Weekly Living Light Metabolic Program Q & A with Dipa [April 26, 2024]

Sa. Good afternoon, friends. Happy Friday. Welcome, everyone. Welcome, welcome. Hope you're all enjoying this beautiful sunny day. Welcome, Michelle. Welcome, Brooke. Welcome, Amanda. Welcome, Marissa. So nice to see you all. Thank you all for turning your cameras on. And as you're tuning in, I would love to know what you're most grateful for today. Type that in the chat. That would be wonderful. What are you most grateful for today? Just give everyone a few minutes to join in. Michelle says she's grateful for sunshine. Brooke says she's grateful for her heart. Me think. I'm grateful for the sunshine as well. Such a nice day today. Amanda says she's grateful for her family hearing. Amanda.

Him.

So we're gonna get started with just a few simple breathing exercises. I always like to start off with that just to kind of get us more present, get us more grounded. And today we're gonna do a simple. It's called 4, 7, 8, breath. So what that means is you're gonna inhale for four seconds, and then you're gonna hold for seven seconds, and then you're gonna exhale for eight seconds. And I do see some new faces here today. And the reason why we start off with breathing is because it really helps us us to get into the present moment. Breathing is one of the best ways for us to shift more into a parasympathetic state. Our nervous system, for most of us, we are operating in fight or flight all day, running around, you know, checking off all the things we have to do on our to do list. And so it's nice to take a little break and to focus on your breathing, focus on being present in your body and just take a few moments to decompress and relax and moments for yourself, because when do we ever do that, right? So I invite you all to just get comfortable wherever you're sitting and you can close your eyes if that feels good to you. I usually recommend closing eyes because it just kind of cuts off any visual stimulation and just become present to your normal breath, your inhales and your exhales. Notice where you might be carrying any tension in your body. Are you carrying any tension in your jaw? Relax your jaw. Relax your forehead. Sometimes we carry a lot of tension in our forehead. Relax your shoulders and your neck. Relax your abdominal muscles. Get your feet grounded and planted on the floor. Take a few more inhales and exhales at your own pace, breathing in and out through your nose. And what we're going to do is we're going to start with healing, as I said, for four seconds, for seven and then we'll exhale for eight. So I'm going to kind of cue.

You.

And we'll get started. So you're gonna take a nice inhale, and you're gonna hold. And you can exhale through your mouth or your nose. And inhale again.

Hold.

And exhale. And inhale again. Hold. And exhale. Inhale again. Old. And exhale, Inhale, hold, Exhale, Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale, Inhale, hold. And exhale. Inhale.

Hold.

And exhale. We'll do one more round. Inhale, hold, And exhale. And just return back to your normal breath. Observe your inhale and your exhale. And when you're ready, you're gonna come back to the room, open your eyes. Okay, how does everyone feel after that? Do you feel better? Do you feel more relaxed, more present? Okay, so this is a very simple practice that you can implement throughout your day. Even taking just short little pauses throughout your day doesn't have to be this long, but it can really go a long way in terms of calming our nervous system. And the reason why we want to calm our nervous system is because our body does the most repair and regeneration when we're in the parasympathetic state. So just a few breaths like that can really shift your nervous system into that parasympathetic state and go such a long way. Another really common one that a lot of people do is 4, 4, 4, 4 breathing. That's box breathing. You can do any interval that you like, but that's when you inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds at the top of the inhale, and then you exhale for four seconds, and you hold your exhale at the bottom for four seconds. So it's a 4, 4, 4, 4. Another really helpful one that you want to keep in your toolbox. It's called the physiological sigh. So what you do is you take a nice big inhale through your nose, and then you inhale again, more so from your rib. Rib area, and then you inhale again from your chest, hold it for two seconds, and then you're gonna release it all with an audible sigh. So something like, Okay, so why don't we all try that? You're gonna inhale from the belly, nice big inhale, inhale again from your ribs, inhale again from your chest, hold for 2 seconds, exhale with an audible sigh. Okay, that one, I find, really helps, like, diffuse any tension or stress that you might be hanging on to. So that's a great one that you can do two to three times consecutively throughout the day taking short little pauses whenever you can. And a lot of these you can do while you're driving, right? You don't have to obviously have your eyes closed, but you can do something like box breathing while you're driving. You can do the 4, 7, 8 while you're driving. And the reason why we extend the exhale is because when you extend the exhale, that really shifts you into the parasympathetic state. Okay? So these are all really great tools for us to carry around with us when we're feeling stressed or overwhelmed, when we need a little break throughout the day. And I really, really encourage you all to do this at least once a day.

Okay.

If not more, but at least once a day. So I am going to open it up to some Q and A. I know usually we do a little bit of teaching, but I do see, see some new faces here today. So I do want to make sure that we get all your questions answered. So if you do have a question, you can type it in the chat or you can raise your hand so I can see you or you can even raise your zoom hand and I can unmute you and. And we can get started with any questions that any of you may have. Kelly has a question. Go ahead and unmute Kelly.

Hi, Deepa, how are you?

Hi, Kelly.

I have a couple of questions and kind of related. So one of my questions is I'll start with the easy ones first. I was looking for your recommendations on some supplements. I know you had mentioned berberine to me once and I'd like to know if you recommend any supplements of your choice and also for omega 3 and cod liver. And do you have any recommendations for adhd? I'm starting to see a lot of signs of ADHD in me. That's my first question. My second one is that even though I have not been eating as we eat the 444, you know, type of, you know, two meals a day and stuff, I find my sugars are always like 1:08 1:13 every morning, even when I've not had any sugar at all. And of course there's, you know, stress and other other kinds of lifestyles and sort of things as well. But was wondering if you had any additional recommendations for me that I could incorporate into my. My life. And my third question is the. So what I've noticed is that I've lost pretty much all of the weight that I could lose from my body. But my. But the weight kind of around my stomach area is like 80% the same. I've like my pan size has only gone down a couple points. Why is this happening? And even sometimes like my stomach will go down but then like three or four days later it's like everything is kind of, you know, going there. So what could be the reason? Is it some genetics? It's like I don't know what your, you know, what your thoughts are. What is the research behind this? And my last question is do you recommend any digestive bitters? And that's, that's all.

Okay, so for the supplements, I know Kelly, for you, you've, you've done the program a few years back, so a good maintenance supplement, I'm going to put it in the chat. It is our reset packs and that is a great supplement because it really covers a lot of your foundations. So it has a general multi slash mineral specifically for metabolic health. So you know, has some minerals in there that support blood sugars, has a vitamin D, so thousand IUs of vitamin D, pretty low dose, has some magnesium in it, has resveratrol in it which helps support detox. And yeah, those are the four main things. And then the omega is not on there because Omega is, Omega 3s are, it's like a gel based capsule. So we couldn't put it in there. So I'll put the links in the chat for that. So I think that would be a great maintenance supplement for you. In terms of your second question with the adhd, there is a book that I'll direct you to read. It's called HD ADHD 2.0. Just put it in the chat here. And really, you know, talks a lot about how to harness the power of, you know, what some people called a call, adhd. You know, I think for a lot of us we try to multitask and do so many things all at once. So really one. You drink, do you drink coffee? I think she's muted. Let me unmute her.

Yeah, so no, I actually do not drink coffee. Okay. So I can if you want me to, I'll do anything you want me to.

If you don't, that's fine. I'm not going to encourage you to. But one thing that can help with supporting brain, brain health and just helps with more memory and focus related tasks is lion's mane. It's a medicinal mushroom. So lion's mane can really help. The reason why I asked you if you drink coffee is because the organo coffee that we, I don't know if.

It'S just me but am I cutting out? Cutting out?

Am I cutting out for anyone? Else. No.

Why is that? I can't.

Maybe your Internet is spotty.

Oh, you for a second.

Yep.

So lion's mane can really help with focus. There's lots of different brands out there. The one I like is called Harmonic Arts. I'll put the link in the chat. It's like a lion's mane mushroom tincture. Give me a second.

Okay.

And then your, that was your second question. Your third question was the belly fat. So one of the main things that contributes to belly fat is going to be.

Stress.

Okay. Because when we're under stress, that's, that's the main body type presentation is body type A, which we've talked about in the past. It's associated with high cortisol. So really trying to mitigate stress is going to be important. Getting good sleep. Of course, if we don't get good sleep, that's a huge stressor on the body. So making sure that we focus on getting good sleep. Quality, quality and quantity, you know. And then of course, I know you had mentioned blood sugars in there as well. So insulin resistance is a, is a big part of the belly fat as well. I know you said you're doing the 4, 4, 4, 4, like the 4 ounces protein, vegetables, fruit. So are you, you're maintaining the fasting?

Yes, I have for two years now.

Okay, good. So what time do you typically eat your dinner?

So the dinner is usually around anytime between six to sometimes eight.

Okay. Yeah. So we want to try to eat as best as we can before the sun sets.

Okay.

Because as, as we eat later into the night that our body is less sensitive to insulin. So a lot of the newer research that you now see on fasting is actually going to, you know, it, it's, I think it's a little harder because a lot of people obviously like to sit down and eat dinner with their family, but a lot of the newer research suggests having breakfast and lunch and skipping dinner because we're way more insulin sensitive earlier on in the day. So that is something that you can play around with. It doesn't necessarily have to be like, you have to stop eating by like 12p. You could do something like, like a 10, 10am yeah.

You know, my first meal between like 11 and 12 and my second meal around, you know, between 4 and 6. Just keeping that flexibility between kids and other things in life. So I've been thinking about that and take some decisions after my discussion with you. Okay, wonderful.

Yeah. So that I would try that just to kind of see if that makes a little bit of A difference is just shifting your meals a little earlier. So that's one thing. And then the last question you were asking about was it was a supplement related question. What was it?

Digestive bitters.

Digestive, yes. So yeah, so those are great. Digestion. Digestive bitters are great because it helps support digestion. Because as we get older, the less stomach acid we produce and it becomes harder for us to digest, specifically our proteins. So digestive bitters are great. Another great hack for supporting digestion is taking and blood sugars is for taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in about 4 ounces of water and having that before your meals. Another thing that helps with blood sugar support is going for like a 15 minute walk after meals. Okay, so that's another thing that can help specifically for blood sugars as well.

I know you have recommended a lot of CGMs in several conversations in the past and I was not considering one, but I'm thinking about one at the moment. So if you don't mind giving some of those links as well. Yep.

Sure, I can do that.

I'm so lucky to have you in my life.

Thank you. I feel blessed to have you all in my life too.

So you are most wonderful. You have no idea.

Oh, thank you, Kelly. Awesome. Great questions. Yeah. So, you know, I think something also with blood sugars that gets overlooked is sometimes we focus a lot on sleep. I mean, sorry, on food. And we don't focus a lot on how sleep impacts our blood sugar. So. I know, Kelly, for you, you have an aura ring. Are you still wearing your aura ring?

Yes, I actually, I am. I need to call them because my ring has stopped charging.

Yeah, sometimes that happens. So if you contact them, they're pretty good about it and they should send you a replacement ring. That happened to me, I think like a year ago. I can pull up the order number because I know we ordered it for you. So if I, I'll pull up the. See if I can pull up the order number so that way we can. You can contact them with the order number. That would be. Oh, here, I have it right here. I'll. I'll message you with it if that's okay.

That's perfect. Yes, I appreciate that very much.

You're very welcome.

You could if you wanted to, if there are no other questions, talk to us a little bit about ADHD. My ADHD is induced by my environment. I'm 53 years old. For everybody else listening and my, my girls are 12 and 13 and they're completely different personalities. You Know, and it's. Yeah, they. I have to be a different mom for Sarah. I have to be a different mom for Nora. To give you an idea one, the older the 13 year old is, you know, she plays drums, she's extremely athletic, very talkative. Everybody's her friend. She's like million friends. And the little one, she is an artist and she's very philosophical and they just need very different, you know, level of, level of care. And, and at the same time, my husband has, which I've talked about before, has turned into a teenage girl himself at this age. And I'm just like the, the buffer, you know, in between trying to become whatever I need to become in that moment, in that day, in that, you know, space in life. And it's just, that's my, that's my stress and it's ever evolving every day. You know, there's no that I'm going to do this. And I'm, and I'm, and I do everything. I have like multiple journals on different things, the five minute, the long term, like I'm doing everything, but then I'm still, you know, not, not able to perfect it. And I'm telling myself it's never going to be perfect, but just the journey that I have to get through.

So have you. I don't know if you want to answer this on the call or not, but one thing that can impact our brain health is perimenopause and menopause. So as our hormones decline, specifically, you know, estrogen significantly declines as we go into perimenopause, brain health gets impacted. So that can mean for different people, like difficulty with memory or mood changes or, you know, difficulty staying on task, brain fog, like all those type of things. So when it comes to brain health, you know, a couple things that we want to focus on is obviously reversing insulin resistance, which we talked a little bit about. I know you don't do this, but for those of you who do, reducing or quitting alcohol, that has a huge impact on brain health. I don't know if you're taking any magnesium, but magnesium supplementation can really be helpful for brain health.

I wanted to enter. So the neuromag. I love it.

Okay.

Yeah. Really helps me. It's, it's helping me. I am, yes, definitely having a lot of brain fog. A lot of, you know, loss of focus. I'm like, you know, jumping. I've told the girls only one person talked to me at one time because they both want my attention at the same time. And then there's the dogs. And it's just like, I have to, you know, so. But no, definitely I could be. I have had an hysterectomy, so I don't know, but definitely could be. If you wanted me to ask my doctor for some tests, I can have some tests done as well. But, yeah, definitely. Something is. My memory is memory and attention and focus. Everything is impacted right now.

Yeah. So the thing that you'll want to have them test for is FSH, that's follicle stimulating hormone. If your FSH is high, typically like over 50, then that could mean that you're in menopause. I don't know if they kept your ovaries in or not. Yeah. So then. Yeah, so then you're technically, you know, still cycling or you may have gone through. It's not surgically induced. Right. You're still. You're still producing hormones. You'll want to have them test your FSH to see if you are, in fact, in menopause or not.

Okay, I will do that.

Yeah.

And then, of course, you know, really focusing on soothing our nervous system. Right. Really getting into that parasympathetic state. Because when we're in fight orf flight, blood flow is shunted away from our prefrontal cortex, which is our thinking brain, to our reptilian brain, which is more reactionary. So really making sure we take moments in the day to decompress, do some breathing, which can really significantly help with brain health as well. And then, of course, exercise. Exercise is literally, like, the best vitamin for your brain. Right. So making sure you're trying to get at least, you know, seven to 10,000 steps a day, and moving your body throughout the day as well is going to be important. Thank you. You're welcome. What other questions do you all have? Anyone have a question? Brooke, go ahead and unmute.

Hi, everybody. So I am past the release stage and still trying to lose weight. I was wondering how you felt, Deepa, about MCT oil and bullet coffee, stuff like that.

Yeah, it's great. So I know for some people, like, while they go through the release phase, you know, they get used to not having any creamer in their coffee. And so bulletproof coffee, my husband drinks it every day, is basically putting like a. A 5 to 15 mil. So a teaspoon to a tablespoon of MCT oil in your coffee and blending it to give it that, like, creamy texture is great. Yeah. And, you know, in terms of fasting, like, there is some data that suggests that if you have less than 65 calories then that's not necessarily going to break your fast. So if you wanted to do like a quote unquote, bulletproof coffee in the morning with some MCT oil. Yeah, it's great. And it's also, MCT is a great source of fuel, so it's really going to help stabilize your blood sugars and your energy levels throughout the day as well. So release phase. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend the MCT oil, but once you're into maintenance, you can certainly introduce it back in.

Cool. So I had two more questions, if that's okay.

Yeah.

So I kind of like really feel my body. I really feel. I actually talk to my body and say, yeah. Things like, okay, all this extra weight. Thank you for whatever you thought you needed to do, protect me or whatever, but it's time to go.

Yeah.

Thanks for. Thank you for your service.

Yes.

And it's. It's kind of an interesting thing to do. I don't know if anybody else does it, but I. I try to thank my body just for being around as long as it has. But one of the things I've noticed is that when I first started the program, there were areas of my body where the fat was hard. Like it was. If you touched it and poked it, there would be resistance. And now I'm finding, like, it's Melissa. Now I'm finding that it's like jiggly in there. It's almost like little soft.

It's like soft.

Well, it's almost like there's little beads inside liquid. And I don't know if anybody else has noticed anything like that. I'm. I'm like choosing to see it as a good sign that, you know, maybe all this liquid is more stuff that I'm getting rid of. I don't know.

Yeah. So what I would.

You're nodding your head. So I don't know if you've heard of this. Yeah.

So sometimes, like people after the release phase, you might notice some looser skin. So one thing that you can. Can add in if you already haven't is collagen. So taking some collagen at least once or twice a day will just help, like, firm things up a little bit. Yeah, I know. You lost quite a significant amount, too. So your body's kind of like readjusting, making sure you're drinking lots of water, because one of the main places that toxins get stored in, it's like a protective mechanism is in. In fat cells. And so when you start losing fat, you're kind of releasing a lot of Toxins as well. Which is why we recommend, you know, staying well hydrated, drinking lots of water, getting into a sauna at least two to three times a week if you can, to kind of flush those toxins out. And then once you're in maintenance, adding in the collagen can be helpful.

Okay. It's funny you should mention that because what I've really noticed in my face is that I have a lot more wrinkles. I think the chubbiness was like, filling out the wrinkles. And everybody would say, oh, you're not 67. You look so much younger. Nobody is saying that anymore. Yeah, like saying, yeah.

You look at, take the collagen and then. Have you heard of. Have you heard of Gua sha.

Sha?

Yeah. So Gua sha, you don't have to have the stone, but you can do it with your hands is basically like with your face. And you kind of just like. I don't know if you've seen like those jade rollers here, I'll show you what it looks like, the Gua Sha stone. Here. You could. Let me see. Okay. It looks a bit like this. So just going in like upward strokes with, with the stone, like around your, your jaw and your cheeks and your eyes can really help. It's like a lifting tool. There's probably lots of videos on YouTube in terms of how to do it, but at night, after you put some, like, you know, lotion on your face or, you know, what works really well with this is like a face serum. And then using the Gua Sha tool to really just lift everything up is. Is a great practice.

Good, I'll check that out. Are there nighttime in particular face moisturizers that you recommend? The one that I. I just happened to run out today.

Okay, perfect. So the one I really, really love is the. I use a face serum. It's by Organo. It's the jojoba oil one.

Okay.

It's like really, really luxurious, for lack of better word. I absolutely love it. I can put a link for it.

It's.

They have a face cream that I use during the day, which is retinol based. Helps with fine wrinkles and things like that. And then the serum is what I use at night. The link in the chat.

So they don't just make coffee?

What's that? No, yeah, no.

Yeah, yeah.

It's. They. They do toothpaste, they do bar soap, they do coffee.

So while you're looking for that, can I tell you a funny story?

Yeah.

My husband doesn't really notice anything at all. Like Ever. To give you an example, when we first moved in together years ago, he went off to work and I painted the entire kitchen a new color. And he didn't. Wait a second. I'll tell you what he did notice. So I made sure, like, the smell was gone, all the tools. It was like, no one would have known. So he walks in and says, did you get your hair cut? But two weeks ago you did say, you look like you lost some weight.

You're like, I sure did. 30 plus pounds.

Big deal, though. So people don't notice. Don't worry about it. You know, it's still happening.

You know, it's. It's more so, like, when you see someone every day, it may not be as noticeable. It's more so when you see people after a long time, that's when you'll really notice.

Yeah, that's true. I'll give them a break in that way.

Yeah, all the time. Awesome. That's so great to hear. Good. Any other questions? No? Okay. Marissa, you had a question. Go ahead and unmute. Oh, did I do that?

Hi, can you hear me?

Yeah, I can hear you. Yeah.

How are you?

Good.

How are you? Good, good.

So I. I just have a question around. I tend to have, like, seasonal disorders. I'm usually pretty down in the winter, but by now I should have. I should see signs of, like, clearing that up. There is a lot of stress happening in our lives with my dad having eye surgery and my mom needing two people to assist. And I also have two small boys. And again, I think Kelly also shared how she has adhd. I also discovered that I just recently had. Just recently discovered that I also have adhd, which makes so much sense as to why a lot of stuff happened or happened throughout the last couple of years and me not being able to stay focused and determined. But with that being said, I just feel like I can't clear out this feeling of my lows being down. And my doctor refuses to put me on antidepressants, which is a good thing because just like Marissa, I know you can get through this because once you start, then it's so much harder to get off of them. Is there anything that you recommend? You know, the sun is out, which is great. It's a good day for me, but it's just. I feel like I can't get myself out of it. And usually by like, April, like I said, I'm.

I'm.

I'm good to go. And it's. It's not clearing up. I don't know, like, is There anything I can do? Can you suggest anything?

Yeah. So good, good doctor that you have there, because I think it's really easy sometimes to just write a prescription and not really address the actual cause of what's going on. Have you had your vitamin D levels checked?

I just did a whole panel of blood work last week. I requested, although she refused some of the testing that I, that I had asked for. She's like, well, if this one comes back high, then yes, I could request, you know, A or B, but if not, then we're going to leave it as is. So I don't know. I don't have, I don't have the results back yet.

Okay, so look out for that if they tested it. But of course, you know, one of the main things. So a couple things is getting out in the sunlight, right? So within an hour of waking, getting outside for at least five minutes on a sunny day, if it's cloudy, at least 15 minutes. That's going to help increase serotonin, which of course is your happy neurotransmitter, right? So really getting that sunlight exposure first thing in the morning is really, really important for your mood exercise, right? Going for a walk can really, you know, lift your spirits and your mood exercise is one of the best, quote, unquote antidepressants. So just going out for a walk in nature for 15 to 20 minutes. So like, you could do both of those things at the same time, right? Is in the morning. You know, I'm not sure what your morning schedule is like, but if you're dropping off your kids in the morning. Like, one thing that I did the other day when I picked up my son from school is it was probably around like 4:15. I know I knew I had to cook dinner, but I'm like, if I go in the house right now, not going to do it. So what I did is I, I, you know, drove into our driveway. He was, you know, he's busy and active all day long. So he's like, I'm just going to go in. So you went into the house and I didn't even go in the house. I just like went for a walk around the neighborhood for 20 minutes. So, you know, whether it's. Obviously it's more ideal in the morning, but going for a walk or some sort of exercise, I think. I don't know if you've started the program yet or not, but starting the program because it's really gonna decrease inflammation in the body. And when you decrease inflammation, one of the main things that people report Once finishing the program is that they're just mood is so much better. Right. They have a more positive outlook, more heightened level of awareness. So if you haven't started, I would definitely recommend starting. And then lastly is gratitude journaling. So in the morning or before bedtime, there is something called the five minute journal, which you can get. Yeah. So they sell it at. At Indigo. 5 Minute Journal can really. It just provides you with the prompts, but if you don't have one, you can just do it on your own. But just, you know, starting your day with gratitude, three things that you're grateful for reflecting at the, you know, at the end of the day, what. What you could have done better, what made today, like, really great. So just doing some of that journaling can really help with shifting your mood and your mindset to, like, more positivity, so to speak. Right. So I would try. Try some of those things. Yeah, you're welcome. Okay, what other questions do you all have? Great questions, everyone. Michelle, go ahead and unmute. So can you hear me? Hello. Welcome.

Hi.

Hi, everyone. So I haven't started the program yet. I did get my box today, so I'm pretty excited. Yeah. So one of the questions I had, I think it's a simple question, and I've been looking through your Facebook posts to see if I could find the answer. And I saw something that was pretty interesting, and that is lemon water. So I love lemons. I love lemons in water. I love water. And there was a phase of life where I was drinking maybe about a liter of lemon water every morning. But then I saw one of your posts that said that it has a little bit of sugar. Who was like, say what? How does lemon have sugars? So I plan to start because I know I have the loading phase. So next weekend. So the following week I want to start, But I just wanted to know. Yeah, what's the skinny?

Yeah, lemon is a fruit. So it's very, very minimal. So if you did do like, you know, half a lemon in, like, a liter of water and sipped on that throughout the morning, it shouldn't be a huge deal. If you are seeing any stalls in your weight, then you may want to back off. But it should not be a big problem because sometimes we have to look at the benefits versus the risks. And the benefit, I think will far outweigh the risk of like, you know, having that tiny little bit of, like, sugar. It's very minimal. It's not like it's like eating like a strawberry or like a mango. It's it's very little. So, yeah, you can continue that. It'll help with detoxification. And, yeah, so it's fine to have that during the release phase. And when you're starting, if you are drinking, whatever water you're drinking, you want to make sure you put a pinch of salt in it as well. Because when you start the program, your body becomes very sensitive to insulin, and when you increase insulin sensitivity, it causes a lot of salt wasting, and so you want to replenish that salt. So sometimes in the beginning of the program, if people are not adding salt in their water, they may report a little bit of dizziness. So you want to make sure you put a bit of salt in your water throughout the day. Like this. In here, I've got like, I think like a quarter to a half teaspoon of salt in my water.

So.

Make sure you're salting your water or having electrolytes. And the salt you use is important. So you want to make sure you're using unrefined sea salt, not table salt, even when you're cooking your food. Himalayan sea salt. Unrefined sea salt. There's. I think I did. I do a post. I think we have a post on salt in the Facebook group. Let me see if I can find it. There we go. I'll put a link.

Hey.

What other questions do you all have? Brooke, you can go ahead and unmute.

I don't have a question, but I just want to congratulate Michelle on coming into the group. It's made a huge difference in my life. Huge. And for Marissa, you were talking about the seasonal depression. Right. To get that really bad. And I do find that, like, really getting into the program almost religiously. And I'm not usually somebody who follows rules very well at all. But it's all really well thought out. And I. I really think that giving it your best shot helps emotionally, psychologically, and, of course, physically. So I'm happy for everybody who's starting on this, and I wish you all the best. I did really well with it.

Thank you for sharing, Brooke. Yeah, that's why we do these Q and A's. Like, it's nice for people who are kind of near, you know, the end and are able to share with people who are just starting. Right. So thank you, Brooke. Nancy, go ahead and unmute. Hi.

Hi.

I'm Nancy.

I am finishing this weekend.

Will.

I'll be going into my fourth week. I don't have a question. I was just going to say something. We were talking earlier about the CGM, that and that. So I've had diabetes, type 1 diabetes for 50 years. I was basically born with it. I'm on an insulin pump and a cgm, and since I've been on this.

Program.

My blood glucose level has been perfect. It's.

It's.

Honestly. And before, like, when I would go for walks or whatever, like, I'd have, like, these extreme highs and lows. And now I don't know what. I don't know what's happening. But, yeah, like, my blood glucose is happy.

So.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing. That's amazing. Wonderful. So you've probably had to decrease the dosage on your insulin pump too.

Actually, I didn't make any changes. Sorry, I'm getting emotional.

I don't know why.

I guess it's happy tears.

Yeah.

Great. I actually didn't. I didn't make too many changes. I didn't make any changes except on an insulin pump. You have to.

I have to.

I don't know if anybody's familiar with an insulin pump, but anyways, there's programs that you can set up. They're called activity programs. So it's either sleep or exercise. And so what I find is I end up, like, the amount of insulin I take a day has reduced significantly, and I actually don't even. I don't actually give myself any extra insulin throughout the day. So it's. It's decreased significantly. Yeah. Which is. Which has been great.

That's amazing. Have you seen your doctor since?

Well, she's actually at weight. Okay. So I communicate with her by email, but we haven't actually had a chance to make any adjustments to the insulin to the pump itself. But. But yeah, no, it's been. It's been. It's been pretty good. Like, it's. The regularity of it has. Has been probably the best I've had in my life, with exception to when I was pregnant with my daughter. I had to. I had to basically prove to my doctor for two years that I could keep my. My blood glucose in a. In a normal range. Yeah. Yeah.

Awesome.

And then on a separate note, I also. Yeah. Yeah, it's been. It's been really good that way. I feel. I feel better, like, sort of consistently.

Yeah.

And then the other thing too is I'm from Vancouver and. Which is rainy Vancouver, so. And I also struggle with, you know, like, the gray, rainy weather. And so I really look forward to the sunny. To the sun. So maybe I should check my vitamin D. You were mentioning that especially living.

In Canada, unfortunately, like, we're just, you know, really north of the equator. So getting vitamin D levels checked, unfortunately, a lot of doctors won't. It's not like here in Ontario. It's not covered by ohip. So you do have to ask for it. Even if you have to pay for it, I would recommend it. It's not that expensive. It's just good to. To know where you're at. Right. And usually, of course, you know, in the winter, it is harder to get your vitamin D levels up, but in the summer, you really want to make sure you're getting outside, getting sunlight exposure. Because when your vitamin D is low, it's not that you have a vitamin D supplement deficiency, it's that we have a sunshine deficiency. So there is a great app called DMinder. I'll put it in the chat and you can download it and basically you can input, you know, certain details in terms of your, your age and I think, your ethnicity and where you live. And then it basically will tell you what the right amount of sunlight, safe sunlight exposure is for you specifically. So I'll put that in the chat. Okay. What other questions do you all have? Questions, comments? Thank you all for sharing. I know Melissa's driving. I don't know if you want to share. Melissa's been through the program. She's at the end. Because we have a good mix here of people that are, like, done and people who are just starting. So if you want to share, you can share.

Hi, everyone. Sorry, I just stopped driving. I always try to jump in where I can. Yeah, I finished the program.

Ooh.

I think it was mid March. And I've actually been able to maintain my loss. It was probably about 30 pounds and I've just been fluctuating probably between 1 or 2 pounds each each day. So I still weigh myself. I try to weigh myself every day just to kind of make sure I'm still staying on track and not getting too far off base. And then I keep mixing in between kind of released phase meals and just kind of, you know, just everyday meals. And then I'll have my odd Tim Hortons or cheat meal in there, here and there. So I'm trying to still, you know, be a human and live a regular life, but then also just trying to make sure that I've used the principles that I've learned and I think it's been really helpful. So I'm gonna do another round I wanted to do next month so in May and try to drop a few more pounds and just really focus on solidifying the. The habits of you know, getting outside and getting more sleep because sleep has been my nemesis. It's been the hardest thing for me to get the appropriate sleep that I need, and I think that's one of the big things. So it's just really solidifying those habits, and that's what I loved about the program. So it's been helpful.

So, yeah.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Welcome to all the new people. And, you know, good luck. You guys will do well. Been awesome.

Thank you.

Yeah.

I think the nice thing about the program is, you know, you get. You have short feedback loops, right? So, you know, sometimes we view the scale negatively, but you want to kind of use it to your advantage, right? And it's not just always about the number on the scale. You have your measurements that you do, your, you know, for those of you have a aura ring. So really using that data to make aware decisions, right? Increasing your level of awareness in terms of how certain foods or behaviors impact you is what this is all about, right? Because yes, the release phase is great. That's when you lose all the weight, but it's what happens after that that's more important, right? So really, the day to day, when you reintroduce foods back in, when you, you know, maybe veer off course, like, how does that impact you? Right? And using, as Melissa said, using the scale to keep you on track, right? And not just like keep you on track, but also to, you know, help you pay attention to what might be causing inflammation in your body. Right? Because when you jump on a scale, like, let's say one day your weight was 150, and then the next day it's like 154. It's not that you at four pounds of, like, whatever, you know, bad food you may have eaten, it's the inflammation that it causes in the body, right? So really using that as feedback. So, yeah. So thank you so much for sharing, everyone. Great call today. Thank you for all of you who shared and those who are starting. Really looking forward to seeing you on these moon calls and seeing your transformation too, right? One day you'll be Melissa or Nancy or Brooke and share your story with some of the new people. So great work, everyone. Keep it up, enjoy the sunshine, get outside, do some breathing, stretching. We all deserve it. So there's always time. We can always use time as an excuse, but make sure you're getting frequent breaks throughout your day. Sunshine breaks and movement breaks as well. Okay, bye, everyone. Love to you all. Have a great weekend.