MRP Living Light Q & A [Nov 3, 2023]

Sam foreign.

Happy Friday. Welcome, welcome. Great to see you all here today. If you're able to, I would love to see your face if you could put your camera on. Welcome, Beverly. Welcome. Cheryl. Welcome. Terry. Welcome, Nicolette, Pamela. Welcome, welcome. And as we are tuning in here, would love if you could type in the chat what you are grateful for today. And we will get started shortly. Just going to put a reminder here. Okay, so what we are going to start with is a few things. So we're going to do a exercise called the Rosebud Thorn exercise. So the rose is what you're grateful for. The thorn is what you feel like you need a little bit more support with or something that you might be struggling with. And the rosebud, sorry, the rose is what you're grateful for. The thorn is what you need support with. And then the bud is what, you know, something that you hope to achieve or accomplish through this program.

Okay.

So we'll kind of go around in a circle and, you know, see what, you know, you all are doing great with, what you need more support with. So we can, you know, make sure that we provide that to you. And then the other thing that we're going to talk about today is a little bit more about what the expectation is on maintenance space and just, you know, I know some of you are just starting, some of you are probably, even if you're just starting thinking, what am I supposed to do moving forward after this program? So we're going to touch on that a little bit as well. Okay. So I'm just going to go in order of who I see here on my zoom screen. So we'll start with Beverly. Beverly, you can go ahead and unmute. If you don't have all the answers, then that's fine. Just, you know, basically just give us a little rundown of what you're grateful for if, you know, you don't have a. A road, a button at the one. Okay. So I can go ahead and unmute you. You can go ahead.

Oh, yay. Because I couldn't unmute myself. Well, Rose, I've been feeling a lot better for the last two or three weeks than I have in the last 20 years.

Wow, that is so great to hear.

Yeah. And the. What was the thorn?

Thorn is what you need support with.

Oh, what I need support with.

Where.

You might be struggling or. Yeah, yeah. A little more help.

I guess right now it is. I'm doing a dairy free challenge.

Okay.

Pace aimed at me personally by the leader of another wellness group I'm a member of.

Okay, so how's that going? Have you started yet?

Yeah, I started yesterday and guess where we went for lunch? We went to a pizza place. I'm going, oh, isn't that. But I managed to order my salad, got a salad without cheese and croutons and, and I got some wings without any. Just, just plain without anything on them.

So there's, you know, and that's. I'm glad you brought that up because when we go out to eat, sometimes we know are maybe perhaps faced with some challenges, but almost everywhere you go you can find a salad. Right. So, you know, salad with protein, you know, you can all. I know probably won't taste the same, but you could do a pizza like a gluten free pizza with plenty of vegetables on it.

Right.

Without the cheese as well. So that's an option too. So just trying to, you know, be a little more creative with some of the options that are out there. But once again, you know, a good choice by having a salad which is available almost anywhere you go.

Yeah.

And, and that's generally when people are going, okay, so where do you want to eat? You can't eat there. You can't eat there. I'm going, I can probably find a salad, so.

Yes, yep, exactly. Okay, good.

The bud is. I put it on my, my as my gratitude today. But we bought. We got ourselves into trouble. We went to Walmart to pick up some hairstyling product for me and a, and a tire pressure gauge for my husband. And we decided to get our steps in by wandering around Walmart looking at things. And he said, you know, I'd really get a bicycle, but I'm not sure if I would use it or not. And I said, well, I've been thinking the same thing. So we came home with a bicycle and a bicycle pump and a helmet. And I went out for a very short ride today. My, I had the grandiose plan of going for 20 minutes and I think I was out there for five, so I need to build up a little bit. But still, it was really nice to get out and get the wind in my face. I didn't wear my sunglasses, so I was getting some sunshine in my eyes and all that other fun stuff.

Okay, good, excellent. That's great. It's good to try something different and new. Right? And yeah, keep yourself where you're at and then, you know, obviously you can progress from there. Right?

Yeah.

Okay, great. Thank you so much for sharing. Okay, next we have Terry, you can go ahead and unmute. What is your rose bud and thorn so for those of you are just joining us, if you're able to. I know sometimes some people are attending this call driving or whatever it may be, but if you're able to, we'd love for you to share what your rose is. What. Which is something that you're grateful for, something that's going really well for you, what your thorn is, what you need more support, which is what you need more support with, and what your butt is, which is something that you hope to develop or implement in the future.

Well, I haven't started the program yet.

Okay.

But let's see. And I'm. I've never really cooked. My mother never wanted me in the kitchen. She never wanted anybody in the kitchen. She hated cooking. So I just, you know, she was always cursing and, you know, having a terrible time. So, you know, we left her alone. And so I'm concerned, very concerned about, you know, trying to handle the recipes because as far as, you know, I mean, I'm 67 years old. All my life, I have never found any pleasure in preparing food ever. To me, it's just holding things up, you know. So. Yeah, so I, I didn't know. I did see that there are recipes and you do offer a lot of advice about how to prepare things, how to shop and that kind of stuff. So I'm, you know, concerned about that, but I'm grateful for that, that help because that's really practical, practical stuff. So I'm wondering if it's possible at my age, if I might end up enjoying making any of those recipes.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, one of the main things that we really try to coach people on is keeping things simple. Right.

So.

I don't know if you saw in your guide that your program guide that you received, but there's some pictures of some sample meals there. And, you know, for the most part, like, you know, we recommend keeping things really simple, like really quick for you to prepare, because long term, like, we don't want you spending hours and hours in the kitchen. Right. So marinating some proteins, perhaps in batches of 4 ounces, keeping them in the freezer, you know, some. Cutting up some vegetables. Right. You can even, you know, one of my favorites when I do this program is sauteing. And even, you know, now I do it quite often is sauteing some cauliflower rice with just a little bit of, you know, broth, some salt and pepper, maybe some garlic powder so you. The food doesn't have to taste bland. Right. You can use a lot of spices and seasonings as Long as they. As long as they don't have any sugar added in them. Right. So make use of those type of things because they go a long way. Right. Spices, herbs, they go a long way. So make sure that you're adding things like that. And even also maybe back preparing some of the salad dressing recipes for your salads. You know, we've gotten some great feedback on some of the salad dressing recipes. So that can add a little bit of flavor to your. Your. Your vegetables as well.

Right.

So just keep things really simple. That would be my advice to you.

Okay.

Yeah.

And I love salads.

Okay, good.

One of my favorite vinegars is golden vinegar.

I don't know.

Is that, Is that okay? I know balsamic kind of cautioned that that could have, like, a higher sugar content, I think was the reason.

Yeah, yeah. So you can do some balsamic vinegar, but use it a little sparingly. I know some people here in the chat. So Elisa put if you like chili, the recipe. We sent a recipe in the newsletter a few weeks ago. I think it's also posted in the Facebook group. She said it's yummy and it lasts me almost a week. So, you know, you can batch cook things like that, especially for those of you who, like, you know, don't need something different every single day. Right. You could batch cook a whole bunch of, you know, certain recipe and then freeze it and have it a few times a week. Right. So those are some other tips so that you're not in the kitchen every day. Right. I think batch cooking is probably the way to go for most people here. And if you're not going to batch cook, then at least cook more of your dinner so you have leftovers for lunch the next day. Alice, just put the chili recipe link that's posted in the Facebook group in the comments. Thanks, Alice.

Thanks.

You're very welcome. Hey, next up, we have Pamela. Let me go ahead and unmute you.

Hi.

How are you?

Good. How are you?

Good.

So I'm new to the program I started. I'm in. I'm on day 11 of release.

Yeah.

So what I'm grateful for, there are a number of things, but I'll put at the top of my list that I haven't had any hot flashes really, in. Yeah, about eight days. Yeah. So.

Wow.

Yeah, so I. I'm 50. I had breast cancer when I was 38. Went through all sorts of treatment, including chemo, double mastectomy, radiation, and reconstruction.

Okay.

So that was. My oldest son, was two at the time.

Wow.

So that Was that was probably the beginning of my wakeup call from the universe. And I mean I was a busy lawyer on Bay Street, I'm in Toronto and was living that lifestyle of high stress, not really caring for myself, although I always went to the gym. Diet was not consistent at all. You know, alcohol played a part too. I mean it's, you're young, it's heavy stress, Bay street lifestyle. So I probably drank water far more than I would ever consider today.

And.

Then was going through a separation with my son's dad. So there was a lot of stress, which I really was a huge factor in all of it, plus genetically predisposed, etc.

Etc.

So like I said, that was my wake up call that put me immediately into perimenopause. Well, you know, some temporary menopause, but then perimenopausal for the last 12 years and hot flashes, I would say and weight, like not being able to maintain the weight that I want to despite, however consistent I think I'm being. So yeah, so no hot flashes which I've been dealing with for 10 or 12 years. So yeah, that's great with food alone as opposed to bios and it's, and Chinese therapy and you know, acupuncture, etc. So yeah, very good. And you know, I'd read obviously the hormone diet and diff over the years, you know, understanding but not believing the degree to which food plays a part in all of that. So very grateful that, you know, 12 years into my health journey, I'm still learning, you know, how to take control myself and to not just rely on external things like bios and you know, that sort of thing. So yeah, excellent, amazing. I need to get more sleep. I'm at about six and a half hours, maybe seven. So trying to go from six and a half to seven, seven to seven and a half. Not, not do it all at once because I know that doesn't work for me. I'll just set myself up for failure that way. And then what would be that third thing?

The third thing is the. But so what you to I guess, you know, implement with regards to your health in the near future or something.

Like, right, for me I want to get to yoga. So the, these first two weeks I've been walking, I, you know, I learned to love walking this year. You know, I used to hate it, you know, unless I had somewhere to go, I would never walk. I love being at the gym, but walking and slowing down was not my thing. So it's more consistently part of my routine which I love and, but I haven't implemented the yoga yet and the yin yoga and the hot like the breathing. So that's next week. I'll start that.

Okay, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. So I'm glad you're prioritizing your health and your well being. Do you still work on Bay street as a lawyer?

No, I do not. I left Bay Street. Do you see the size of the smile? I mean, I traded it for something that is better, but also, you know, has its stresses. My husband and I have our own business that we run.

Okay.

Been doing that since 2017.

Okay, good. Amazing. So a couple of things. The hot flashes. Number one, the reason why this program, you know, people respond so well to it with regards to hot flashes is because one of the main things that you're doing is balancing blood sugars, balance blood sugars. That's really going to help mitigate the hot flashes because a lot of the times the hot flashes, the exact like cause is not always known. But a lot of the times they can be triggered due to poor blood sugar balance, specifically when people experience hypoglycemia, which is low blood sugar. So, you know, on the program you're more balanced blood sugar. So that's why, you know, it is so powerful with regards to mitigating hot flashes.

Amazing.

Number two is when it comes to sleep, do you have a Oura ring by any chance?

I don't.

I'll.

Yeah, I'll consider that. I haven't done that yet. Okay.

So the reason why I like the Oura ring, especially in the beginning for people, is just to bring more awareness in terms of sleep. Right. So it can give you more objective data in terms of how much REM sleep you're getting, how much deep sleep you're getting, which you wouldn't know otherwise. And when you know those numbers, then there's specific strategies that you can implement to optimize those numbers. It also gives great feedback specifically when you're moving into maintenance phase, like let's say I'll just. I don't know if you still drink or not, but if you were to have that glass of wine or whatever, it can show you directly from having that glass of wine how that impacts your numbers. So that just once again gives you more awareness. Right. In terms of quantity of sleep. I think the strategy that you're using is great. Usually we recommend just shifting the bedtime back by 15 minutes every like week to two weeks so that it's not like a big shock to your body. So that way you can work up to at least that seven to eight hour range. Right. At a minimum. Other thing, you know, I know you had mentioned the breast cancer. So a couple of things is a lot of studies have shown that maintaining a 13. So even on maintenance, which we'll talk about a little more, maintaining a 13 hour fast at a minimum is very effective for mitigating or preventing breast cancer. And then I don't know if you chose the reishi mushroom, coffee, tea or capsule. Reishi mushroom is very powerful immunomodulator. And then another one for breast cancer is turkey tail mushroom.

So I can.

Oh, okay. I hadn't heard of that one. Reishi. Yes. But turkey tail I hadn't heard of.

Yes. So there's a very famous mycologist, his name's Dr. Paul Stamets. And actually I don't think he's a doctor, but Paul Stamets and his mom had breast cancer and you know, he, I guess treated her with turkey tail mushroom and was able to reverse her breast cancer. So I'll put a link in the chat that too.

Okay, thank you. Just one more thing, if I may. I don't mean to monopolize. I did have one question that I messaged Annalise about this morning. So my. Since day three, I guess the release phase, I have lost about 11 pounds, which is amazing. I haven't been able to do that in like I don't know how long. And so that's great. I started using the Renfo app a little bit into the the. So like maybe it's been seven days, so about halfway into it so far. And one of the trends that I noticed is comparing the loss of muscle and fat. Right. So in the last seven days or six days that I've been using the app of the total 2.6 pounds, 1 pound of that is muscle. So I just wasn't sure about that ratio. Given I've listened to some of the replays of the previous weeks, just about that ratio and if I should be concerned about that at all.

So it is going to be different for everyone. Primarily, most of your weight will be fat from this program. There obviously will be a little bit of muscle. Just keep an eye on it and let us know if it keeps going lower. If you are doing any physical activity, obviously, you know, we recommend not to do any intense physical activity, but if you are going to the gym, you can do some light weights. I wouldn't do like your full intensity, but you can do some light weights if you wish. Oh, let me Unmute you.

You mean as a preventative from losing further muscle? I see. I really have been staying away from the gym or anything like that in order to not create more stress or.

Yes, exactly. So we don't want you to do anything intense, but if you wanted to do just like a few, like, light, you know, squats or like, you know, more like whole body movements.

Right.

Rather than isolated, like bicep curls. Right. So like a squat into a shoulder press kind of thing or just with like, no weights, like just body weight. Right. So nothing too crazy, just something like low intensity. Okay. Yeah. You're very welcome. Okay, Liz, you can go ahead and unmute.

Unmuted. Am I. Yes, I am unmuted. Okay, let me scroll back here. Rose, thorn and bud. I am grateful for. I've noticed this is completely off. My gratitude for having our home and our warmth and our heat as our temperature outside. We had our first sprinkling of snow over the weekend, and there's a lot of homelessness in our city that's been going on. And I've just. And our heat pump failed about two months ago. We're getting it replaced. It was perfect timing because we no longer needed air conditioning, didn't need heat, but now we're creeping into needing heat, and it's being replaced next week. And it's getting cooler and cooler in the house. It's sitting at about 17, and all of a sudden I'm very aware of. Of, you know, the homeless that I have a home that here I am thinking, it's cold in my home, but I just go grab a blanket or a hoodie and just, you know, counting my blessings. So it's just made me very aware, the whole temperature changing and all of that. So grateful for that, my Thorn. So I am on day. Well, Alice, we. Day two of full loading. I actually started on Wednesday going, woo, loading day. And then Allison's like, did you remember the spray? And I'm like, damn it, forgot the spray.

And.

And I was feeling really nauseous, just in general, so I was not eating a lot. And she's like, how about we call that a soft loading day? And I was like, good. So yesterday was my first, like, full loading. Remember the spray, have my alarm set. And today's day two of that. So I'm about to go into full program. And so my thorn is that my husband went out of town yesterday, and whether he realized he's very supportive of everything I'm doing, and whether he realizes or not, he's kind of like the his presence kind of makes me more accountable to what I'm eating. When he travels, Terry, I don't like cooking either. And so when my husband travels, that's when I start Uber eats or takeout or whatever because he's not here to be accountable to and I don't like cooking. So all of a sudden he's not here and I need to really be accountable to myself and to, you know, now my son is into bodybuilding. He still lives downstairs and so he's like, mom, I'll keep you on track. But he works all day. So that is going to be my, you know, it's not even, I won't even call it a challenge. I don't want to put it into that space. It's more my awareness that this is fully on me. And, and like Terry was saying, I, I don't enjoy cooking. I raised five children who had very, very different eating issues or, you know, diet issues and stuff like this. So cooking. I cooked so much for so many years, I cannot stand cooking. So I do batch cook and whatnot, but it's not something I enjoy. I used to enjoy, I don't enjoy it anymore.

So.

And I know that I have, you know, I have a sleep disorder. I get tired during the day and when I'm tired, that is when my choices, food wise, go downhill. So I know that I am better off if I batch cook, have things because if I'm tired, I'm definitely not going to want to cook. So I make sure that I have pre made meals in the fridge or whatever for my success because then I don't have to think about it. I just have to warm something up.

So.

But like I said, with my husband not here, it's, that was my habit. It was just so easy to just order food. So I'm like, okay, out of that mindset, I have lots in the house. I might even have to prepare some of it. Holy mackerel. So, yeah, it's just, just getting the head on. Right.

It's.

I've realized over the years how much of all of this is. Starts in the brain, in the mindset, you know?

Totally.

Yes.

And I think you outlined it very well is the awareness, right. That always kind of step one is having that awareness. Right. Of our triggers or of our behaviors. Because once we have that awareness, that's when, you know, we're able to make choices from there. Right? Right. The batch cooking, of course, is going to help. And then also, you know, really wanted to touch on sleep. Right. Many of I would say probably like 95% of you here struggle with sleep. Right. So really focusing in on that, I'm sure Alice has helped guide you with that. But a few really simple like strategies to start with that don't take up a lot of time or money and are very passive is the mouth taping. So if you aren't doing it already for any of you on this call is mouth taping. So that's using a small piece of a 3M micropore tape. You can get it at a pharmacy. You can get it on Amazon. Alice, if you could drop the Amazon link, that would be great for Amazon, Canada and US. And you just put like a tiny piece vertically down the middle of your mouth. You can still talk, you can still breathe. It's not like you're fully like taping your mouth shut where you feel like claustrophobic or anything like that. And that's going to ensure nasal breathing. When you breathe through your nose at night, it's going to help you get a more deeper and restful sleep. Many of you might wake up to go pee in the middle of the night. Mouth taping can really help with that as well because it increases vasopressin, which is antidiuretic and it helps shift your body more into a parasympathetic state which most of you here have been or are currently in predominantly fight or flight.

Right.

So really helping the body shift more into that rest, digest, relax state. So we want you to breathe through your nose obviously during the day, but at night, like during the day you can be more conscious of it and catch yourself, but at night if you're, you know, you don't have that conscious awareness. So the mouth tape is just like a little insurance policy to help you breathe through the nose predominantly.

Yeah. The full on mouth taping is during the day to keep me from eating. Is that. No. Yeah. And then my, my health practice that I want to implement, I used to do many years ago. I used to do Taoist Hai Chi.

Okay.

Did the whole, I used to know the whole 108 movement set.

Wow.

And I've, but I've got it on video somewhere so I want to start implementing that again because it's gentle and it's, it's pretty awesome.

So yeah, I'm sure that's really going to help with shifting you into that parasympathetic state too. And you can probably find it, find it on YouTube too if you.

So.

Yeah. Okay. Awesome. Yeah, that'll be, I think, really, really helpful for you. Okay, next we have Cheryl, Cheryl, you can go ahead and unmute. What is your rose, Bud and thorn.

I'm extremely. I got lost myself there. I don't know what happened. I unmuted and all of a sudden my pictures changed. Seeing my boobs, I don't know why. I'm extremely grateful for the weight that I have lost. My heartburn has gone. I'm just feeling lighter, more energetic. Coincidentally, the same week that I started this program, I started a part time job one to two days a week. So far it's just been one day a week at Mark's Work Warehouse. I've been retired for four years and just. I lost my way. I just did like not much all day and the day just went. And then I was angry with myself at the end of the day. So starting this job for some reason has motivated me. It's got me going. The days that I am, I am tired. I first day I thought the whole fleet of Mississauga Transit buses had run over my body. It was pretty bad. Last week I did much better. But I'm finding the weeks, the days, sorry, the days that I am home and not working, I just seem to have so much more energy and I'm starting to do stuff again. So I'm really, really pleased about that. And my blood, my blood pressure is still up, but my heart rate is down 10 points since I've been home. It was like easily 75 to 80 ish, just even at rest and now I'm back down to like 65ish. So I'm quite pleased with that. Yep. Good.

Yeah.

And I'm loving some of the recipes. I've tried a whole bunch. Yesterday I got a plate. This might be good for, for you, Terry and Liz, I don't know where she is. I got a, a plain chicken breast, doused it with lemon juice and some herbs and salt and cooked it and had 4 ounces of cooked carrots and green beans and a salad. It was yummy. It was so good. I'm gonna make it again tonight. Really, really, really enjoyed it and was very simple. Sometimes I feel like doing a little. I do love to cook. Sometimes I feel like doing a little bit more, but sometimes I don't. And what I need support with is I didn't realize how much of a sugar addict I was. I never thought I was until I couldn't have it. And I have not had a successful week yet where I have been. No sugar. Halloween didn't help. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah.

Thank you for sharing it and your vulnerability and I'M sure you're not the only one in this room that feels like that. Right. So there's a couple of ways to think about this. And you know, what we really want to stray away from, especially as people move into maintenance, is this ideal of perfection.

Right.

So.

Because what that can lead to is this all or none type of mentality. Right. So if you do feel like having something sweet. Right. Then there are, like, healthier alternatives. Right. And what we hope through this process with the release phase, is that every seven days, your case buds change. Right. So for many people, after the six weeks of release, if they were to have like a Snickers bar. Right. It's probably going to taste extremely, extremely sweet to them compared to when it. How it tasted prior to the release phase. Right. So your taste buds change. And if you like to cook. Right. There's a lot of great healthier recipes that you can, you know, cook some homemade baked goods. Right. I wouldn't get too, because sometimes if we give an inch, you know, go.

A mile, that's what I'm scared of. Yeah.

Yeah.

So we don't want to, you know, we want to still have some guard rails, but we also don't want to go down this path of perfection either. Right.

But you made, you made the mistake of saying occasionally we could have like a rice cake. So. Yeah, you should need. You need to take that out of the program because I use that as. I can do that.

Yeah.

Twice a week. It's not lot, but I don't think I've had a week without it yet.

But that's okay, too, because you're seeing results.

Yes.

Right. So it's not like you're having it and it's like it's, you know, drastically impairing your results. Right. You're still seeing results with it.

I've lost this. This is the end of week four almost, and I've lost about £11. So.

So there you go. That's great.

I'm pretty pleased with that. Yeah. Yep. I've had 14 rice cakes at a time. Yay.

Yay. We also want to, like, move away from, like yesterday.

Yeah.

To one, through this whole program. Yesterday I had two. I. I'm also. I, I am having more loose stools. I go through feast or famine. I either if I don't have all the greens, the sauteed greens, I get constipated. And if I do have the sauteed greens, I get diarrhea. So I'm trying to. Yesterday was quite a bad day. Diarrhea Wise. So I had two rice cakes to kind of settle my stomach. So I'm trying to figure out the feast or famine, find the, the right way to get my body to go. I haven't gone normally since I started this program, so.

Yeah, so that can happen to some people. So a couple things is make sure you're chewing your food really well, 20 to 30 times per bite or until it's baby food type of texture, trying to eat in a more calm, relaxed state. And then after you go on to maintenance, like some sort of like fiber supplement would probably be helpful for you to just to find things a little more.

Yeah, I'm really scared of going and going to maintenance because I just know once all holds are gone, it's.

Yeah, well, we do have like the maintenance phase lines.

Right.

So for those of you who feel like once the guardrails are gone, it's like you feel like really nervous about what to do, I would recommend sticking to that. Right. Where you're still measuring your food, you're still eating like, you know, specific amount of protein, specific amount of vegetables, specific amount of fruit. So for you, I would definitely make sure you're transitioning to those guidelines rather than nothing. Right. Yeah. Just so that you still have that structure in place.

Yeah. I had lymphocytic colitis and I have that IBS for about the last 15 years. So I did the AIP diet, the FODMAP diet. I've been there, done that, did it all. And then as of the end, about September ish of last year, I discovered I could eat anything. I was okay. So I did. It was 15 years of deprivation and I just went for it and I did it. And then I gained all that weight. So I think mine is gluten. I've also. I used to have these horrid rashes behind my ears. Gone. They're gone.

Good.

Now it's not saying, you know, if we go out to family dinner and my daughter makes a beautiful pie, I can't have a little slice. But I'm not going to say I'm never going to go there. But I was doing every, every day. I was how I discovered bread and sandwiches and crackers and all that stuff. And I used to be strictly gluten free and now I discovered that I can do it again. So obviously I can't my body, with the rashes and all that. So anyway, and what health and that's.

Gonna help with your IBS too, is staying, you know, gluten free as best as you can.

Yeah. Yes.

Yeah.

And what practice. I hope too. As long as. Well with everybody else is. Is sleep. I'm a late night girl, but lately my shifts at work have been starting at 9am so I've had to get up like at 6. So I'm trying to be in bed by midnight, up at 7, 7:30 during a normal day so that 6 o' clock isn't such a stress on my body. But I just can't do the get to bed thing. Yeah.

So you know, like I talked about with Pamela is just get. Move the bad bedtime up 15 minutes. Right. Every. Every week or so. Right. So it's not like a drastic change for you.

I just have far too much fun at night and I, I color, I read. That's my quiet time. During the day I keep myself busy with housework and walking and going out and doing stuff. And at night I sit down after dishes and supper and color and read for two, three, four hours and. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you can still do those things but you know, not so late into the night. Right. So just. Yeah, I think that's where, you know, we need to find that balance.

Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Okay, up next we have Ed. Ed, what is your Rose, Bud and Thorn.

Sorry I joined late, so I'm just catching up. My Rose. Well, tell me what they mean. Again, I'm sorry.

Rose is what you're grateful for. Thorn is something you're struggling with and Bud is something that you hope to implement in the future.

Okay, I'll make it real easy. Rose is I'm grateful for practice better and living well Institute.

Okay.

Now I really believe everything you're doing is terrific and I'm glad I found you years ago. And I'm. I'm gonna stick with you. So.

The second one was born something you're struggling with?

Well, just overall general health things which I think were being masked by my weight and other bad habits. But once I got rid of all of that, I discovered new problems and I'm working on those. But I think the program has helped in every aspect. So I'm. Again, I'll go back to being grateful for the program and where I need help.

Well.

I don't know if there's. I mean, I really think the program's been very easy for me, you know, and I heard twice that people were having trouble falling asleep. I used to get five hours of sleep or less every night and I would function on that or thought I was functioning on that. And I think for me, the breathing exercises Help me go to bed earlier and sleep longer. I forced myself to eat or 9 hours of sleep while I was on the release phase. I'm probably back down to seven or eight now that I'm completely off, but I don't know where else I'm struggling. I still have, I guess like 14 rice cakes is probably a struggle. But the reason I'm able to do that is because I've been so successful with the program. Even after going through the maintenance, I'm able to eat a lot more. It's all healthy now, not junk food, but I can eat like that and it has no effect on my weight or, you know, pain or anything else. So I think the program has helped me do that. So now I can enjoy 14 rice cakes at a time.

Yeah.

So of course for men, like the hormones are a bit different, so you could probably get away with some things like that a little more than women. But the program does really help to reestablish your body's new metabolic set point. Right. So you are able to have a little more flexibility with some of the foods that you eat. You know, even of course you're sticking with healthy foods, right? Of course. If we start eating like burger.

Yeah. And I, I stick with it. I don't do gluten anymore. I don't have gluten, I don't have sugar. Oh, by the way, that's the other thing. I'm for the program. I used to be a sugar addict and a fat addict. You know, I mean my top three food groups were candy, ice cream and pizza. And so I don't, I don't have a taste for any of that anymore. So I, my fat intake is still pretty low. My sugar intake is non existent, you know, except for the fruit I'm eating. So all of that. So when I say I'm eating a lot, I'm eating a lot of healthy food. No junk food really. I didn't even eat candy on Halloween.

Good. Excellent. Well, we are super grateful for you as well. And you know, I know we've been in different discussion with regards to fine tuning a few things that are going on with you. So I'm sure you know the consistency is what's key. Right. With any, anything that we do in our life. Right. Whether it's if you're looking to gain more muscle or whatever it is. Right.

It's.

It's that consistency over time that's going to get us the results. Right. So even though things aren't perfect, if we can get back on track, the Next day with whatever, you know, wherever we went off track, that over time is going to really pay off. Right. So for anyone on this call, like, who's got that all or none mentality, like, that's what we want to stray away from. Right. Is really making sure that we give ourselves some grace and forgiveness, get back on track and, you know, stay with those consistent practices. Thank you for sharing it. We have Nadia. Nadia, I don't know if you're there, but if you'd like to share, you can go ahead and unmute.

Hello? Can you hear me?

Yes, I can hear you. Oh, perfect.

Ro.

So I am starting actually day one tomorrow.

Okay.

So my rose is I have everything done. I finished all my groceries yesterday, ready, gonna do meal prep Saturday, detailed my week's worth of meals, and I'm gonna be stacking my meals. Whatever I have for dinner, we'll have for lunch. And I bought extra meals, so let's say extra steaks just so I can have it for following weeks. It's just I. I found a better deal that way. The thorn I have, you've already touched on sleep. But I'm thinking ahead, you know, as Christmas comes around and Christmas get together, I'm struggling with how I'm gonna keep with the program and eat the way I should when I'm, you know, my friends tend to want to go out to restaurants and stuff like that. So just wrapping my head around that. And then the bud is I've already been on intermittent fasting. I. I waver between the spring, 14, 10 or 16, 8. But I am going to stick with yoga. I don't like cold weather, so the walking will be difficult with the cold weather outside. But I'm thinking yoga is. I tend to stick with that at least once a week.

Yeah.

So that's where I'm at.

Okay, good. So I'm glad you brought up this topic of walking outside when it's cold. So I've been really diving into this world of what we call circadian biology. So the circuit our hormones as human beings we have, our biology is in sync with the sun. Right. So the more we can align our biology with the sun, the better. And so many of us don't like the cold. You know, I kind of am like that. And I feel like I've gotten better over the years. But the more you kind of expose yourself to the cold in small batches or amounts, the more tolerable it's going to be. Right. So even when it's cold outside, like, I wouldn't start with like going for a half hour walk or anything like that, but just getting yourself outside more often throughout the day for a couple of minutes. Right. And then slowly working your way from there. Right. So two to three minutes and then maybe doing like a five minute walk or 10 minute walk and eventually like maybe 15, 20, 30 minutes. Because the more we can align our body with the natural daylight during the day, the more that's going to help us with our sleep. Right. Because the sun signals our brain in terms of what time of day it is. Right. So when we get morning sunlight, it tells our brain that it's daytime. Upside. Right. But the opposite is true too. Right. Because if we get too much light once the sun's gone down, Right. Whether that's light from our phones or light from, you know, overhead lighting in our rooms, that light is shining down on our brain, telling our brain that, you know, it's daytime outside. So trying to, especially as we move into the winter season, trying to dim lights a little bit as the sun goes down, wearing blue blocker glasses as the sun goes down. Which, you know, these are a little more advanced strategies, but those, those things go a long way because darkness is what signals melatonin production. And melatonin, one of the main roles is helping us sleep. Right. Another main role of melatonin is it's anti cancer.

Right.

It's a powerful antioxidant. So really making sure we optimize melatonin levels by reducing light once the sun goes down is going to be super important for sleep as well.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you. Get a dog. Helps with walking. Yeah, you have no choice, right? When you have a dog, you got to take that thing out for a walk, whether it's 10, 15 minutes.

So, yeah, that's.

That's a great tip, Cheryl. Okay, up next we have Elisa. Lisa, you can go ahead and unmute if you're there.

I am.

Hi. How are you?

I'm good. I can put my video on too. Sorry, I'm just. There we go. Hi.

So tell us what your rose bud thorn is.

There are a few roses. Okay.

Grateful for.

I've been the program now for just over four weeks.

Yep.

I started because I wasn't sleeping. I had really bad back issues. You know, brain fog, all of that no energy, all the fun stuff. So since I've been on the program, my back is 9 out of 10. I only have the only time my back hurts is if I sleep on my back.

Yep.

But before starting the program, it was constant pain all night long. Wasn't Able to walk in the mornings. Some mornings it was that stiff. Now I'm good. I can get up, I move around. I'm fine. So that's one of them. My sleep before starting the program was maybe three hours a night, if I was lucky, broken up throughout the night. Now, not consistently, but more often than not, I'm getting six to seven hours of straight sleep, which is congratulations for me. I'm obviously down weight, which is a bonus. Not the reason I started, but hey, I'll take it.

Yeah.

So those are my roses. My thorn is water intake. I. I do struggle very, very much with water. I've been consistently doing six or seven glasses a day, which again, for me is top notch because I would go all day with no water before, so. But I am aiming to do a little bit more. Alice is on me with that.

And.

My butt, I guess would be. So I do walk.

Okay.

My daughter take my dog out and we, and we walk. But it's not every day, so I'd like to do it more often. I don't mind the cold. So like I put my toque on and I go and like Halloween night, we were out for two hours and I just walked ahead. I had, you know, a warm, hot water and lemon and we did it. So those are, those are my rose thorn and buds.

Good.

Amazing.

I'm so glad to hear all of that. So glad.

It's been really good for me. So I'm, I'm happy.

Good. Excellent. So with the water intake, a couple of things that I would suggest and I actually recommend, I actually don't recommend drinking water just plain. I would always put a little bit of salt in your water if you aren't already doing. So when you go on a, when you go on a quote unquote lower carb diet, it causes a lot of salt wasting. And so we really want to make sure we replenish our salt stores. So putting a little bit of unrefined sea salt. There are some really good brands. Redmond sea salt is good. Selena's Naturally Celtic salt is good. So any type of good quality sea salt, in about a 500 mil bottle, you can put a quarter to a half a teaspoon, which is going to give you anywhere from 250 to 500 milligrams. And I find that really makes water a little more palatable and like you actually feel like drinking it a little more. It also helps with hydration because if you're just drinking plain water, then you're not really going to hydrate yourself. Properly. So making sure you always have a little bit of salt in the water, you can put a little bit of lemon in it as you have been, is really going to help make it more palatable and make it, you know, more desirable for you to drink.

I rarely drink plain water. I'll be honest. I always put lemon in it. Hot or cold. I put lemon in it and ice it for cold. But I can. I definitely try the salt, see if that makes a difference.

Yeah, put a little bit of salt in it because that'll look. So another thing that salt helps with, it helps increase insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. So when you have low salt, you actually become more insulin resistant. So you really want to make sure you're putting salt in your water to help with insulin sensitivity. Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. I'm so happy for you.

Thank you.

Okay, next we have Denise. Denise, you can go ahead and unmute if you're available.

Hi, can you hear me? Yes, I can sort of really just grateful for the overall program, of course, the weight loss, and just all the little things that I've started to incorporate, you know, step by step in my life for better health. So I am finished with my third round. I'm in the maintenance phase, and I guess my struggle is. My third release phase. I only lost like six pounds, and there, I think there was. I waited eight weeks before I restarted the third round. So I guess, you know, how long would you wait before starting again?

What.

So did you finish the third round completely?

Yes, I did, because I had a drop of weight, you know, like £2 in a couple of days. So I just stayed on it, and I was close to the end by then, but it was, you know, just really slow.

Okay. So I would. I would recommend waiting a little bit and just really focusing in on the maintenance meal plan for at least, I would say, like three to four months.

Okay.

Your body a little bit of break just because, like, the release phases as, you know, very effective with weight loss. But we don't want you to do too. Too many rounds too close together because we obviously, you know, there's fats are omitted on the release phase, which it's not that fats are bad for you, but, you know, we want to tap into your body's own fat stores. But when you do too many release phases back to back to back, it's, you know, we don't want to, number one, go too low calorie for that prolonged period of time. And number two is we do want you to add the fat Healthy fats back in for a more prolonged period of time.

Right. Okay. All right. And then some of the things that I want to do is just to keep incorporating healthy things. You know, I just got one of the lamps to use in the morning time from Amazon, and I want to work on getting a grounding sheet and some organic sheets and pillowcases and stuff like that. So just to continue to work on little things.

Good. Yeah. Thanks for sharing. Those are like, we just got new bed sheets recently, and we got linen bed sheets. You know, last year, many of you know, my husband, Satchin, he got really into the rabbit hole of natural fabrics. So if you pay attention to a lot of the clothes that are, you know, available these days, a lot of them are made with polyester, which is a synthetic plastic, basically. And your skin is your largest organ. So when you wear these synthetic fibers that the. The particles from the synthetic fibers can absorb through your skin. Right. Because a lot of them are microplastics. So linen sheets, actually, they used to use linen sheets in hospitals because they were so healing for people. So linen sheets, if you are in the market for new bed sheets, are great. If you can't find linen sheets, organic cotton sheets are probably the next best alternative. But you definitely want to avoid polyester sheets. It's going to cause a lot of static buildup, a negative charge or positive charge rather so in your body. So you want to make sure you avoid polyester sheets. If you do have polyester clothing, like, that's a big. It's a big endeavor to revamp your whole wardrobe. So you do it in baby steps, right? So over the last year, like, I still have polyester fabrics in my closet, but slowly, slowly I'm trying to replace them. Like this top I'm wearing, it's merino wool. I'm wearing cotton jeans right now. So I'm trying my best to avoid them because, like, just maybe three or four years ago, we were really into, like, Lululemon clothing, just so much like Lululemon clothing. And it's hard to get rid of it because, you know, we invested a lot of money in it. It's not cheap, right? So you do things slowly, right? It's with. With health practices. There's so much. And, you know, we don't want you to get overwhelmed, but, you know, now you have the awareness, right? So the next time you are in the market for a new T shirt, pay attention to the fabric, right? Is it cotton? Is it polyester? Is it wool? You know, just like you read the ingredients of your food. You got to start reading the ingredients of your clothing labels as well. Okay, awesome. And then last but not least, we have. Thank you so much for sharing, Denise. Really appreciate it. You can go ahead and unmute if you're there.

Can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

Yeah.

Hi.

So I would like to say first, thank you so much. I know I have not started the program. I just signed up.

Yeah.

And I'm still waiting for my kid. But you are great responding the messages. So thank you so much.

You're very welcome.

Yeah. And I've been following you guys for past three years.

Okay.

Yeah. I have seen you on my cousin's wedding. I don't know. But as I say, I was not sure if I can come to you guys and start talking about all this.

Right.

Last year I saw you guys. So, and I've been like, I, as I mentioned, I'm not focusing more on weight loss because I'm 110lbs. I feel if I lose more, it's all come off of my face and I look, I, I'm going to look more older. Right. The whole reason I joined this program is because of my sugar. I'm a diabetic. I'm currently on seven different medications to treat my sugar. And I'm also going through the pre menopause. Right. So that's the. And I'm having all those weird symptoms, nausea, headaches, stomach pain, all that. So that's the reason I joined this program. The challenge, I think as I mentioned it to you. Right. Like I did go through. I am still waiting for the kit. I have not received yet. But I did go through the program guide you had. And the only thing as I say, I'm pure vegetarian. I do eat eggs, but sometimes I do feel nausea with that.

Right.

And I thought we were not allowed to eat dairy product. And you mentioned about the cottage cheese is. Cottage cheese is okay.

So if you're vegetarian, then obviously protein sources are a little more limited. So that's why we do allow a little bit of dairy for vegetarians.

Okay.

Yeah.

And again, once I get my kid, if I have more question, I will definitely reach out to you or whom I'm supposed to. If you are Alicia, it's going to.

Be Alice, who is your coach. So you can reach out to Alice if you have any questions. I know that you had reached out to me with regards to some Indian recipes. So in the past when I've done this program, for example, when I'm making tofu like I use, I'll make It with all our Indian spices.

Right.

So like a tofu scramble and I'll put all our Indian spices in it. Same thing with at Costco, you can buy like a frozen cauliflower rice. So I'll make it with all our Indian spices as well. So even like chickpea masala.

Right.

You can make that with your Indian spices. So you can kind of modify the recipes a little bit to fit for the program and still kind of use most Indian recipes as much as possible.

Okay, so you say chickpea masala, not the chickpea. So I cannot eat the chickpea.

Right.

During. Oh, I can, yeah.

Being vegetarian, you can do 6 ounces of cooked beans or legumes. So that's going to be things like black beans, chickpeas, you know, your dolls and lentils.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

So you're going to measure out 6 ounces.

Okay. So is that mentioned in the program guide?

I.

Maybe I missed it then. Okay, okay.

There's a whole section for vegetarians and vegans. So just make sure you have a read through that so that you're familiar with the foods that you can eat as a vegetarian.

Oh, that's great. Because I did not notice and that was my biggest concern. I'm like, all this is meat, what I'm supposed to eat. And I'm dying. As I say, I'm taking seven medication. I cannot quit those right away until we finish this program. So if I don't eat properly, my sugar will go down. And it has happened before, Right. Like it drops 30, 40. So I just wonder.

Yeah.

So you're gonna, do you, do you have a continuous blood glucose monitor?

No, I don't. I usually check in the morning and then if I fill it, I check twice a day, stuff like that.

I would recommend a continuous blood glucose monitor for you just because with the program, especially with making changes to your diet, you're going to want to monitor those blood sugars a little more frequently. And when you have the cgm, it goes on the back of your arm and it can measure your blood Sugars Every. Every 15 minutes. Do you live in Canada?

No, I live in New Jersey and one lot I had tried because the insurance and everything is crazy. I do have insurance, but just those three samples that cost like a thousand dollar American dollar for three because you have to change every 15 days. Right? I think that's how it works.

Yeah, but the sensor is only like $90.

No, here I did go. So it's maybe the one they mentioned. It's a freestyle or Something. And that one. Yeah, but that one here, they did say. It's almost like I did go through my pharmacy and they gave me a quote of a thousand dollars. So if you have something else, maybe. Yes, that's why.

Yeah, there's. You can get one online. Let me see, starting at $125 here, I'm gonna put the link.

Okay, perfect.

And when were you diagnosed with the diabetes? Has it been a few years or how long?

Yeah, I know it's in 2002. It's a gestational and it never went away.

Never went away. Okay. Yeah. So do you have any, like, weight gain around the abdomen? I'm sorry, was I weight gain around the abdomen?

No. I don't know.

Okay. And how tall are you?

Five one.

Five one. Okay. Yeah. So I sent you the modifications to make because you're not really looking for weight loss. Right. So the protocol is going to be a little different for you because, you know, we. You probably want to maintain your weight where it is.

Right.

So you're just follow that protocol and then basically have a read through the vegetarian guidelines again. But basically, for you, it's probably going to have to. It's probably going to come down to three meals a day. And the fasting window, it's not going to be as long. It's not going to be 16 hours. It's probably going to be anywhere from like 13 to 14 hours.

Okay. And if I do feel my sugar drop down, I can just. Whatever treatment I do, I can have it, right? I don't have to.

Okay.

So, you know, in the time being, whatever you're. Whether it's like a little bit of orange juice or whatever you're doing, just do that now.

Okay.

To mitigate the hypoglycemic episode, it. It will probably happen the first few weeks as your body adjusts. So just be aware of that.

Yep, yep. Okay. No, that's great.

And then also, I would let your physician know that you're embarking on this program because for sure, at some point throughout the program, you're going to need to make some modifications to your medication. So he will. He or she will need to be aware of that so that they can modify your medication as needed.

Yeah, yeah. And that's my goal. I want to. Because as I say, they. I've been going through different doctors figure out the pain, and the only answer I get is either because of the premenopause or side effect of those medications.

Right.

So I definitely want to get rid of some of them. So that is my goal to join. So hopefully.

Okay.

And then if you can just message me all the medications you're on, that would be helpful as well.

Yeah, I will. I did add on the form yesterday.

Yeah.

And it's. All of them are there.

Okay, I'll take a look at that then.

Yep. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Welcome.

Any other. I know today we kind of got everyone to chat, which is great. I think it's nice for everyone to have an opportunity to share. And for, you know, for some of you who had mentioned, you know, some struggles with cooking, there were some recommendations that came in the chat as well. So make sure you have a look at that. But basically, when it comes to maintenance, maybe we'll cover that next week. Alice, we can kind of tag team that together. Just. We can make sure we give a little bit more information about that. Terry, I know you had one question about ordering your OURA ring. So you are in the Longevity program, so you should have received an OURA ring sizing kit. So what you're going to do is you're going to. You are basically going to just try to figure out what size you are. So wear, like, let's say you want to wear size 7 on your middle finger. You'll wear that for about 24 hours. I did that. Okay, good. So you're. You're going to open up the, the box. Okay. On the COVID of the box, there'll be a little sheet with a QR code. You're going to scan that QR code and fill out the form, and then we'll get that ordered for you.

Oh, I had no idea that.

I just told Annalisa what size I wore for 24 hours. And that.

Yeah, for me.

But, yeah, information about, like that I had to go. I had to get it because all the other stuff was coming, you know.

So I thought, well, when you open the box, did you not see the instructions on how to order it? Because it's like very clear.

Well, I believe you just double check.

Make sure you have it. But there should be like a here, step by step, instructions on how to order it.

And then of course they bill it. Or is it part. It's part of the program.

No.

So you've already paid for it. So basically, once you fill out the form, we'll get that shipped off for you. And you should. Once you fill out the form, you should get it in less than a week.

Okay.

Yeah, I wore the thing for 20, the plastic thing for 24 hours a week ago and all right.

Yeah.

Looking forward to trying to figure out what's going on at night, you know?

Yeah, exactly. So just make sure you get that filled out today, because once you get it filled out today, I'll have my office manager, Sarah, she'll order that today for you. You should have it by early next week.

All right?

Yeah, no worries.

Thanks.

You're very welcome. Well, it was a pleasure connecting with you all today. We will see you all next week. So make sure you tune in next week, 12pm, same time, same place. Thanks, everyone. Have a great day.

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