Weekly Living Light Metabolic Program Q & A [Aug 11, 2023]

Hello.

Hello, everyone. Happy Friday. Yay, Friday. Hi, Beverly. Nice to see you. Loved the shots you added of all of the veggies and the produce that you're gardening. Hi, Annalisa. Lovely to see you.

And I haven't, I haven't taken pictures of everything that's come out. We got a nice butternut squash and all kinds of tomatoes and.

That'S awesome. And it's going to keep coming too, you know, about halfway. So enjoy all the fruits of your labor.

Well, it's right now it's all spiralized and waiting to be eaten in the freezer.

Delicious. At least it makes grocery shopping that much easier for the release phase. You could literally go shopping in your garden, which is so amazing.

Awesome.

Hi, Sheila. Hi, Barb. Hi, Irina. Hi, Jan. Lovely to see all of you ladies here today. Happy Friday for from me to everyone. And as per usual, I love to start the calls with some wins or some gratitude. So if you've had a chance to experience anything exciting, any new breakthroughs in regards to your health, maybe something you're really looking forward to trying or a new habit you're looking to integrate, maybe it's getting more consistent with a pre existing habit, whatever that is. I would love to celebrate and do some shout outs as we all kind of trickle in for our Friday Q and A today. So feel free to use your voice. You know, I'm a huge fan of that. Would love to hear your voice, love to see faces, but if you are tied up, you can definitely go ahead and type it into the chat. So my gratitude for today is the beautiful sun that is shining and not too hot of a day. It's just right, as Goldilocks would say, it's just that perfect cusp of 22 degrees Celsius, which is so nice to experience. And additionally getting outside this morning, getting out for a nice walk, a nice stretch, always starts my days off right. And so super grateful to have had that time today. Jan is saying starting again and looking forward to the program again as I lose more. Congratulations on getting onto another round. And Beverly is saying I am still in maintenance and doing well. So awesome, awesome work. Barb is saying, celebrating, listening to my body. A goal for this week is to make protein balls. Yes, I know we've mentioned that a couple of times on the protein balls and they're truly such a nice dessert or snack. Kind of in between if you need to just grab something quickly. So enjoy. There's so many different flavor combinations you can do and so many different seeds and nuts you can kind of recycle and go through when it comes to making protein balls. So thank you so much for sharing, ladies. I lost more inches. Congratulations, Sheila. Are you on currently your first round? Yep. Annalisa is saying yes. Amazing. And are you still in the release phase? Okay. Amazing. Amazing. Well, keep up the great work. Continue to do and pour in your amazing efforts and continue to release even more inches that your body does not need potentially anymore. So I see Barb here has her hand up. I would love to hear what you have to share for today.

Okay, I'm going to. I actually sent you a message. I'm going to read the message. It's about.

Okay.

About the protein balls, apparently Sunbutter has several different options. The regular, the original has sugar in it, which I was shocked to see some. Some cane sugar. But they also make a. Which is the only ones I can. I can only find those in the local stores. It's the one that has the cane sugar in it. But apparently they also make one that is organic and they also make a sugar free one. So does it matter which option we get? Is it okay to have the cane sugar in the original or what are you recommending for that?

I would opt for the no sugar added. My recommendation would be that because your body gets very used to kind of sweetness levels. So as much as we can keep them down, the better overall it'll be for our blood sugar levels. So I would say to. If it's possible, of course, I'm sure it's not a lot of sugar that's in the sugar that's in the one with the cane sugar. But I would opt for sugar free or no added sugar.

And I can't remember, but I think the organic one did have sugar, but the sugar free one obviously didn't have any sugar. So go for the sugar free over the organic with sugar.

You know what? I would probably say that's a tough one. It's interesting how they don't give you both options.

That's what my little brain is telling me. I could be wrong.

Yeah. So I think I would probably go for the organic. In all honesty, I would probably lean more towards that. Even though it still has a little bit of sugar in it. Only because it's going to make a bigger impact in terms of kind of like the. The pesticides, maybe some of the herbicides you're exposed to or that are used in the cultivation process. I think that might be a little bit more intense on your body than having a minimal amount of sugar. That's probably going to be with, you know, all the fiber and all the protein that you're also including in the protein balls.

Okay. And also, like, I have a big blender. I don't know if I can make my own.

Yeah, yeah, you can definitely make your own. So I know there is. There's a few YouTube videos I've come across. When it comes to making your own nut butters, really, it comes down to roasting that nut or seed or whatever it is at a specific temperature. Each one is going to be a little bit different to release its volatile compounds and its. Its fats. So you can definitely go ahead and make your own at home. That would be your best bet.

Okay. I see in the messages that someone says they think Rive has organic unsweetened butter. I was just looking for the one, the brand that's called Sunbutter, but I'll check for that Thrive One as well.

Yeah, it could be on Thrive Market, which I know is available in the States and that we have an equivalent called Natura Market in Canada. Let me see if I can find a good sunflower butter option.

And then while you're looking at that, I'll also say that, Yeah, in the recipe that you gave us, you mentioned that you like it with the cacao, but you didn't specify if it was the nibs or the powder.

Got you. So I. I use powder, so I use cacao powder. You're welcome to use cacao nibs. So it's not a strict process. You can definitely customize it to what you have on hand and what you enjoy.

And also I remember you saying that you prefer the dates as your sweetener in that.

Yeah.

Do you just mush up medjool dates? Is that how you make your paste?

So what I do is I take a few dates and I submerge them in hot water so they get a little bit soft. So then after about 10, 15 minutes, you remove them from the water and then they become a little bit softer. That's when you can go in with a fork or with the end of a cup and just kind of mash them up.

Okay. See, I have to know the details when I make new recipes. And then also. It's got a half a cup which seems like a ton of protein powder in it. Now, you mentioned the designs for health protein powder. What flavor do you use?

I enjoy the chocolate flavor. And sorry, when I meant half a cup. It depends on the volume. So I'm actually using half a cup of the scoop that's in the Protein powder.

That's a very good, that's a very good clarification.

Yes, yes.

Half a scoop, not a half a cup. I would have gone in with a half a cup and like, oh my God, that's a lot of.

Yeah, I should, I should definitely go ahead and change that so you can play around with the portions because every batch is going to be slightly different. But you could do a full cup, let's say. So I would start with half a cup added in there because obviously it's a powder. It might take a little bit to adhere, especially if there's not many liquids. So start with half a cup and half a scoop. Sorry. And then go from there. And next time you make them, maybe you want a little bit more.

Okay. And the last question is, how many balls does that recipe make?

It makes about 8 to 10. So roughly you're going to get that amount again depending on how large you're making them. So it's going to be a little bit different every time. Typically Speaking, it's about 8 to 10 larger sized balls. Maybe like 10 to 14 smaller size balls.

Okay. Because I promised, I promised my family I was going to bring them some protein balls. I have to know how many I can bring. Okay, I think that's all for the protein balls. I do have one other question. Do you want me to wait till later?

No, sure, go for it. Let's have it.

When I said in the chat, you know, we're friends here, listen to my body. Yesterday I had for the first time and I won't do it again because my body's like, no, no, no, sister, no, no, no, no. I had a little bit of sour cream. I was like, no, we don't do that anymore. No, it was like, that's not in my best interest. So then I went and I got. Sour cream is not something that's a regular thing in my repertoire anyway. But I saw this. It's from the, the natural section.

It's dairy free.

I'm just adding more funk into my body or not. It's got my body said no way to the dairy. It's got butter beans and I don't know what butter beans are. It does have oats, which is not good for us. I don't think. It has coconut oil, gum arabic, Arabic, cognac root powder, calcium citrate, sea salt. Yeah. So basically the cognac root powder, that's okay, isn't it?

Yeah, that would be fine.

I don't think gum is though. Exactly. Yeah. So is that, is that Something as if people insist.

Whoops.

If people insist on it. Is that something that's okay to use?

What was the. Can you read me the second ingredient again?

Ingredients Here it says I need bigger, I need better, more magnifying glasses. Plant based is the first ingredient. And then brackets it says water, butter, beans and oats.

Okay. So I would say from time to time, you know, it's obviously a processed product, so there's going to be a couple of additional chemicals, preservatives, processed chemicals inside of it. So I would say while it's not a terrible product, it's something I would enjoy very sparingly. And especially if your body can't tolerate the grass fed, super clean, obviously pasture raised sour cream that you can get at your local store, that would be the next best option. So I would say from time to time, like you know, once every two weeks, you know, something along those lines, it would be fine.

Once every two years.

Okay. Even better. So then, yeah, I would say in moderation it's fine. It is a cleaner product in the, in the grand scheme of processed products. So I would say it's okay to enjoy from time to time anything process though that. It's just the general rule of thumb I like to give is once in a while. So looking at it more of a condiment as like a little addition from time to time rather than like a staple. Okay.

Yeah, it was, it was like the, a little condiment on the side of something very spicy. Yeah. But my perfect sour cream, my body said no way.

No. Yeah. The only thing with oats and, and I urge everybody actually, even when it comes to their personal care products, to read lists because oftentimes, while oats naturally gluten free, they're processed in facilities that also process wheat and other gluten based products. So that's the only issue when it comes to oats because there's a lot of oat and wheat derivatives that you can find, I know in Aveeno products, I know in a bunch of other self care products and personal care products and additionally food. So that's really the only thing to watch out for. Unless it's labeled gluten free oats, there's not any sort of assurance that there wasn't cross contamination. So I would say if you find, you know, with that product that you're experiencing any sort of difficulties digesting or nausea or any skin reactions, anything along those lines, remove it for a couple of days or a week I would say, and then try it back in again.

Okay. Thank you for Your information.

My pleasure. Barb, thanks for the questions. Yes, Beverly, thank you for the dissection here. So cacao nibs has the fat, but cacao powder is fat free, Gum arabic is a thickener, and butter beans are another name for lima beans. So that's typically where all of those ingredients are derived from. I've never actually heard them called butter beans. That's the first time it's on my radar here. So thank you. Yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and look for an option for Sunbutter that you can purchase potentially both organic and sugar free. I'm sure it exists. I just have to find the right website with it on. But for today, of course, you know, questions keep them coming into the chat. But I had two different things I wanted to, I guess, kind of practice today. I wanted to see what everybody would be more into or it would be more beneficial for them to go or to experience as we're going through this right now in our Q A. So I have the crush technique and we've never done it in a call, but I find this to be very, very relevant and very common whenever people are going through the program, whether it be the first round, the second round, the third round, oftentimes. And many of you, I'm sure, have come in contact with what is called the Crush technique. So what the crush technique addresses, is it anything you're experiencing in regards to stalls in, if you're experiencing hunger responses or if you are having any sort of cravings as you're on the program that are a little bit harder to ignore? So what the crush technique does is it utilizes what's called emotional freedom technique. So it's an ancient practice of tapping. And so you tap and you hold different meridian centers, different acupuncture centers in your body that are linked to your emotional centers. So we're course going to be diving into a little bit of that practice. It takes about five minutes, I want to say, so we can do it all on a call if you guys are open to it. And then the second thing is actually something I saw this week, and it helps to move lymph fluid more readily in your body. So if you find that, you know, maybe you notice that there's some swelling in your body after a day of exercise or after a day of maybe consuming more food than you typically would, or if you, you know, just typically notice that maybe in your lymph node areas, you're a little bit more swollen. And regardless if you are or if you're not, this is a Great detox practice. This is a great way to kind of alleviate any sort of detox symptoms as your body is moving through the release phase, maintenance phase and every day thereafter. It's just good overall maintenance to make sure that your body is dumping and draining the sewage as you as optimized as possible. So those are the two practices. We could do one this week, we can do one next week if both of them are raising curiosity. But I wanted to kind of just present both options and see what everybody is into. So if you all wanted to take a vote. I've never done one of these, but we can go ahead and try. In the bottom section where you see reactions, if whoever puts up the heart is going to be voting for the crush technique. This is to be covered today. The second one we can do next week. And whoever puts the thumbs up, that's going to be for the lymphatic drainage. So I'm just going to write it into the chat here very quickly. Okay. And I see your question here, Beverly, and yes, we will definitely go through that once we are finished with our practice today. So a heart is for the crush technique. Thumbs up is for the lymphatic drainage exercise. Or you can write in the chat whichever one you prefer. I see Barb here is all thumbs up for lymph drainage. Same with Beverly. Awesome. Two votes. Okay. Okay. Awesome. So let's do the lymphatic drainage exercise. It takes about three minutes. It can take as fast or as little as you would like it to. Probably it's going to be upwards of five minutes, so it probably won't go past that. But basically you're focusing on the different lymph nodes that you have in your body. So there's six major ones and there's three different ways that you're going to be interacting with these lymph nodes. So first, I want you all to sit in your seat, kind of straight back as much as you can. And so we're going to start with the lymph nodes in our collarbone. So you're going to take either your left to right hand and you're going to start rubbing kind of the collarbone of your upper body here. So you don't want to use too hard of a pressure, but you want to put in enough pressure that's comfortable and just rub it a couple times. Now you're going to go ahead and you're going to start tapping this area just for a few moments, mobilizing that fluid that could be stuck here. And now you want to go Ahead and rub it in a circular motion just all around that area, giving yourself a nice body massage, focusing on this outward area right here, kind of where your collarbone ends and connects to your shoulder. Awesome. And so now we're going to repeat that for the next size. So again, giving yourself a nice rub up at the collarbone, focusing towards the end of the collarbone here, applying gentle but firm pressure. You then want to go ahead and tap this area. And finish off with a nice circular motion. We're now going to be working up to the neck, so you're going to want to take your hands, kind of place them at the base of your neck and you can go ahead and just massage your neck upwards, focusing kind of on the more upper part of your neck here. This is where your lymph nodes typically sit. And again, putting gentle but firm pressure. So it doesn't hurt, but it feels like you're definitely enjoying the force that you're putting on your neck. Neck. So after about five times, six times of rubbing your neck, you're going to go ahead and tap it again. And then now finishing off with a nice circular motion. Awesome. So now we're going to be moving into the underarm. So you're going to be rubbing again. And this is going to be kind of the, the lower end of your underarm here. That's where your lymph node is typically residing. Anywhere around this sort of area. Now you want to go ahead and tap it. And finish off with the circular motion. Awesome. And now we repeat on the next side. Oh, sorry. Should be rubbing it. Got a little ahead of myself. And what's cool about this is that lymph kind of helps anything in the body. So if you're noticing maybe your skin is acting out, maybe you're noticing, noticing you're feeling more sluggish, maybe you're noticing you're not waking up with the same amount of energy. That could be because your lymph is sluggish. Additionally, if you find that you're constipated, you're not, you know, your bowels aren't moving super regularly. This can also help move things along. It can kind of move food and of course, your lymph drainage through your body with more ease and unblock those lymph nodes as well. And, and, and in your lymph nodes, of course, is anything body is draining or is deemed toxic. So it's really important to move through that lymph fluid as much as possible. So once we're done with the armpits, we want to Go ahead and move to the stomach. So you're going to go ahead and just bring your arms around your stomach and do that same rubbing motion that we did previously. So coming from back around, going down to your love handles as well, up to your navel just a few times. And now you want to go ahead and just do some tapping. And then when you're doing your circular motion, you want to kind of firmly press into where your belly button is and then go around in a circular motion. So apply just a little bit more pressure than you typically do. For the next piece, we're actually going to go into our groin, so it's going to be kind of right at the cusp of where our legs meet our hips. So you're going to go ahead and rub in that center. Gonna go ahead and do your taps, a nice wake up for the body as well, all the different parts, and then a quick circular motion.

When you're doing the stomach, does it matter if you go clockwise or counterclockwise?

No, it doesn't matter. Typically clockwise is going to work better, but any, any direction works. Yeah. So then after you're done with your circles, the very last point is going to be at the back of the knees. So we're going to be focusing on this area here. So same thing. You might need to get up out of your chair. If you can do it while sitting, that's perfect as well. So you're going to rub the back of your knee, knees, And just do some quick taps. And then a nice circular motion to end it off. Beautiful. And you've officially drained yourself of all toxic energy, all toxic fluid in as little as five minutes. So congratulations, everyone. I hope that you feel maybe a little bit more surge of energy after that. I feel like I definitely do. And maybe that'll help with detoxing or with drainage. This, this evening, I feel lighter. Yeah, me too. Feel just like cleansed a little bit, which is awesome. So, yeah, feel free to practice that. You know, it's. It's a great and, you know, decently quick, painless activity to get into. And it can make a world of a difference when it comes to detoxifying, which is, as you all know at this point, very important when you're going through the release phase of whatever round it is that you're doing on the reset program, it really can make a difference in how you're feeling through the program, especially if your body hasn't really efficiently detoxified in a moment or if you haven't been getting optimal sleep so those two practices are going to be really great. And this one specific practice is going to be great to just add to your morning routine. You can do it in bed, you know, even before you get up and tackle the day, just to make sure you're showing yourself some love and increasing your energy and also waking up your body to get the day started. So it's good for a number of different reasons. You were coughing, Beverly, as you were doing the neck. Are you. Did you notice any sort of, I guess like swelling or any sort of bulge maybe around the neck? Your body might be fighting something off ever so gently. Hmm, interesting. It could be your body getting used to, used to the motion, used to the technique. Especially if you haven't maybe had a neck massage in a while. It might have not been used to the pressure that was applied, which could have caused maybe some of the, some of the coughing. But the more you practice it, the more overall your body will become equipped to handle that and then also be more efficient at releasing. Arb is saying sleep there reminded me I'm going to order some Viva Rays. I see Deepa in the commercials. Do you use a living proof code to order? Yes. So we do have a code. I'm going to go ahead and put it in the chat here in just a moment where you can actually get 10% off of your Viva rate. So, and that goes for any Viva Ray pair that you want to get. So the one that you've probably seen is the clip and go. So those are the base pair with the three different or the two extra magnetic lenses and the one base pair. If you wanted to just get one pair and just invest in that, I would say go straight for the red lens pair. Enjoy. They're really cool glasses and they make such a difference, especially if you're somebody where you find you're like, oh, you know, for instance, like me, I'm definitely more bred to be a night owl. So at night I get the second wind of energy. And I noticed when I started wearing the Viva Ray glasses, I would no longer get that second wind. It was actually the blue light that was so stimulating for me in that nighttime portion where it made me feel like I can stay up for another hour or two. So really makes a difference at how quickly you kind of feel that tire response, the tired response from your body. Are there lymph nodes in your ankles? Yes. So there are actually lymph nodes located in your ankles as well. You're welcome to include that in the lymphatic drainage massage. If you want. It's more so centered on the six major lymph nodes that you have in your body with that overall stretch. But if you have have the extra time to do it for your ankles as well, definitely go ahead. Will the knee work for Baker cysts? I am not entirely sure. I'm going to go ahead and look into that really quickly here. So I would say definitely make sure to take it easy when you are going in that back of the knee section. If you do have a Baker cyst, definitely don't want you causing any additional pain to that area. But I would say, you know, maybe that would help relieve some of the fluid that's built up behind your knee as well. So I would say start as gently as possible. Make sure if you do feel any pain or discomfort that's not manageable, don't go past it. You can definitely start incorporating small, small little exercises, even if it's just one of the methods that we did. So there was the rubbing, the tapping, and then the circular motion. I would say maybe the circular motion would be best to start. So another great way to actually drain lymph fluid as well, and for whoever has this at their disposal is, of course, saunas. Saunas are going to be amazing. An infrared sauna that's going to allow your body to help sweat out some of the toxins doing something like rebounding. So of course, it's best to do when you have an actual rebounder. So that's just a mini trampoline, basically where your body uses gravity's force to pull down all of the limb fluid every time you're jumping up. You can definitely do this without having a rebounder. It won't have the same effects. And something to be aware of is to watch out for your knees, especially if you do have bad knees or if you do suffer from knee pain. That might not be the best option for you to do without a rebounder. But you can still do the motion of kind of pretend this is your foot on the ground. You can kind of lift it up and put it down like this, which will kind of help help with bring about that motion that a rebounder would. But additionally, on top of that, doing that simple motion starts to work on your bone density as well. So once you're moving into the maintenance phase, I would say, you know, incorporating that, even if for a minute throughout the day, think of maybe where you're standing. If it's waiting for your coffee to be brewed, maybe it's waiting for your water to be filtered, maybe it's, you know, a minute or two leg time that you have in between things. Think to yourself, you know, what can I do in this minute that's going to level me up? And so doing just that simple, kind of like calf raise, if you will, in that moment is going to help to bring lymph fluid down and it's also going to help work on that bone density. Yes, Barb. So it's going to be in the same in that exact order. So we want to start working from the collarbone. Then you want to work up to the neck. Then you want to go ahead with the armpits. Then you're going to move down to the stomach. You're going to do the groin and then the back of the knees. How's the program going for everyone? I know Sheila is mentioning she's releasing inches. She's doing awesome. Beverly is in maintenance and maintaining super well. Barb is celebrating listening to her body. How has life been? I guess how is maybe a question that I'd love to just out of curiosity know, how has life changed for you since doing this program? Or maybe since being halfway in the program, learning a couple of skills, maybe trying different foods that you haven't experimented with a while? Have you noticed any changes in your life, maybe in you personally, or maybe it's something physically. Maybe it's way you're interacting with people. So, Irina, the color glasses we choose, kind of the most important color to invest in, if any at all, I would say is the red pair. So I'm just going to pull up the Viva Ray website here really quickly and kind of show you the different options that you have. So this is the website, so when you go into the shop section, you can get the evening ease or the sleeper ease lenses. So if there's anywhere I would say to invest, it would be in a red lens pair. That's going to be the most important to wear, especially one to two hours before bedtime. So if you're only looking to get one color, I would definitely recommend getting the red lens pair. The one that we mentioned a little bit earlier is the clip and go set. So the clip and go set has the three different lenses. Let me see here. Three in one blue blocking. Yes, it's this one. So. Oh, that's on me here. So as you see here, there's the three different lenses. So the base pair is slightly yellow. So that's what you wear kind of during the day, especially if you're in an office with maybe some junky, really fluorescent bright lighting. That's going to be a pair to wear at that specific time. The orange pair, I would say kind of around the afternoon, so maybe after 2pm, around 5pm That's a great time to start wearing it. Two to maybe like 5 or 6pm That's a Great time to start wearing the orange pair. The red lens is to be worn one to two hours before bedtime. So ideally, I would say as best as possible, at least start wearing it one hour before bedtime. And as you get more comfortable, you can do two hours before bedtime. If you last the whole two hours, that is too. So there's the two different options. And if you do have a prescription, you also can receive a prescription in any one of their glasses. So the bone density is more so without the rebounder. So it's when your body is making actual contact with a solid surface. So the rebounding is going to be a little more gentle, which is better for the knees. But with the calf raises, you're not really having a lot of impact on your knees because you're not leaving the ground. It's just more of a lifting. So I would say on solid ground, yes, you can build up that bone density, but on the rebounder, no, it's going to be mostly the lymphatic drainage. Yeah, it is a little bit of qigong. I've never personally done any or I've not taken a full class. I've done like little bits and blurbs of qigong and I really love it. Just the movement of energy and letting your body flow, I guess, through those different energies and make such a big difference. Difference, Yeah. Thanks, Annalisa. Any shape recommendations for glasses frames? So I personally like the base ones or the clip and go ones. Kind of like the wider ones. It really depends if you have bigger eyes. I would say go for a bigger lens because that's just what's going to make it the most comfortable. There's not too many different styles. I know that there's like an aviator style on the website as well. And there's more of like a rounded, like Ozzy Osbourne style too. So it's whatever, you know, whatever. I feel like there. There's a website where you can actually upload a picture and try different sunglass styles on your face. So I would say to play around with that just to see kind of how it settles so you don't have to go through the whole process of returning and this and that. So when you get your product, you can just, you know, be happy and start wearing it from that day on. Let me see. See if I can find a quick resource for that.

I think it's Zenni Optical.

Yep, that was the first one. Yeah, that came up for me too. And I think lenscrafters actually has a virtual try on glasses too. So any one of those major optical stores, you can definitely go ahead and play around with that. For the first time in a year. My husband found some gluten free cheesecake. He bought it yesterday and brought it home. Haven't touched it yet. Huge success. I'm saving it for loading. Yeah, what an awesome treat to enjoy and to make the most use of to enjoy it thoroughly, especially for those loading days. I'm sure it'll get you up to that calorie mark much faster too. And where did he find the gluten free cheesecake? Was it a, like a big box store? Was it a smaller like.

It was Food lion. And I don't know how regional Food lion is, but I know they, I don't think we had them in Washington state and I'm not sure we had them in Maryland either. Except we did when we moved back to Maryland and before we moved to Pennsylvania.

Yeah, I'd be curious to know, you know, what it's, it's made out of. I don't believe I've seen a gluten free cheesecake myself. They're very hard to find, of course, other than making it yourself at home. So let us know how you liked it so we can, you know, maybe recommend it.

We ate it quite a bit the first year we were here and it's very, very good. It is very comparable to. It's not good for gluten free. It is good, if you understand what I mean. Yeah.

Yes.

DIA brand D A I Y no, it wasn't.

No, it wasn't diet. It. It, it wasn't. It's real cheesecake. It's not.

Yeah.

I can't, I can find out what brand it is. It's in my fridge.

But yeah, whenever. Whenever.

But I think we, we found it in Food lion and we found it at Weiss. Both I think are regional grocery stores. So I don't know if they would have it like at Whole Foods or anything like that.

Yeah, interesting. I mean, at the very least it's good to know Foodland has some options in regards to gluten free. Might not be the cleanest options, but we never know until we try. So thank you and I hope you enjoy the cheesecake for the loading. Barb is saying I want relief from the Computer monitor. I try not to be on the computer at night, but sometimes it cannot be helped. Yes. So obviously, you know, there's only so much in our control. It's a very demanding world at times where we have to stay plugged in. But I would say the red lens glasses are going to be your best kind of option if you do have to stay up on the computer at night. Night. I know that from time to time I've mentioned this filter, but I'm going to put it in here anyways. Just now or right now. It's called Just Get Flux and it's a blue light filter you can download onto your computer. So it's free to use. And what's cool is that it tracks where geographically are in the world. So based on the time of year, it starts naturally dimming your screen once the sun sets in your location. So I can't look at a computer without this anymore. My eyes just feel like they've seen daylight for the first time. And so it's really amazing at just kind of, you know, lessening the strain on your eyes and not constantly energizing your brain with the shock of blue light that's coming through. So that I would say super important for everyone to get on their laptops computers as soon as humanly possible. It's such an amazing resource to have in this modern everyday world. There's also two different apps that you can get or I guess one app and one function that you can put onto your phones. So for anybody that has an Android downloading the app called Twilight, it is the same exact concept as Just Get Flux, except for instead of it being on your computer, it's now on your phone. For whoever has an iPhone, there is an article I'm going to link here where it. For whatever reason, Twilight isn't available on your. On your app store, in, in the iPhone, any iPhone users. But there is an article how to turn the phone screen red. So I'm going to go ahead and link that here. So at night you can go ahead and turn it into that red mode, which of course then mitigates a lot of the blue light that's coming through your phone. And what I say when it comes to working late, a lot of the times, of course it is, you know, getting an influx of work or having a busy. But the other reason is because we've made it a habit and that's what we're used to and that's what we continue doing. So if you do want to get to bed earlier, if you feel like it is possible. Two things I want to mention is a creating a cutoff date, so or cut off time. So no matter what, no matter what's going on, no matter how much work you have, you have until 9pm or you have until 9:30 or whatever that time is, and beyond that time, know that it's no longer project productive to be online, to be on a computer, to be energizing your brain so much. And if you need to do work, then getting to bed a little bit earlier once you get off and then completing the work in the morning, or I would say altogether take whatever it is that you would be working on in that nighttime portion and go to bed a little bit earlier and wake up and do it in the morning. The reason being is because of course blue light is not a great thing to get at night because it's energizing. But in the morning when you're waking up and you're exposing yourself to a lot of blue light, while it is obviously from a screen, it's not the best, you're also going to be able to ride that energy wave. It's coming to you at a more opportune time instead of at night when you're trying to wind down. So I would say one of those two things, play around with it, see if it helps. Of course the Viva rays are going to be in there no matter what, but just see if one of those two things kind of helps you to stay on track with that computer routine. Sheila is saying, my biggest challenge is making food for my sons and then I desire it as well. Otherwise I find it easy to follow body wise, maybe a little more energy. But my schedule is much disrupted right now, so it's difficult to measure that. Right now I'm having a really big sleep challenge, not getting to sleep compared to my normal. So when it comes to creating, creating food that's separate from the family, you know, initially that's a challenge and that's a hurdle to get through because your family is asking questions, they're curious why you're not doing the same things as them. And over time that does switch because I find that people get more curious because you start showing up different. You start, your skin starts looking different, your body starts looking different, you start acting different. So then they start paying attention more so to what it is that you're doing, how you're eating, how you're interacting differently. And they get more curious to see exactly, you know, what it is that you're consuming and maybe wanting to try that a little bit more when it comes to wanting to eat the same foods. That's very normal for it to happen. It's a source of connection. But in those times I found that, you know, saying to yourself a positive affirmation kind of re anchoring back into why this is so important for you to do and additionally telling your, your mental kind of chatter that this is an choice that you've made very happily, very confidently. And the reason you're not eating the same as your son's right now is because you've put it on pause because you're working on your health. And it's not a goodbye forever, it's a pause for right now. And while you know there is that little bit of a mental challenge, as you're going through the moment it goes, it gets a lot easier the more you're faced in that specific situation. You get more confidence moving forward outside of that situation as well to adhere to those food agreements that you have with yourself. So taking a pause, just identifying, is it, you know, is it an emotional craving I'm having to connect with them right now, or is this more so because you know, this is challenging and this is challenging me and food is a way to comfort me. So therefore I want to have that comfort to lean on in this moment as I'm going through this kind of like mental challenge. So it takes a little bit of time, but you will be able to make those decisions, decisions with a lot more confidence as you approach them more when it comes to the sleep, like I mentioned, obviously blue light is going to be huge, but your aura ring is going to be a huge insight into your different sleep metrics and how to go about all of that. But additionally it helps to, I would say first and foremost, of course blue light is the biggest thing to, to focus in on. The second thing would be consistency. At the very least having a consistent bedtime or a consistent wait time. Ideally there's both, but I would say start with one so whichever one is easier. The one that's less resistance. Our bodies love consistency so much. That's what equals safety to us. That's what equals the rest and digest nervous system state. So as much consistency as much as our bodies can perceive and be familiar with, the better overall our health is in all aspects. So if right now you're not getting enough sleep or there's some very big sleep challenges, I identify exactly where that's coming from. So first step is always awareness. Really kind of look through your sleep schedule, maybe your bedtime routine and wind down routine and say, what are one to two things that I'd like to correct this week or I'd like to start working on this week, and then we can go from there. Oh, that's awesome, Barb. Congrats. So you might be a certified teacher for qigong. You've been practicing for quite some time. That's awesome. Maybe you could lead us through an energy flow one day. I know I would love that. So no pressure, though. Absolutely not. But if that's something that maybe you're marinating on or something that's going to challenge you in a new way. Way. We're all family here at the end of the day, so I would very much enjoy that session. I think Annalisa would too.

You do it on your surfboard or in your canoe.

Talk about next level. It's called seasonal qigong. I'm reading Beverly's comment here. I keep my iPhone and tablet on night setting all the time. Yes. So night setting is good, but it doesn't get it as red as you would probably want it for the night nighttime in terms of eliminating the most amount of blue light coming through. So while nighttime is a great option, great step. I would even take it as far as that iPhone red setting, especially at least an hour before bedtime. If you're not accessing your phone an hour before bedtime, then don't worry about it. But if you are, then I would say definitely using that. Oh, and Beverly, I apologize. I forgot to get back to your HRV question. So when it comes to hrv, what it stands for is heart rate variability. So what heart rate variability is, is a measure of your overall resilience. So this number is extremely unique to every single person, and it takes so many different factors into consideration. So your age, of course, is factored in your genetics, your physical activity, the foods that you're consuming, the pollutants that you're surrounded by, the different personal care products you're using, the mental that you're experiencing at that time, any sort of emotional struggles you might be experiencing. There's so much that plays into that number. So there is no specific number I want anybody to aim for, because everybody is starting from their own place. There are some people that start in the 20s, 20 HRV range is what their typical is. Some people start in the 80s. So it's, again, very different. There's. I really encourage everybody not to compare HRV results because it's going to be completely specific to you and where you are in life at the moment, what you do want to see. Overall with your HRV is a trending upwards. So what I really love about monitoring your HRV is that it gives you that instant feedback of. I can see that since this date, since I started this specific habit, my HRV has started to climb and steadily. So it might not be an overnight kind of drastic shift. Sometimes it can be. I have definitely seen that with a lot of clients too, especially when they take time to stay in nature. So anytime clients go camping or they go to a cottage or they're hiking for the weekend or whatever have you, I see that the HRV drastically spikes upwards. So making sure to include fun. Fun is a huge factor that influences HRV because it gives you those feel good hormones, hormones, those feel good, you know, chemicals buzzing, the dopamine, the serotonin in your body. So what you do want to see and what I want everybody to start correlating is noticing like let's say you started mouth taping and you started mouth taping as of today. Log that somewhere. And if you are tracking your HRV with something like an OURA ring or another tool, consistently do that habit for about two, two weeks. And also mark your HRV every single day after you've or once you've completed that habit, every day, marking that HRV with that same date in that habit. And then you can tell if nothing else is kind of changing too drastically in terms of the other foundations like the foods you're eating, the, your sleep schedule, your activity schedule of course as well too. Then you can see and correlate, highlight that since I've started this habit, my HRV has started trending upwards. So I hope that that answers your question or gives you a little bit more info. Was there anything else that you wanted clarity on in that respect?

I don't think so, but it did help if just to start from like today and then keep track of it so that that helps.

Okay. Okay, perfect. Yeah. And so yeah, it's, it's hard to again give specific data in terms of numbers because there is no better or worse value. It's just comparing where you are today and that baseline and then watching it either rise, falls. So then you know, if your HRV is rising, include more of those habits. If you see your HRV is falling, don't include these habits or very seldomly so. Oftentimes I see HRV kind of plummet on people's OURA ring scores is if they've had a big argument before bed or watching something like the news before bed, eating a meal super late or within that three hour window of going to sleep, drinking alcohol and going to bed without hydrating properly or just drinking in general. So all of those things, you will likely see a pretty big drop in your hrv, but it could be different for everyone. So that's why I say just stay aware, get to know yourself, allow your body to communicate that information with you. Irina is saying, what do you recommend for EMF product protection? So there's a few different things and there is, I believe, this really great website where it has a wide range of different EMF blocking materials that you can invest in. So of course, I personally have this laptop mat, so it's called a smart sleeve and it basically allows you, or basically works as kind of like a buffer or a converter, if you will, of the EMF that's coming through into a more cohesive frequency that your body can use instead of be destroyed, disrupted with. So I can go ahead and put a link to that. And then there's another website called Bon Charge, who has a bunch of EMF blocking products. Let me just load up that page here and I'm going to go ahead and share my screen really quickly.

I just got these from Bond Charge. That's the pat. You can't really see that there's a little sticker, a tiny little sticker in there. I haven't done it yet. You can stick it on your phone or your laptop or whatever, which helps it to.

Yes.

Reduce the radiation by up to 99.9%, it says.

Yep, yep. So they do have those options, the little stickers you can put either on your phone or your laptop, that diffuses that energy. So this is the safe sleeve I was referencing. So they have cases for your phones, for your tablets as well. I tend to just be more on my computer. So this is what, what it, what was beneficial for me. So it's the sleep safe sleeve, lap desk. So you put it underneath, you don't have to use it only when you're putting your laptop on your lap. I like to put it on my laptop regardless, just to diffuse that EMF radiation. So there's products like this, you can also go to Bon Charge and this is their EMF radiation blocking products. So they have a few different wearables here. I personally have this blanket. I like anything that's multipurpose that you can invest in and really kind of maximizes where you spend a lot of your time. So maybe it's a hat that, you know, tickles your fancy. Maybe it's something like a sticker, like Barb was mentioning that you could put on your phone, you can put on your. Here it is, that sticker. You can put it on your phone or your laptop or wherever. There is also also the Harmony pendant, which you can wear. And it looks quite flashy. I always get a lot of compliments whenever I wear this as well. So it's the same kind of concept. Of course, this is something you put on yourself so you can take it with you wherever you go. So it's EMF support and again, harmonizes that frequency taken from EMF products to make it more digestible for the human frequency. So I can put links for all of these websites into the chat here. And I always say to everybody, just make sure to invest in what makes the most sense for you and really identify where you spend the most time, because that's where I would invest in first. So if it's in front of a computer constantly, I would say definitely souping up your computer or your desk stand with any EMF blocking products. And then here is the safe sleeve. You're welcome. No, the Harmony pendant is from its own website. Okay, awesome. So we are at the top of the hour here and I can't believe how fast, you know, time went today. And yes, Irina, they are all different companies, so there is different options for you to filter through depending on where you feel like the biggest benefit will be for you and your lifestyle right now. So a couple of different options there just to sift through. If you want wanted anything specific, let me know. And I can always find that for you as well. But for today, I know a couple people had to drop off here because of the time, but I want to say thank you for joining, thank you for your questions, thank you for participating in the exercise. I hope that's something you can practice maybe this coming weekend get a little bit more familiar with and notice some of those benefits when it comes to the lymphatic drainage. So have a beautiful rest of your Friday, everyone. Enjoy your beautiful weekend and I will see you all next week. Bye, everyone. My pleasure.