MRP Living Light Q & A [Jan 5, 2024]

Hello, everyone. Welcome, welcome. Happy Friday and happy 2024. I hope that everybody has had an amazing time ringing in the new year and is ready for a powerful 2024 up ahead. Welcome, Beverly. Welcome, Stephanie. Hi, Annalisa. Hi, Cheryl. Nice to see you, Nadia. So, as per usual, as we're kind of waiting for everybody to roll in slowly in here, I would love to hear what everybody is grateful for. Maybe it's something that you've started to do in the new year. Maybe it's something that you're looking forward to beginning. Any bit of gratitude? Maybe a stranger held the door open for you and you are really grateful for random acts of kindness. Any and all gratitude is welcome. Feel free to share it with your voice or you can type it into the ch that. I am personally grateful for zinc and copper for boosting my immune system, especially in this time of year. What a little powerhouse supplement it is. I am grateful that we have the opportunity to. To, of course, have these resources available to us so that we can strengthen ourselves. We have, you know, the means and the. The ability and the products at our roots to be able to heal ourselves. So my family is currently sick. I've been able to dodge it this whole time with a kind of a plethora of different supplements, one of course, being the detox packs, which I've been really loving. But zinc is my superhero this winter, so that is what I'm grateful for today. I'm just going to go into the comments here very quickly. Annalisa is saying I'm grateful for family and spending time over the holidays to connect. Beautiful. Yes, I know the holidays can be so hectic and you had such a fun holiday too. You went to Florida, I believe, with your whole family. So, you know, bring back as many rays of sunshine and beautiful memories as you can. I'm grateful you had that time to connect and enjoy some nice sunny weather. What was your favorite part?

Maybe writing on stone?

Actually, we went to Universal Studios and the whole family was there and we went on the rides and on the way down we watched all the Harry Potter movies because my kids are really into Harry Potter before we went on the Harry Potter rides. So, yeah, that was fun.

That's amazing. That's so cool. You actually get to, like, visit what is kind of a mini Harry Potter land after watching all the movies. That must have been so nice. Grateful you had that time. Welcome, Carol. Welcome, Nikki. Welcome, Zoom user. And welcome, Melissa. Lovely to have all of you ladies. So we are currently sharing something. It is that we are grateful For So feel free to either unmute yourselves. I love hearing your voices. Much prefer seeing your faces. But if that is impossible, then always the chat is here. I see. Carol, I would love for you to share.

Well, I grateful that I'm finally starting my release phase today after several weeks of trying to load for two days in a row. And yeah, I don't eat that many calories, so I don't know how. I just. I'm like, oh, my Lord. Like, I would do it. And the next day was like, so, yeah. So here we go.

Here we go. Here you are. And the good news is those were the two hardest days. So it is smooth sailing from here. You are through the thick of it. And now it's just the magic that's going to be happening. So way to power through. I know those are not easy. So you are on the other side officially. Congratulations. Congratulations. I'm so excited for you to get started. Thank you for sharing that Nadia is saying grateful for quality time with friends and enjoying the holidays. Oh, Melissa, I think I saw your hand.

Yeah, I was gonna say I'm with Carol. Today's my day three. So I just started the release phase. The first two days, I thought I would like to eat, but I don't, like, I don't want to see food for 72 hours at this point. And I welcome the fasting because I was doing that before. So this is like, I'm. I'm grateful. Yeah, it's good, good, good.

I know, it's again, it seems fun when you read it, you're like, oh, my gosh, I can e food. I can eat whatever I want. And then the day begins. And after breakfast, you're like, I can't look at another piece of food for the rest of the day. So it definitely, definitely packs a punch. But congratulations for powering through again. This is smooth sailing territory. This is where the magic is really going to happen. So I'm excited for you this weekend to adjust to the release phase. Relief is coming your way very shortly. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And Beverly is saying, I am thankful my husband and son made it safely to Indiana yesterday. They are moving him to Oregon. Oh, that's awesome. It must be, you know, exciting, but also a change to have, you know, your son move to another state. But I'm grateful that they made it there safely and hopefully that it'll be a beautiful new chapter in your son's life. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you, everyone, for sharing. Cheryl, I think I saw you unmute.

We had sun yesterday. Yeah, it was cold, but that's okay. It wasn't super, super cold. It was just, it was amazing. And then today, cloudy.

Well, you know, some days are going to be full of sunshine. Some days are going to present a different kind of atmosphere, a different kind of energy. It makes the sunny days that much brighter. Now, comparing it to maybe a gloomy day or a rainy day, but let's bring it out as much as we can. The good news is the days are getting longer, so we are entering a phase of more sunlight. So happiness is around the corner. And let this be a gentle reminder to make sure you are taking your vitamin D + K2 super important this time of year. There's a really great app called DMinder. This is a bit of an off topic thing, but I just wrote it in the chat here. So dminder is cool because you can input kind of, you know, where you're located in the world and additionally what your culture, or let's say background is from and how much sunlight you need, depending on your genetic makeup. And so what this app does is it helps to remind you to, of course, a, get outside, but then B, it kind of averages out an amount of vitamin D that you need specifically to based on, you know, a few different factors. And then you can of course go outside and it tells you a recommended amount of time to stay outside to get adequate vitamin D. And then if you need to supplement additionally, you can do that on top of it as well. So just a little aside to make sure that everybody's keeping happy, that all your processes are functioning. Making sure vitamin D, you're getting that in, in optimal quantities is of course, really, really needed, especially at this time with winter and without as much sunshine as each would like. Awesome. So I have a little exercise. I wanted to do Rose Bud Thorn today with everybody. But before we get into that, I wanted to answer any questions coming up because I know people are starting the program. There's some people that are tapering off, there's somebody that's in the middle. There's always many fun questions based on where you're at. So I would love to address those questions first. Yep. Carol, let's hear your questions.

Okay, so I've got the scale, I've got everything measured out for my first meal. I'm actually going to try the two a day because I'm not hungry in the morning. So I'm going to attempt. We'll see how that goes. But if I am hungry in between, are we able to have the free veggies for the first couple of days just to get into that swing. Like, I don't know.

Yeah, that's a great question. So a couple of ways to approach that. First and foremost, checking out your hydration, making sure that you're drinking tons of water awes. Grabbing a glass of water or a herbal tea first. Oftentimes hunger response is actually mistaken or a dehydration response is mistaken for a hunger response because our body doesn't have two separate cues. So oftentimes a glass of water, herbal tea does it. If after you have that 15 minutes later, you still feel a little bit peckish, that's when you can go ahead and grab some free veggies. So you can grab some cucumber, some pepper, celery, all that jazz.

Thanks.

My pleasure. Awesome. Was that your only question?

I struggled the most with Carol was hunger was bad at the. I was ready to like, I ripped my body apart. I just wanted to eat. So it. But it did get better.

I'm not hungry the last few days.

Like, I keep freezing. I don't.

Yeah.

So can you hear me?

Yeah, yeah.

It. I don't generally get hungry. Like I. I haven't wanted to eat. Like, I. That's my problems. I haven't been eating properly or eating enough. And then trying to eat 4,000 calories or whatever was just ludicrous.

So, yeah, that's why, like a soft loading period for somebody that has been intermittent fasting, let's say beforehand or not eating a big volume of food for a soft load for anybody that's curious, it's basically two to three days before the actual loading days where you start eating more capacity food. So you start adding in a little bit more snacks, maybe some nuts, an extra drizzle of olive oil, avocado oil on your food just to prep your body for the additional food. But one other thing actually that I was going to mention in terms of hunger, it's also very dependent on the stress and the sleep that we're experiencing in that moment in time. So stress is naturally going to raise our cortisol levels. And over time, of course, it can imbalance our adrenals. And then our body looks for quick fixes or quick sugar to get that energy. Because when we're stressed, things are moving faster. So we need more energy to support our body. That's why people, whenever they're stressed, maybe you guys have experienced it yourself, but you tend to want to gravitate towards carbs. So carbs tend to be that thing that we go for when we're tired or when we're really stressed out, we had a long day, we just want to kind of, you know, cut ourselves some slack. So stress is going to be a huge component. And then also getting adequate sleep sleep. So our body balances our hormones and releases the most amount of hormones between the hours of 10pm to 2am so if we miss out on hours of sleep in between that time period, it lessens the overall effectiveness or the restfulness of our sleep. So getting regimented with a good sleep schedule is going to be really important in balancing your hormones, such as ghrelin, such as leptin, such as growth hormone, which are in conjunction and which are involved in the process of keeping you satiated and keeping your hungriness at bay the following day. So that could also be some explanation. So I say anytime you are feeling cravings, like during the beginning of the program, that's very normal. Your body is going through a switch, it's eating different foods, you're, you know, forming your meals in a different way. Whereas later on, oh, sorry, I'm just going to meet somebody here quickly. If you are experiencing that later on. And it's kind of one off situations, I always ask you to, to kind of take a, take stock of what's going on in your world right then and there, you know, how is your sleep the last couple of nights? What has your stress been like? Is there anything that's kind of running around through your mind? So those influences can also factor into that hungry response. And something I, I know I'm just getting off on a big tangent here, but something that can also help your body assimilate more of your food when you do sit down for a meal is doing a quick box breathing exercise. So it's something that maybe some of you have heard me say before I say it until I'm blue in the face. It is such a powerful technique and it only takes about two minutes to do, which is the coolest part of it. So for two or, sorry, five to 10 rounds of this box breathing, you're actually able to flip your body from the stress, let's say nervous system response to the rest and digest nervous system response. And for whoever is, you know, kind of a numbers junkie, I have a little, I have a little HRV monitoring unit and I've done this practice while wearing it and I saw instantly in two to five minutes how my body was able to shift into a high coherence state or a more harmonious state, let's say through a factor that's called hrv. So that's your heart rate variability to make this tangent wound up and be over with. So the moral of the story is doing a quick 2 minute breathing exercise allows you to take away so much more nutrition from the exact same meal that you've probably been having this whole time. Your body's able to assimilate more of it. And for whoever doesn't know box breathing or is curious to try, let me know. I can always run through a quick little example with everybody on the call here today. Just so you can try it out, use it at your leisure. It's great before meals, it's amazing before bed. If you're stuck in traffic and you're stressed out, do it then. The cool thing is, is that you don't need anything. You just need two minutes to yourself and you need a nose and you need some air and that's about it. And you can do this technique anywh. So just a friendly reminder, use to your heart's content. Yeah, I see Beverly's note here. My niece had notes to herself all over the kitchen. No, Sasha, you're not hungry? Just drink water. Exactly. Sometimes we need that physical anchor and that is so important. And I, I love that she's taken that step to actually place it in her physical space. And for, for anybody that is struggling, let's say you're wanting to do a consecutive task, you want to implement a task that is, you know, second nature to you over time. Having physical anchors, I find works really, really well kind of on two fronts. So there's a physical anchor and then there's like the mental emotional anchor. So the first one, physically, of course, whatever we see is, is on top of our mind or top of mind, whether we know it, whether it's conscious or subconscious. So what I like to do, anytime I'm making a, or, you know, I want to get motivated for a certain thing. Change the wallpapers on your laptop and on your phone to something that motivates you, to something that brings you back to what it is that you're working on right here and right now. And then number two, what's really important, I think too, and we can do this exercise actually together, but it's determining what your biggest motivating factor is. You know, why are you here or why have you set certain goals for yourself and you're really looking forward to achieving them? You know, I'm sure they're great goals. They're wonderful. They're. They're improving you and helping you grow but why is that important? You know, so when it comes to the context of the metabolic reset, I really love to anchor people into what their why is. Because without that, on days that you're not feeling motivated or, you know, you're waking up and the day might be a little bit harder to get started, you have that anchor to know I'm not just doing this to, you know, shed a couple pounds so that I look and feel better. That could be a benefit or a side benefit, you know, and there's nothing wrong with that either. Everybody wants to feel amazing in their skin, but it's more so of, you know, some people when you keep digging and you keep asking, well, why? Why do I want to, you know, release a couple pounds and feel better and look better? Well, you know, maybe I'll be able to keep up with my kids a little bit better and I'll be able to play with them longer. And, you know, family is really important to me. And you keep just going in that sequence and say, okay, why? You know, why is family really important to you? Why is it important for you to be able to keep up with kids or your grandkids or whatever have you? And you really get to the root of what that motivation is. So I invite everybody, you know, today to. To understand what that big motivating factor is for you, why you took this step and why you're making these changes. Why it's so important to wake up and dedicate yourself to this every single day. Whatever it is, you know, right now, it's the metabolic reset. Later on in life, it could be, you know, walking the Great Wall of China just as an example. Whatever it is that you set your heart to, you can do. And it's really about knowing why that's so important. So if anybody has their big motivating factor and is open to sharing, I would love nothing more than to hear it or to have it shared with our wonderful community. By no means do you need to, but I think it's really great to be able to connect and sometimes finding similar connections or similar motivating fact answers that we may have. So if anybody's open to sharing, you are definitely more than welcome to. Yes, Cheryl, I would love to hear your share.

Well, I've put on three pounds since Christmas, which happens. Understandable. I definitely wasn't careful and ate lots of wonderful things, but my heartburn has come back with just three pounds of weight gain for the whole. The whole time I was on the release phase. And since I've quit it, which can't remember, it was sometime in December. Ish. I was heartburn free and now £3 and it's back. So that to me is huge.

Yeah, that is huge. That's huge insight. And now while we can get away, I don't even like to say get away way but while we can indulge from time to time and have that moderation piece, it's also now you know, you found fine tuned such a great intuition with your body and you know when something comes off and you know how to regulate that and come back to that nice balanced place and you know it's really then about knowing what foods bring out what reactions in us and what reactions were, you know, we want to tolerate in our lives and vice versa what reactions we no longer want to experience and we know then what's linked to. So of course the holidays are, you know, its own beast. There's so many different social events, there's all this yummy food, there's family, there's all their family's opinions because of course, you know, wouldn't be family if they didn't interject into our personal lives. But this program really teaches you how to kind of stay focused and stay in your own lane regardless of what is happening around you. And it starts with that motivating factor and it's starting with also knowing, you know, what, what is most important to you, what you've decided and you know, confidently stepped into on your own. So, so yeah, thank you so much for that, Cheryl. And it's bound to happen. There's no mistakes, it's just learning opportunities now you have a clearer picture and you're better off for it in the long run. Laranda, I would love to hear your voice. Welcome. It's been a while since we've seen you on the call.

It has been, I've been so lovely.

To see you and all over the place.

But yeah, so getting, you know, everybody, you know doesn't know but I've been in and out and kind of, you know, waving and waning for a really long time. But my, my why the what? The reason I keep coming back is because I've been just kind of limping along. I've been doing okay, my health is okay, my energy is, is okay. But I know that there's better that's right available to me, right in my own hands, you know, just following the program and really being in tune with what my body needs instead of what I think it wants. I know that I can do so much better. I can have better Health, I can have more energy and better sleep. And so I just keep coming back because I just know that when I finally do get there and stay there and follow and really stay present and motivated, that my life is just gonna have such a better quality, a better quality of life. And so that's why. That's my big why. Everything else kind of falls under that. But I know that there's better. I know that I'm in control of it, and I'm looking forward to really be getting on track and staying on track and. And staying motivated. So thank you, Carol.

Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. And that's so powerful. You know, knowing that you can do more, knowing that you want better for yourself and it is in your control is such an empowering statement. And something that's gonna, you know, you're gonna lead with in life, regardless of what the situation is, which is so valuable. And so we're cheering you all the way through all of that.

Laranda, thank you.

Our pleasure. Our pleasure. And I invite everybody because there's going to be times where things derail, you know, that's such as life. There's going to be times that things don't look perfect and we get back to a place where we kind of want to move away from, let's say, or a place that we want to change. And in that, there's nothing wrong with that, but to kind of heighten the experience and make it better for you. I always ask, you know, what caused this devil derailment in the first place? You know, I was on track, I was going this way. You know, I was in my routines, and then something derailed me. What was that derailment? And then it's now about kind of Anna, or maybe not analyzing it, but reflecting on it and say, like, why did I then choose something different from what, you know, from what all these loving actions that I was doing previously for myself, you know, why did I choose to switch the way I love myself and the way I care for myself, yourself through this event or this day or this activity? And what that does is it helps to show you what that derailment was caused by. So the next scenario comes up that might be a little bit similar, that might evoke, let's say, similar emotions to what that derailment situation is. You now know how you respond to it and how to get back and how to kind of understand why that affected you, you know, in the ways that it did. And that just helps to kind of lead through into a more transformative journey even outside this program, you know, outside of the 10 weeks, outside of the 12 weeks and anytime. And, and this is why I love having you come, laronda, and, and, and because you've been coming for so many years, it helps to keep on track, you know, staying plugged into a community, staying connected with people that understand what it is that you're experiencing. Maybe some of the goals that you've written for yourself is so needed when growth, community is so grounding and it brings a sense of peace, safety, belonging to your nervous system. And so I love that Laronda has been able to join us for many years now and you know, has built such a special relationship with ourselves and our community as well. And you know, so have many others. Beverly has been showing up super consistently as well as Cheryl. I know there's a lot of new people here and I know I'll be seeing you all consistently as well to the best of your abilities. But it is such a different journey going through it with a group of connected and loving and supporting individuals. So please know we are always here for that, for all of you. Beautiful share. Anybody else wanting to share their big motivating factor? Yes, Carol, I would love to hear.

Well, I spent a lot of last year quite ill and I got sick when I was on a vacation with my kids and it just destroyed what we had planned and it was awful and I never want to feel like that again. So I want to get into my best optimal health and spend more time with my kids. I have a grandson who is 6 and I need a lot more energy.

Yes, yes you do. And we'll get you there and this program will naturally get you there too. And exactly. It's showing up for yourself self to be able to combat anything that comes your way and then being able to show up for your family, the people that you love the most, which is so beautiful. So thank you for the selfless act you are doing for yourself and then also for all your loved ones. Beautiful shares, everyone. And if anybody feels, you know, that they want to share later on in the conversation or if you're still developing your motivating factor, by all means keep brewing in your space. But we are always welcome and all ears to hear anything anybody has to share. So I would love to address any questions program related, maybe life outside of the program, you know, specifics about what it is that you're experiencing. Any and all questions are welcome. Yes, Melissa.

So I'm starting my release phase today and I just wanted to make sure I'm doing this right? Because I was reading through the booklet. Are we during the release. Excuse me, during the release phase, avoiding oils. So like olive oils and things like that that get. Gets reintroduced in the maintenance phase. Is that correct?

That's correct, yes.

So as I'm cooking, I'm using like broths and just kind of water steaming.

That's correct.

Okay.

Yeah. And you can bake and you can saute. If you have an air fryer or if you have a friend that's not using their air fryer, take it from them for the time being. And that is such a good tool have on this program because it gives you that bit of like a crispiness to it without any fats, which is great.

Yeah. Like I did, I did chicken and I actually threw the brussels sprouts in there as well. So measured everything out. Well cooked it first measured out and then put it into bowls. But I just wanted to make sure because I. I'm used to using olive oil or like avocado oil to cook. And so yeah, it's definitely a change where I'm like air frying and my dad was going to put in the barbecue and I'm just like, no, no, no. I'm like, leave it. I'm to be cooking all winter long. And he's like, I'm just going to batch like all of my meats and just throw everything on the grill at once and just cook it. You know what I mean? So I just wanted to make sure I was doing it the right thing.

Yeah, no, you're doing it all correct. And I know there's a bit of a learning curve cooking without fats because nowhere in time usually people have had to do that. You know, fats are readily available and they're great and you know, great source of calories, omegas, all that jazz. So there is a pause on any and all fat fats. And that of course extends to as well supplementation and personal care products. We don't get super, super granular with those things. But anything you're leaving on the skin, I would say if it's something that's oil based or has serums or essential oils or anything along those lines, I would pause for that six weeks that you are in the release phase. But then we can introduce them back in during maintenance.

So because it is winter and like my hands are super dry.

Yeah.

Does anyone have recommendations on. Because I was like, do I use coconut oil? Like, am I now instead of cooking with it, like slathering it on, then I'm like, It's an oil. So I'm like, what do I do?

Great question. Yeah, so you can definitely use coconut oil, but you want to make sure you're using the fractionated kind. So fractionated is basically, it's going to be a liquid at room temperature and the chains are smaller than your, your kind of regular coconut oil. So it actually bypasses through your skin and through your liver and it doesn't break your fast. And it's also a very clean source of moisturizer. So I would recommend fractionated coconut oil.

Okay, thank you.

You're very welcome. And if that doesn't work, keep me posted, let me know. We can always try other lotions and other things that I find is a pretty good one for most people. But if at all you need another recommendation, let me know.

Okay, thank you.

My pleasure. Great questions, everyone. Oh, Cheryl. Yep, I see. I'd love to hear your question.

My, my doctor's office just called yesterday and the doctor wants to have a phone call with me, which means it's not good about my bone density. So I don't have the actual results yet. So I don't know how bad it is. What can I do?

Yes. Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, and let's, let's try to manifest a more positive outcome. First and foremost, we don't know the news yet, so we're not going to doomsday or we're not going into that place. But in the event that you do have lower bone density, vitamin B, D is going to be really. I do take that in that perfect.

I just got my levels checked and I can't remember what they were, but they were high, medium kind of thing. They weren't even really up to normal yet, but they were doing okay. I take normally in the summer, I take about 2,000. In the winter, I take about three.

Okay, let's try or increasing that to 4,000 during the winter to see if that makes a difference. And then additionally, a little exercise you can also incorporate. I think I mentioned this a few weeks ago, if I'm not mistaken, but it could have been a little longer. But when you're brushing your teeth, because I, I just enjoy habit stacking, you can really do this anytime, anywhere. But when you brush your teeth, you're usually standing in one place. So as you're standing there, let's pretend this is your foot and this is the floor. You want to kind of lift on your toes and then clap back down on your heel and do that as comfortably as you can, of course, without it hurting. Or without it impacting you. But what that slight kind of impact is going to do is going to help your bones build more bone density due to the slight impact. So anytime you're brushing your teeth or anytime throughout the day, you find yourself just kind of standing and maybe you're wiggling your legs or, you know, doing whatever, then you can go ahead and incorporate a few minutes of that exercise.

I do walk. I just went to Loblaw Superstore and bought for 1999 a string thing. It's got a wall, a door thing you can put in so that you put it in the door and then you can do this. So I haven't started that yet. So you can put it high in the door frame, medium in the door FR on the door frame. It's also got an ankle thing you put around. So then you attach it as well too, so you can.

Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, so it was only like it was under 20 bucks. I went, well, score. If it doesn't really work well, I haven't wasted any money. And if it does, then I can decide if I want to go for a better one. But if it does what it needs to, I don't need to go for a better one. So I'm going to start that next week. I just had my, my Covid shot the other day, so just my arm's been a minute sore, so I've just been leaving that. So next week I am going to start some more of that. So hopefully that will help too.

Yes, yes, that'll definitely help. So the movement, the walking is definitely going to be beneficial. And then building a little bit of more of lean muscle mass and having that resistance on your body I think is going to do it great. So sticking to at least, least two times a week for around 30 minutes is what I would recommend in terms of that more physical exercise. And now this is in reference to where Cheryl is in her specific journey. So you've completed the program like you've completed your last round already, correct?

Yes. I still have about 10 to 15 pounds to lose. So the beginning of February, I'm going to start again. Just giving myself January to just kind of recap group from all the holiday stuff and just kind of get my, my body settled down again and I'm going to start it again. I do eat yogurt every day except for when I'm on the release phase. So I do have yogurt most days, although I've been kind of getting off of it because I'm not having Breakfast. So I've still been doing mostly the two meals a day. Is that good to do? Should I be adding breakfast in more often? I usually have used to have yogurt for breakfast before.

Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. So as you increase your activity, it might be useful to include a breakfast every so often. So you want to include a little bit more protein. Definitely focusing on protein for that breakfast portion. Super.

The Greek Yo. The Greek yogurt.

Yeah, Greek. Something like low fat or low sugar. Greek yogurt would be something really good. You could do a protein shake if you wanted to to help build and support more of that lean muscle mass. So I, I always say to, to try to eat intuitively and even outside of this program. Like getting your protein in is so important. Protein is needed in everything that makes your cells up, basically. So we want to make sure that we're getting an adequate amount. So including that in each and every meal is going to be really important moving forward. So listening to your body and seeing, you know, if you are waking up a little bit more hungry, then definitely go ahead and enjoy a breakfast. Sticking to if you can, like a 12 to 13 hour fast while including that breakfast still.

Okay. When I was young, up until the last few years, I, I never did eat breakfast and I weighed 100 pounds and I was fine and happy. Then I did start including breakfast. I don't know, then just things started to derail.

Yeah, there's so many things that, you know, that can come into play and that could interact with, with that period of time to have, you know, maybe derailed things a little bit. But now it's about knowing where you're at today. You know, where are we starting from today? What can we do from today onwards? So let's experiment with that breakfast and then experiment with that fasting portion as well.

Okay, great. Thank you. I usually have yogurt with some pumpkin seeds and chia and hemp and flax seeds.

Okay, great.

So I'm. So I get my protein that way.

Yes. And lots of good fiber too.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, great.

Awesome.

Thank you, Cheryl. Great questions. Any questions coming up for anybody? Any questions for you, Nikki, Stephanie, Nadia, Rosalynn and Julie, you're all welcome to either raise your hand or you can share it into the chat. Any questions you have in particular even before beginning? I know some people join in, you know, before beginning the program and kind of want to know best ways to get started or how to maximize your journey through the reset, how to navigate certain situations. Any and all questions are welcome. No questions. So in that case. Oh, yes.

I would like to really encourage Carol and Melissa. I think that are starting today. I thought I would really struggle with the no oil cooking. Actually it went really well. I don't know where you live. I went to Loblaw Superstore and I bought a particular can of bone broth that had no sugar in it. Do you realize sugar is in box chicken broth? Why the heck is sugar? And I make homemade chicken broth. I don't put sugar in it. I don't know why it's in there. So I have to really, really, really look and read my label. So I found this box chicken broth. It was expensive, five bucks for a cart garden. But I just put a little bit in to do my stir fries and it worked really, really well. I had absolutely no problems with things sticking or whatever. So just to encourage you that it does work really well.

Yeah, thank you for that. And I know Carol actually has had experience with cooking without fats. She's an anomaly that I've met or I've encountered thus far, which is honestly the biggest curveball for many, many people, especially getting used to to it. But you quickly find ways. Yes, Pacific Broth, or, sorry, Pacific Food Broth, the name that Beverly just entered into the chat is a really amazing brand that doesn't have sugar or also gluten. So another sneaky ingredient if you are buying boxed broth is to make sure to watch out. It doesn't have any wheat or any sort of gluten base. They usually use that as a thickener to kind of give your broth a little bit more, you know, let's say viscosity. And so you want to make sure to watch out for brands that don't have the wheat or the sugar in association. Sugar you'll find sneakily in so many places. Actually made a blog post about this a little while ago. I'll have to repost it again today into the Facebook support group. But it basically shows and goes into all the different names that sugar goes by. And so you could read an ingredient label and it doesn't explicitly say sugar. It'll say, you know, glucose or glucose or fructose or, you know, a laundry list of different things that it can go by. So I'll send over that or I'll, I'll post that article today in the Facebook group. So, you know, anybody that's curious can check it out. But yes, specific food broth, that's a really great one to use. And you can also use Like a broth concentration concentrate. Because I know that, you know, stocking a bunch of, of liquid isn't always convenient and it takes up a lot of space. You can always buy like a concentrated tin and just use a little bit, dilute it in water yourself at home and then use that as the broth. Yes, Carol.

So we're basically not having dairy either for the first phase because of fats, right?

Ideally, yes. So there is one dairy product that is approved cottage cheese, and that is more. So I would say like, like an alternative if you're really craving something different for a moment. Because I know a lot of people get maybe sometimes sick of the animal protein or they just want a little bit of a change. I try to not emphasize focusing on the cottage cheese because again, it is dairy and that can be, be inflammatory. So it can. Not that it will, but it can create a little bit of a plateau sometimes. So to keep it clean, I would say if you really need it, it's there. But I'd stick to the vegetarian and the animal based.

Yeah, no worries. Just I. Dairy is not an issue for me to cut out either.

You're gonna perfect. You're gonna perfect.

You're gonna wonder what the hell I eat.

Yeah, no dairy.

But I, I noticed it's the same thing that you're explaining with the sugar because my grandson had an allergy to, to milk. And there are about a hundred different names for milk that are in all these boxes. I'm like, why is there milk in this?

Yes, awful.

So it's. If you're getting anything boxed, you have to really know what you're reading.

Yeah.

And it's made very hard to read for a reason, because most people read it and they're like, ah, you know, there's a couple of things I understand in here. Let's just do it. And so, you know, know when we're not paying attention, those things, those allergens, those inflammatory foods kind of find their way, sneak their way into our system and could be causing quite a big, you know, fire that we're not even aware of sometimes until we cut those things out. So what the cool thing about this program, passively, that we're also doing for the six weeks is that we're eliminating a lot of those, let's say, aggravating foods. And it takes about six weeks for your body to completely break down all of the antibodies bodies from the allergens and from the different inflammatory foods. So then when you're in the reintroductory section in the Maintenance phase. When you start to add these things back in one at a time, you get a really clean reading to see how your body is reacting to these specific foods. So then, you know, you know, if I want to feel inflamed and bloated and nauseous, I'll go ahead and have that bread. But I can go ahead and find an alternative that works really well or that I can make at home that doesn't give me those symptoms, symptoms, but still gives me the same satisfaction of having, you know, a gluten free option, let's say. So I think that, you know, for anybody that is experiencing allergies, this is a really amazing time to kind of know what is contributing to that, especially on the food front. Great questions, everyone. So I'm going to flip the script and I got some questions for everybody today. So a little bit more of a reflection practice, but I wanted to do the rose bud and thorn to kind of close off for today. If any questions are coming in as I'm chatting, then please, by all means, ask. This is what, you know, this Q and A is for, but I love inserting a little, you know, little exercises every so often as well. So when it comes to rosebud thorn, we really want to kind of see what is working really well. It's kind of a moment where we can pause, reflect, reflect, see, you know, how is this week, this last week been? How am I feeling about it? What progress have I made? What can I do, you know, or focus on a little bit more in the coming week? So when it comes to the rose, I would love to know what is one positive thing that has happened this week. I know that a few of us have shared our gratitude, you know, from, from this week or from today. But I would love to hear one thing that you would say is something really positive that's happened in your life this week. So feel free to write it down. I always think it's better for our brains to process it in our minds and then also to have it physically written down. You connect with that answer a little bit more. All right, so I'm going to give everybody 10 more seconds to do that. One thing that was positive that happened this week. Awesome. If anybody wants to share, I would love to hear your share of something that's positive that you are grateful for for this week.

Awesome.

Michelle, or sorry, Melissa.

That's okay. I, I went through the whole kind of kitchen reset and clearing out old things and whatever, but I also did like my room and then it extended to my car. So I just went on this whole like rampage of just clearing out everything and I was throwing away so much junk. So I definitely felt like lighter after doing all of that. So I thought that was a really good, a really good feeling.

That's huge. That's so awesome.

A little, probably a little overboard, but like it was like 9 o' clock and I'm like vacuuming. My parents, they're like, what's going on over here?

Yeah, they're like, she. What is she doing right now? What is she up to? Yeah, but that's awesome. Yeah, I, I love that. I think that there's nothing better than doing a nice declutter, especially at the turn of the new year as well. Just getting rid of things that no longer spark joy, that are no longer useful in your day to day life. You know, giving it away maybe to somebody that will really use it will really, really appreciate and then open up that energy to bring new energy into the space too. So I think that that's such an awesome practice, huge win also to go into your car. That's such a, you know, place that nobody digs into. So kudos to you. That's awesome. It's awesome. Any and all other shares are very welcome as well. But if not, our second question would be the bud. So when it comes to the bud, what is it that we're really looking forward to in this coming week? You know, for some it could be starting this program getting, you know, up and running in terms of the release phase. Sometimes it's adding a new habit and getting really consistent with that habit. You know, we don't have to add a million new habits all in one go. But what if we added one that we really committed to, one that's really important to us, Us? You know, for a lot of people this time of year, it's getting outdoors or it's getting movement in, especially because things are cold, things are dark, we are less motivated and less happy to go out and do, you know, these things that are impacting our health still each and every day. So what is one thing that you are looking forward to in this coming week?

Hi.

I've started in the last little while having a word of the year. I read that somewhere and that kind of resonated with me. That's a good thing to do. So my word of this year is discipline. And I've come up with a few projects around the house that really need doing. Things are just totally getting out of control and that's what I'm going to do. This year, so I'm looking forward next week to starting. I really. I really overdid it during the Christmas season. I also suffer from fibromyalgia, and this week I've just needed to take time to try to be me again and get my energy levels back. And I'm sure all the overeating didn't help either, in terms of feeling sluggish and tired, but I'm starting to get my energy levels back and starting to feel. Feel good again. So next week, back at it, back.

On track, back with the discipline. And that's such a great theme to carry through the year again. What we do, how we do one thing is how we do everything. So if we're disciplined with ourselves, in our work, in our health, in our mindset, it starts to become second practice, and it becomes that much easier to either get back on track or keep on track. So thank you so much. I love that you have a word for the year, and that's going to be kind of the theme that everything is centered around, which I think is so powerful.

Awesome.

Awesome. Great shares, everyone. So final question here. The thorn. So the thorn sounds a little bit scary, and it's completely not. A thorn is sometimes just something that creates maybe some friction or becomes an obstacle that we need to work around, we need to sort through in order to get to, you know, the next rose or the next bud. But it's there, and it serves a purpose, and it's okay to ask for help. And what the thorn symbolizes is what is one thing that I need help with. Because we all need help whether we want to ask for it or not. You know, it takes a village to raise one person, and we are all in this together. Nobody is a lone island. Nobody has to go through anything alone. But I know it sometimes can be a little bit tough to ask for help. And I'm here to say help is, you know, the name of this game. Please let us know how we can support you, how we can provide clarity. But I also want to teach everybody how to ask for that help when you do need it. So what is one thing that you would say you can use to some help with? Carol? I see your hand. Well, it's just.

It's a. I. I know some people find this very easy. I don't like to maneuver around a kitchen whatsoever. So. See, she gets it. So it's overwhelming to me because now I've got to go. Today's day three. So I've done my measurements, I've done the weighing. Now I've got to go and figure out the journal. And yes, she sent me a video. Video. But it's just more things to add to my day which are going to be good for me. But. And I'm like, it just feels like.

A lot of overwhelm.

Yeah, Yep, totally. And I, and I completely hear you in that there is a lot of things coming your way, especially the first week. So I say the first week, give yourself grace. Things don't look perfect. If things aren't exactly as it seems, that's completely fine. You're still taking steps towards a healthier future.

Future.

And so I say focus on two to three different kinds of protein that you know you enjoy, that you know you don't get too tired of throughout the week and just focus on those two to three non free vegetables, two to three fruit, and then whatever kind of free veggies that you typically enjoy. So keeping it very simple, of course there's beautiful recipes that you can search through in the Metabolic Reset and in the Facebook group, but it doesn't have to be fancy. You could just throw 4 ounces of, of this, 4 ounces of that, call it a day and enjoy. And especially in the beginnings, like make it as easy for yourself as you possibly can. So getting things that you might not even have to cook. So for the first week I did a lot of salads with cherry tomatoes just as I wrapped my head around cooking without fats and doing more protein and things of that nature. So keep it simple. And then we're always here to support and then focus on, I would say, the food and the spray first and foremost and the intermittent fasting, the rest of it will fall into place as it needs to. Awesome. Yeah, I know. Overwhelm can, you know, can creep up, especially at the beginning because any change does any change kind of, you know, it activates that critter brain inside of our mind. And what the critical critter brain does is it starts telling you like, hey, there's change. What the heck? This isn't what I'm used to. This isn't what I'm expecting, therefore I'm in danger. And so when that happens and when there is change, that's why there's sometimes, you know, friction from us or sometimes it creates a little bit of turmoil in us momentarily as it's happening. But by knowing that, that's just the way that we are wired because our body is super intelligent and wants to constantly get, keep us safe. And so familiarity equals safety, even though it might not actually Be safe. It's just what it's known, what is known for our body to experience. So by knowing that, you know, you can, whenever you do find that, oh my gosh, I'm overwhelmed or, you know, I don't know if I'm doing this right. Telling yourself that, you know, thank you, thank you, brain, for always looking out for me, for wanting the best, for, you know, trying to make me survive and thrive at my best, best. But I am safe here. I'm happy I made this decision and I will get it one step at a time. I'm just checking into the comments here. I see a few things written. Nobody will get their first budget right the first time. There are so many things we forget. It can take up to three months to get it right and we could still get it wrong once in a while. Exactly. Because we're human, we're not robots. You know, things, things and life happen and they interject sometimes and we have to roll with the punches. There's no beating ourselves down for doing something wrong or, you know, you know, not being on our, on our side when we do mess up. It's really showing yourself that love and grace the same way you would to any loved one. You know, if you're, if your loved one or sibling or mom or daughter or whoever can came up to you and was like, oh my gosh, I messed this one thing up, what would you tell them? You know, and, and I want you to share that same advice with yourself whenever you do find that maybe you're not in support of, of you in that moment. Nadia is saying, my thorn is to sleep. I'm struggling to sleep even though I do mouth taping. Go to bed early and take magnesium. Yes. So sleep is. And I know Nadia, you've been working so hard on, on your sleep and you've been, you know, doing such an amazing job and that's still taking a little bit of time to kind of correct. And so sometimes it takes more weeks and more consistency to be able to see that big switch. When it comes to your sleep, I know that you're very regimented with your meditation and your eye mask and you know, everything along those lines. And sometimes it takes a little bit of time for that to kick in. And additionally making sure you have a really amazing wind down routine that preps your body for a good sleep. There's so many additional tools as well. So I know you've tried so many things, but something like binaural beats might be something you can play with if you haven't already. And what that does is it stipulates or it basically plays a certain frequency and it can mimic a bunch of different frequencies depending on. Depending on what the actual frequency is. So there's one that actually promotes more of a deep sleep. So if you listen to that prior to going to bed, it just allows your brain to more easily access that state because it's just listened to the same frequency it gets into when it is in that deep sleep stage. So there's a great app and of course, sunshine. Sunshine you can never overdose on, of course, taking breaks in the shade and if and at all, if anybody needs to, but sunshine is always welcome. Time outdoors is always amazing as well. The freshness of the air, you know, being around trees and leaves and foliage. Maybe not right now, but in some places for sure, that also release cytokines, which also help to boost our immune systems. So it's this beautiful cycle that we're a part of. So atmosphere is the app I was referring to. So I'm just going to write that here for the Binaural Beats, and they have a great selection. So if you wanted to, you know, combat an anxiety, if you wanted to, you know, kind of decompress from stress, if you wanted to increase REM sleep or deep sleep or energy, they have a bunch of different options for that. Yes. Or something like Brown noise. Exactly. Yeah. Insight Timer. Best app ever. Oh, my gosh. It has such a database of different meditations, different breath works. It also has courses. A lot of it is largely free or on a donation basis. And just the material that you find on this app is truly amazing. It's my number one preferred app of 2023, in all honesty. So for who? Anybody that wants to incorporate more meditation, whether it be two minutes a day, whether it be 30 minutes a day, A day, it has you for any amount of time that you would want. And for anybody that's new to meditation, if you wanted to start with guided meditation, because I know, you know, sitting in one place is a little bit difficult for some people and especially towards the beginning. And this guided meditation, you know, you can choose what theme you wanted to do for it because it has so many different, you know, options, and it allows you to just listen to that voice and let it take you where you want to go and it, it, it starts preparing your body for meditation and for the actual practice of taking that time, sitting in your own space, kind of doing a, like a mental wash, if you will. So Insight Timer, fabulous. Thank you for that reminder, Melissa.

Sorry, what was the name of the app.

It is called Insight Timer. I will put it it in the chat right now and it looks like a little bowl. It's like a sound bowl. That's the actual picture of the app kind of getting it. Yeah, we tried. Thanks, Melissa. Beautiful. Well, we are nearly at the top of the hour here. I know that there's a lot of random, random different discussions covered but I hope some of it made sense. I hope some of it stuck. Happy 2024 again everybody. I'm so excited to be entering the new year with such a beautiful community. I'm grateful for all of you showing up here today for yourselves, for your loved ones and let's make this the best year that we've experienced yet. So happy Friday everyone. We will see you next week. Have a beautiful rest of your day and week weekend. Take care.

Alice, that was amazing.

Great.

My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you so much.