Weekly Living Light Metabolic Program Q & A Aug 18, 2023

Hello.

Hello everyone. Happy Friday. Hi Jan, Lovely to see you. How are you today?

Thank you.

Hi Ed, lovely to see you too. Happy, happy Friday. Hi Ann. Hi Beverly. Hi Barb. Lovely to see all of your faces today. I hope you all have had a fabulous week and are excited for the weekend ahead and for today as well. And as per usual, as everybody is getting tuned in, getting logged in here, I'm going to go ahead and make a quick announcement in our metabolic reset group group. But to start, I would love to as per, share some gratitude. Maybe you want to share it in your own voice today. Maybe it's something you want to type in, maybe something you've tried recently. Maybe it's a new experience, a new sport, a new skill, a new hobby that you've had a chance to try. So feel free to type that into the comments or of course speak it out because I much rather hear your voices and much less rather hear mine. So would love to hear anybody else. Barb is saying grateful for my homemade pot of soup. Yes. I don't know what kind of weather you're having today, but it's quite windy and chilly where I'm situated currently. So a nice hot piping pot of soup sounds splendid right about now and it makes for perfect leftovers. So enjoy, enjoy. Jan is saying, had my cataract surgery this week. Everything went exceptional, exceptionally well and healing. Congratulations. I know that, you know, any type of surgery tends to be a little bit nerve wracking, but it's in the past now and lucky for you it's a surgery that gets done most often. So I'm pretty sure it's quite perfected at this point. But rest up, make sure to take it easy. You know, enjoy some off screen time as best as you can. That's going to help your eyes heal and allow them to not be so strained and focused on screen. So celebrating the fact that you had an awesome recovery and continue to heal. Well, thank you for sharing Jan. I am grateful for my friends and family. I'm love the support that I'm able to get in my multiple different communities which is such a blessing to be able to experience and to have. So I am super grateful for my ever growing and genuine friendships that I've been able and family of course, relationships that I've been able to experience. I'm just going to go ahead and write in a quick reminder in our group as I got too caught up in all the winds here. So just bear with me everyone. Okay? Amazing. So how is everyone doing in their programs? How has the last week been? How has maintaining been? How has your additional rounds have been? How have things been going on the program? Where have you been encountering resistance? Where have you surprised yourself? What is something that you're curious to learn or clarify more about here for all of that? So if anything is coming up for anybody, as per usual, feel free to write it in the comments below or in the chat. You know, feel free to raise your hand or to share out loud with your voice as well. Any and all comments, not even just questions. Comments are always very welcome too. Jan is saying starting again and losing again. Being patient. Awesome. Yeah, it's. It's definitely a game of patience with not only your, your mental space, your physical space, your emotional space, but all of that deep healing helps to. Helps to of course, transition out into a better maintenance phase and a better kind of equipment or tool set to even transition out of this program with, which is awesome. Hey, you got your Viva rays, Barb. Amazing. Did you get the. The clip and go or did you get the red lens pair? And how have you been liking them? Oh, there we go. We're getting a live demo here. It's a special day.

For me. I just got them two days ago. For me, I feel a little bit dizzy almost looking through them. So that's is a bit of an adjustment with the computer screen. But last night I was wearing them around the house and I got. I adjusted to that quick very quickly and enjoyed it. And to answer your question.

Bam. Now we're ready for bam mode. I love it.

Bam.

Love it. They look awesome. Yeah, I'm still sort of.

It's the most difficult for me is using it with the computer. And then last night I tried it with the computer with the dark ones on. It's like I can't even see.

So, yep, I'm still interested with the computer.

The main reason I bought it for was the computer screen. But anyway, it's an experiment. At first I thought, oh, no, it's.

Not going to work.

But I'm still, I'm still trying.

Awesome. I love that you're wearing them even right now. And it does take a little bit of time to get used to it as I feel like even with any pair of glasses, even if it's the same prescription you're putting on or no prescription that you're putting on, there's still a medium in between your eyes and it can kind of throw off your balance a little bit or throw off your orientation as your brain kind of adjusts to the new Medium that. Filtering everything through, but it happens fairly quickly. So like you said, within a couple of days, even, like walking around is different. But probably the most amount of blue light you're encountering is going to be from a computer screen or a TV screen, phone screen. So that's going to take the biggest amount of adjustment because that is the biggest difference your body is experiencing now. Filtering a lot of that blue light.

Yeah. So I'll. I'll keep. I'll keep working with it. And also last night I was cutting vegetables, so I took them off to make sure I had a very clear vision of what I was cutting with a knife.

Definitely want to make sure you don't mistaken your finger for a baby carrot or something along those lines. It's all orange or red at the end of the night, so it could kind of for sure blend in. But have you noticed any differences wearing the red lens pair before going to bed?

Well, last night I was very. I wore them all before I went to bed. And I. I definitely enjoy that. I mean, I'm a person. I don't turn a light on the living room. I only have the salt lamp on in the living room. Anyway, I don't like bright lights, but I definitely noticed that sort of. It's hard to explain. It's a. Definitely a more relaxed feeling having them on in the evening. And I just, like. I say I'm still trying to adjust it with the computer so I don't feel dizzy, but. Yeah. And watch. I did watch a little bit. I don't usually watch much tv, but I did watch some TV last night with them on. And at first I thought, oh, I can't watch this. It's not. But then you get used to it. And then I took them off to watch.

I didn't.

I didn't like it with them off.

So.

Yeah, see, I know, it's. It's so funny what you get used to and what, you know, like how quickly we're able to adjust. So initially it feels strange, especially on the computer and the tv, because you're like, I can't really differentiate anything. But then you get used to it and your eyes adjust and you kind of fill in the colors and it becomes a lot easier. So it'll only get better from here. The only thing I will say is that, of course. Do you read before bed or look at, I guess, like a magazine?

No, I do not. I don't read before bed now. I used to do that, but I don't anymore.

Okay. Okay. Because I was going to say the only thing it kind of is a little bit more difficult around is that reading before bedtime. But they also do sell a little clip on lamp which, you know, it's, it's irrelevant to you at the minute, but if it ever, if you ever wanted to pick it up, they send a, or they sell these little clip on lights that you can attach to your book. That's a red light and it's quite a bright red light. Okay, perfect.

From bon charge.

Yes.

Tiny lamp with a really flexible thing on it. I finally want the clip. It's so small it doesn't do it any good. But then they have a little, a tiny little lamp with a really bendy arm. You can bend it anywhere you want it. And I put that, like when I travel, I bring that. I just lay that, that lamp on my chest and read. And that works well.

I love it. I love the whole setup, the whole contraption. It's a, it's a full affair when.

I'm going in hard.

Let's do it. If there's one thing to put all your eggs into, it is the sleep basket. So kudos to you for putting so many aura ring.

The aura ring is telling me I don't sleep as well as I thought I was. So.

Yeah. And it'll definitely give you those reality checks every so often for sure after getting to know you over a course of time. But it's great insight into your unique patterns, your unique, you know, sleep cycles that you're in. So that'll give you those helpful recommendations. So it'll be interesting to see what else comes up as you're navigating through this, through this period of time and I would say watching your deep sleep and your REM sleep. So one thing with the Oura Ring that I think you might find really helpful and anybody else on this call as well, is that Oura Ring actually has the option to add tags or comments onto specific days. So it's a feature that was made available, I want to say maybe like a year ago now, maybe a little bit less. But basically when you first open up your Aura app on the very main dashboard, there's a little white plus sign in the bottom right hand corner that allows you to add a tag, do an unguided session or, or to add in a workout. So you want to select add a tag. I find this to be really helpful anytime you're implementing new habits, new, you know, cycles, new flows to your day. So then you can see, you know, from this day, since adding in this you know, habit, this, mouth taping, morning walks, morning water, whatever have you, how did my scores change? And then you can see in real time how different metrics seemingly, you know, assuming everything else is kept the same, the, the rest of the metrics are kept constant, you're keeping up with the same patterns, there's not too many different stressors coming on. Then you can get a pretty clean reading as to what that habit is doing for you if it's trending you in the right direction. So that's kind of how I like to really hunker in and optimize and to see what I should be spending time on that's actually making a difference whether it be in my hrv, whether it be my resting heart rate. So when you open up that added tag function, it has a huge list of pre populated tags but then it also has a section to write in comments. That's the section I like to use because you can just summarize what you did the previous day and whatever words you want. You don't have to look for the perfect tag and then decide later if that's what you really wanted to put or whatever. So I would say that, yeah, so the deep sleep and the REM sleep, I would watch pretty closely. After adding in the glasses, I would make that tag. Even today you can backtrack and like backlog tags as well if you wanted to.

When I've tried to backlog work workout tags, it won't let me do it.

Yeah, for workout tags it's a different function. For whatever reason it doesn't allow you to go past the pre like the current day but for tags it does. So I'm not really too sure what that's about, but let's use it to our advantage while we can. Awesome. Enjoy. Enjoy the new specs, enjoy the, the new metrics that are going to come up on your ring and I'm excited to see how you like it when you have a chance to wear it a little bit more. Ed is saying got off track with travel but back on track, new low today. Congrats. What did you find Ed, that is kind of the biggest obstacle for you where I guess that part that gets you off track as you're traveling.

Well, there's the availability of food when you're say on the road, you know, driving and then the, the amount time availability to prepare and sit and eat rather than just stopping for something quick. So yeah, I, I tried to manage things like taking gluten free and you know, popcorn and that kind of Thing and protein bars that, you know, were gluten free. So I tried to, like, stick with what I could, you know, to fit things in while I was running around. It didn't work very well. So I ended up gaining about five pounds in three days, and then I lost five pounds in three days after I got back. So it was a whirlwind. Yeah. It's funny, someone else complained about traveling a few weeks ago, and I thought, well, you just pack all your stuff while you could pack stuff for a day, but when you're going for three days or a week, it gets a little bit challenging.

Yes, yes, exactly.

And I think if it was a casual trip, I could have figured things out, gone to a nice diner or fast food and gotten egg whites and that kind of thing. But I was running around, it was on business, and so I didn't have the luxury of the time.

Yep, for sure. And so you did the right thing. You know, bringing a couple of healthy options for yourself that you can grab is, you know, gonna be your best way to ensure that you have something to eat that is on plan or relatively close to being on plan. So was there anywhere where you felt like you could use some support or anywhere where you kind of were like, maybe I can use some tips and tricks for the next time I'm in this position?

Well, you know, it's funny, you in one of these pro, you know, modules for the program, there's something about nervous eating and eating out of boredom, and you're supposed. Well, when you're driving for six or eight hours, there's a lot of boredom.

Oh, yeah.

And I could have used help there, but, yeah, I think I went through a whole bag of popcorn while in the car. I mean, a big bag of popcorn.

Yeah, because. Because your, Your senses, you know, they, after some time need some stimulation. They need some sort of consumption in any kind of way, you know, just to keep. Just to keep your mind at ease. So, you know, that's a very common practice, that. And that's what happens when we wind down at the end of the. Even sit down in front of a TV and we kind of tune out. And that's when the bad snacks come out, that's when the popcorn comes out and whatever have you. And so when it comes to road trips, actually, because I. I did do a couple of road trips post program, and these are some things that I found that worked really well for me. So identifying certain stores, whether it be grocery stores, whether it be chains, where I know I can get a healthy Meal if I need, or healthier options because there's not usually like a 100% kind of deal, but you can get quite close these days. Number two is to keep a lot of water dense. Vegetables and fruits as snacks and water in general. I personally liked water with a little bit of flavoring in it. A hack that I. I enjoy is using something like electrolytes or vitamin C powder, both of which the two products I like and I use are from Designs for Health because they're very clean. There's not really a lot of additives inside of them. So I find that it's just to keep ourselves entertained that we like, move and we like to eat. It's that boredom that you're speaking of. And so grabbing water was my solution because I was still grabbing something and interacting with it. And I just needed kind of like an oral fixation rather than actual food. So that's one thing to do. So keeping water, keeping hydrated and hydrating fruits and veggies such as cucumbers, such as watermelon, such as grapes. So something that's easy to kind of pick on and snack on. Number two would be consuming in other ways. So turning on a podcast or turning on maybe like talk radio where people ask questions, or turning on something that you're. You're interested in learning because you're so caught up in what it is that you're learning and paying attention to. And then, of course, driving that you forget to consume in other ways because your mind is being fed, your ears are being fed. So that's another way, just in terms of, of road trips and kind of how to keep your mind at ease. I was us with somebody, so we were also learning a language, so we downloaded duolingo. So if you ever have somebody in the car with you, it's a fun way of being like, let's learn a little bit of French or Spanish or whatever have you. So, you know, just some fun, friendly competition, but also learning involved, which I think is fun. And then number four is just keeping some quick proteins on hand, because I find that that might be the trickiest part. The fruits and the vegetables you can find pretty readily. But I would say something, even if you're on an anim plan, let's say, or you prefer animal protein, and you're doing that on the program, it's okay to veer off if you need to. And using beans, lentils as that protein source since it's easier to travel with. So having a can of chickpeas or maybe a can of Tuna in water that's wild caught so that you could just kind of like toss it into a salad or toss it onto a plate. Have some pre prepared ready so you can just put in some cherry tomatoes which don't need any cooking. You know, have an apple that's something that's easy to carry or orange. And you have, you know, maybe not the most cohesive meal, but you have a meal that's on plan that you can feel really good about. And you know, road trips, we're typically sitting, you know, more often than not. But in the times that you are out of the car and exploring, you know, if you do a lot of walking on one of the stops, then making sure to include 5 ounces of protein for that day.

I did find a very good alternative dining establishment called Anna's House. Apparently it's a chain in Michigan and they, they have a lot of gluten free, dairy free vegan options on their menu and it's rated number one in Michigan, number one restaurant in Michigan. So I ended up eating there a few times.

That sounds awesome.

Yeah, except their, their version of you know what you get, you know, they include things like potatoes or sweet potatoes and beets which you're not supposed to have on the release phase, but you can't, you can't get it without that. So it was close, but not quite, you know. And of course they use oils in their cooking like everyone else, so. But it was close. It wasn't right on the money. But I like some of these suggestions. The audiobooks and the languages, I used to know a lot of languages, I forgot them all.

That could be a goal you have now on the next road trip, if you do go with somebody, you have to be able to say like one sentence in Spanish or whatever have you.

By the way, I did a long time ago I made protein balls with, and they use peanut butter. So now I would use the, the nut butter instead. But I should have thought of that because I could go through those are super chocolatey and they would satisfy more than just the hunger.

Exactly.

But I, but I completely forgot about that. I, I ran out and you know, threw stuff in a bag and left and didn't really prepare for anything.

Yeah. And it takes a little bit of that, that practice. Right. If we haven't had to approach road trips with prep in the past before, it's going to be a new skill that your body is going to be learning and integrating.

But I'm used to doing the road trips. I'm just not used to Doing the program.

Very true.

Exactly. And it's.

It's going to be a new way of approaching it. So still definitely enjoy your road trips, but now there's a way to enjoy them with more confidence. And a question I actually had was maybe you can share anything that you found that really worked. Maybe there was, you know, a tip that you used to. That really worked to stay on track or that made you feel really great. Was there anything that stuck out like.

That to get back on track or. When I was traveling.

When you were traveling and I guess back on track too. I'd be curious to know both.

No, it was traveling. I don't think I would recommend anything that I did. I drank. I have this water bottle which is well over 40 ounces. And I went through that a couple of times thinking that was gonna keep the hunger away. But it didn't seem to the do the trick while I was driving. No, it was all bad. I brought with, you know, someone suggested protein powder. I had protein powder. I had electrolytes. I had, you know, I threw a bunch of stuff in a bag and I had the protein bars. Nothing seemed to help. I was just wanted to eat all the time, especially when I was in the car.

Is that.

It's funny, when I'm working, I'm at home working in front of the computer. I could go all day without eating. For some reason, when I'm in the car, it didn't work that way. And it could be what you talked about earlier. I was. My mind was preoccupied. When I'm working and in the car, nothing's happening.

Exactly. And if you've had a history of, you know, when, while on road trips, like grabbing certain snacks or going to certain places, your body is naturally going to go back into that routine and it's going to want to flow back into it. And so I find that kind of even just adding one simple switch of, you know, like Ann suggested an audiobook or having a podcast or learning a language, it adds a different spin to it and suddenly you're thinking different. So, yeah, maybe next time that'll be the secret sauce. Who knows? And I'd love to hear, you know, if you find any other tips or tricks that work for you. So then, you know, of course we can then try it out as a community.

Yeah. Back in the good old days when I was young and I drove everywhere forever, you know, I was like 18, 20 years old, I would eat Raisinets and Coca Cola to keep. I can't recommend that to anyone.

Tried and true the do not do method.

Yeah.

Well, we've learned from the past that's the most important thing what fuels your body. Today is going to be different. Awesome. I'm just going to check in with the comments here. So Audrey is saying in the mindset module, one of the speakers mentioned coffee negatively affecting the brain. What is it in the coffee that does this? And does our green tea do the same thing? So is it the module on sleep? Because it could be referencing the fact that caffeine is obviously very stimulating for the brain, not necessarily creating negative effects on the brain, but it could be, of course, wiring the brain and in that evening time portion, that's obviously not what we're needing in to be able to wind down and, and get some rest the day. The only other thing that's coming up for me is that caffeine is dehydrating on the body as well. So of course, if you're not hydrating your brain properly throughout the day, of course it could be affecting it in that way too.

So if you're, you were.

Go ahead.

And, and mute Irina here. But additionally as well, if you are having caffeine too close to your waking time, it could disrupt your reg cortisol balance and your cortisol levels because your body is secreting a high amount of cortisol during the beginning portion of the day. So that's what gets your obviously your energy up and, and rampant. So if you're having caffeine that's substituting that energy surplus, then your cortisol can be a little bit imbalanced if you're having it too close to waking. So the ideal time to have caffeine is at least an hour after waking, an hour and a half if you can push it. So in ways it is interacting, of course, with the brain. Was there anything specific mentioned with it negatively affecting the brain that, that stood out to you, Audra?

Yeah, it was the video where they were talking about self sabotaging and he was talking about how coffee affects the creative center of the brain. But he didn't, he didn't say what it was in the coffee itself, you know, if it was a compound in the coffee or if it was the caffeine. So I probably wouldn't want to drink the green tea first thing in the morning when that's when I'm the most, you know, creative. But I just didn't know if I needed to navigate that a little bit or not.

Yeah, no, that's a great question. I would say green tea is gonna have a Little less caffeine in it. So play around with, I would say doing one week on coffee, one week of cat or green tea, and then see if it difference in terms of your creativity centers. Green tea also has the added benefits of having a high amount of antioxidants, so it's really good on that front too. And it also helps to mobilize certain types of or some types of estrogen from the body as well. So it's able to kind of pull and draw excess and convert it into a different form of estrogen that's not going to have the same effects on the body, which are more neutralizing, which is good. So I would say try it out. See if the coffee is something that works better for you or the green tea, the organo in specific. The reason why we really enjoy including that, because caffeine isn't really necessary, in all honesty. Of course, it's just a drug we've all normalized and we all really enjoy to include, but it's not necessary. What is really important though, and what organo has done is of course infuse it with the medicinal mushrooms. So it's an avenue of getting it in a way where in a habit that people are already have long standing and will not miss no matter what. So I would say if, even if the green tea or the coffee doesn't work, I would still incorporate reishi and any other medicinal mushrooms that you're curious about during this program because they are a really great help. And there's spores, so there's spores. If you didn't want to take the coffee or the green tea, there's just the straight up reishi spores. So if you ever are curious, if you want to learn more, let me know. I can always send you information. I see you have your hands up. Irina, I'd love to hear your question. If you want to go ahead and unmute.

Okay. Hi. All right. I'm just gonna get myself in the video so that I could participate. Lovely to see you anymore. Thank you. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

So I had a question about the cortisol that you just.

Hello? I think we might have lost you. Irina, can you hear me? She got lost in the metaverse. Can anybody else hear her or is it just on my end?

I can't hear.

Cute.

Cut out.

Yeah. Well, hopefully she'll tune back in while we wait here. I'm gonna go ahead and just see the chat here really quickly. So is the pea protein sun warrior okay to use in the protein ball recipe? You Gave us, or should I wait until I get some more options? No, the Sun Warrior should be fine. It's a very clean, good quality brand. So I think it. You should be fine being able to use that. Was there any variety in particular that you were looking to incorporate? Oh, no.

Like, I have not yet ordered the Designs for Health 1. I was considering ordering that one, which is what you recommended in the recipe.

Yeah.

Or there's another one. ATP makes a protein powder that's a collagen powder that's very tasty. And I've sent those. Those not recipes, those ingredient lists to Deepa and she approved them.

Yeah, yeah. Sun Warrior is a good brand. I don't think you can go wrong using that. I also have enjoyed Garden of Light Life in the past as well. I personally just really enjoy the designs for health protein taste. So that's what I usually stick to. That's what works for me. But any clean, good quality protein would be fine in that recipe. As long as you enjoy it, you.

Know, you don't have to. I haven't looked that up very closely. You don't have to cook it or anything.

Right? You just. No, no, no. Yeah, there's no cooking involved.

Okay. All right. Thank you.

You. You're welcome. Enjoy. I need to make these again. I feel like I've heard and talked about protein balls so much. This is something like a blast from the past for me. But it's. It's kind of encouraging me to make them again this weekend. So I'll share. I'll share my picture if that ends up being the case. I'm actually interested because I've been seeing a lot online. I don't know if anybody else would be interested in this too, but in terms of women and their cyc, following a seed cycling plan. So depending on what time and which phase you're in, there's different seeds that you want to cycle through into your body to get different, of course, nutrients and minerals to help you along in that cycle. If anybody else is curious about that, I'm happy to share. Once I kind of come up with what.

Sorry, I was thinking of doing, I got cut off.

Oh, that's okay. Hi, Irina, nice to have you back. I'd love to know your question.

Sorry, I just kind of went out completely. So a couple of questions. So, one was about the cortisol. You mentioned not to drink the coffee when upon waking. And I was wondering, I'm finding myself. This is new to me, that if I work out, I work out. I feel like I'M not impeding on my cortisol if I work after the 12 o'. Clock. So that's one question. And what do you, what's your thoughts on that?

So morning workouts are actually really favorable because you're gaining that momentum from the surplus of cortisol. So you have more momentum in those morning hours. So I would say it's, it's a great time to get in a little bit more movement. Plus of course, you've been kind of stagnant. You've been laying in one position more or less all night or for ideally eight hours. So you want to make sure to, to get up and start moving your body, get your circulation pumping. So it's actually a great time really.

Because I felt, I felt the opposite, that if you depleted like me in cortisol levels then you, you don't want to over produce it and do the opposite. And that's kind of where I'm playing around with it to see maybe doing, you know, yoga, you know, like slow motion movement of some. So just to wake up the body and then do the higher instead of reading up the cortisol levels more because they are at the highest rate. So that was my thought. I don't know. You, you, you, you have a different point, I take it. Okay.

Yes. 1, 1 comment I will make. Sorry to interrupt. Is. I wasn't referencing your journey on the release phase in that comment. That was more so out of the program because during the program we're not putting an emphasis on working out. It's very simple gentle forms of movement. So only about 30 minutes every day. So in the morning is a great time to get that in. You can of course seat it in throughout the day as well. But on the program there will be no high intensity because we are very much focusing on getting your body into that parasympathetic state. State.

Right, got it. And in my case what I'm doing is I just did recently a DEXA scan and my bone loss seemed to be pretty apparent. So I need to do some strength, bone strength exercises, resistance training. So that's what I'm doing right now. So I'm doing 20 minute, very high resistant training and I'm wondering if I should not be doing, doing it while I am the release or do it at a different hour so that I don't trick my cortisol levels even higher.

Yes. So I would say definitely pause the resistance training at this time. Again, the reason being, and it's not to villainize exercise. Exercise. Exercise is a fabulous stressor on the body, but it's a stressor nonetheless. And so really where the magic and the transformation comes from on this program is finally giving your body that time to rest and access the parasympathetic state. Once we get into maintenance phase, once we move beyond the program, we're going to talk about how to implement exercise because we want you to keep moving. We want you to enjoy, you know, that beautiful movement of your body just for this time being. The best results come out of it when you're giving yourself that proper break.

Got it. Okay, that's, that's one. Then I have another question because I am an ultra cognitive person myself. I'm an acupuncturist, so homeopathy, by the way, I didn't get my homeopathy drop delivered yet, but I. From what I know that you cannot combine coffee and homeopathy together. So it's. It's totally the opposite. So my question is, how do you do that and what's your view on that? Homeopathy and coffee.

Coffee, yeah. So typically the spray times are going to be away from times that people drink that coffee or have that caffeine. The spray that we're using on this program is very gently d or it's very diluted. It's a very gentle solution. So it's not going to have, you know, crazy effects when you use it. Those three different intervals throughout the day. We've had nobody have any complications while using caffeine of any kind. Whether it be the coffee or whether it be the green tea or something that's outside of reishi, have a negative interaction. So as long as you're able to wait about half hour on both ends. So half hour before taking it, half hour after taking it, you should be fine.

Okay. Usually they don't recommend to to do it at all if it's homeopathy. Is it homeopathy, by the way?

Yeah, it's a homeopathic spray.

It is. Okay. And then another question I have. First thing in the morning, I'm never hungry, but I do eat later at night. So that's my downfall. Does it matter clock wise, the intake on the release program, when to eat?

Yes. So on the release phase we will be focusing on intermittent fasting. So you get to play around with what those, what that fasting and what that eating window looks like for you. But what I typically say, the three rules that I want everybody to kind of of keep that time frame in is having an eight hour eating window, 16 hour fasting window. Having your meals at least five hours apart and finishing your last meal three hours before bedtime. So as long as all three of those rules are satisfied, you can choose whatever window fits into that. So two popular ones. Yeah. Are 9 to 5, 10 to 6, or 11 to 7. Those tend to be the most popular eating time times.

Okay, so five hours apart, meaning three meals a day. Correct.

It's going to be two meals a day.

Thank you.

Yes. Yeah.

You're welcome.

Okay, so thanks.

Okay. Yay. Thank you. Yeah. Two meals a day. No grazing, no snacking in between.

Yeah. So basically when it comes to snacking, it's not. We want to try to limit it because we want to make sure that you're getting your full meals when you do sit down for the two meals. I always say if you find the need to snack, which comes up initially because your body is going through a lot of change, drink some water or herbal tea first. If after 15 minutes you still feel like grabbing something, you still feel that craving, then you can go ahead and grab either some cucumber or some celery. More water dense. Oh, all right.

And what about. Okay, so eight hour window. Got it. And how many calories would you say this is for the two meals? And do you continue using it after the. This initial release phrase? The same two meals a day? That's kind of where you want to go.

Yeah. So this program doesn't have an emphasis on calorie counting. So it's going to be within a rough range of around, I want to say, 800 to 1,200 calories a day that you're consuming. It's going to be slightly different depending on the proteins that you use, depending on the vegetables, how many free vegetables you include. But the emphasis is to not worry about the calories. It's really about getting the right amounts of the right foods in. So that's why we do the 4 ounces of protein, 4 ounces of non free veg, 4 ounces of fruit, and then an unlimited amount of free veg, which is also your fiber. So that's how we like to. That's where we put the emphasis on.

And so my question that I did ask you, I don't think you either, I didn't clarify myself in our conversation was the scale that I got. It reads the protein level. And I, I tried to look up to see where I can find more information. I didn't. So I was wondering, what does it mean that the body has protein level that they show on the scale? What does it mean? I'm Like I've never seen it before.

Yeah, so. So the RENFO scale measures a bunch of different metrics. So I'm probably. You probably saw like visceral fat, body, water percentage, all that.

I know all that I got. Yeah. I just was very confused about the protein. But what is that about?

You know, I'm not entirely sure how it's measuring that. I'm not too sure what it's basing it off because I, I didn't of course manufacture the scale myself, but I'm assuming it's the amount of excess amino acids your body is storing. So it's, it's could be a way of your body breaking down proteins and reabsorbing them, reusing them and keeping more amino acids available. So because you're focusing on getting consistent amounts of protein and that's typically the, the portion of, of your nutrition that a lot of people don't get enough of, there's not enough protein that people are putting in their meals. So once you actually do consistently put in a baseline minimum of 4 ounces, your body is going to have more excess, more surplus to then of course create whatever it needs to more hair, more skin, more proteins, you know, more muscle, whatever have you. The way that metric is, is, is measured. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. I saw on the website, the one that I sent you, it, it did some sort of technology in.

I looked it up. Yeah, yeah, I looked it up. It didn't really give me a clue. And so how much protein a day would you say that this program is in ounces that you're supposed to have a day? Since we really not announces in grams. Gram. Yeah, grams.

Yeah. So I would say in, in complete honesty, those numbers are, they don't matter in the grand scheme of things in, in terms of this program. So while you know, outside of this program, depending on what your health goals are, that protein intake is going to be different. On if you have more of a sedentary versus of course an active lifestyle. But while on the program, depending on the type of protein you use, whether you're a vegetarian, vegan or animal based, what kind of animal based proteins you use, you could be looking at around I want to say 60 to 100 grams of protein roughly. It's usually it again depends on the person, depends on the types of foods that you're going to be consuming, consuming. But four ounces is what you want to focus on for those two meals.

Okay, got it.

Yeah. And, and so you, you're more largely an animal Based protein. Correct.

Mine is more vegan, but I do eat, you know, like occasionally. So I really have to be mindful because I, I, it shocked me that the scale showed me that I have very, very low protein there. That's why I'm like, oh, what does it mean? Yeah, do I not get, get enough protein in?

Yeah. And that's the tricky spot for a lot of vegans. Right. Because there's limited sources of protein. So as you're going through the, the journey, you can also use lentils and beans. So for anybody that is a vegan that's doing the program, you can also do 6 ounces of lentils and beans.

On top of the 4 ounces.

So the 4 ounces is referencing animal protein. So anytime you're using like chicken or turkey or bison or any of those kinds of proteins that are on the approved list, you're going to be measuring 4 ounces and that's cooked, so that's in its final state. For vegan, vegetarian proteins, if you're using edamame, Tofu, Tempeh, any one or any whites, still measuring 4 ounces. If you're using cottage cheese, lentils or beans, you want to measure it. Six ounces.

Got it, yeah, six ounces. Okay. I appreciate it. Thanks. And cottage cheese including. Okay, cool.

Yes, cottage cheese is included. Of course. You want to get your hands on the highest quality that you can, making sure, of course, it's grass fed, pasteurized, all that jazz. I would try to stay away from it in all honesty, just to give yourself, excuse me, a clean break from dairy for a little bit of time while you're on the program. But if you're really in a pinch, that's the only thing. Definitely go for it.

Okay, got it. Okay, got it. Thank you so much. So the protein thing still baffles me. I have to figure it out. If you can help me out with a call.

Will do. I will, I will say while I was going through this, this program a few years ago now, my protein was quite low too, and I'm animal based. And now with consistently eating enough protein, I saw that number increase into a healthier range and even like a top end of the range by the end of the program. So it coincided with the habit changes that I was making that alongside my water level intake or my water percentage went through the roof as well. So getting consistent with those things regularly or is able to store that surplus and then it's able to heal much faster.

Okay, thank you so much.

I'd like to, I'd like to add that because I was animal based and I was eating excessive amounts of protein before the program, but my protein levels were still low when I started the program, but my water levels were also very, very low and now they're in the normal range and my protein has gone back up even though I'm eating a lot less prote than I used to. So I think it's the program than the consumption.

Yeah. So interest. Thanks for that share, Ed. And the only thing I can, I can think of that could have contributed to that was of course your eating setting. So eating in a setting that's more conducive to you actually digesting and assimilating that nutrition but also healing your gut, your gut being able to break down that protein and your intestines being able to absorb it much better too. So I'm glad it's trending in the right direction. You get to save money on protein now.

Yeah. I was eating two sticks, two steaks for dinner every day. It was getting expensive.

I bet. I bet that's quite an expensive dinner to keep up. Awesome. Thanks for your questions, Irina. Awesome questions.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. I'm going to go quickly through the chat here. Barb is saying would you order food from Amazon, some items that are hard to find and health food stores are available on Amazon? I would say it really depends on what it is. But I say why not? I mean people buy things on Thrive Market or, or Thrive Cart or is it Thrive Cart or Thrive Market and Natura Market and you know, other kind of retailers like that. So as long as it's something that obviously is sealed and, and it can't be tampered with or cross contaminated, I don't see why not. But was there any specific kind of food you're referencing specifically?

I have been to so many stores. The Sun Butter, the, the organic one that has no sugar added. All the, all the health food stores have the one with sugar added which I can't fathom. But the organic one with that's unsweetened. I can't find it. I know Amazon have it. I'm just gonna look up. Well, CA too. Maybe they have it. I don't know how if it's an Amazon, I don't know how many months or years or whatever it's been sitting on a shelf. Know, I don't, I don't know.

And where it's been as well like in the transporting process and all of that. I would say for, for most things you're pretty good because Amazon does It has a, a huge customer base so things move in circulation quite quickly. So for certain products it should be fine. I wouldn't do any sort of like fresh fruit food or anything along those lines. I don't even think they have that as an option. But you should be fine with the Sun Butter. But. Well, well do ca. I'd, I'd check first. Sorry, what was that, Ed?

They. They own Whole Food. So now they do do fresh food.

They do, they own Whole Foods.

Yeah. Amazon bought Whole Foods.

Oh wow.

That's news to me. Okay, so they're, they, they are literally taking over. So I guess in that sense, you know, it's your one stop shop for, for groceries and for anything else. Basically. Yeah, I would say go for it because it's probably going to be less expensive than going on the actual Sun Butter site. But also seeing if there is maybe a store, you know, keeping your eyes peeled to see if there's a store nearby that is selling the organic sugarfree version as well.

I've been to several.

I bet, I bet it is hard to find like a, like if you had like a Nature's Emporium. They're far and few in between, but here in Ontario they have a few stores called Nature Emporium where they just carry everything. So finding one of those Holy Grail stores, it's probably going to be in there, but those are, you know, a little bit more exclusive. Hard to find.

I'll look for those.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Good luck in the Sun Butter quest. This has been a.

It's for those protein balls.

Q and as in the making. Yeah, it's for the protein balls.

Exactly.

Okay, I see Anne's comment. I received the drops instead of the spray. Has anyone also been using the drops? I find the spray to be easier to use. The drops are easy to spill and the only way I can use the drops is if it's in front of a well lit mirror. The spray is easy to administer anywhere. Yes. So the spray and the drops are exactly the same, minus of course, the way it's administered. So unfortunately I was asked a question by someone. I haven't received an answer as of yet, but I'm hoping to get to the bottom of this. If you can put the spray bottle or sorry the drops bottle into a spray bottle to see if you can use it that way. But I haven't received confirmation. I don't want to miss misguide anyone before I do receive that because I want to make sure you're getting the right amounts. But that might be a solution. So let me circle back to, to the manufacture so we can see exactly what we can do about that. But I agree the drops are a little bit inconvenient to use in that way, but it's the only way to get them shipped much faster to everybody. So that's the only reason why, why we use them. If one is a meat eater, can one eat the correct portions of vegetarian protein as a substitute? Yes. So from time to time, y. Yes. Especially when it comes to the beans and the lentils. The only thing I would say is that just to be careful when it comes to the beans and lentils, if you are on the animal protein protocol, because they have more carbs associated, I shouldn't say be careful, but just to be mindful of, they have more carbs associated with those specific foods. So sometimes, and this isn't always the case, and I've seen it only happen a handful of times, but sometimes it can slow down weight release because of course your body is receiving those additional carbs. But apart from that, you know, once in a while you wanted to mix in a vegetarian source, then you can go ahead and do so. Yes, Irina, I will get in contact with Sarah. I'll send her a message right now. Our lovely client care coordinator who is super on top of this stuff. So I'm sure the drops are on the way. I'm going to go ahead and get the tracking information and I can send that over your way. Irina, sorry you're not feeling well. Beverly, thank you for joining. Anyways, I wish you a quick healing, whatever it is that you're experiencing today. I'm not familiar with protein powders. Can you recommend one to me as a new member of my loading days? This is weekend, please. Yes, definitely. So would you prefer plant based or animal based? Heather. Okay, awesome. So there is a great plant based protein. The one that we like is by Designs for Health. That's largely the supplement dispensary we like to use because they're very clean and very high quality. So, so. And it tastes fairly good in my opinion. Like I, I don't notice the taste of it. It just tastes like a good smoothie to me, in all honesty. So this is one that we like here. They have it in chocolate, unflavored and vanilla. So you have a couple of different options or. Sorry, that one's the pure paleo. Let me find the pure pea. So that one was the animal based and then this one is the plant based. How important are the drops in the release phase? So basically I would say they're quite important in all honesty, if you've had. If you want more ease in the program because it helps with curbing curves cravings quite frequently or that's kind of one of its main functions. So when you're removing or pausing fats, it helps your body stay satiated and not crave that additional energy source because it's receiving it from its own in endogenous fat stores. So it helps to curb cravings in that sense. It also really helps if you've been under chronic stress the last, you know, X amount of time, whatever that is, months, weeks, years. So it helps to rebalance that HPA axis and it does a lot of the heavy lifting on the back end as you're already doing parasympathetic changes and foundational work on yourself and in your habits. So it works in tandem with the activities and the different things that you're focusing on in the program. I find that it really helps to accelerate the journey and give you the most out of the journey and make it a lot easier as. As well, it's possible to do the program without the drops. You don't need any additional, you know, potions or liquids or homeopathic sprays or whatever have you. You can do it on your own. It will be more challenging for the reasons that I mentioned. Doesn't mean that it's not doable, but I find for just the enjoyment of this program, the Metabolic Reset spray helps a lot. As we age, the body has a decreased ability to produce nitric oxide. Is there something more I can do to help my body produce this in addition to biryani breathing? So I see Barb here or she's saying goodbye. Bye, Barb. Nice to see you. Have a great Friday. So nitric oxide, really the one method that I know is, is the yogic coffee or the. The Breath of Fire as well. So that can help increase your nitric oxide production by 1500% by doing that breathing practice. So I'm not a breathwork facilitator. I wish one day I will be. But Satchin has some really amazing breathwork videos. He actually goes through all of those exercises in one of your modules that you have a part part of this program. And. And he goes through all those different breathing techniques. So that's the one way I know you can naturally produce your nitric oxide production in your body naturally. So I would. I'll send over that module to you. I'll send over a reminder. So maybe this weekend if you have a couple, you know, if you have an hour or something, I believe it's like an hour long talk. If you wanted to try it out, I would definitely recommend you doing. So. Is it a smooth one or grainy one in smoothies? Oh, yeah. Sorry, Andre.

So I watched the breath work module and he had, at the end of one of them, he had invited everybody to join a 75 minute workshop online when he was doing like this. Guinness World Records of all these health practitioners doing a breath work session together. Is there a way we can watch a replay on that? It wasn't included.

I can definitely check in with our team. Let me make a quick note of that here, here. Okay. I think we should have that recording somewhere. So I'll check in with our team and then I can send it your way.

Awesome. Thank you.

My pleasure. Irina, cottage cheese, you want to stick to one person percent. So it's going to be the lowest level of cream or I guess fat that would be in the cottage cheese. Yeah. Heather, I agree it probably would take like a week for it to get to you. So it might not be the best option for the, for the loading days. But post loading or even during loading, if you use something like tofu as one of your protein options, it's a great top on additional calories. So. So that's where I also recommend having that protein on hand for any time that you're using a tofu or I guess a soy based protein. And Irina, yes, you can use monk fruit as a sweetener or stevia. I would say if you can challenge yourself to use less each time. But of course, during the beginning, enjoy it, you know, take the path of least resistance. And how do we mix the proteins in the maintenance phase, like chili, for example. So when it comes to making like big pots of something, it's a little bit harder to know how much protein you're getting because it could be, you know, mixture of so many different things that's in the your layers ladle. So what I like to do and what Bob's Red Mills actually has is a package of dried soup mix. So it's just a bunch of different beans that are all together and lentils inside of it. So I like to cook up a big pot of that just so I have like that mixture in place. And then I could put it into my chilies. I could put on top of a salad, I could put next to some quinoa. I can mix it and match that, that protein with anything else that I'm craving throughout the week. So I batch cook that and Then you know, batch cook either rice or some quinoa or some gluten free oats or whatever have you and mix and match those things. So when you're in the maintenance and then coming out of the maintenance, you don't have to be super granular in terms of measuring, but roughly have an idea as to how much portions it is that you're making in that chili or in that soup, that stew, whatever, and include enough beans and at that point you'll have enough practice, you'll have enough, you know, experience under your belt to kind of know how much to, to be having or how much to be pouring in. So I would say what I kind of did to get started with all of that is start measuring out, let's say like a cup of dried lentils or a cup of dried bean mix or whatever it is that you have. Boil that and of course like prep it, you know, prepare it however you want and meas out how much 1 cup of dried mixture ends up yielding in. So then you know exactly, you know how much you're supposed to get out of this. So then when you're making a big pot, you know it's going to be, let's say four portions. You put four scoops of whatever that that measurement is.

Awesome.

Any other questions? Lots of great questions today everyone. Thanks for the, thanks for the rapid fire questions, Irina. So, so I mentioned Bob's Red Mill. It's a brand that is largely gluten free. They have quite a few gluten free products, but just typically very clean, high quality, well made. So they have like tapioca starch, they have gluten free oats, they have souping mix, they have nutritional yeast that they sell. They also make pizza crust as well. So there's so many different products that they have that are just a little bit cleaner. Yeah. And they have good steel cut oats as well. So they have a variety of different oats. So that's just that one specific brand that I like. But yeah, I would say any kind of beans, any sort of dried beans, you can even make your own. I mean all Bob's Red Mills did is take a bunch of different dried beans and put them all together. I personally liked that. So that's why I like to save time in that way. But you can do it, you know, just by having different dried beans. Awesome. Any final questions coming up? I know we're a little bit over the time here, but it's just flown by the last couple of times. It has just flown by. I feel like the conversation has just went in so many directions, which is so lovely. We're hitting on so many different topics and and different shares. So final questions before we end off for today. Enjoy. We enjoy the rest of our beautiful Friday. Lovely to see you, Laronda. Thanks for joining. Awesome. Well, if there's no other questions coming in or no other hands being raised, then I want to say thank you all for showing up as you always do. Congratulations for continuing to commit to your health, for showing up for yourself, for showing up for your families. This is benefiting not only only you. It's benefiting so many amazing people that you love in your life as well. So continue the amazing work. Have a beautiful rest of your Friday. Have an awesome weekend ahead and I will see everybody in the following Friday. So take care. Have a beautiful day.

Bye.

Thank you so much.

Bye.