I want...
Weight LossYour Thoughts Dictate Your Outcome with Sandra Scheinbaum
May 4, 2024 By
Leanne Vogel
May 4, 2024
In today’s episode of the Healthful Pursuit Podcast, we have an incredibly inspiring guest, Sandra Scheinbaum, founder of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. Sandra will be sharing her personal journey from battling anxiety and panic attacks to empowering others through health coaching. She’ll unveil the critical role mindset plays in achieving health goals and the significance of starting with tiny, manageable habits—like doing just one pushup or taking a slow belly breath—to create sustainable changes.
Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum is an innovative leader in the field of health coaching and functional medicine. With a rich background in clinical psychology and a passion for mind-body medicine techniques, she has dedicated her career to transforming healthcare by training health coaches to use positive psychology and functional medicine approaches. As the founder and CEO of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, Dr. Scheinbaum has been instrumental in developing curricula that empower health professionals worldwide. Her personal journey from struggling with panic attacks to mastering self-regulation techniques profoundly shapes her teaching and practice, making her a relatable and inspiring figure in holistic health circles. Dr. Scheinbaum is also an author of several books that focus on managing anxiety and fostering behavioral changes for lasting health.
Keto shopping lists, recipes, and more! Start keto with this FREE 5-step guide.
I'm ready!Listen Online
You can also find the Keto Diet Podcast on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and many other places.
Transcript
Sandra Scheinbaum
What am I going to start doing today? That will be one tiny baby step to ensure that I get towards this dream, this big dream of mine. And in the process of now planning for that baby step, you may start out by taking a breath and it’s like getting you in a state of readiness.
Leanne Vogel
Hello and welcome to the show.
Leanne Vogel
I’m so glad you’re here.
Leanne Vogel
Today we’re chatting with Doctor Sandra who’s passionate about transforming healthcare by training health coaches to integrate the positive psychology model of coaching with the functional medicine approach to reversing chronic illness. She is an author of a bunch of different books, including Functional Medicine, stop panic attacks in ten easy steps and how to give clients the skills to stop panic attacks. Today we’re chatting about a bunch of things, including chatting about the power that we have to create behavioral change. Behavioral change is one of those things that if your mindset isn’t aligned with your goals, you are going to crash and burn. Every time. We’re chatting about shifting from being anxious and having panic attacks to feeling calm. Tried and true strategies that work to create lasting behavior change and so much more. If you want to learn more from Doctor Sandra, her website is functionalmedicinecoaching.org dot.
Leanne Vogel
She’s also on Facebook and Instagram. You can find her on Instagram doctorsandi. That’s d r s a n d I. I’m thrilled that we get to chat with her today about all things functional wellness, specifically when it comes to our mindset. Okay, let’s cut over to today’s episode.
Leanne Vogel
Hey, my name is Leanne Vogel. I’m fascinated with helping women navigate how to eat, move and care for their bodies using a low carb diet. I’m a small town holistic nutritionist turned three time international bestselling author turned functional medicine practitioner, offering telemedicine services around the globe to women looking to better their health and stop second guessing themselves. I’m here to teach you how to wade through the wellness noise to get to the good stuff that’ll help you achieve your goals. We’re supporting your low carb life beyond the if it fits your macros, conversation, hormones, emotions, relationship to your body workouts letdowns motivation blood work, detoxing, metabolism I’m providing the tools to put your motivation into action. Think of it like quality time with your bestie mixed with a little med school so you’re empowered at your next doctor visit. Get ready to be challenged and encouraged while you learn about your body and how to care for it better. This is the Keto Diet podcast.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Hello, everybody. I’m doctor Sandra Sheinbaum. And what I’m going to talk about is the incredible power that we have to create behavioral change that leads to lasting health results. And more specifically, I’m going to share my story, which is how I went from anxious to calm. So just a little bit about who I am. So I am the founder and CEO of Functional Medicine Coaching Academy, but I founded that online school when I was 65 years old. And I didn’t start out as a CEO running a global company. Instead, I majored in elementary education and thought I was going to be a school teacher, which I was specifically in special education, and thought that that would be where I would have a long career and didn’t turn out that way.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And that was a good thing because I loved learning and I was always interested in moving on to the next stage, the next phase. And so from becoming a special education teacher after college to then teaching at a local college, teaching teachers how to work with kids with special needs, I then got really interested in stress management. And at the time, there wasn’t a lot that we knew about it. It was considered actually a pretty radical field, this idea that your mind and body were connected, but it really interested me. And so I went back to school. At the time, I was doing a lot of workshops for parents, for teachers, how to manage stress. And that was what I specialized in when I got my doctorate in clinical psychology. The idea that you could reach a quiet state.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And for me this was really significant because I was suffering from pretty debilitating panic attacks and had been told, oh, you’re just an anxious person. It runs in the family. Your mother was anxious that I came from a whole line of worriers, and that was just how I was going to be. And so I happened to take a workshop during my doctoral training that had to do with self regulation techniques and that included biofeedback. So I started looking at how I could use breathing techniques and how I could quiet myself. And lo and behold, I wasn’t getting panic attacks anymore. So that inspired me to go on and during my career as a clinical psychologist, work with thousands of people, helping them to stop panic, to become less anxious, to calm themselves, and then those individuals who had significant medical issues like migraine headaches or irritable bowel syndrome or insomnia. And I would help them by using what we now refer to as mind body medicine techniques.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And I also, though I want to say that success doesn’t come without failure. In fact, we are successful as a result of our failures. That’s how we learn. So I’m really thankful that there was a time when I was in partnership with some psychiatrists running a large group practice responsible for a lot of people who worked for us, other psychologists, social workers, and it didn’t turn out so well and we had to close our doors. And so at the time I thought, oh, I’m just a failure at this and what am I going to go on to do? Well, I went on to spend a number of other spend time as a solo practitioner and I also then got very interested in nutrition. I took all the training I could get, including studying with the Institute for Functional Medicine. And then when I was turning 65, I approached IFM Institute for Functional Medicine about working with me to develop a program where we could train health coaches. Because along the way I had studied health coaching and I also had a young associate, Elise, and she, she was working with me.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And so we built this program and at the time it was more corporate wellness. We thought we were going to be local. I was in a local suburb of Chicago, Illinois, and that’s just where we would be. And instead we started to dream big. And so we approached the Institute for Functional Medicine about partnering with us and they were very interested. And so IFM is our collaboration partner and that was about five years ago and we have now trained many people throughout the world to become health coaches. And that was putting together a curriculum that combined all of the elements that I had trained in over the years as a psychologist. And so what I’d like to share with you today is some of the tried and true strategies that I have found worked.
Sandra Scheinbaum
They worked when I was seeing patients as a psychologist and they’re strategies that I have used personally. So use them to stop panic attacks, to calm myself when I’m anxious to take bold steps now running a company, to also now incorporate these into the curriculum that we teach at functional medicine coaching academy. So what are these steps? Well, number one, it starts with a big dream. And you imagine going out into the future what you would really like your life to look like and what matters most to you. Those are key questions that a coach, they ask you. Why are these so, so significant? Well, it’s because it’s what Richard Boiazis at Case Western Reserve University has called a positive emotional attractor. What does that mean? When you are imagining how you would like your life to be, then that dream is actually on a physiological level, creating a profound, quiet, calming, healing state. You’re in a parasympathetic mode.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And that is when you are most amenable to change. It is also when your body is really in a healing state physiologically as well. So it starts with that. And for me, it was the sense that I wanted to feel that I was doing something, that I was fulfilling my mission and purpose in life, which is to help others thrive. I wanted to teach, going back to my roots as a teacher, I wanted to teach these principles to coaches so that they could go out there and really help individuals create lasting change through these strategies, that they could change their health and therefore live vibrant lives and be able to pursue what matters to them. So again, number one is that positive emotional attractor, that dream for where you want to be. And it could be something like, I want to be able to get down on the floor with my grandchildren and get back up again without having to have assistance to do that. I want to dance at my daughter’s or my grandchild’s wedding.
Sandra Scheinbaum
I want to have energy. I want to have a sharp mind. And you picture this and then you go on to step two. And when you’re starting to have lasting, what’s going to be, how the way you can create lasting behavior change, because we all may start out with good intention. I want to lose weight. I want to get better sleep. But how do we actually start? Well, it starts with tiny, tiny baby steps. My friend and colleague BJ Fogg at Stanford University, his book tiny habits outlines this quite well.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And where you’re starting is small, achievable? So you start with, I’m going to do one push up. And what is key is that you pair that one push up with. Every time I go into a particular room in the house, every time I go outside, I’m going to walk to the car. When I park a little bit farther. And so it’s just, it builds. It can be something like, if I want to work out, well, what’s the first step, if I’m pretty sedentary right now? Well, I’m going to see, do I need to get a new pair of sneakers? And then you break that down. Well, I’m going to look for a store that is in my neighborhood. I’m going to do that, search for it.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So how small can you make that first step? And reason we’re doing that is because it makes it achievable and it’s really significant not to judge yourself. Oh, you know, I’m starting too small because it builds. I did this with actually doing push ups. So I decided I was going to get to 100 push ups every day. I had the idea that every time when I woke up in the morning, I keep my yoga mat out because I do a yoga routine. But now I’m going to add push ups because strength training is really important as you get older. I started with five and then I worked up to a little bit more, and now it’s a habit. So tiny steps so that they become habits.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So now I don’t even think about it. Every morning I get up and that’s now added to my routine to do push ups. So I’m up to 50 and then I’ll do my 2nd 50 later on in the day. So starting small number three is very basic, very fundamental, and that is don’t forget to breathe. So I worked for years with people who had anxiety and panic and taught them breathing. And what happens is we all start out in life breathing from our bellies. If you ever watched a baby breathe, you would see that that’s where the breath is coming from when they’re at rest. But when life gets hard and stressful, usually it’s around middle school, then we lose that pattern.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Why? Well, often it’s because we need air quickly and so we take a chest breath, or we are. Everything is going so fast in our lives that we are breathing quickly as well. It’s like we’re panting or we may be holding our breath. We’re holding everything in so tight and so we’re breathing in a very shallow way. Or as I was doing. And one of the reasons I was getting severe panic attacks is because I was inhaling more than exhaling, so out of fear, I can’t breathe. That’s usually one of the things happens when you have panic that I would keep thinking, I need more air. So you’re inhaling more than exhaling, which creates a state of hyperventilation.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So these dysfunctional breathing patterns can be reversed. And so learning how to take slow belly breaths is really significant, no matter what you’re doing. So I take these slow breaths when I’m working out, lifting weights. I do a lot of pilates and it’s all focused on breathing yoga as well. Every physical movement is paired with either an inhalation or an exhalation. When you are wanting to calm and quiet yourself, you may have heard a lot about, well, just meditate. Well, how do you do that? So it starts by just really noticing your breath, so noticing where it’s coming from. And can you take a breath more from your belly and keeping your chest quiet? Well, how do you know when you’re like, keeping your chest quiet.
Sandra Scheinbaum
It’s because often you can feel your shoulders, you can look in a mirror, are your shoulders going up and down every time you take a breath? So, focusing on now. So we’ve talked about having this dream where you want to be this positive emotional attractor, and now you’re going to think, where am I going to start? What am I going to start doing today? That will be one tiny baby step to ensure that I get towards this dream, this big dream of mine. And in the process of now planning for that baby step, you may start out by taking a breath, and it’s like getting you in a state of readiness. So catching your breathing throughout the day, setting reminders, setting alarms to actually breathe, get enough air. Now you can build from there, you can add on. And that’s one of the ways I love to teach these principles, is that it’s not just one or the other, but it’s all integrated. You’re doing it all at the same time. And that’s actually how you’re creating lasting behavior change that’s going to have true health results.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So you’re taking a breath, and in the process, you may notice, well, maybe you’re all bent over. So I have an issue with posture. It’s been an issue for me ever since I was a little girl. I look at pictures and I’m always schlumped over. I’m always round shoulders. I remember my mother telling me, stand up straight. It’s something that I work really, really hard on. And the reason standing up straight is important.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Number one, is now you can expand your diaphragm. You actually have more room to breathe through your diaphragm. And that’s actually what, when we talk about belly breathing, it’s really diaphragmatic breathing. And so you’re elongating as you stand up straight. You are creating more room for that breath. What else is happening when you stand up straight? Well, you can feel more powerful if you’re speaking, if you’re in a meeting, speaking on a stage, at an event, or just are feeling defeated in any way, stand up straight and notice how that creates a difference, not only physiologically, but also emotionally as well. You feel you may have more courage, you feel stronger, like you could tackle more. And you also may notice that along with maybe bending over, maybe you were tightening up.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Maybe your shoulders are high towards your ears, maybe you are bracing, maybe you’re clenching your jaw. You’re just in a state of muscle tightness. So as you start to relax your breath. You may also notice again how I have a lot of muscle tightness. And this is a technique that comes from progressive muscle relaxation. You exaggerate the tension. So let’s say your shoulders are up to your ears and you tighten it even more. You pull them up even higher and then you exhale and you let it all go.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And now you notice that you have dropped your shoulders. You maybe you’ve relaxed your neck. A lot of us have our necks jutting forward, especially if we’re on the phone a lot and texting, and we’re constantly in that forward neck posture. So just pulling it back as you stand up straight. Well, how that may be something you catch yourself once a day, but now you’re going to build on that. And then that tiny habit principle. Every time I go to my computer, I’m going to roll my shoulders up, back and down and release it at the same time focusing on standing up straighter and having more room for that belly breath. So we’re adding on to this now, maybe we want to in the moment, and this is very crucial, focus on something good.
Sandra Scheinbaum
We have great imaginations to imagine the negative and start flooding our mind with negative images. And can you, as you take that simple breath, you inhale. Can you inhale something good? Inhale warmth, for example. So it can be a physical sensation that you imagine of warmth. But maybe you’re someplace that’s too warm in a hot climate, or you’re feeling uncomfortable and you can imagine coolness. When I worked with people with migraine headaches, I would often have them go on this journey through guided imagery and imagine something cool and soothing, something on their forehead or the feel of cool water on the back of their neck. And so you can use imagery that’s visual, you can use imagery that’s auditory, imagine a pleasant sound. Some people imagine music and can hear it and that’s calming to them.
Sandra Scheinbaum
You can imagine sensation, a cool breeze. You can imagine really, it’s unlimited. So can you imagine yourself feeling, feeling joy? Bring on that feeling. So using imagery is really powerful. Can you look out the window and take yourself away? And whatever you, you are looking at, what can you imagine? And just let your mind go like you were a little kid again and you’re going to play. So close your eyes, imagine where you’d like to be at this moment. Maybe going back into the past. Maybe there’s some place that you know well that always guarantee that when you went there, it brought on some positive feelings.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So we have the power then to imagine joy. Imagine warmth. One of the favorite exercises comes from heart rate variability training, where you take this belly breath, and then as you exhale, it’s a warm breath, because our bodies warm the air for us. Can you imagine that warmth flowing through your heart? And as you imagine the warmth flowing through your heart, that’s a center of love and connection. Can you imagine the warmth that you can extend to somebody else? A loved one, perhaps? And you imagine that warmth just flooding your body, filling every cell, every part of your being. And you can do this in just under a minute. And it’s a very, very powerful process of centering and finding that warmth, that connection. And so this is a mind body technique.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So that’s the power of imagery, imagining something good, no matter what. No sensory here.
Leanne Vogel
Whether you’re keto, low.
Leanne Vogel
Carb, paleo, or somewhere in between, electrolytes facilitate hundreds of functions in the body, including the conduction of nerve impulses, hormonal regulation, nutrient absorption, and fluid balance. This is amplified on the ketogenic diet, but every human requires this balance. When you have adrenal hypo or hyper function, this affects your body’s sodium potassium balance. If you get headaches behind your left eye, that’s a good sign you need sodium. If you get headaches behind your right eye, that’s a good sign that you need potassium. I cannot tell you how many of my one on one clients come to me with an imbalance in electrolytes in some way, whether that be displaying in headaches, muscle cramps, fatigue, sleepiness, or seen right there in their blood work or their hair tissue. Mineral analysis. Much of this is improved with proper electrolyte supplementation.
Leanne Vogel
Now, I consume a lot of packets a day. There are days where I’ll have three or four packets of element a day, but I definitely, always, always have at least one. And not just any type of electrolyte packets. It has to, to be element, because there’s no sugar, there’s no fillers, there’s no color, there’s no artificial anything. It is crazy what other electrolyte brands will put in their packets? No, thank you. Now, what I really, really ultra love about element is the balance of electrolytes. They have 1000 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium, and 60 milligrams of magnesium. Now, right now, element is offering my listeners a free sample pack with any order.
Leanne Vogel
That’s eight single serving packets, totally free with an element order. This is a great way to try all eight flavors or share element with a salty friend. Get yours by going to drinklmnt.com kdp. This deal is only available through my link. You must go to dash l dash m n t.com kdp. An element offers a no questions asked refund. So if you don’t like it, contact them and get your money back. No questions asked.
Leanne Vogel
I gotta say, walking into my friend’s house or jumping into a friend’s car and seeing their element packets on the floor or in a little container on their counter is literally the best feeling. The fact that I get to share this product with you guys and you get to love it as much as I do is such a gift. Again, if you go to drinklmnt.com kdp, you can get your free sample pack with any order.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And then the next one. Think rationally. I had the privilege of training with Doctor Albert Ellis in cognitive behavior therapy. And how do we disturb ourselves? We disturb ourselves by our thoughts and the language we attach to those thoughts. This is awful. This is horrible. I might be thinking right now, okay, I’m just talking on and on. Is this making any sense? Am I? And I might then say to myself, oh, I’m not doing a good job.
Sandra Scheinbaum
This is probably not what they wanted. I don’t know why I’m doing this. This is not working. Or, this is awful. I can extend it even more. This is awful, this is terrible. I’m not a good speaker. I’m stumbling over my words.
Sandra Scheinbaum
I’m saying too many ums. This is. This is terrible. And it’s those elevation of language where we up the ante and we’re suddenly saying, this is awful. This is horrible. This shouldn’t be happening. I can’t stand this. This is terrible.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And what happens when we say those things just a split second is that it creates, physiologically a stress response, and it also is a way that we’re now characterizing ourselves. So how do we get out of it? Well, we start to shift that thinking, and we often can start one of the ways we do that. It’s very easy to catch a what if. Okay, what if I’m late? What if this presentation doesn’t go well? It goes on and on. And just focus now on your own what if. And what would happen if you put a so in front of it? And then you think of the worst consequence. So what if I’m late? Well, so what if you’re late? What would be the worst thing that could happen? You answer that, and then you challenge, okay, and what would be the worst thing about that? And you get to the ultimate well, if I’m late, I might, well, I could lose my job and then, well, and what if that would, you know, so what if that were to happen and you get to a point where you imagine that and you can go there to see it still wouldn’t be awful, horrible, terrible. Your life would go on.
Sandra Scheinbaum
How many people have, like, I’m now thanking that failure experience back in the past when I was a psychologist running that group practice, because if that had been successful, I wouldn’t have moved on to launch functional medicine coaching academy, for example. I would still be back there running that group practice. I learned a lot. I’m thankful for my mistakes. And you’ll hear many entrepreneurs say that, that they acknowledge, thankfully that that happened. And so we often then we’re catastrophizing. We think it would be awful, horrible, terrible. But in reality, your life goes on and it may even be better.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Even people who are suffering from chronic illnesses will often say that that was like having cancer, for example, when we’re not going to sugarcoat and say turning something that is bad to something good. But often people find strengths they never knew they had. And they will say that this led to a real transformation and focus on what really matters to them. So learning to catch those words, he shouldn’t be doing this. Awful, terrible, horrible. You know, my, the worst, like is when I was having a panic attack where you elevate it to I’m dying, I’m having, I’m going to pass out, I’m dying, or I can’t stand the feeling. And then you rework it towards, well, yes, it’s not comfortable, but I can stand it, I can survive, I can work my way through it. And so that is a more rational statement.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Like, yes, it’s uncomfortable. Failing this exam is something that I’m working really hard to pass. I’m going to work hard and study hard. And if though I were to fail, that would be undesirable or the feeling would be uncomfortable if such and such a thing happened, but it will not be the worst thing. So if I failed again, I’m human like the rest of us. And allowing that. So there’s many great books about how to think rationally. One of my favorite is the old one from Doctor Albert Ellis, how to stubbornly refuse to make yourself miserable about anything.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And that is going step by step how to catch the thought and how to rework it so that you are not making yourself miserable. Because at the end of the day, we are making ourselves miserable because of our interpretations, not the actual thing that happened. And so we have these really irrational thoughts, and we can turn those around so that they are, again, more rational. Often what we can do is catch what tense we’re in. So the what ifs are in the future. We used to have people think, are you a fortune teller? How could prove to me as if you were 100% certain, can you prove that this is going to happen, that this will be the consequence? Or we’re stuck in the past and we’re ruminating, we’re thinking about something we have no control over because it’s gone, it’s in the past. So you center yourself in the present. Fears are in the future.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So what if this happens? And we can say, well, where’s the evidence at the moment? Nothing is happening right now at this moment, moment in time. So if you’re like, I would sit and worry about my daughter when she’s not home yet. And she thought, well, you know, what if there’s an accident and it’s on? It’s endless how much we can worry, but we could pull back to the person, well, where’s the evidence? At this time? Yes, it could happen, but that’s a hypothesis. At this time, at this very moment, where’s the evidence? And then you go back to your breathing, because that’s what you can feel in the moment. In this moment, I can feel my breath. I can slow that down. I can roll my shoulders up, back, and down. I can stand straighter.
Sandra Scheinbaum
I can feel something physically in the moment that I want to feel. And so you’re going back to that imagery, imagining something good and sticking in the moment. So it also ties into a big part of thinking rationally is acknowledging mistakes. We tend to want to be perfectionist all the time, 100% perfect. And when we are making any kind of behavior change, we don’t do it perfectly. We make mistakes. I don’t do those push ups every single day in perfect form. And so you allow that there will be slip ups.
Sandra Scheinbaum
There will be times when you’ll have setbacks. And so it’s really change. I like to think of it more like a trend line, if you are familiar with stock market fluctuations, where you can see that it doesn’t go straight up like a rocket, it goes on a trend line, and there may be dips and corrections, but if you were to put a ruler, you would say, like, overall, it’s going up, but there’s variations. And so you allow for that and forgive yourself. That is so important. And I think a big part of wanting to make these behavior changes is we tend to be so hard on ourselves and often overdo it. We get over selves and we don’t allow room for rest. So this happens particularly, I see this with people who are starting an exercise program and they have one, they overdo it.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And so they think if running for 30 minutes is good, then I’ll push it and I’ll double that. And often then what happens is it’s hard to pull back and rest. So when we think of creating behavior change for lasting health results, it’s acknowledging the fact that you need rest, need some days when you can just restore. And that’s just as important as pushing. It’s a balance between moving forward and going farther in terms of how much you’re going to be energized and let’s say a day when you think, oh, I’m just going to push harder to get this project done. But are you forgetting the need for rest and sleep? So there’s a lot of great research coming out about the importance of sleep for your physical health, for your mental emotional health. So perhaps as you look at where you want to be in terms of your health, are you forgetting that sleep is a huge part of that? And can you give yourself permission? Because we tend to think that there’s some badge of honor to say, oh, I can get by with 5 hours sleep, 6 hours sleep, I don’t need much sleep, and we just push ourselves. So huge part of it is that I’m going to allow for sleep and it’s okay to rest.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Sandra Scheinbaum
And so as we work through that to say, well, what’s the consequence? So what, you know, so what if this person has a negative thought about me? We can’t control other people’s thoughts. And that’s again, a huge part of thinking rationally and tied in with everything I’ve been saying is what we eat. So making food choices based on the idea that food is medicine, and Mark Hyman says the most important decision we make every day is what we’re going to put on the end of our fork. And so we want to eat foods that are more anti inflammatory. And I’m not going to go into in this talk what would be those anti inflammatory foods. But we want to eat more vegetables. We want to look at reducing our processed food. But again, to create lasting behavior change for health results means that it is going to be a mixed bag.
Sandra Scheinbaum
We can’t do this perfectly. We can’t have every single meal to be the perfect example of food as medicine, first of all, because we don’t know what it is. I’m old enough to have seen every diet trend. I lived through low fat and I lived through being a raw vegan. And each stage we thought that was the answer. So to not be too dogmatic, to know that research shifts and changes. And in ten years it’s probably going to be different than the state of the science today in terms of what’s the best, there’s the optimal diet, but looking at what fits for you, when do you feel at your best? And also thinking, again, I’m just doing the best I can with being aware of good food recommendations and pretty much boil down to avoiding as much as possible processed foods. And looking at, though again, the ability to not take all this too seriously, because I studied psychology of eating for many years, used to teach classes and doctoral programs at psychology of eating.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And we can get to a state where it’s what we call nutritionism, where there’s no joy in eating any longer. And we’re just focusing on the macronutrients, micronutrients and seeing foods totally as the composition of how it’s, in terms of what it’s going to do for us nutritionally. And so that can be just as problematic as the other approach to food, which would be a hedonistic approach. Somebody who is eating purely for pleasure. Pleasure. I’m going to go through the drive in and get this because it feels good, the moment, and so it tastes good, and therefore I’m going to order it with no sense of what it’s doing to you in the long run or even the short run, but having a balance where you are aware of food as medicine, but you are also focusing on food as joy and food as a way that we interact with others, we come to meals together. And so having that joy of what you’re eating, joy of being aware of how food was prepared, and that is really important to have lasting health results as well as how you’re eating. So if you’re eating eating and you’re multitasking, if you’re eating quickly and swallowing things whole and have little awareness, then you will be in a stressed state, as opposed to digesting your food well, when you’re really appreciating and enjoying what you’re eating.
Leanne Vogel
We know that we lose muscle as we age and that this loss massively affects our ability to function. Like I’m talking basic tasks here, muscle is important for protecting our joints and also keeping our metabolism revving. Basically, you want muscle, and unfortunately, a lot of us just don’t prioritize muscle maintenance or see it as an importance. And you may also be cringing at the idea of going to the gym and being able to maintain that muscle consistently. Yes, active moving is super good, and there’s really nothing like it when it comes to the mood boost of pumping iron. So when I share about urolithin a, I am not saying just to do this. And you can maintain your muscle without movement. Well, like I am saying that because urolithin a does do that, but I think pairing urolithin a with exercise is likely the best path forward.
Leanne Vogel
So I started taking a product called mito pure to boost my performance and improve muscular strength. And Mitopur has 500 milligrams per serving of urolithin a, a postbiotic shown to have major benefits to significantly increasing muscle strength and endurance with no other change in lifestyle. Yes, you heard that right. I just said that it has major benefits to significantly increase muscle strength and endurance with no other change to lifestyle. It gives your body the energy it needs to optimize its cellular power grid through boosted mitochondrial health without changes to lifestyle or diet. Now imagine what it could do with your low carb diet and a walking goal or a lifting goal. A couple of times per week. It took me a long time, like a couple of months to introduce mito pure to my day because it’s so strong.
Leanne Vogel
Every time I took it, I almost had too much energy. So, so I really had to titrate up. Mito pure is the first product to offer a precise dose of urolithin a to upgrade mitochondrial function, increase cellular energy, and improve muscle strength and endurance. They’ve created three ways to get your daily dose of 500 milligrams of urolithin a in their product mito pure. They’ve got a delicious vanilla protein powder that combines muscle building protein with the cellular energy of mito pure. Now, this product does contain whey protein, and then they have a berry powder that easily mixes into smoothies or just about any drink. This is dairy free. And finally, the soft gels, which is what I prefer because it’s just easier.
Leanne Vogel
This is also dairy free. I love the starter pack idea though. If you can handle the dairy, the three forms of mito pure to play around with, which one is your favorite? Top notch. So timeline, the creators of mito pure is putting together a sweet little offer for you. 10% off your first order. So if you go to timeline nutrition.com kdp and use the code KDP, you’ll get 10% off your order. Again, that’s timelinenutrition.com kdp. I recommend trying their starter pack with all three formats and picking out your best format.
Leanne Vogel
Again, that’s timelinenutrition.com kd.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And then lastly, so we have food as medicine, we have movement as medicine. So find it. This is pretty similar. So exercise, can it be joyful? I love to tap dance and I look forward to going to dance class. I also like ballet and yoga and pilates, probably because they’re very similar. Many of these stem from more from dance patterns. And so I am going to go to those programs, those classes, and it’s harder for me to get out and run 5 miles. I’m not going to be enjoying that, so I’m not going to keep it up.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So what brings us joy? If you don’t have that key combination of exercise and joy, then it is not going to last. And so looking at what really brings you joy in terms of exercise and movement, moving around is so important. So where are you going to start? And often when we’re talking about food, we’re talking about changing sleep habits, we’re talking about getting movement or exercise more consistently. Going back to the tiny, tiny habit cultivation as opposed to overreaching, thinking unrealistically. And then having that catastrophic kind of thinking when you screw up and don’t follow through or fall off the wagon. How do you do all this? Well, that brings me to character strengths. This is a concept coming from positive psychology. You embrace your strengths, what is right about you.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So at times when you were thriving, what strengths were you using? And this comes from positive psychology. They’ve identified 24 character strengths. These are traits that you have. They’re with you throughout your life. We all have all 24 of these, and some are more pronounced in us, and they become our signature speaker. Strengths. They can be strengths of the mind, like having good judgment, love of learning, perspective. They can be strengths that are of the heart, like love and kindness.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And when we are using these strengths, that’s how we’re thriving physically as well as mentally. So that has to do with wisdom, that we can apply our wisdom strengths. We may do that by getting further learning. If you’re listening to a podcast, probably love learning. Courage is. There are many strengths under courage. So having bravery, it has to do with moral courage. Not just physical acts of bravery.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Having zest, energy and excitement. Having, as I said, love and kindness. Strengths that have to do with fairness and teamwork, and maybe leadership as well. And strengths that have to do with forgiveness and showing prudence, having self regulation are varied, but they all work together to create well being. And then there are the strengths that we refer to as transcendence. What are those that would be being in awe, having the sense of appreciation of everything that’s beautiful and lovely around you and that is strongly tied to well being. So when you are using imagery, when you are mindful of what’s around you, you are possibly cultivating that sense of really appreciating everything that is around you that life has to offer. It can be a strength of hope.
Sandra Scheinbaum
When you are establishing that emotional attractor, that dream, well, that’s hope. It’s hope. And that is so, so powerful that you are going to get there. And you see yourself and you imagine it, and you put yourself in that place and gratitude where you are in the moment. And that’s how you can center yourself. So you take a breath, you feel the warmth, and you can feel gratitude in the moment for everything that you can think of that is good, no matter how big or how small. And humor is really important, too. So not taking any of this stuff too seriously, but being able to laugh, being able to really find the humor and laughter is so healing.
Sandra Scheinbaum
And then a sense of awe of everything around you, kind of spirituality is important as well, which doesn’t have to be organized religion. So those are the 24 character strengths that come from positive psychology. You can find your signature strengths by going to viacaracter.org. That’s viacharacter.org. That’s a nonprofit organization. At functional medicine coaching, we work really closely with them and we use character strengths as a part of coaching. And lastly, I want to really emphasize that you are not alone. So what is the real most powerful way to take everything that I’ve talked about and implement it so that it becomes not just like, oh, this is something I should do, or maybe you start and you don’t follow through.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Well, having somebody on this journey with you, and so we are community. And so having peer support, having family support, having a community, no matter what you want to do, when you are connected with other people, then that is going to be the route to success and finding joy, finding meaning and purpose. We find meaning and purpose. Going back to what I started with that dream, that positive emotional attractor, well, if it’s with other people that we get there, it’s love, community, meaning and purpose. Working in a group and working with a health coach. And you don’t have to do this alone. A coach can be with you as your personal cheerleader, can help you sort out where you want to be. And then what are those steps, baby steps you’re going to take can guide you through a lot of those mind body medicine practices like breathing and muscle relaxation techniques, and how to help you sort out your thinking so that you’re thinking clearly that you are being able to forgive yourself and get back on track after making mistakes and setbacks to help you with a plan for sleep and food choices and movement throughout the day, helping you acknowledge and use those character strengths and holding you accountable, that really works.
Sandra Scheinbaum
So when you have somebody that, who you are accountable to and can talk to about this journey towards having lasting health results, that is really the most powerful element. So I personally went from thinking I was an anxious person. Now people say, oh, you’re so calm, nothing bothers you. And I made profound shifts in my eating. I used to be addicted to sugar. That was certainly tied in with the anxiety and panic. I didn’t know that at the time. And I made profound shifts there.
Sandra Scheinbaum
I made a career shift and took huge risks when I was 65 to start a company with no business skills. But I had a partner and I wasn’t doing it alone. And I am focusing on my mission and purpose now, which is to go out and train thousands of people to be health coaches to work with people. So if this resonates with you and you would like to learn more about health coaching, you can go to functionalmedicinecoaching.org. It’s www.functionalmedicinecoaching.org. That’s where you can learn more about me. You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, functional medicine coaching academy and I hope that you’ve enjoyed this presentation and that you’re able to go out and look at how where you want to be, what matters most, and how you could start taking baby steps to get there. Thank you.
Sandra Scheinbaum
Bye now.
Leanne Vogel
I hope you enjoyed our time with Doctor Sandra again. You can find her by going to functionalmedicinecoaching.org and on instagram. Functional med coach as well as doctorsandy that’s s a n d. Okay, we’ll see you back here for another episode. And if you missed it, we are renaming the Keto diet podcast to a brand new title that I’m not going to share with you just yet. Everything will remain the same throughout this change. The only thing that’s changing is the title. And I think you will agree with this shift because we’ve broadened our scope to really talk about functional wellness from a woman’s perspective, eating a low carb ish diet.
Leanne Vogel
And so the Keto diet podcast just doesn’t fit that strategy. And it has been a challenge. I have gone back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and finally I just decided if I don’t share this publicly, it’s never going to happen. And I’m constantly going to be up against this. And so I’m just sharing with you so that I have to do it and so watch. Over the next couple of weeks, you might log into your podcast player and all of a sudden it’s a different name. So I will be sharing more details of this over time. Expect the change in the next couple of weeks.
Leanne Vogel
I’m just working intermittently. It’s really challenging running a functional medicine practice throughout the week. I’m really with my clients Monday to Saturday pretty much nonstop, other than taking a break to go to the gym or spend some time with my family. And so I’ve been making these changes when I can. And so hopefully over the next couple of weeks, things will start to look different, specifically with the name. And again, everything is remaining the same. The strategy behind the show has not changed. The flow of the show, the quality of the guests, everything behind it is exactly the same.
Leanne Vogel
I just feel like it’s time for a fresh name now because I don’t entirely know which name I’m going to land on yet. I’m not going to share it with you, but watch on Instagram. Over these next couple of weeks, I’ll be asking my followers kind of what you think the name should be. I have a couple of items that I’m kind of I’ve drilled down to, and I would love your perspective on it because this is your show. I create this to help you understand your body better. And so if you have ideas or the items that I’ve come up with, there’s one that really speaks to you. Jump on over to Instagram e anvogel. I’d love to get your feedback.
Leanne Vogel
Okay? Watch for these changes really soon.
Leanne Vogel
Have a good week.
Leanne Vogel
Bye.
Leanne Vogel
Thanks for listening. Join us next Tuesday for another episode of the Keto Diet podcast. Looking for more resources? Go to healthfulpursuit.com for keto meal plans, weight loss programs, low carb recipes, and oodles of free resources to get you going. The Keto Diet podcast, including show notes and links, provides information in respect to healthy living recipes, nutrition, and diet, and is intended for informational purposes only. The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor is it to be construed as such. We cannot guarantee that the information provided on the Keto diet podcast reflects the most up to date medical research. Information is provided without any representation or warranty of any kind. Please consult a qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your health and nutrition program.
Hi! I'm Leanne (RHN FBCS)
a Functional Medicine Practitioner, host of the Healthful Pursuit Podcast, and best-selling author of The Keto Diet & Keto for Women. I want to live in a world where every woman has access to knowledge to better her health.
