Health/Wellness
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Seed Cycling: Your Guide to Improved Fertility and Hormonal Health
As the modern woman navigates through her life, the need to maintain hormonal balance has become increasingly critical. From the symptoms of PMS to the challenges of infertility, hormonal imbalances can take a toll on our overall well-being. But what if a simple dietary tweak could hold the key to restoring this delicate balance? Enter the practice of seed cycling, a natural approach to hormone balance and improved fertility. In the latest episode of the podcast, I tackle the topic of seed cycling, an easy yet effective strategy for supporting your estrogen and progesterone levels during each phase of your menstrual cycle. By consuming specific seeds during the follicular and…
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Understanding HTMA Retesting and its Impact on Optimal Health
In this podcast episode we explore the importance of Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) retesting in maintaining optimal health. HTMA testing provides insight into the body’s mineral status and its ability to handle stress. It’s an invaluable tool in health maintenance that allows us to examine mineral levels and heavy metal excretion using a small hair sample, both of which impact hormonal balance. An HTMA retest is important so that you can evaluate the effectiveness of the changes you’ve implemented since your initial test. I recommend retesting around the six-month mark to allow the body to adapt to the new changes and habits, and also allow enough hair growth that…
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Navigating Holiday Indulgences: Tips for a Balanced Approach
The holiday season is synonymous with indulgence and celebration. It’s a time when we let go of our usual routines and embrace the festive spirit. Maintaining a balanced approach to food and well-being during this period can be a challenge. In my latest podcast episode, we explore how to navigate the holiday season mindfully, making food choices that align with our health goals, without sacrificing the joy of the festive season. One of the key aspects I discuss is the importance of not arriving at the holiday dinner table starving. This often leads to overeating. Instead, I suggest maintaining your normal eating routine on the day of the holiday feast.…
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Guiding Your Child: Fostering a Healthy Relationship with Food
Navigating the journey of parenting, we are often confronted with challenges that require us to rethink our strategies and develop fresh perspectives. One of these challenges is fostering a healthy relationship between our children and food. This topic is not just about ensuring a balanced diet, but also about cultivating a positive attitude towards food and a healthy body image. In a recent podcast episode, I dove into this subject, sharing my personal journey and providing valuable insights for parents. We can encourage a positive food & body image relationship for our children by being intentional about how we talk about our own food choices, health, and wellness. It’s crucial…
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Investing in Your Health: The Right Time and Approach
In the latest episode of my podcast, I do a deep dive into the journey towards investing in a personalized wellness plan. The aim is to help guide listeners to feel confident in whether they are ready to invest in their wellness journey, or not quite yet. One of the critical aspects we discuss in this episode is the role of HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) and DUTCH testing in designing a customized care plan. These tests provide actionable results, enabling us to devise a comprehensive care plan that includes lifestyle modifications, dietary changes, and supplement suggestions. The discussion highlights the importance of these tests in gaining insights into your…
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Seasonal Affective Disorder: From Personal Insights to Empowering Strategies
In my recent podcast episode, I did a deep dive into a mental health condition that often gets cloaked in misunderstanding – Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If you’ve ever felt more anxious or down during the fall and winter months, you might be dealing with SAD. This condition affects more women than men and its exact cause is unknown. However, it’s thought to be related to decreased light exposure during the winter and fall months. In this exploration of SAD, I unpack the latest research, symptomatology, and diagnosis criteria include feelings of depression, fatigue, low energy, loss of interest in activities, and increased cravings for carbs. The most common treatment…
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Exploring what Holistic Wellness Means to Me
Today I launched the very first Wellness with Vanda podcast episode! In this episode I’m sharing what holistic wellness means to me and why I chose “wellness” for my branding. One of the concepts I delve into is the profound influence our thoughts have on our overall wellbeing. We live in an era where the mind-body connection is no longer a mysterious concept but a well-established fact. It’s not just about being disease-free; wellness is about complete physical, mental, and social well-being. I discuss traditional and functional medicine, underscoring the importance of setting long-term health goals. Traditional medicine tends to focus on treating diseases after they occur, whereas functional medicine…
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Regulating Cortisol for Wellness and Rediscovering Everyday Joy
In today’s modern, fast-paced world, we often find ourselves chasing after the elusive concept of happiness. However, we may be overlooking the key role our hormonal health plays in our overall well-being and our ability to find joy in everyday life. One of the most important hormones in this regard is cortisol. Known as the ‘stress hormone,’ cortisol plays a vital role in various body functions. However, an imbalance in this hormone can significantly impact our physical and mental health. Modern lifestyle, including exposure to toxins and blue light, along with other stressors, can throw our cortisol levels off balance. This can lead to various issues, ranging from weight gain…
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A Crash Course in Getting Better Sleep
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something, we may earn a commission. Thanks! Getting quality, restful sleep is very important for our hormonal health & balance because of the many processes our brain and body does while we’re resting. These processes include cellular repair, hormone release, the brain stores new information, detoxification occurs, muscle repair, and much more! Tips for Better Sleep My hope is that you can walk away from this blog post, implement 1 or 2 of these tips, and start to see improvements in your sleep (& energy) pretty quickly! Then, with some time you’ll begin noticing improvements with you other…
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Using a CGM to Optimize Health
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a commission. Thanks Today feels like a good day to share about my experience using a CGM for the past 3ish weeks. I learned a lot about my body that I can now use to make more informed food, exercise, & lifestyle choices! Getting the CGM Prescription I used the company Tastermonial to obtain the prescription for my CGM. The process is very easy & simple, you add the prescription to your cart, check out, & then you are emailed a form to fill out that their physician uses to write your prescription. I…