join the simple life. You can visit our classroom that will have step-by-step courses to get you where you want to be. We have weekly Q&A calls where you can submit questions and we go over them as a community. We also have many in-person events including an in-person permaculture design certification course. If this seems like the right decision for you, hit the box join group and I'll see you in there. You know, I'm eating a protein, I'm eating, I'm eating, uh, bitter, bitter greens, rice. I'm eating the same thing every day.

Yeah.

So it made me think, like, what are, what are some misconceptions that we have as a culture that we think we're eating healthy? You said that, like, we think we're eating healthy but we're really not. Let's name a couple. I guarantee you I'm going to hit some of those that you're talking about, but I think people will be interested to hear like, what's she talking about? I'm eating rice cakes and I'm happy.

Yeah, yeah. So, okay, the first thing that comes to mind is like the keto bars, right? Or, um, I don't know if I can name drop. What is that other— Plexus? Is it Plexus? Is it Plexus? Yeah, I think it's Plexus. Plexus. I don't know if you want me to name drop them. Things like that that are in our diet culture. People think they consume these things because they think that it's healthy because it's coming from a healthy company, which really is just a greenwashed company. If you're familiar with the term greenwashing, it basically is a company that is established in the name of health, but sure, it's not healthy. When you look at the ingredients of the keto bars or the Plexus products, the ingredient list is going to be super long, full of just words that you can't pronounce, which are chemicals and preservatives and maybe artificial dyes, different things like that. So those are the things that come to mind when you ask me what are some of the things that we might be consuming that we think are healthy that are not really healthy. So I would say it's It's things like that. Trying to find healthier versions of the food, of the processed foods that we were eating is another misconception. So instead of just eating real whole foods, we as a culture feel like we have to find healthier processed versions of the ultra-processed versions that we were eating. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Where's the healthy Froot Loops at, man? I'm ready to make a change.

But there are, there are healthier options, don't get me wrong. But if it's mainstream— so my personal rule of thumb is if it's mainstream, if it's something everybody is doing, it's not—

don't do it.

Don't do it. Don't do it. If it's a fad, if it's a fad, like, don't do it. And that includes, in my opinion, Plexus and like the GLP-1s and, and all of these things that, you know, all these fads that are happening right now, um, it's, it's not the right route to go if you're wanting true sustainable wellness.

Yeah, it still goes back to the, to the thought process, the mind. Like, yeah, you can get on the GLP-1, but that's symptom of being overweight, right? It's, it's not really addressing the psychology, the relationship that you have. And like you said, people are trying to find a healthier option. Like, we should want to find the healthiest option because of what it makes— how it makes us feel.

Yeah.

But there's still this— man, the mind is so important in this thing, from what I'm understanding.

Yeah, yeah, your mindset is so important. And our mind always tries to find the easiest way out. That's just how we are as, as creatures, as human beings. Our mind tries to find the easiest way out, the easiest route. And if we can take a shot for that, if we can take a diet pill for that, like that's where we just naturally want to go. But you have to stop and have a conversation with yourself and ask, is this— first of all, am I learning anything from this? And this is why people who do take the easy way out and eventually come off of the diet pill or come off of the shot or come off of the keto diet or the Weight Watchers diet, they resort back to their old habits, right? And then they gain all the weight back. And then all their symptoms come back. And it's because, first of all, they didn't learn anything. They didn't learn how to crucify their relationship with food, their negative relationship with food. They didn't learn how to eat intuitively. They didn't learn how to truly eat healthy. They didn't learn how to truly take care of their body. They have no knowledge. So they just they take the easiest way out. They resort back to their old habits, and then their symptoms come back, their weight comes back, and then they're back to square one.

And it's harder every time, and it's harder to start over because you're wrecking your metabolism at the same time.

You know, it's each time the weight is harder and harder to get off, or the symptoms are harder and harder to start suppressing.

Mhm. So We're— we have a lot of people that are, you know, trying to start getting healthier, um, in our community. And like, they find the app that they can scan and it tells you if it's good or not. And what I'm seeing is there's this overwhelming, just like, everything's trying to kill me realization. What do I— and they're stuck, like they're just stuck in the mud. I'm I'm sure you probably have clients that come to you in the first couple sessions. It's like, Walmart is trying to take out my entire family and I don't even know what to do. Like, especially in a rural community where you don't— maybe you don't have a garden, you don't have knowledge of, you know, growing or raising your own food, and you have Walmart or the dollar store. How do you talk those clients off the cliff? You know, like, it's just crazy. How do you— how do you say, like, slow down? And kind of redirect their focus?

Yeah. So I meet all my clients where they are. I think that's the best approach. I don't try to overwhelm because when we over— when we get overwhelmed, when we feel overwhelmed, what do we typically do? We just throw our hands up and we're like, fine, I quit. I'm not doing anything because I'm overwhelmed.

Victim mentality. That's the easiest way into there.

Yeah, absolutely. Your, your mind's taking the easiest way out. Um, so I meet my clients where they are. And we start slow. So I might look at some of the things that they are currently eating. I'll have them send me a food journal and then I'll find the healthier, convenient option for them, for them to start with. And then we'll just go from there. You don't have to go from 0 to 100. This is a journey. I like to call this a journey. It's not a destination. You'll never be where you want to be, ever. It's never a destination. It's a journey and it's a learning journey. And I think it's actually really important that you don't go from 0 to 100. Take your time, educate yourself, really like marinate on the education. Learn how to read labels, learn how to do these things for yourself so that one day you, you don't need me. You have the knowledge because you've taken it slow and you've learned the necessary things to be able to— for this to be long-term sustainable for you. Does that make sense?

Yeah, no, that's, that's really good. I I, my dad recently was diagnosed with colon cancer and he had an issue where he's doing— honestly, I think it's like the best thing that's ever happened to him. I hope if he hears this that he understands what I mean. It's just he's starting to be very conscious of eating healthy and, and beating this thing in the right way. But I did notice something. My mother and I were in the living room, and he's talking about all these things that he wants to do naturally, and, and we just start spitting stuff. Like, I'd say we said over 100 things. And I see my dad over there like overwhelmed, overwhelmed. And he's like, well, I got this, I got this protein powder, you know, I'm gonna start introducing this. And I looked at it, I'm like, Dad, it's got seed oils all in it. Yeah. And it's— and then he's just like distraught, you know? I'm like, man, I could have really handled this differently, but people just get so overwhelmed.

It is. It's very overwhelming. And the advice that I like to give is that I feel like resonates with most people and is the easiest to receive is go back to the basics. You don't need a healthier version of something that you were eating. You need real whole foods. Get back to the basics. You don't need any kind of like boxed processed foods. Get back to eat salads. You don't have to have your own garden. You can go to the store, eat salads, cook. Don't cook from a box, cook from real whole foods. Because again, going back to the Blue Zone areas, that's, that's exactly what they do. They don't— I had lunch a couple of weeks ago with a guy from Switzerland. He's from America, but he's lived in Switzerland for 30 years. That's where his wife is from. And he said, if you are on your way home from work and you just need— if you're wanting like something quick and convenient, you don't have that option. You have to go to the— you have to go home and cook. You have to go to the store to get the foods to take home to cook. You don't have that option. And when we think historically, before, you know, mass grocery stores and things like that, people ate real whole foods. They ate intuitively. They didn't eat all day long like we do. We like to, we feel like we have to snack all the time, right? So really think of historically how our ancestors do it, how other countries, you know, the Blue Zone areas particularly do it. They eat real whole foods. They don't snack all day. And just getting back to the basics of how we were designed to live and eat. And I feel like that's the simplest way that I can explain it. That would resonate.

Yeah, it— we could go on a huge rabbit trail on— I think that even convenience by itself is a poison in many, many different areas, because even back with our ancestors, they had to, you know, raise their own food, but they couldn't do it by themselves either. Like, they were forced to, to be in community or they would not make it.

Yeah.

So it prevents this even reclusive state that a lot of people go into where I'm not doing well, so I'm just gonna hide in my little hole and sit on the couch and eat my potato chips. Um, because I've been there. I've been that person. I've been that person that just wants to hide and just waste away. But I also— it brings up a thought, and I'd like to get your thoughts on it. I think that we live in a no culture, and what I mean by that is when we're kids, we're taught say no to drugs. Say no to this. And then there's all these things that are harmful to us that they teach us, say no to that, say no to that. I think that we have to be a yes culture, like, and we have to say yes to things that really bring value to our life. And instead of going to the grocery store saying, oh, no to that, no to that, no to that, our focus could be, where is that food that I'm saying yes to that I know like feeling good tastes better than processed food, right? It's just, I was in Australia for a while and this is how our foods were. We get it right from the garden, like fresh, right from the garden. Yeah. And we were there for a whole week and I didn't know where the trash can was. And I just had this random thought like, I've not thrown away a piece of trash in a week. Like, this is weird. And it wasn't like this hippie thing. I'm just like, I don't even know where the trash can's in. That's because we weren't creating it. It was right on the farm. And I look so forward to saying yes to that.

I love that.

I wanted everybody to experience— if there was an option to have Oreo Os for breakfast, I would have said no. I would have said yes to what they were having on the farm. And I think it's just this mindset shift.

It is. Yeah, our mind is super powerful. And then we get comfortable as well. You know, we're raised a certain way. How we're raised, we can't help that, right? But we get comfortable in those— I like to call them like the generational curses that need to be broken at some point. Um, and that includes mindset, it includes our lifestyle, it includes the foods that we eat. Um, those gener— somebody has to break the generational curse at some point. Why not you?

That's good.

Statistically speaking, our children— I don't know if you know, you probably know this, but our children are not expected to outlive us. That's how chronically ill our children are. So if that doesn't help you shift your mindset, what will? What will? Yeah, because chronic disease in this culture has skyrocketed, but especially in our children. The fact that our children, statistically speaking, are not expected to outlive us because they're so chronically ill is scary.

I would challenge someone to take your label reading class and go to Walmart and start reading labels. I mean, spend a whole afternoon, don't even grocery shop, just read the labels. And there should be this righteous anger that comes over you that not just— they're, they're not just doing it today. This has been happening for a very, very long time. Our bodies, in my opinion, are miraculous and how the body can thrive and heal itself. And we have all this chronic disease. That's how bad we are poisoning our body.

Yeah, it's an everyday thing. Like, our body doesn't have time to restore and heal because we go to sleep, we get up the next morning, and we poison it all over again. And it's not just with the foods, it's with the products that we're using. Our shampoos, our lotions, our, our body's natural detoxification processes can't do their job because we just are overloading it every single day over and over and over. The average person is exposed to over 1,500 toxins on a daily basis.

My goodness.

We go to sleep, we get up, we do it all over again. So yeah, I, I definitely believe, and I've witnessed not just in myself but with my clients, like, your body is self-healing if you give it the right environment, but you have to be intentional about giving it that right environment.

Hey guys, just a quick break. I wanted to let you know that I have written a PDF called 10 Lessons That 10 Years of Homesteading Has Taught Me, and this is for any aspiring homesteader that would like to be encouraged on your journey. This PDF is is absolutely free. I'm gonna put the link in the show notes. Check it out, let me know how it is, and I'd love to help you and walk with you on your homesteading journey. So you do a lot of coaching, do a lot of education. Um, do you still do one-on-ones?

I do.

So if someone comes to you and let's say it's your first session What do you notice? Because I know you said, you know, I meet them where they're at. You're not going to have the same client every time. It's going to be very different. It's what makes us beautiful, right? Um, our uniqueness. Do you see, like, what are the, the, I guess, average roadblocks that you see in people's minds at moving towards a more holistic lifestyle?

Definitely The time objective. A lot of people feel like they don't have time. And then a lot of people also feel like they don't have the money. They don't have the money, first of all, to invest in their health. They don't have the money to eat healthy. But I challenge that by saying, again, if you're trying to eat, if you're trying to find the healthier versions of the garbage that you've been eating, that's when it gets expensive. Like if you're on a Plexus subscription if you're trying to find healthier convenient foods, because any type of convenient food, healthy convenient food, is going to be expensive, right? So I don't spend any more money at the grocery store now than I did before, and it's because I don't shoot for convenience. So this is how I teach my clients. I, I buy real whole foods. Rice is cheap, beans are cheap, Right? Mm-hmm. So the money objective is pretty easily overcome when I, when I give them that approach, not focusing on buying like the healthier convenient things or being on some sort of health subscription for the rest of their life. The goal is to not need supplements. The goal is to not need health products, right? The goal is to get your body's functions working optimally and properly, and then just sustain that through eating healthy. And then the time objective— a lot of people, we're in a busy culture, so a lot of people—

yeah, that I wanted to talk about that when you said that. That's probably a big issue.

Yeah, they feel like they don't have the time. Um, but truth is, we— I mean, we all have the same 24 hours. Like, what you do with your 24 hours and what I do with my 24 hours is totally up to us. A lot of people Waste time. They waste time doom scrolling, watching TV. That's something that I quit doing. Oh my gosh. Probably in 2000, maybe '19, I stopped watching TV. I stopped scrolling my phone. I'm to the point now in my life, if something is not serving me, benefiting me, educating me, helping me in some way, it does not get my attention. So that's another thing that I really am big on teaching my clients is if it's not serving you, you got to get rid of it.

Yeah, that's one of my— and it's really hard, I'll be honest. Yeah, parenting. We're trying to parent our kids in a way where we don't want to raise consumers. Yeah, we want to, we want to raise creators. And so we pulled the TV.

I love it.

And we, we used to have like movie nights every, you know, Saturday. Um, we don't do that anymore. We might do it once a month and, and watch something, but we want them to— and it really bothered me when they started making like these Playphones. I'm like, this, this is— I know it's like, it's not a big deal. Like, I didn't find my drugs in my kid's room, I found a, a Play cell phone. I'm gonna lower my hand here. I gotta quit talk with my hands. Um, but it bothered me. I'm like, there's— they see— because I use it for work. I use it because a lot of people want to talk with you after they get off work.

Yeah.

So we made a rule for me, I put my phone down at 5 o'clock, and people can't understand. Like, they think I'm lying. You know how people like, oh, I missed your message. Like, no, you didn't. It's 2026. Like, you chose just not to respond to it. So I'm like, no, I really like— I set my phone down at 5.

Yeah.

And then I pick it up in the morning and I have a set time where I'll get back with you during like the morning. And I'm just trying to— because I think YouTube and other— there's really good things on there. Like if you're, if you're good, if you're watching it in the place of you're, you're working on professional, personal development, um, if there's like business coaching like that can be a really, really good resource. But it starts to be a problem when it's entertainment and you're just sitting there and you're consuming. And because you can blink and an hour goes by, it's soul-sucking.

Yeah, yeah. And there goes your time. There goes your time that you could have done a couple of lessons if you're in a wellness program, or you could have read a health-related book or something that's again benefiting you and serving you. Um, so yeah, that I agree. And then everybody wants to be part of that 1%. Everybody wants to be the 1% that's optimally healthy or the 1% that's optimally wealthy. Everybody wants that, right?

Mm-hmm.

What do you have to do to get to that point? You have to do the things that the 99% won't do. 99% of people won't put their phones down. 99% of people won't stop scrolling.

Mm-hmm.

Right? So you have to put yourself in this box. Of being that 1% and sacrificing all of the things that the 99% are doing and wasting their life on.

Yeah, I, I— for me, like, when you say time, I think that was one of the biggest issues for me last year was my schedule was so chaotic because I didn't have a plan. I just responded. I, I lived a life of just responding to things or and I always felt like I was in— like I was catching up every day, just trying to catch up. I— for me to be able to do the things I need to do, I had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning. And a lot of people are like, that's crazy, it won't do that. It is at first, but then you start craving it. Like, I feel so good. And one of them is a cold plunge. Like, I never ever ever want to do it. People understand, like, personally, I would— people like, I never ever want to do it. And like, aside from the health benefits from it, what it does for me is like this psychological war. Like, if I can do this really hard thing at the beginning of my day, yeah, I can win the rest of the day. But to say all that, like, that was my humble brag. I was like, I eat Skittles and I cold plunge, right? No, um But I was just saying, like, I now have a routine and people like, well, that's so rigid. You don't have to— I actually have more time for fun and more time for relaxation because I have a routine.

Yes, I love that you brought that up because another thing that I teach is to reduce decision fatigue, you have to do the same things pretty much every single day. But yeah, to reduce decision fatigue, because that's another thing, you know, people feel like you know, going back to being overwhelmed, they're like, well, I don't know what to eat, or I don't know what to do. If you can pick 4 recipes and just— starting out— and just rotate those 4 recipes, like, you're going to reduce decision fatigue so easily. And do, like, have a routine, do the same thing every single day. When you look at successful people They're very boring. They do the same things every single day. They eat the same things every single day. And it's because that's not where they choose to put their energy. They're putting energy in things that are benefiting them and serving them and making them better or making them more money or making them healthier. That's where they're putting their energy. They're not putting their energy in, uh, the, the, the other things that aren't benefiting them.

You, you coined it decision fatigue. That's awesome.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, because you want to have the stamina to make decisions that really matter, right? And I think living a lifestyle where you don't have to make decisions on the clothing, the food, those are— those become, you know, on automatic for you and they're benefiting you. I think that really puts the, what we would call mundane moments, very, very special. I think doing the simple things now mean a lot more. And that, that is what matters. I mean, it's, it's those simple moments where you get to get on the floor, right? And play with your kids or go water the garden bare feet and, and, and watch your kids run and play. Yeah, we, we are missing out on that because we, we're defining that as boring and mundane. Yes, because we don't have the stamina capacity to even enjoy it, right?

So that's, that's powerful. No, I agree completely. That's a very powerful statement.

So you, you deal with, let's say, customer that's overwhelmed, a client that's overwhelmed, and What— for me, I'm this way, and you probably have got like, you know, I just want to lose 250 pounds and I want to do it in 3 months. I think I'm going to go on a sardine fast starting right now. I would do something— I would be stupid like that, like, because that's a completely different one. Like, I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to do. But then you have a really motivated, like, I want to do all the things. I'm gonna drink methylene blue every Tuesday, right? So how do you approach that type of client?

I actually do have a client like that right now, and, and I just, I really have to hone them in and, and help them understand that this is not like— you've got to remove yourself from diet culture because diet culture is the quick fixes. We're in a hurry, like, I need it now, right? This is a journey. It is not a destination. If you're wanting true sustainable healing, like, this has got to be something that we do little by little, step by step, because I don't want you to do all of the things. If you're doing too many things, it actually can hinder your health. Um, because in functional medicine, we do lots of testing, lots of functional testing. So that we can get to root cause. The definition of functional medicine is root cause medicine. So I always start my clients out with what we call a GI Map. And that's a functional lab that, excuse me, tests the gut microbiota, parasites, calprotectin. If the client has leaky gut, it tests all kinds of things. So we have to start there. We're not going to start, we're not going to do all of the tests at once and do all the protocols at one time, because that would be counterproductive, right?

Mm-hmm.

So we, I really hone my client in and explain to them that I work with you for 12 months. I work with all my clients for 12 months, and that's because it's not a quick fix. This is, if you're wanting true healing, it takes time. It's not something that's gonna be done in 3 months or, you know, they'll, they'll have huge wins within 3 months. But if we're talking like total healing off medications, symptoms completely gone, this is going to be a rest of your life journey. I'll be with you for 12 months to teach you all of these things a little at a time. And I also think nervous system regulation plays a big factor into that as well. So when I have a client that's like, oh my gosh, I want to do all the things at one time, their cortisol is really high. And that's probably why they feel that way as well. Like there's something in their nervous system that they're in just like fight or flight all the time. And that's how they're used to being. So our program actually teaches nervous system regulation, and that is so that they— their cortisol can be regulated and they don't feel so high-strung and they don't feel anxious about getting to the goal quicker. Like, they can understand that this is a journey. This is something that we do step by step, little by little, for that longevity, for that true sustainable healing.

Yeah, I remember in high school I was trying to drop weight. I was— I worked out too much. I think it was— I had a problem. I would carry a jar of peanut butter around and that was all I ate. And it was a guy that said, you know, like, you didn't do this to your— you didn't gain this weight in 3 months. Like, you, you put a lot of damage on your body for years. It's like, how do you think you're— you think you're gonna fix it in a week?

Yeah.

Like, so there's this It's the journey, it's the thought process. For people like that, I associate more with those types of people. I watch a David Goggins video and I just want to just go fast for 60 days, right?

Yeah.

But I'm trying to really see the benefit of today. Like, what can I do today? I know when I get there in 60 days, and that's really the long-term vision, is really important. I just have to start having daily like, what am I doing? Like, how am I getting just a little bit better today? How am I helping with my thought process? Our conversation, it's, it's putting a lot of, um, value on how we believe, how we think.

Yeah, the mindset has to, has to totally change. And we're actually doing a challenge, uh, or have been doing a challenge, it's almost over now, for the month of February, and it's becoming 1% better each day.

That's so good.

You don't have to duck dive into this lifestyle because I don't— I don't actually would rather you not because you're going to get overwhelmed, it's— you're going to get burned out and then you're going to quit. I don't want you to quit. I want you to just focus on if I drank 30 ounces of water yesterday, I'm going to drink maybe 35 ounces a day or 32 ounces. Like, just get a little bit better each day.

That's good. I just need to— I need to do that. I need to listen to you because you brought a lot of good stuff. Um, so I'm gonna play a little game right now. Just hypothetically, you were just appointed, uh, in RFK's position right now. So you're over the health of America and you're being interviewed. I'm, I'm a nonpartisan news. What is one health belief that mainstream society thinks is really, really good that you think is just totally wrong?

I probably could answer this in several ways, but the first thing that comes to my mind is counting calories. Sarah and I actually just— or counting really anything. Sarah and I just had a conversation about this the other day. Again, going back to the Blue Zone areas of the world, they eat intuitively. They don't count calories. They don't, they don't track anything, right? Like they just, they eat real whole foods. They eat when they're hungry. When they're not hungry, they don't eat. So I really feel like if we could educate our society on that, we would be healthier as a whole. You don't need an app to track anything. You don't need, you know, all of these things that we feel like we need. I remember I used to do Weight Watchers. I had a whole Weight Watchers calculator. Do you remember that? I don't know if you ever did that. Like, I had a whole Weight Watchers calculator and it was overwhelming. Like, if I were to have just listened to my body, it's another thing we're really, really big on is listening to your body. Your body will speak to you if you pay attention. Eat when you're hungry, eat intuitively, eat real whole foods. And I know that that sounds— when you hear that, you're like, there's no way that that works. It's because it's not complicated, right? We have associated being healthy, eating healthy with being complicated. Like, it's just too hard. It's just too much. Well, it's because you're not doing it the way that you— that we're— you're supposed to be doing it, right? Like your body is not resonating. Your nervous system knows if you're supposed to be counting calories or if you're supposed to be eating intuitively, right? Like, so if you're eating intuitively, if you're eating real whole foods, that's going to resonate with your body. Your nervous system knows that that's the right route to go. So it's super easy, which for us, we feel like, okay, that's too easy. There's no way that's going to work. It has to be hard for it to work. No, it doesn't. It does not have to be hard for it to work.

All right, y'all, I am editing this episode as we speak, and I'm just getting so encouraged by everything that Aaliyah brought to the table with her company, Be Well Company, that I want to do something for our audience. We want to sponsor 10 people to have a one-on-one conversation with Aaliyah. The way that you can sign up for this is Number 1, you have to join our online community. I'll put the link in the description for that. And then you have to message me in the community, hey, I want to be a part of the giveaway for the free consultation with Aaliyah. We can all live a little bit healthier, right? That's enough of me. Get back to the episode. I'll see you next time. Um, and I don't have any science to back this up, so you, you'll know uh, if this is true or not. Are you— would you say that, you know, it's not calories that we need, we need nutrients?

Nutrients.

It's the way that we're thinking about food is a little bit wrong, because you could be on a calorie deficient, which I currently am on, that I need to reevaluate. Um, but like, let's say I've got a 2,000 calorie diet daily. I could like fast the whole day. I know people do this. I'm gonna fast the whole day. So then I can go to Taco Bell and get the Crunchwrap Supreme burrito because it's going to be underneath that calorie thing. And I don't think that's healthy, right? I mean, it's not feeding— it's not making you feel good.

Yeah. No, no, you're exactly right. We're focused more on— actually, in our label reading workshop, the tagline is count chemicals, not calories. So it doesn't matter if you're under that 2000 threshold, if what you're eating If you look at the ingredient list of what you're eating and if it's full of trash, you're defeating the whole purpose. You're disrupting your gut microbiota. You're disrupting your body on a cellular level, on a metabolic level, and your body will never truly heal.

That's good. Okay, so Secretary Aaliyah, I got my next question for you. If food companies really cared about, about health, what practice would you change? Would be the first day in office. This is the first change you would make.

Oh, we would get rid of all the ultra-processed foods. We would go back to having fresh markets in every city, every town. Fresh foods from local gardens, no processed foods. And educating people because knowledge— knowledge is super powerful. If people have the knowledge, they can make the changes, right?

Yeah.

I think one of the issues is people just don't have the knowledge because again, going back to the generational curses, well, my mom did this, my mom eats this, my grandmother eats this, so I eat this, and then I'm feeding my kids this, or, you know, my mom doesn't work out, my grandmother's never worked out, I'm not working out, so my kid isn't working out. It's a generational thing. So giving people the knowledge and the science-backed education on why they need to be doing the totality of the lifestyle. Would be where I would, where I would start.

Yeah, part of my permaculture education, there's this bit, there's this— how do I phrase this— mission conviction to where we want to decentralize food systems. So one of the big issues that we, that we see is centralization, where everything is brought to one place Yeah. One, the sustainability is, is really not there, but it's also, you're now dependent. You're now dependent on somebody else. I mean, thank God for farmers or New York would never eat. I mean, so it's, there's, there's this decentralization movement in the permaculture world that I'm highly, um, backing where, you know, it's really not that much work to have a community garden or a garden in your, in your, um, on your porch or in your backyard. And not everybody has a green thumb, and I understand, but I think there's a switch from like the Walmart mentality. Yeah, because it— what happened during COVID like they told you you could only get a certain amount of an item. Like, that's crazy to me. So yeah, I think, I think that centralized network uh, really, really needs to change. And you said, you said number one, processed foods, just get it out. Just get it out.

Gone. Yeah. And, and I think the system—

you're fired, Deborah! You're fired!

Bye-bye, Big Deborah. So I think this— I always say the system is not broken. The system is designed exactly the way that it's designed, strategically for profit.

Sure.

Another thing that people don't realize is these systems, medical system, the food industry, like these are all for-profit businesses that are depending on you. The medical system depends on you to be sick. If you're not there, they don't make money off of healthy people. They don't make money off of dead people. They got to find that sweet spot. They have to poison us just enough to keep us sick, to keep us medicated, to keep us stressed. The tobacco industry actually took over the food industry. In the '70s. Were you aware of that? Yeah, because the tobacco industry, they are experts in addiction science, going back to food addiction.

They're— and they're dangerously good at marketing.

They're dangerously good at marketing, especially to kids.

Um, what is like this wellness trend that you see in the modern world that you're like, that's not— that's not good, you shouldn't do that?

I would say doing the same things year round, as, as far as like eating the same foods, um, doing the same workouts year round, is what I would say is probably the most detrimental to our health because we are seasonal beings, right? There are seasonal foods for a reason. And our body— take this time of year, for example, we're in the winter season, right? Nature is hibernating. Nature is asleep. We are supposed to be doing the same. We're not supposed to be doing HIIT workouts right now. We're not supposed to be eating like cold, a lot of cold foods right now. This is a season of like warmth and reflection, and we need to honor that and take it. Like, I'm giving you permission to take naps right now. Like, this is the season where you can take a nap, where you can really not do anything. You can eat like the warm, you know, soups and stews and just do like gentle movements, yoga, Pilates, meditation, things like that. So I feel like— and I don't— and I know you said a trend. I don't know this is necessarily a trend what I'm explaining, but it is something that people tend— oh yeah, culture does, um is we eat the same foods year round, we have the same schedule year round, and we really need to be altering our schedule based on the seasons and honoring our body in that way, especially as women, because women are hormonal beings. Um, which men as well, but you know, we're a little more showy in it, I guess. Um, but focusing more on our energy cycles in relation to our hormones. Yeah, there are seasonal foods for a reason. We're supposed to be eating whatever is in season. That's what we're supposed to be eating because in that season, that's what's the best for our gut health. That's what's the best for our hormone health.

Hey everybody, quick announcement here. Pieces of this podcast are only available for those that are a part of our online community. It's absolutely free. All you need to do is click the link below and join our community. We just released a permaculture garden workshop just in time for the growing season. You were not made to do this alone. Join community, connect with people all over the country. I'm looking forward to seeing you in there. I do see a lot of— a lot more people now having the conversation, at least about, you know, wanting to live healthier, not wanting to have you know, the chemicals in their food. They're wanting to, you know, take responsibility in raising kids in a better way. So like, what gives you the most hope, I guess, for Mingo County, Alabama, rural areas? Is there something that you're seeing like, okay, we're starting to— even if it's just one degree, we're moving in the right direction?

Yeah, for sure. So I actually have quite a few people in that area that I either am working with or have worked with one-on-one. Some of those people being medical professionals, which is great in my opinion, because those are the people who can potentially start their own wellness clinic in the area to give back, give back that knowledge, that education. I think people are becoming more aware just as a whole, people are realizing that we're, we're sicker than ever. Our kids are sicker than ever. We're on more medications than ever. The system isn't giving us any answers. People go to the doctor for answers. The doctor is not giving them answers because they just don't, they simply just don't know. And it's not necessarily their fault. A lot of people follow me and they, they probably think that I'm like totally anti-medical system and I'm not completely. It's just, if there's an emergency, take me to the hospital, but day-to-day health, like the, the medical schools just don't teach the medical doctors true healing because again, it's not profitable. If we, if we heal our patients, it's not profitable, right?

Um, do you want to go into the Rockefellers? Oh my God, is that for another— is that for another time?

Maybe we can save that one for another time. Maybe we can save that one for another time. But people are realizing, you know, to directly answer your question, people are are realizing that they're going to their doctors, they're asking all the questions, they're not getting any answers. They're just getting more medication and they're getting sicker. Yeah. So I think a lot of people are waking up in that aspect and they are looking for more integrative, holistic, functional routes. And they are willing to pay out of pocket for those things in most cases. Because again, insurance, I mean, insurance companies, a conversation for another day. They're realizing that they're just not getting the care that they need from the medical system. So they're looking for a more holistic alternative route.

I hear something is being, um, put into Pikeville Hospital that's a wellness natural way of—

oh, I don't know.

Yeah, it's— I don't know what it will be, but it's, it's kind of exciting to hear that people are starting to have the conversation. I know my dad's had some really good conversation with doctors, and you know, some of them are really cautious of what they say because they don't want to be held reliable or liable of, of giving, you know, a functional medicine, um, advice. Um, because I mean, doctors can lose their license, right? Because they don't go through the system, they can lose it. Um, I know some of the clients that you've worked with, and I don't— I've never had a conversation with them. They've never posted on Facebook that they've had that they're clients of yours. I just know based off, you know, some of the language that they use, but they seem fairly happy. Like, they seem like this— they're really, really enjoying this new way of life. So that's just— that just commends your program, that, that just commends of how good you are at, you know, connecting with people. And you're doing phenomenal work, and it means a lot to me because it's happening at my home. It's happening in my hometown. So how do people— because we're gonna, we're gonna do some community-only questions here, here in just a second. But before we hop off this part, how can people connect with you?

Uh, bewellcompany.org would be the website. We have our products on there, but we also have the service aspect. We do group coaching, um, we do one-on-one coaching with like the actual labs and I hold your hand for 12 months. I tell you exactly what to do over a 12-month period. And you can find those services at BeWellCompany.org or simply just find me on Facebook, which my name on there now is Aaliyah Marie on Facebook and or email is BeWellAaliyah@yahoo.com. Those would probably be the best ways to reach out to me.

I'll add all those in the show notes.

The AIR program has been ranked in the top 12% of programs worldwide.

Yeah.

A very high-touch luxury program focusing on gut health, hormone health, nervous system regulation. We do the functional labs, the functional testing. We actually have a licensed therapist that we collab with that our clients get sessions with because we, again, going back to the totality of the lifestyle. We think mental health is very important as well. So that's why those therapy sessions are included in that. And then you also will get massages. I mean, you get all kinds of perks. It's a, it's a very, very good program for anybody who's wanting true sustainable healing and the knowledge to be able to, to make those changes effortlessly and easily. And we have women coming off of medications. We have women who have gone through IVF treatments to no avail. get pregnant in our program within a 3-month period. I mean, it's, it's a, it's a very healing program for, for, for an hour consultation, which you'll bring a lot of value from that.

Just, just the 60-minute consultation.

Yes.

If you join the Wild Country community, we will pay for 10 of those. We'll, we'll do a giveaway 10 people can do a consultation with you and Wild Country will pay for it. But you have to be a member of the community because we're trying to branch out to a piece of this is because our, our whole thing is about how to find home, how to not just find the piece of land to homestead, but to be the best version of yourself to enjoy life. And I believe this is a huge piece of this. And, and knowing you, and hopefully you'll help us out in the future Yes, thank you, because you forgot— you have forgotten more than we know. So, um, before we— before we do our, uh, community-only, um, questions, I ask everyone this, this question this season is, you know, what does it mean to find home for you? When I ask you, like, what does it mean to really find home, how would you answer that?

Yeah, so definitely when obviously health and wellness is super important and close to home for me. So when I see my children who have learned things from me and they read labels and they're healthy kids, they're not on medications, which is, you know, in today's time is few and far between. They're very healthy. They're very mentally healthy as well. That really is home for me. I look at them and I'm like, okay, they— I'm setting the example. They may not be directly telling me that they're, they're learning anything, but I know that they are. They're watching, they're learning, they're implementing the things that they see me do. And by doing that, like, they have— they're very good kids. They don't have like ADHD or anxiety. Their nervous systems are completely regulated. They know how to eat healthy. They know how to communicate. They know how to have healthy conversations and just things like that. And for me, that makes me feel very at home and comforted.

That's a great answer. Well, guys, I hope that you connect with Aaliyah again. We're gonna give away free consultation, which I think is a— it's a steal. That is an unbelievable price to pay for an hour of your time. Um, and we'd love to, to be able to, to bless people to join the community and, uh, and really just start highlighting some of your classes that you're doing too. I think a good first step would be, you know, the label reading class would be a really beneficial especially if you live in a town where you just have a Walmart. I mean, I think that would really be helpful.

So definitely, definitely. And we do group coaching too. So the price that I gave you earlier was for the one-on-one concierge, the very in-depth. We do group coaching as well, so, um, just more of a generalized entry-level type coaching.

Yeah, and we'll, we'll talk. We may be able to funnel some people there too, um, because we want to partner with you and what you're doing. So thank you so much for hopping on. We're going to hop off and do just a really fun exercise for the community. But for everyone else, this is the Finding Home podcast. Aaliyah, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your journey. Um, and we'll see you next time.

I will speak your name in all the tongues of men to know you.