Why You’re Not Getting Results from Exercise
Episode 112
From FitCrawlers - exercise event This special episode is from Dr. Nicole’s talk to the FitCrawler audience exercise event. Dr. Nicole explains WHY you may not be seeing results from exercise even though you’re putting in the work! Hint: there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in your body that could be slowing your progress. Listen to this episode to learn about blood sugar control, the blood work indicator to look out for, and the signs of a clogged lymph. Interested in working with IWG? Book a complimentary consult call to learn more using this link: https://bit.ly/IWRcall2021 Noteworthy Time Stamps: 2:15 Dr. Nicole’s intro 6:20 Have you settled with these symptoms? 8:40 The downfall of specialties 14:21 Blood sugar rollercoaster 18:35 The marker that ISN’T run in your blood work (but should be) 19:05 What are toxins? 25:00 What to look out for 28:23 Is your thyroid in a bad neighborhood? 29:50 Intermittent fasting 34:50 Living in a different era
Topics: integrative, exercise, working, getting, work, medicine, results, nicole
Key takeaways from this episode
- Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine to learn about what the limitations are with testing and what you can do to start your health journey.
- Uh today, we're talking all about some of the reasons why you might not be getting results with exercise.
- I am actually the CEO, uh and creator of Integrative Wellness Group, and I am also, um the CEO and creator of the Integrative Growth Institute, which is actually where I teach other physicians how to do integrative medicine.
- And the reason being is because we kind of think about all the systems as being super separate.
- And they feel like they're not getting the results that they hoped for.
Pull quotes
**Host:** Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole as opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems.
Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine to learn about what the limitations are with testing and what you can do to start your health journey.
I'm super excited to be here to give back to the local community and share some pearls of knowledge with you guys.
Transcript
**Host:** Imagine if medicine actually looked at you as a whole as opposed to looking at you as a bunch of separate systems. Dive into Integrative Wellness Radio with Dr. Nick and Dr. Nicole to learn more about the top trends in integrative medicine to learn about what the limitations are with testing and what you can do to start your health journey. Welcome, fit-crawlers. I'm super excited to be here to give back to the local community and share some pearls of knowledge with you guys. Uh today, we're talking all about some of the reasons why you might not be getting results with exercise. I know you're out there because this is a common theme that I hear on a day-to-day basis in my office is that women are going above and beyond. They're doing everything perfect when it comes to diet. They're exercising. And they feel like they're not getting the results that they hoped for. And very often, they are potentially working with a personal trainer or working with a nutritionist that's really honing in on, you know, the diet, the exercise, and potentially the weight loss. But they have other miscellaneous symptoms. And maybe that's chronic fatigue, maybe that is, you know, gastrointestinal issues, migraines, so on and so forth. And very often, it's not being pieced together as to how these things could be related. So, we're going to be diving into some of the reasons why this can happen, and I'm super happy to answer questions as we go. And as you can tell, I set myself up. I got the Peloton, I got my infrared red light, so it's very fitting to the theme. So, I want to start by telling you who the heck I am for those of you that don't know. So, uh I'm Dr. Nicole. I work at Integrative Wellness Group. I am actually the CEO, uh and creator of Integrative Wellness Group, and I am also, um the CEO and creator of the Integrative Growth Institute, which is actually where I teach other physicians how to do integrative medicine. So, for those of you that are like, what the heck is integrative medicine? That is a common question that I get. Um, so primarily, I started my career uh dabbling in more holistic medicine. And I got into the functional medicine space. And what I found was I had a lot of great tools when it came to better testing. So, getting outside of your run of the mill bloodwork, but doing more expansive bloodwork, maybe doing stool samples, hormonal testing, um urine analysis, so on and so forth. But what I found is when it came to actually working with the patient from a therapeutic standpoint, uh the tools were limited. So, I decided to embark on what do I not know and what are other therapies that are out there that can help the patient that is outside of just diet and supplements? And that's really when I truly moved into what we call the integrative space. So, we work with a variety of different people from all over the world. Uh one of the really cool things that we've done was actually uh create telehealth before the pandemic. Um so, we've been working with people all over the world and we also have created what I call homecare in a box, which is pretty cool. So, this is actually we ship people medical equipment to their home and they actually can heal on their own watch, which is uh a pretty amazing accomplishment. But overall, you know, with the variety of things that we we work with is we're working with hormones on a regular basis. We're working with women that just feel stuck when it comes to their mood, their fatigue, their sleep, and also with their weight loss. But there are things that are not always being talked about through your conventional approach. And the reason being is because we kind of think about all the systems as being super separate. And it's really a matter of taking a step back and looking at how everything pieces together and getting away from feeling guilty or feeling like you're not doing enough. Because chances are, it's not about what you're doing but it's about how you're doing it. There is so much strategy that can go into the healing process and the human body. And once you're able to master that strategy, that's really where you see the magic happen. And, you know, really from day one, we've been pressing the envelope and asking better questions and seeing, you know, what else is out there? Why are people hitting plateaus and why are some people seeing success? And with that being said, I wanted to tell you a little bit about like why I got into this in the first place because it's not really your conventional story. So, when I was in school, I remember there were so many people that had this amazing story as to why they got into the world of functional medicine. And it was because they were sick and they had all these symptoms and nobody could figure it out. And then they finally found in a functional medicine and someone figured out what was going on and they were able to get back to health. And I remember almost feeling guilty that I didn't have that story. I was kind of like, I just want to help people and I want to do it in a more holistic fashion and that's why I'm here. So, fast forward, get out of school and, you know, start getting into the testing, doing testing on myself. And when I tested myself, what I realized is that I had a lot of things going on. And I almost had to sit with it and be like, wow, is this really, like, is this real? Like, do I really have this much stuff going on? And what I realized was so many things that I was dealing with were mild, they were erratic from a timing perspective, but they were my normal. You know, having fatigue was my normal. Getting bloated after a meal was my normal. Having, you know, irregular sleep was my normal, having painful periods was my normal. All of those things were my normal. And I know that this resonates with a lot of people because a lot of us have settled for these symptoms. And a lot of society has actually normalized those symptoms. We've normalized inflammation, we've normalized swelling, we've normalized fatigue, we've normalized gut issues, we've normalized so much of it. And what we don't realize is that there is a reason why it's happening but better than that, there is a solution as to what is going on. But it takes a little bit of digging and a little bit of strategy to really figure that out. And this is so unbelievably relevant when it comes to the weight loss piece. And before we dive into this topic, what I want you to know is that you don't know what you don't know. So, most of you have tried things and you have potentially hit plateaus or not seen progress. And you are navigating a massive sea of information. You are navigating the keto diet and intermittent fasting and, you know, the new best personal trainer exercise routine, shake company, so on and so forth. And listen, everything is relevant and some people have great results with certain things and other people don't. But what you have to understand is that it's not about, you know, being stressed or giving up on yourself. It's just knowing that you don't know what you don't know, especially if you haven't had better testing to know what your body needs. And what's really great is that you can get super specific and super personalized when you dig a bit deeper and leverage better testing. The other disclaimer that I want to make is as we get, sorry, I live in Asbury Park, so there's going to be like random noises in the background. But as we get into this topic, I'm going to be talking about things that other practitioners don't talk about. And there's a reason for that. You know, people always ask me, you know, why doesn't every doctor do this type of testing or why doesn't everybody, you know, ask these types of questions? And our entire system has been founded on specialties, which is very necessary, especially in emergency medicine and, you know, in in surgery is you want to make sure that you're working with someone who is a specialist in that specific system. But when it comes to a lot of these chronic lifestyle conditions that we're all dealing with on a day-to-day basis is that it takes a wider lens and it's looking at the body as a whole and how everything interacts with each other. And a very simple example is that how many people are walking around with irritable bowel syndrome or some type of gastrointestinal complaint? But they're also dealing with some type of low-grade depression or low-grade mood issue. So, when we're not looking at the big picture, we're ignoring basic physiology because 90 to 95% of your serotonin, which is your primary feel-good hormone, is actually made in your gut. So, you could easily be addressing the wrong issue. So, if you're using different modalities to deal with the depression, it might be actually improved by dealing with the underlying gut issue. So, it's a matter of taking a step back, looking at things with a wider lens and understanding that there might be a different cause to the symptom. So, some of the major things we're going to touch on tonight when it gets into weight loss, the connection between detox pathways, lymphatic system being included, and your hormones. So, a couple of foundational things to set here is one, fluctuating two to seven pounds a day is not weight gain, it's inflammation. And I'm going to explain what that actually means. Water retention, swelling, little mark on your ankle from your sock that you wore all day, tight rings, tight shoes is not because of salt. It's because you have issues in your lymphatic system that nobody is looking at. And again, we're going to get into that. Cellulite is not bad genetics. It has to do with how well you are detoxing versus how well you are not detoxing. In addition, is a lot of women are like, my hormones. My hormones are off, I know my hormones are off. Did you know that estrogen, one of your primary hormones, is actually regulated by your liver? Which, unfortunately, in this day and age, most of us, our liver is taxed. And we'll get into the reasons why. Another thing is is that estrogen is something we are all being exposed to through our food industry and through our personal products. There are so many different types of phytoestrogens, mycoestrogens, xenoestrogens that we are all literally getting exposed to on a day-to-day basis, if we know it or we don't. And another thing is that getting hangry, and or getting lightheaded, dizzy because you haven't eaten for a long time in a day, that is actually messing with your weight. A lot of women think, well, I'm not eating a lot. I'm low calorie. So, why aren't I losing? But if your blood sugar is on a roller coaster ride, that is one of the major issues as to why you are not losing weight. So, getting into a little story, a woman in her 40s. She was always in good shape, felt really good, really had no complaints about her body, physique, so on and so forth. But she had her first child and she gained some weight but after the first child, she couldn't lose it. And she really didn't know what was going on, you know, she started working out. She was really detailing her diet. And I feel like this is a very relatable story because this is a story that I hear on a regular basis. And a lot of women just say, you know, your body changes after a child. It must be my hormones haven't rebounded, so forth, so on and so forth. So, a couple of things that were interesting about this specific woman is one; she was super nauseous through her pregnancy. Again, something we have normalized. But she was so nauseous that she had to really just eat like bread and rice because she was just like, I can't even eat anything, everything is super gross to me. So, in addition to that, when she had her glucose tolerance test, it ended up being borderline. They said, you know, we don't really need to do anything about it but we're just going to keep our eye. In addition to that, had the baby after the baby, ended up having a lot of gastrointestinal issues. Ended up turning out that she had something called intrahepatic cholestasis. Very fancy. All that that means is her gallbladder was sluggish and she was not producing bile properly. And I will explain why this is relevant in a just a moment. Also, she had three teeth uh that had fillings in them. Three of the fillings ended up being either cracked, broken, loose. So, she had to actually go get these fillings removed and replaced. She also ended up getting a root canal within six months of the birth. Had a little bit of mild depression, nothing too crazy. She didn't end up going on any type of medication for it. Um but then also, she had a lot of water retention through the pregnancy and just felt that she didn't fully eradicate that water retention even after the baby was born. So, a few of the things that stand out with this is that one of the major reasons why women are super nauseous through their pregnancy is actually from bad blood sugar. It is not just, oh, you just, you know, get nauseous with pregnancy. It's from dysregulated blood sugar. Get ready. Hold on to your seats, people. So, this is what dysregulated blood sugar looks like because this is not about pre-diabetes or diabetes. This is actually about the blood sugar roller coaster that 90% of people are dealing with. And this looks like this. You don't have a huge appetite in the morning. Some people are like, have an aversion to food. Can't even eat. Oh, don't even want to look at food. Now, intermittent fasting is cool. So, now, oh, now I'm intermittent fasting. I intermittent fast seven days a week and, you know, I don't eat breakfast. I only eat between these hours. But some people start their day with coffee. So, you start your day with coffee. It suppresses your appetite. You really have no appetite until maybe noon, maybe even up to two o'clock. But by the time it hits that middle of the day, you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm starving. If you know it or you don't, you intuitively are craving carbs. But maybe they're healthy carbs. Maybe you have a a pleia bowl. Maybe it's a smoothie bowl. Maybe you have sushi or maybe you're craving the bad carbs, like pizza or a sub sandwich or something like that. But intuitively because your blood sugar is so low at this point, your body craves carbs. You have a midday crash. You're grabbing for maybe some chocolate. Maybe you're grabbing for a midday coffee. Now, you're starving leading up to dinner. You're snacking on your cheese and crackers. And now you eat dinner and now an hour goes by and you're looking for your sweet treat, even if it's a little piece of chocolate or a little scoop of ice cream. So, this is a common theme and what you need to understand about this, this means that your blood sugar is on a roller coaster. So, your blood sugar, you start out your day. It bottoms out. You eat something. You spike. You crash. And now this keeps happening through the day. This is now affecting your mood. This is now affecting your energy levels. And this is now affecting your metabolism. So, what you need to understand is that this is not about your bloodwork looking good. This is about are you on a blood sugar roller coaster? Are you getting hangry? Are you getting lightheaded, shaky or dizzy if you don't eat? The reason why her gallbladder situation and the dental work were relevant. The reason why those were relevant is because of the liver and gallbladder function on hormones. So, this is how it works. Your liver is a giant detox organ. And it also plays a role in your digestive system. So, think about the very simple concept of a vacuum. You have a vacuum. You keep using it. The filter gets more and more full. And then it gets to the point that the filter is at complete max capacity and it can't really do its job anymore. So, now that means you are not filtering out things you come in contact with. And I hate to break it to you, but we're all exposed to toxins every single day and we're going to get into where and what. So, the fact that she already had this bile backup in her liver gallbladder means that she's really not detoxing properly. She's also really not digesting food properly. So, then we already have this congested liver situation, aka, poor detox pathways. And now the three fillings that were cracked or altered or silver, which is going to be silver amalgam, which if that leeches into the system, it can create stress on the liver because it's toxic. So, with that being said, this is something that then further compromised liver, further compromised metabolism. And then if the liver is not working, then all of this other detox systems are going to get stressed. So, that includes your lymphatic system. So, lymph is the primary system that makes you inflamed. It makes your rings tight. It makes you have water retention in your ankles. It makes you sensitive to salt. It makes you have what you presume to be weight gain. So, when we're getting into, why the heck would I have a messed up liver? My liver enzymes are fine in my bloodwork. While by the time your liver enzymes are elevated, that is usually because your liver is completely taxed. And in addition to that is one of the markers that's not run normally at your bloodwork is called GGT. And GGT is the one marker that looks at the chronicity of your liver function. So, meaning, what is the long-term stress on your liver? So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but when it comes to toxins, a lot of us think we've avoided toxins our whole life or, what the heck are toxins? Like, I don't know. I've never, you know, drank anything weird or was poisoned. But there are toxins we're exposed to every day from pesticides that are used on our lawn, from pesticides that are on our food, to dental work that we get, to insulation in our home, plastic water bottles, fish being contaminated with mercury, contaminated water, well water, city water. Chapstick has lead in it, makeup has formaldehyde in it. Um, there's some of us that work in professions that we're handling paint or resins or we have side projects that we are crafting things or flipping houses. And obviously, there's also processed foods. I think a lot of processed foods we think like, oh, weight gain or, um, you know, high fat. What we're not realizing is that there's actually a lot of artificial ingredients that are in those foods that are the body really doesn't even know what to do with or how to process them. So, all of these things over years upon years upon years, our liver is dealing with it. And our liver is just tired. It's maxed. So, this is when we start to see a cascade effect. And one of those things is that if the toxins can't get out of your body via liver and gut, then the kidneys are the second runner-up. And now your kidneys are going to be working really hard and this creates the susceptibilities to urinary tract infections, kidney stones, frequent urination, back pain, so on and so forth. In addition, is that the other detox pathway is your lymphatic system. So, this is another system that is going to get taxed out. And this is for the people that you're just like, I just feel like my skin is tight. I just feel puffy. I feel inflamed. I feel like I have a double chin. I feel like my rings are always tight. I feel like my weight fluctuates day to day. Those are all signs that you have lymphatic drainage issues. So, I say this with compassion because the last thing that you want to do is another fad diet, more calorie restriction, work out harder, don't give yourself breaks when that's not the root of the issue. The root of the issue is the fact that you can't detox and you have all of this backup in your body that is causing a boatload of inflammation. In addition to what we were just talking about with toxin exposure is that you know, one of the other elements here, uh that we can't ignore is hormones. And one of the biggest driving forces behind weight gain and just women having PMS and abnormal periods, tender breasts, so on and so forth, is going to be estrogen abundance and what we call hyperestrogenism. But the crazy thing is, is that most of us don't realize that there is estrogen that we are being exposed to very often. And that's not because you're eating tofu and it's not because you're eating tempeh or other soy-based products. This can actually be because you're eating paleo and you're eating meat that was fed a soy diet. Or you're being exposed to foods that have what's called mycoestrogens. So, those are going to be molds that can fuel and mimic estrogen in the body. So, this can be from coffee, this can be from wine, this can be from cheeses even. There's other things that will also ramp up estrogen in the body. And these are estrogens that can come from plastics, from certain types of pesticides. So, it's not about soy milk and it's not about necessarily eating tofu, but there are a lot of other things. And I would say the primary of all those things that I just mentioned is going to be eating animal products that are from industrial farming that are being fed a soy diet because that is very common and it's very common with chicken by the way. So, all things to understand when you feel that your hormones are off and in addition to that, your metabolism is compromised. So, the other big thing is that when it comes to this whole estrogen conversation is that it's not just about food. It's also about personal products. There are so many things that we're being exposed to from a personal product perspective that can also disrupt hormones. And these are different products or different chemicals that are within makeup shampoo, so on and so forth. So, this is everything from BPA. This is why you're seeing a lot of BPA-free plastics, Tupperware. Um this is also dioxin. Dioxin is in tampons. And then also phthalates, uh phthalates and parabens which you're seeing a lot of shampoos and conditioners now labeling as phthalate-free or paraben-free. So, these are things to keep your eye out for that are something that might be completely off of your radar that is contributing to you not feeling your best. And when you're really trying to gauge, like, okay, is my lymphatic system really the issue or do I really just have an accumulation of fat tissue? So, these are the key things if you really want to gauge where your lymphatic system is at. So, do you have a fluctuation in your weight anywhere from two, I should even say one to seven pounds. Some women fluctuate seven pounds a day. They literally wake up in the morning and they're like, I'm seven pounds lighter than I was yesterday. Again, that is inflammation, that is not, not, not weight gain. That's impossible. Puffy eyes when you wake up in the morning, your rings get tight. Maybe it's in the morning, maybe it's midway through your day. Headaches that are relieved by caffeine, uh large neck, um not because you have a double chin and bad genetics. It's because you have a lot of lymph that's really congested in this area. Um, you don't sweat. So, you go do a really hard workout and you're you're glistening, you don't sweat. That used to be me by the way. You can fix your lymph, I promise. Um, dense breasts or fibrocystic breasts. Uh, this is very common. This is kind of thought, oh, you know, no big deal, kind of benign. But very often the density or the fibrocystic breasts is actually due to inflammation in the lymph nodes of the breast. You have lymph nodes everywhere, by the way. So, you can easily have, um, a lot of ingrown hairs in your armpits. You can have tender or fibrocystic breasts. You can also have a lot of bumps in your bikini line. Those are the most superficial, uh, lymph nodes. So, those are very easy to see. And the same thing is just having that thick neck or having a lot of inflammation underneath the neck. Um, and then also too is even just having a lot of skin breakouts in here. This can be very driven by lymph, but it can also be very driven by hormones as well. So, these are all things to consider. Another big thing that I want to mention here because this is really, really important and it's very often not being considered. So, when it comes to holding weight in your abdomen, holding weight in your buttocks, your thighs, and your your lower extremities, your legs is that again, you know, oh, well, this must be hormonal or this must just be bad genetics. So, when we're getting into this whole lymphatic conversation. There are a lot of women that have had different things from C-sections that has created scar tissue. A lot of women that have had endometriosis, they're have uterine fibroids or they've had, um, cystic ovaries. And these are all different forms of tissue accumulation, maybe scar tissue, fibroid tissue. And all of this creates a lot of physical roadblocks to your lymphatic drainage and also your veins bringing fluid and blood back up to the heart. So, what this tells us is that when you feel like you have these stubborn areas that you're holding on to weight is that it's not always necessarily, you know, do more squats or or do more leg presses or or whatever it is, do more crunches. Sometimes it's because of scar tissue accumulation that is creating more blockages in those areas. And I literally cannot tell you how many women are dealing with that, especially after one, two, or more C-sections because the scar tissue builds and builds and builds, especially if there's been multiple to the same incision area. So, these are all things that have to be considered when we're really trying to look at the body as a whole so that we're not fighting the wrong fight essentially. And the same thing goes is when we kind of circle back to this idea of hormones is that how many women are dealing with a thyroid issue? Like this is a very, very large portion of the population that is dealing with hormonal issues. And or thyroid issues, I should say. And one of the things that I always evaluate is, is your thyroid in a bad neighborhood? And what I mean by that is by physically looking at the person, is there a giant lump in the throat? Is there a lot of inflammation in the lymph nodes? Is there inflammation in the glands? Have they had a boatload of root canals? Have they had a boatload of different fillings or different types of metals that have been put into the mouth or even removed out of the mouth after years of being in there? So, very often those things have to be evaluated to truly understand why you have nodules on your thyroid. Why you have a goiter because it's very often just thought that it's strictly a hormonal issue but sometimes it's an environmental issue. And we all know that if the thyroid is sluggish, we don't feel like ourselves. Our mood is altered. We feel super tired. Our sleep is compromised and above all, our metabolism is not functioning optimally. So, some of the things that we have heard about, especially in the more recent months, even years is we've heard about different diets. We've heard about different exercise routines. But one of the most famous right now is fasting, intermittent fasting. And I bring this up because I want to bust the myth around this that this is for everyone. And I also want to bust the myth that this should be something you do every day. Intermittent fasting is effective when done two days a week, max three days a week. Because if you do it seven days a week, your body thinks that you are preparing for a famine and it starts to store more fat. The other thing is that most people that have an easy breezy time with fasting are the individuals that already have poor blood sugar handling. So, they're like, oh, skip breakfast, no problem. But what you would actually find is by incorporating a protein and fat-based breakfast within a half an hour of waking up, that you might actually see an improvement when it comes to your appetite and also your metabolism. So, it's very important to understand that not everything is super black and white and there is a lot of misinformation that's out there. And it's also knowing what is your body need because what your body needs is probably different than what my body needs and what other people's bodies need. Same thing goes for ketogenic is ketogenic diet is great. But there's also like the bacon cheeseburger version of ketogenic. So, we have to understand that some people might do really, really well with protein and then there's other people that have a really hard time breaking it down. And there's some people that do really well with fats but if you have a sluggish gallbladder or pain in your right rib cage and you're now going on a ketogenic diet, you might have issues because you can't break down the fat because that's what your gallbladder does. Helps you break down fat. So, these are all things to understand because it's not, it's not black and white but secondary to that is nothing should be done for the long term. Leveraging fasting or leveraging a ketogenic diet or a paleo diet can be beneficial for a short-term goal. And then it's about getting back into a balanced dietary routine. And really the same thing with exercise is that exercise is great. I'm a huge, huge advocate for it. But also, we have to kind of pay attention to our bodies if we're exercising and we're sore for like three to five days after. You know, you might be doing the wrong type of workout if that's the case but it also might be because you have so much systemic inflammation that you're creating micro injuries every time you work out. So, it's a matter of what is causing that inflammation that can help your body in the recovery? And there's also amazing types of exercise for lymphatic improvement. Uh, one of them is literally jumping on a trampoline. Um, I think there's actually a place in Sea Bright that does amazing classes on those little mini trampolines, which is amazing for improving your overall, um, detox pathways. But then also, breaking a great sweat, getting your endorphins up and really just overall improving your health. So, it again, I'm not saying that's for everyone but it's really just a matter of figuring out what is best for you. So, with all of that being said is the point is, is I'm here to tell you that you don't know what you don't know. And it's very easy to get focused on, you know, the major goal of I want to see the weight loss and I want to tone my physique and I want to see these things and I feel like I'm doing all the right things but I just don't understand why I'm not seeing the progress that I hoped for. And there's all these factors. There's these factors of, you know, are your detox pathways working better? Do you have a boatload of estrogen built up in your system? Is the estrogen there because your liver can't filter it out? Because that's one of the jobs of your liver, is get rid of extra estrogen. Do you have scar tissue from old injuries, from C-sections, from hernia surgeries? You know, are there other things that are being overlooked that are constantly creating this level of discouragement that you feel like you're not doing enough or you're not getting ahead? So, it's a matter of using this as quality information and being able to say, crap, I really resonated with all of those, you know, those lymph questions and I have half of those things going on. And, you know, maybe that is part of the issue. And if I can collaborate some lymphatic drainage with also the diet and exercise, then maybe I can see the results that I'm that I'm looking for. So, that's the beauty of it. And just understanding that very rarely does things look like a textbook. Ask any physician, clinician, practitioner that has been at this for a couple of years, you know, let alone decades is that nobody looks like a textbook, especially now. You know, we are living in an era where there is so much autoimmunity, there are so many, you know, different things happening with the neurological system. There are so many mystery illnesses. And like I said before, there are so many things that we have settled for being our normal. We have settled for poor sleep and poor energy and imbalanced hormones and gut issues and headaches. And it's very often because, okay, this is now the common theme. But it's also, well, you know, we don't know what the root causes, so this is just something you're going to have to live with. And I promise you, there is always, always, always a root cause and when there's a root cause, there is always a solution. So, again, if you don't match the textbook, then why should your treatment match the textbook? So, it's kind of getting out of this linear model of thinking that everything is super black and white and understanding that there's a new model to embrace. And this new model is looking at everything and looking at how it all interacts with each other. And being super honest with ourselves that toxicity is very real and it is not selective. We are living in a world that it is, we're being bombarded. And that is just the harsh reality of it. And by the time we get into our 30s and our 40s, let me give you an example of what this looks like. What this looks like is when you used to be able to like drink a bottle of wine in your 20s and you felt great and you could function the next day. And now you drink one glass of wine and you're hungover for three days. So, that's not you getting old. That means your liver is taxed! It's it's like, no, we're done. I'm over it. I can't handle it anymore. So, just understanding that that's what it looks like. And we call it aging. And that's not what it is. And it's a matter of if we can understand these things, we can be more proactive in our day-to-day. How how can I avoid these things but then also have a strategy of how do I get this junk out of my body? Because it's the toxins that are building up in your tissue and causing the cellulite and causing the and the inflammation and the swelling and the belly fat and the inner leg fat, all of that. That's what it's coming from. It's coming from toxicity, which is then impairing how well your detox pathways are working, which is then creating a boatload of inflammation. And then let's top it off with blood sugar issues, which is going to create the whole cascade. So, overall, is these things are all connected and they're all very fixable. So, I will be popping in here, um, as the week continues and definitely very grateful for being part of this community. So, feel free to pop questions in because I'm sure you guys are going to have them. Um, but I did throw in, uh, this description here that if you guys are looking for more information about a variety of different topics, definitely check out our podcast on iTunes. It's called Integrative Wellness Radio. I literally covered so many different topics. Um, so, I hope you guys enjoyed and I hope you check us out on, uh, Integrative Wellness Radio. And like I said, if you have questions, pop them below and I'll be happy to answer them over the course of the week. We thank you for being a listener and subscriber to Integrative Wellness Radio. If you're looking to learn more about Integrative Wellness Group as well as Dr. Nick or Dr. Nicole, you can check out integrativewellnessgroup.com.
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About Integrative You Radio
Integrative You Radio is a root cause medicine and integrative medicine podcast hosted by Dr. Nicole Rivera and Dr. Nick Carruthers — two integrative doctors who build personalized wellness protocols from your DNA, minerals, hormones, gut, and nervous system rather than from a population template. Looking for an integrative doctor who reads your labs together instead of in isolation? This is the show.
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