A Healthy Bite - ThatOrganicMom

Looking for recipes from Gilmore Girls that you can make? I get you, and I have a solution! You're watching Rory and Lorelai eat stacks of pancakes and drink copious amounts of coffee, and suddenly, you are ravenous. Been there, done that. So what's the solution? Head over to EatingGilmore.com to whip up a recipe that will satisfy your food cravings! Larisa, the creator of EatingGilmore.com is in the process of creating a recipe for every single episode of the popular series Gilmore Girls. And why not? You know they're always eating and it makes us so hungry! In this episode, we explore our mutual love of food, cooking, cookbooks, and of course, the popular hit show Gilmore Girls. Meet the Author behind EatingGilmore Larisa is a home cook obsessed with Gilmore Girls and is cooking her way through the series one episode at a time. Each episode she chooses a dish, drink, or meal to prepare inspired by that episode then develops a recipe to share on her website. Cooking has always been something Larisa enjoyed and it truly shows in the food she creates to pair with each episode. eatinggilmore.com Making Recipes from Gilmore Girls - Rebecca's Favorites Apple Cider Ice Cream - see photo belowMac and Cheese Chocolate Milk Shakes - see photo belowCoconut Shrimp Tacos with Mango Avocado SalsaDr. Pepper BBQ Chicken Nachos (I substituted Kombucha Brew Dr., and it was still absolutely amazing!) My daughter and me toasting our perfect milk shake and episode pairing thanks to Larisa! Lorelai: We should be eating, I'm hungry! Don't they want us eating? Isn't that what the point of the Hungry Diner is, to feed the hungry diner? Or is the point of the Hungry Diner to keep the diner hungry, in which case they should call it the Eternally Hungry Diner cuz you're not gonna get any food here, loser!Rory: That would be quite a sign.Gilmore Girls While eating dinner in front of the tv isn’t something experts recommend doing every night, an occasional dinner at the coffee table while watching your favorite show is a great way to bond with your family or friends. When you pair Gilmore Girls with one of Larisa's recipes, you can turn screen time into family bonding time. Apple Cider Ice Cream Recipe by Larisa and then I used my caramel sauce recipe for a delicious topping! Rory: You know, there will be food there.Lorelai: Finger food, aka snooty little balls of attitude!Rory: Oh boy.Lorelai: I need real food, peasant food, hearty bread, meat, cheese, little pickle chips, sauce, a special sauce. This is the food that sustains me, this is the food of my...Rory: Oh my God, just eat the burger already!Lorelai: How crabby!Rory: I'm not crabby.Lorelai: I didn't even get through my special sauce speech. That's crabby.Gilmore Girls Transcripts EatingGilmore [00:00:00] Rebecca: So tell me a little bit about yourself so that you know, people can get an idea of who you are from you.  [00:00:06] Larisa: Yeah. so I'm Larissa. I am the person behind the Instagram and blog called Eating Gilmore, and essentially the project is where I recreate a dish or drink of some sort that is inspired by every single episode of my favorite TV show, which is Gilmore Girls. [00:00:28] Larisa: That is so cool that you had the idea to do that, because I. It's interesting  [00:00:33] Rebecca: when you watch a TV show or sometimes even a movie, but I feel like it's more with TV shows and they're eating something. It always makes you want to eat too.  [00:00:43] Larisa: Yes, . I'm always hungry when I'm watching the show  [00:00:47] Rebecca: because they eat all the time and I got my coffee because I'm like, okay, we're gonna be talking about Rory and Lo Loli, so I know there's gonna be coffee involved , so I have to have my coffee. [00:00:58] Larisa: Perfect.  [00:00:59] Rebecca: Yeah. So obviously you loved Gilmore Girls, it's your favorite show, you said. So were you already really into cooking before you started this adventure with your blog and Instagram?  [00:01:13] Larisa: Yeah, so I've kind of been cooking my whole life. It was something my mom kind of taught me a little bit when I was little and she bought me a couple of. [00:01:25] Larisa: Children's cookbooks that kind of teach kids the basics. You know, knife safety, things like that. And I really enjoyed them. And so that kind of started when I was fairly young. And then when I was on my own in college, I kind of started. You know, diving into that a little bit more and my own kitchen, my own space, things like that. [00:01:46] Larisa: And I think that was right around when Pinterest was starting to become really popular. So, you know, there were so many recipes just like at your fingertips that I got really. More into cooking then. And I also kind of started collecting cookbooks. That's something that my late aunt always did, and so kind of got me into enjoying reading through those, learning different recipes, techniques and things like that. [00:02:13] Larisa: I've never been professionally trained or anything but it's always just kind of been a, a hobby that I've enjoyed.  [00:02:20] Rebecca: So you do love cookbooks and you collect them . Okay. I, I wondered because like, there's, there's people, I feel like maybe they fall on either side and maybe some people that fall in the middle. [00:02:34] Rebecca: But I also am a cookbook collector and I have way too many cookbooks, I guess some people would say. But yeah, they're everywhere. So I was curious if you had a love of cookbooks, so it's cool to find out that you also love collecting them. Do you have a favorite. [00:02:51] Larisa: I don't think I have a favorite, but something that I started a few years ago, when I go on any sort of big trip, I try to find a cookbook from that country or that city. [00:03:04] Larisa: And so that's kind of been a fun travel tradition that I've done. I, it's like picking a favorite child. I don't know if I could pick a favorite cook. Because I have a lot that are really special. Like I found have you seen Julia and Julia about Julia Child? I found, I love that, that cookbook that they kind of make in that movie. [00:03:23] Larisa: I found it at this little bookshop in Paris. So that was really special. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, just a few different, like memories of actually finding those cookbooks. But yeah, I don't think I have a favorite one.  [00:03:33] Rebecca: Oh, that's cool. I I do have a favorite. My favorite cookbook author is Christopher Kimball and I love Oh yeah, his like Milk Street cookbooks. [00:03:42] Rebecca: And I also was on a trip when I found that first one of his cookbooks. I was in Orlando at a TaeKwonDo tournament, and I found that book and I bought it, and then I was obsessed with his cookbooks ever since then. But I, I love that you mentioned Julia and Julia because it , it reaffirms that connection between like entertainment and food. Yeah. And sometimes I used to feel a little guilty for eating food in front of the TV because they say, oh, you know, you should sit at, have a proper, you know, friendly dinner and all this. [00:04:20] Rebecca: But you know, I've realized, and I did another podcast interview with the Family Dinner Project and she said, you know whatever bonds your family. That's okay. And so for us, it's been kind of cool to. You know, watch Gilmore Girls and prepare a food that they are also eating. And the whole thing has been super bonding for us. [00:04:45] Rebecca: Yeah. Because like, we'll, we're like, okay, let's go check eating Gilmore and see what the food is for the next episode. Yeah. And then we're like, oh, okay, it's chocolate milkshakes. So, okay, tomorrow night we're gonna watch that episode and we're gonna make her recipe. And so then, We get everything ready and we start watching the episode and then we have, you know, our meal and we're eating with them and the whole experience is really bonding. [00:05:10] Rebecca: So I stopped feeling bad about that and now I feel like I'm doing one step above the family dinner. It's even more bonding when you cook and eat together, right?  [00:05:22] Larisa: Yeah, exactly. And I think too, what's even, what's really special just about Gilmore Girls but I think any show that you can relate to your friends or family members is in the same way, but I think for a lot of people, especially mothers and daughters, if they're able to bond through that show, I think it's really special. [00:05:40] Larisa: Because you can see yourself in the characters, and that's one of the big reasons that I love this show so much, is that it doesn't matter what generation you're in, you know every, there's someone in it for everyone, you know, teenagers, adults, grandmothers, you know, everyone can kind of relate to. A storyline. [00:05:57] Larisa: So that's why they think it's really special. And it's really sweet and touching that you and your daughters cook my food together with the show. And it kind of makes it fun and interactive, right? Like, oh, they're having their milkshakes, I'm having mine. So that sounds really fun, .  [00:06:09] Larisa: Yeah, it is.  [00:06:10] Rebecca: It's actually on several levels because I think you had a nacho, was it barbecue Chicken, Dr. Pepper. Oh gosh. Those are some of my favorite. That I've made. Those are so good. , and then you have a macaroni and cheese. But yeah, we've done a few and it's, it's, so, I feel like it's just so many levels of connection because, you know, we have the show and we're cooking together and then we're sitting together watching it, and then we're like, oh, oh, I wanna tell Larisa that I made this and it was so good. [00:06:37] Rebecca: So I'm like, now I'm connected to you. And then I've shared it with other people and now they're doing it and it's just like this network of really cool way to bond over something that's just, you know,

[00:00:00] Rebecca: I listened to your, talk at the Weston A Price Conference and was so fascinated by everything that you've done and everything that you've experienced. So to start off, would you just give us a brief introduction of who you are and how you got to be where you are eating like a human. Who is Dr. Bill Schindler [00:00:17] Bill Schindler: Sure, I would love to, and thank you for the opportunity to talk with you today. So my name is Dr. Bill Schindler, and I am the executive chef currently of the Modern Stone Age Kitchen, which is a full family endeavor, which I'm sure we'll talk about in a little bit, and also the director of the Eastern Shore Food Lab, which is our non-profit. https://eatlikeahuman.com/eastern-shore-food-lab/ [00:00:34] Bill Schindler: And the where, how we got to this place, you know, our tagline, our, our motto, all of it is, is "eat like a human" because my background is actually in anthropology and archeology and I've spent literally my life at some level looking and I'm trying to understand and studying ancestral and traditional diets. [00:00:52] Bill Schindler: Some through the archeological record and some millions of years old and some more recent in historic through the ethnographic record and tried to make sense. And I'm using that to make sense of, our current issues surrounding food and diet and health and ethical eating and sustainability and all those things that we're really, you know, trying to problem solve today as a species. In Person Classes: https://eatlikeahuman.com/product/eat-like-a-human-3-day-intensive-march2023/ The Question We Should Be Asking About Food, Not What but How [00:01:13] Bill Schindler: We've, I think my, my wife and I and my family have really started to at least ask the right questions. We don't have all the right answers, I'm sure, and we're headed in the right direction, but I think we've, we've started to at least ask the right questions, which I think is, is, is very important, especially in today's [00:01:28] Bill Schindler: dietary climate where we had landscape, where we have all sorts of, of information hitting us, left and right and don't really know, know how to feed ourselves. But my own relationship with food is, is actually incredibly important as well. I spent most of my life, very unhealthy because of how I ate, incredibly poor self body image, battling weight, battling, metabolic disease until we've really took this ancestral and traditional approach. [00:01:52] Bill Schindler: my, I'm I'll turn 50 in about a month, and I've never felt better. I've never been in better health and, my entire life has been transformed because of, of this approach. And, and very quickly, I think just to mention what that approach is. We as a species right now, as humans, are trying to understand obviously how to feed ourselves. [00:02:11] Bill Schindler: Most of us wanna lose weight or feel better or live a better life, and to figure out how to do that, we're asking the question, "what should I eat?"  [00:02:19] Bill Schindler: And trying to achieve that health or that body. Through that answer. You know, what, what should I eat? And we think that, you know, from that sort of Weight Watcher's mentality, if I have this much carb, this much protein, or I go on this diet and I eat this green smoothie and all this, all my problems will be solved. [00:02:35] Bill Schindler: And even though what we should be eating is a very important question, what I hope we get a chance to dive into a little bit today during this conversation is it's not the only questions that humans need to ask.  How Should We Eat? [00:02:47] Bill Schindler: We are a completely different species. The way we go about eating and getting our food is completely different from every other animal on the planet. It is partially the what built us as a species with these big brains and these big bodies. And in order to properly fuel our bodies, we also have to ask the question, how should I eat? How can I, how should I take these raw materials from my environment and transform them into their safest and most nourishing form possible for my body. [00:03:12] Bill Schindler: That's where we've landed, that's where we're spending all of our time. So our family has a, a restaurant called the Modern Stone Age Kitchen where we put all of this into practice and we also have the nonprofit where we continue to do research and teach these approaches to food.  [00:03:25] Rebecca: That's awesome. I know there's probably a lot of misconceptions about you, and when people just see, you know, "eat like a human", they maybe don't know what that is. [00:03:35] Rebecca: Maybe they think paleo or something like that. I know when I first met Christina, I wasn't really sure what type of diet you guys followed, and I think it's interesting because people have these preconceived notions. So this happens to me a lot my website is that organic mom and people come to my site or they come to my YouTube channel and they think, oh, she's a vegan. [00:03:58] Rebecca: And then they see me preparing pork belly and they're like, what the heck? Unsubscribe, go away. Why are you eating meat, woman? You know, I mean, people get offended and I know, one of the first chapters of your book "Eat Like A Human" is about the question that you just mentioned, not only what we eat, but how, what, what mistakes are we making? What are we doing wrong when it comes to food?  [00:04:24] Bill Schindler: One of the biggest mistakes we're making is we come at this from this idea to answer what we should be eating and, and how we should feed ourselves. We try to also say, okay, what, what is my body designed to eat? You know, what foods are my body designed to consume? [00:04:41] Bill Schindler: And. We think we're omnivores that humans are omnivores and we are omnivores, but not because we have the teeth or the digestive tract to allow us to be omnivores. We're omnivores because for three and a half million years, and I've realized that that amount of time is very hard for to conceptualize for, for for many people. [00:05:02] Bill Schindler: But for three and a half million years, we and our ancestors have been creating technologies that allow us to overcome our physical limitations, allow us to do more than just what our teeth can do, do more than just what our digestive tract can do and transform raw materials from our environment into their safest and less nourishing form as possible for our bodies. [00:05:22] Bill Schindler: We are not omnivores because we are built to be omnivores. We are omnivores because we and all of our incredibly innovative, you know, inventive ancestors, figured out ways of, of cooking and fermenting and soaking and sprouting and nixtamalizing, and doing all of these things to raw materials to get them ready for our body so our body can safely get the nutrients from it. How to Eat Like A Human [00:05:46] Bill Schindler: So that's partially that, that, what, and how, you know, it's, it's not as easy to say, Hey, you know, I get asked all the time, you know, when I get at the end of presentations, okay, I get all the, but should humans eat bread , or should, should humans, adults be consuming milk? Isn't milk designed for baby cows? [00:06:02] Bill Schindler: You know, that sort of thing. And the answer, you can't answer that question the way it's asked, right? The answer is, well, let's back up, is there something we can do to that dairy as adults, even for people who are lactose intolerant to make it safe and nourishing for our bodies? Is there a way to take grains and transform them into something that's safer and more nourishing? [00:06:26] Bill Schindler: And can you introduce that kind of bread into a diet and have it be a healthy human diet? And the answers to those questions are, yes, there are ways of doing it. So to back up just to, and I do think it's very important for people to understand exactly where anybody they're getting information is coming from. [00:06:45] Bill Schindler: I eat a very animal based diet. I do believe that one of the biggest, issues with our modern industrial food system are industrial nut and seed oils. We include absolutely no industrial nu seed oils in our diets whatsoever, we do use a few oils from the plant world. We use a little bit of coconut oil we use a little bit of olive, and a little bit of avocado oil in cold applications. But anything we're cooking with, anything that we're eating on a regular basis are purely animal based fats, butter, schmaltz, lard, tallow, you know, that sort of thing.  [00:07:16] Bill Schindler: So, we eat a lot of nose to tail animal. We, we eat meat, we eat bone marrow. We eat fat, we eat organs, we eat all of those things. , so I, I do believe that that is the, the safest way to get as much nourishment as possible into our bodies. But on top of that, we do also eat vegetables. We're very careful about the vegetables that we eat. I love eating vegetables. I love the way they taste. [00:07:38] Bill Schindler: I love the way their texture, I love what they add to foods. There are some plants that are inherently dangerous for us to eat, and I just don't put them in our diets at all. Many plants that we do eat, we do something too to either make them safer or allow their, nutrients to be more easily accessible to our bodies. [00:07:53] Bill Schindler: like something like safety fermentation, for example, but we do eat a very omnivorous diet in our family very animal based, but we do include plants. So at, so just so you know where, where, where we're coming from. We also have, we don't eat a whole lot of grains. However we do, part of our restaurant is a, is a sourdough bakery. [00:08:12] Bill Schindler: You make all sorts of sourdough bread. So I'm in this weird place and I know you mentioned, you know,

Move over butter, ghee is on the rise! My guests on this episode of A Healthy Bite are the founders of Simply Ghee, and they're sharing everything you could ever want to know about this golden superfood! Listen using the player above, but also make sure to use the table of contents below to read more about ghee. Just for you, they've created the coupon code OMGhee to save 20% at SimplyGhee.com. (Nope, this is not a sponsored post and I'm not an affiliate for the product. As I often do, I'm sharing information about a fantastic product that I believe in, because I think it will be beneficial for you!) What is Ghee and How Is it Made? Ghee comes from the process of separating the various components of butter. Technically speaking, ghee is almost clarified butter. Keep reading. So, how is ghee made? Well, butter is made up of saturated fat, sugar, protein and moisture. When it is heated on low heat, it melts and separates the solids of lactose and casein from the fat and moisture. Those solids sink to the bottom and as the heat cooks more the fat (oil) becomes clearer. Once done, you can see down to the bottom of the pot where the solids have adhered to the bottom. The solids are responsible for imparting a caramelized/slightly nutty flavor profile in ghee. Is Ghee better than butter? Yes and no! Simply put, ghee is butter without lactose (sugars) and casein (proteins) and moisture leaving behind the beautiful saturated fat. Beyond clarified butter which always contains solids. Ghee is way purer! Ghee is purer than butter but good grassfed butter also has many healthy benefits too. Those who might have issues with dairy can tolerate ghee without lactose and casein since these two culprits have history doing so with lots of folks gastrointestinal systems.Simply Ghee Is Ghee Healthy Ghee has numerous health benefits! Here are just a few: Rich in essential, health-boosting vitamins, minerals and nutrients, ghee has plentiful amounts of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. These nutrients nourish and protect the brain and boost the immune system. In addition, ghee aids the body’s absorption of fat-soluble nutrients from other foods.Heals and repairs the digestive tract - In Ayurveda, ghee is believed to aid in digestion. Because it only contains trace amounts of milk, it is suitable for most people with dairy allergies and also fits the Paleo diet.Perfect balance of Omega 3, 6, and 9, the same fatty acids found in foods like avocado and salmon.Contains conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) which has been shown in studies to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. CLA may help reduce tumors, inflammation, and help fire up the metabolism. A study on a rural population in India showed a significantly lower prevalence of coronary heart disease in men who consumed higher amounts of ghee.Increases energy levels, according to Ayurvedic Medicine, by supplying life force to the body and mind. Learn more about the health benefits of ghee. Ghee Benefits According to The Complete Book of Home Remedies by Dr. Vasant Lad, mixing a small amount of ghee in warm milk may help relieve constipation. Beyond the health benefits ghee helps to protect and brighten the skin, according to Vogue in Why Ghee Should Be Part of Your Skincare Routine. Apparently, it can act as a carrier to increase the potency of other ingredients when mixed together and applied to the skin. It is said to help fight dryness and fine lines while being an ideal moisturizer for rosacea prone skin. What is A2 Ghee As I mentioned in the podcast, I first noticed A2 milk while shopping. I'd never heard of it and I grew up on a dairy farm; so I immediately began looking up studies and research that had been compiled on the topic. Here's what I found: All milk contains proteins, one of them is casein and it makes up about 80% of the total. The most common forms are A1 Beta-Casein and A2-Beta Casein, although there are others. The research on A1 and A2 proteins initially shows that many negative effects from dairy intolerance come as a result of A1 protein. While A2 is the oldest variant people who consume this form of dairy have fewer complaints concerning intolerance. While all cows produce some, the ones who predominantly have A2 in their milk generally comes from certain heritage breeds including Guernsey, Jersey, Charolais, and Limousin. (Also, this superior quality milk may come from heritage breed cows on the endangered watch list.) Other animals such as goats and sheep may produce milk with mostly A2 Beta Casein. Historically, cows have always been A2 which refers to the beta-casein protein in milk. Over time, there was a genetic mutation resulting in what is now called A1, which is found on grocery store shelves today, EVEN if it is organic. Simply Ghee Though more clinical trials are needed to prove the potential positive effects, consumers who turn to A2 milk report a reduction in digestive intolerance. This comes after abandoning conventional (A1) milk due to digestive complaints. (A2 Milk: New Perspectives for Food Technology and Human Health) The superb quality and higher nutrient content is why many people have turned to A2/A2 Ghee. Glyphosate Free It takes a good 13 years to build a herd for decent A2 milk production. We have tested our A2/A2 Ghee and found to be glyphosate free!Simply Ghee Why is glyphosate free important? The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on cancer ruled glyphosate as a carcinogen. Glyphosate is measured by testing urine. You can order a test kit–$99 at cost–and receive your results back in a few weeks. A recent study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found glyphosate rates are up 500%, but average levels are up 1200% in people over the last 20 years. Though we’re hearing about court cases involving non-Hodgkins lymphoma, FDA links glyphosate to digestive and intestinal problems—know anyone with Crohns, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, colitis, colon cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? These conditions are sharply on the rise. Research indicates that glyphosate is also an endocrine disruptor, kills beneficial gut bacteria, and is linked to birth defects, reproductive problems and cancer.Testing for Glyphosate How to Use Ghee The best thing about cooking with ghee is it’s high smoke point. You can use it in a variety of ways without it burning. So go ahead and saute, sear, roast and grill all those beautiful meats and veggies, but don’t neglect to bake with ghee, too! Use ghee any where you would normally use butter or cooking oil, but you can use a bit less. Nancy and Bev suggest for one tablespoon of oil or butter replace with a generous teaspoon of ghee. Another delicious way to use ghee is to spread it on toast or melt it and pour it on popcorn! Although not all ghee warrants spreading, Simply Ghee is made from grass fed cows and has a superior flavor profile and density. My mom uses Simply Ghee's A2/A2 with Turmeric + Black Pepper Ghee DIY Mix for her delicious popcorn! What You Can Use Ghee For As mentioned in the podcast, you can use it to: drizzle on to make delicious soups even bettertoss vegetables in ghee before roastingcook eggsadd to hot cerealspread on bagels, english muffins, or toastmake a grilled cheesesaute vegetablestop a baked potato, sweet potato, or yammelt and baste steaks, chicken, and seafoodstir into coffee Ghee in Coffee About a decade ago, adding butter or ghee became popular as those looking for a boost in energy, satiation and weight loss added it to their morning coffee. Now you might think adding ghee to your cup of coffee sounds gross, and well, I’d have to agree unless you use a frother to incorporate it well. Using a frother changes the entire drink into something smooth and creamy. Once the ghee is blended into the coffee, it becomes “bulletproof coffee” due to the MCT fats. These fats turn into ketones and are used as energy. Listen to what Dr. Berg has to say about making bulletproof ghee coffee. It’s a pure fat and doesn’t stimulate insulin production. Adding ghee to your coffee gives you lutein which is good for your eyes and helps to prevent macular degeneration. If you practice intermittent fasting, you can drink ghee coffee as a way to stay satiated longer. This is helpful for those following the keto diet for weight loss. Recipes with Ghee In addition to keto coffee and the uses listed above, you can find many recipes with ghee that are delicious and nutritious. Here are a few of my personal favorites: BBQ Mesquite Herbed Chicken with Tomatoes (or Mushrooms)Roasted Honey Dill CarrotsPeach Cobbler (one of my favorites) Download a free soup cookbook from Simply Ghee. Watch the video below as I make a variation of soup from the cookbook and then turn it into pasta sauce for homemade ravioli. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-DgFHgotiw&t=133s Does Ghee Have to Be Refrigerated Does ghee go bad? What's the shelf life of ghee? What are the signs of spoilage? The answers to these questions will vary based on the source of your ghee. If you have homemade ghee stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it could last up to 12 months. Unopened ghee purchased from a reputable company could last about two years stored in your pantry or fridge. The main goal is to store ghee in a cool dark place out of direct sunlight. If you store your ghee in the freezer, double bag if using freezer bags, to avoid frezer burn. Most Middle Eastern home cooks simply store ghee in a kitchen cabinet near the stove because it is the main fat used in cooking. Does ghee expire? Store-bought ghee has a long shelf life. You may notice a best-by date which refers to the best quality date. A "use-by date" refers to quality more so than an expiration date. Does Ghee Go Bad?

This podcast episode with Dr. Michelle Segar was as beneficial for me as I believe it will be for you. Listen using the player above, and find transcripts and additional resources below. For years I’ve had a love-hate relationship with exercise. I’ve tried to build healthy habits in most of the usual ways. I used habit stacking, and all the things experts tell us to do to maintain workout motivation. But I still struggled to meet my fitness goals. For years I went to the gym early each morning right when I woke up. My personal trainer would punish me with squats, lunges, and strength training to get me out of my comfort zone. “No pain, no gain,” she’d yell! It didn’t last. Why? Because I don’t enjoy punishing workouts! It’s hard to consistently do any form of exercise you don’t enjoy. In addition, my workout motivation was weight loss and good health. While good health is an excellent reason to work out, weight loss is not. The evidence is now clear: Exercise is excellent for health; it’s just not that important for weight loss. So don't expect to lose a lot of weight by ramping up physical activity alone.Vox The Best Workout That’s why experts say the best workout is the one you love doing. If you love it, you’ll do it. Try to force yourself to do exercises you hate, and you’re more likely to resent the hard work, eventually giving it up. If you enjoy HIIT exercise, go for it! Pilates is your thing? Do it! If you love dancing, turn up the music and get your cardio exercise in with your favorite tunes. Create a playlist to listen to while you dance or work out. The best workout songs are those with about 120-208 beats per minute. Search for these on Spotify you’ll get the best cardio workout of your life! Hip Hop dancing includes full-body movements, developing muscle strength, stamina, and endurance while burning around 450 calories per hour. Of course, you’re likely not going to dance for a solid hour, right? But you might dance for 10 minutes, at multiple intervals throughout your day! Remember, your fitness journey doesn’t have to be painful, punishing, or something you dread. The fact is, it doesn't even have to be long and grueling! It just has to be something that brings you joy from true motivation, not guilt or a feeling of failure. This is the beginning of a concept Dr. Segar develops in The Joy Choice that will help you achieve sticktoitiveness in the area of exercise and healthy eating. Home Workout vs. Gyms Dr. Segar explains the difference between what she calls habiters or unhabiters. Habiters, who are very disciplined and organized, stick to their plans, everything runs according to schedule, and are 100% onboard with eating healthy foods and exercising. For some folks, going to the gym is the only fitness motivation that works. Working out at home may lead to negative self-talk and zero motivation. If that’s you, keep your gym membership and make it part of your fitness routine. Just try not to go down the perfection rabbit hole. Shy away from rigid plans and unrealistic goals, we’ve learned to equate to success when exercising. A key step in my coaching process involves helping clients learn to shift away from the perfectionistic exercise and eating beliefs that, while still widely believed, are now very outdated. Michelle SegarMichelle Segar, Ph.D. If that's not you, you might be an unhabiter, like many others, including Dr. Segar! You'll find relief listening to this podcast episode and cutting yourself slack in this area of your life. And when you do, you'll discover something quite interesting. You'll achieve more success when you find the best workout motivation for you. (Hint: the book will help you find what truly motivates you!) Everything listed below will make much more sense if you listen to the podcast episode or read Dr. Segar's book. After reading The Joy Choice, I felt such a sense of relief and less of a failure when, day after day, I couldn't make it to the gym because of my workload. Here are some changes I've made since reading the book that might also help you! Setting Yourself Up For Success To get in these quick exercise sessions, set yourself up for success. Here are a few ways I get my heart rate up without wearing gym clothes. (That’s right, you don’t have to live in your leggings or yoga pants to work out on a moment’s notice!) Keep an extra pair of sneakers in the trunk of your vehicle so you can get in a walk when you have a little extra time. (For example, I often walked during my daughter’s Taekwondo classes, better yet, join your child in their martial arts classes!)Sign up for dance lessons with your spouse instead of going out to eat on date night.Bike or walk when you can if you enjoy it - biking to the store for groceries is one of my favorite ways to get my heart rate up and get something done simultaneously. My kids often join me.Ask your mental health provider if they offer “walk and talk” therapy sessions (mine does!)Warm up each day with a few stretches when you first get out of bed if it feels good.Relax before bedtime with a simple bedtime yoga flow. I'll include a printable copy of my bedtime yoga flow on my free guides page, which you can get access to when you sign up for my weekly emails. (Or request it by contacting me via email.) Action Steps to Find The Best Workout Motivation What if you could easily and joyfully resolve the in-the-moment conflicts that often derail your eating and exercise goals? Dr. Segar has devoted decades to studying how to achieve lasting changes in these and other behaviors. Take the quiz Michelle mentioned to help you find your motivation. Dr. Segar mentions her studies with cancer survivors in her book. Read more about her research here: The effects of aerobic exercise on self-esteem and depressive and anxiety symptoms among breast cancer survivors. Meet Michelle Segar, PhD author of The Joy Choice and No Sweat! Michelle is an award-winning researcher at the University of Michigan with almost thirty years studying how to help people adopt self-care behaviors, like exercise and healthy eating, in ways that bring meaning and joy and can survive the complexity and unpredictability of the real world.Michelle’s translational research is widely recognized as relevant and practical. She advises the World Health Organization and was selected to be the inaugural chair of the United States National Physical Activity Plan’s Communication Committee.For almost thirty years she has been designing and evaluating methods to help people cultivate the transformations in mindset necessary for creating tangible changes in behavior that can survive the complexity and unpredictability of the real world. Her combination of academic research with real-world health coaching permits her to create practical and engaging behavior change systems that are being scaled to boost patient and population health, employee well-being, and gym membership retention.Michelle has worked with and advised a number of prominent organizations, including U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kaiser Permanente, Walmart, Intermountain Healthcare, Anytime Fitness, Adidas, Google, and Business Group on Health.A sought-after speaker and trainer, Michelle is frequently interviewed about motivation, habits, and sustainable change in major media outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Prevention, Real Simple, and TIME.No Sweat!, her bestselling book on creating lasting exercise motivation, is used around the world as a core text in training professionals in health coaching and patient counseling. Her new book, The Joy Choice, introduces a practical, science-based system for breaking down all-or-nothing thinking and cultivating the flexible and tactical decision-making that supports sustaining exercise, healthy eating, and self-care within the complexities of daily life.Michelle’s training and experience is uniquely comprehensive, including a doctorate in Psychology (PhD), a master’s degree in Health Behavior/Health Education (MPH), a master’s degree in Kinesiology (MS) and fellowships in translational research and health care policy from the University of Michigan. She ran with the Olympic Torch at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.Michelle Segar, PhD Book a speaking engagement with Michelle. Transcripts and Sources Rebecca: Michelle, I am so happy to have you here on the podcast with me today. I absolutely love talking about building habits and your book was a refreshing change. So can you tell me a little bit about how you came to write the Joy Choice? Michelle: Yes. There's a high level reason why I decided, to write it the big picture reason is that in 1994, almost 30 years ago, I was conducting a study with cancer survivors, and we discovered that the cancer survivors who are about four and a half years outta treatment, so living normal lives, not, not. Michelle: Feeling Ill just living their normal lives, they committed to our study for three months, but once the study was over, almost everyone stopped exercising. And I, I was like, ah, like why? Why would you stop exercising? And the participants told us in focus groups that they were busy, that they had families and they were working and they had aging parents to help and they had this, that, and the other. Michelle: That people who had faced a life threatening illness felt comfortable prioritizing their own self care for our study, but either didn't feel comfortable or didn't have the skill set to prioritize it in their own lives meant we had a real problem in society. And I had this amazing light bulb moment where, you know,

Nurture and nature; two components in the development of individual differences. Understanding the root cause of abuse may help in the emotional healing process and provide an avenue of forgiveness on a deeper level resulting in better mental health for generations to come. Introduction to Loose Cannons A while back I watched Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey, a documentary mini-series that focused on the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism, and its leader Warren S. Jeffs. It was shocking to say the least. Following that documentary, I saw Murder Among the Mormons, a true crime documentary miniseries following Mark Hofmann, one of the most notable forgers in history, who created forgeries related to the Latter Day Saint movement. So when I read the book Loose Cannons: A Memoir of Mania and Mayhem in a Mormon Family, the subject matter didn’t surprise me, although it did sadden me. There was a connection to those documentaries I'd seen. Diana Cannon-Ragsdale’s father worked in the district attorneys office during the time of salamander letters. His journals, along with her mothers’ journals during psychological therapy, gave Diana insight into the poor emotional health of her parents. Their mental illnesses had a devastating impact in Diana’s own life. Like ripples in a pond, that impact touched the lives of her own children. She was determined to find healing on her journey to stop the pain from reaching her grandchildren and future generations. Diana now advocates for those who cope with mental illness, were raised by dysfunctional families, and must overcome abusive situations. She details her challenging journey in her memoir, Loose Cannons. When Generations of Your Loved Ones Have Suffered While Diana’s father claims to have never been disciplined, he was more than a little heavy handed when it came to raising his own children. Perhaps because boundaries make kids feel safe and secure. Raising a child without boundaries or discipline often leads to narcissism. Parental boundaries allow children to grow up, to understand they can't always get their way, to be more patient and mature. Knowing that there is a limit to how much comfort and pleasure their parents will provide, children can learn to cope with disappointment; as an added bonus, the mild disappointment often brought about by boundaries can also help children to develop empathy — perhaps for others who have discomfort and disappointment. Understanding the meaning of "limits" allows kids to be more connected to the real world.Healthy Boundaries in Parenting In addition, Diana's mother had a mental illness that left her checked-out most of the time, and later led to complete abandonment. Undiagnosed Mental Illness Led To Abuse Her parent’s undiagnosed mental illnesses were the root cause of their unhealthy obsessions and behaviors. As a result, Diana and her siblings faced abuse and neglect as part of their daily life. The level of neglect was so extreme that she was often hungry as her parent’s barely fed them. An older brother learned to prepare spaghetti so they’d have something to eat. In fact, it was so bad that she didn’t realize they weren’t a poor family until much later in life. The reason they weren’t fed had nothing to do with lack of finances. Read the memoir Loose Cannons: A Memoir of Mania and Mayhem in a Mormon Family. I’ve learned there is no such thing as a lie, it always reveals itself eventually. I feel lies and secrets are far more damaging than truth! Remove the Source of Emotional Pain Likely one of the best ways to begin emotional healing is to remove yourself from the source of emotional pain if possible. In Diana’s case, there were a number of years she chose to put distance between herself and her parents. Begin Emotional Healing Painful emotions can be a detriment to your overall well-being. So while it may seem easier to use distractions as a numbing mechanism, working through the process of emotional healing is the key to improved mental health. As Diana mentioned in the podcast, she stayed busy and was an eternal optimist as a way to cope with the emotional pain she was experiencing. This is a form of self-help, even if it’s not the healthiest way to recover from emotional wounds. Getting a break from the overload may look different to each of us; for Diana hard work and excessive exercise was a way of numbing those feelings. Negative emotions can wreak havoc on your body. Painful physical sensations may even result as a symptom of painful experiences in your past. This is why some people feel actual physical pain during stressful times. Practice Self Care Especially on Bad Days Self care is an important part of your healing journey. Pay attention to what your body needs. Follow through on the healthy self-care methods that feel good for you. We mentioned some during the podcast: Exercise in a healthy wayGetting out doorsSpirtual well-beingYogaBuild self-esteemJournaling or writing it outGroup therapy to share life experiencesPractice self-compassionCry when you feel like it Cancel Negative Thoughts Another part of letting go is not allowing negative thoughts to ruin the present moment. Ruminating on the painful life experiences you’ve had may cause mood swings or an emotional response to something that isn’t even happening at the moment. When you find yourself focused on negative thoughts, show self-compassion. Beating yourself up for having intrusive thoughts won’t help the healing process. Try to stop the thoughts by evaluating how true they are and playing a better scene in your head. Pay attention to the sights, smells, and physical sensations around your body. This is practicing being in the present moment and it can help you to eliminate negative thoughts. Forgiveness to Heal Emotional Wounds Unforgiveness is like poison. It can have a negative impact on the physical body as well as your mental health. Don’t take that poison into your new life. Therapy can help you in the process of emotional healing. Another part of this step is listing things you’re thankful for; the practice can help you forgive others. Stages of Emotional Healing According to Psychology Today, there are three stages of healing childhood wounds. You continue doing what you do - bringing those patterns and behaviors into your adult relationships.Your pendulum swings to the opposite pole - you realize this isn’t working and in an attempt to do it differently, you move as far to the other side as possible. You may feel misunderstood.Finally, you find a middle ground where self-compassion is possible. As your present changes, so does your past. At this stage you realize your parents were human and you are able to forgive them. Helping a Family Member with Their Emotional Healing Process While it is certainly painful, helping a family member heal is beneficial for everyone involved. As Diana mentioned, her son had a decade long alcohol addiction. When he agreed to seek help, she realized that she would need to be involved. This can be tough for any parent, but especially so for one who has been through childhood trauma. Active addiction destabilizes the home environment, disrupts family life and muddling relationships, and often compromises finances, as well as mental, emotional, and physical health.Without assistance and unless family members and significant others learn and practice how to do things differently, these effects can be chronic and long-term. Psychology Today Recovery involves learning, healing and growing. You can’t change a family member but you can be there to support them through the healing process. Addiction is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Some genes are associated with increased risk of dependence. For more information on finding out what genes you've inherited, read my review of SelfDecode at Home Genetic Testing. Meet Diana Cannon-Ragsdale Author of Loose Cannons: A Memoir of Mania and Mayhem in a Mormon Family Diana's Website Follow her on Instagram Diana Cannon-Ragsdale shares her story of finding a new life and proves better late than never to be true. Prior to writing her book, Diana raised three kids as a single mother, graduated from the University of Utah and practiced Physical Therapy for sixteen years. Since retiring, she has been exploring her creative and adventurous side; writing, painting and traveling. Life for Diana has never been easy, but through her courage, strength and tenacious personality, she has been able to fight for her sanity, despite being born into total chaos by two mentally ill parents. She spent her childhood with her unsupervised, half-starved five siblings withstanding their parent’s alternative “swinging” lifestyle, her mother’s continuous trips to the psych ward and her father’s ongoing suicide attempts and descent into madness. While most of her early childhood memories were suppressed, she knew something was wrong with her. After escaping home to attend college with a dance scholarship, she fell into a series of unhealthy relationships as she denied her traumatic past. When she began to rebuild her relationship with her estranged mother of forty years, her journey of rediscovering and finding her lost-self began. She is grateful to her deceased mother and father, who, as most Mormons do, left behind a plethora of detailed - journals, letters and pictures, though scandalous and utterly shocking. Today, she is happily married and has five children --three of her own, two step children, and eight grandchildren who all give her immense joy. Loose Cannons is Diana’s first book.

Want to design the life you desire? Here's a question to start with: do you make life happen or is life happening to you? There's a significant difference. My mission is to help you instill habits practiced by the longest-lived people on earth. Why? So you can extend your healthspan and have the most heartbeats available to spend! Stacey Aaron Domanico, author of "Where Do You Spend Your Heartbeats?" issues a gentle wake-up call in this episode to spend our time wisely and purposefully. After two bouts with cancer, Stacey realized healing is hard when you're not being authentic. During her second cancer diagnosis, she found herself caught up in pretending to be happily married and doing the same thing she'd done during the first battle against cancer. I continued the same way of eating, worrying about what others thought, living in an unhealthy relationship, and treating myself like a foe and not a friend.Stacey Aaron Domanico in "Where Do You Spend Your Heartbeats" Signs You're Just Surviving Does any of this sound familiar? You are tired and life is tiringLife feels painful most of the timeYou believe you have no powerYou're keeping your head downTelevision is an escapeYou numb yourself with emotional eatingYou feel like a victim of life's crueltiesWalls are your friend, a prison of your own creationYou've learned when it comes to life, it's best to grin and bear itYou feel stuck If you're struggling to make a decision, you're not alone. Mental and emotional strain can lead to very real decision fatigue. In her book, Stacey has a five-step "stethescope gut check" that I found to be incredibly useful. Ready to Design the Life You Desire? What kind of life do you want to live? Are you living it? What legacy do you want to leave? Do you take steps that lead in the direction of your dreams? Stacey is available for coaching, read her story here: coachingwithstacey.com. The great paradox of our time is that many of us are busy and bored at the same time. While running from one event to the next, we wonder in our innermost selves if anything is really happening.Henri Nouwen Getting Started Reading Stacey's book was empowering. She asks questions that made me think. At the end of every chapter, she lists key reminders. I've gone back to them frequently over the past few weeks. As I mentioned in the podcast episode, I highlighted a significant portion of her book. Below are some key points to focus on: Create a timeline of the milestones and experiences you want out of life (a bucket list of sorts)Find people who embrace life and seek their advice.Stop comparing your life to others - focus on your gifts, talents and abilities.Life has a way of filling our days, be proactive and fill your days in a way that gets you closer to your dreams.Understand that you can change your current circumstances but often there is a price to pay. As Stacey mentions, "The fear of change overpowered the pain and that's really what the scale is. Once the pain became more than the fear (...) The ability to take care of [yourself] grows stronger.""For just one week, visualize your dream life in as much detail as you can. You have nothing to lose but a life of joy." page 153 Chapter 8 Key Reminders from "Where Do You Spend Your Heartbeats?" Meet Author Stacey Aaron Domanico Website: coachingwithstacey.com Following a dynamic career of over 25 years at the executive level leading teams and coaching women in a Fortune 50 company, Stacey Aaron Domanico became a certified life and empowerment coach so she could focus on her first love of mentoring women: a role she began to enjoy while still in her corporate life. Today, as a two-time cancer and toxic relationship survivor, it is Aaron Domanico’s purpose and passion to help other women by sharing the lessons she has learned and tools she has developed throughout her own journey. Against the backdrop of the fact that we all have a finite number of heartbeats in this lifetime, Aaron Domanico shares the message that our biggest decision each day is where and how we wish to spend them, and that we have the power to create the life we desire, one heartbeat at a time. She specializes in relationships, career change and advancement, as well as overcoming fear, stress, and anxiety. When not mentoring or coaching women, she loves to travel, entertain friends, ride her Peloton (especially after indulging in a seriously good thin-crust pizza), and spending time with her husband, their four children, and fur baby, Bella. Rebecca: I wanted to talk about, how to decide what you really want to do with your life and how. Rebecca: to make those decisions, even though sometimes we get stuck in a place where it feels like the decision you have to make might be between a rock and a hard place. And just how to be more present in where you are right now. A lot of people of all ages really struggle with always looking. Rebecca: Towards the next stage you know, just anticipation of the next phase and the next phase. Rebecca: Stacy, can you just tell me a little bit about why you decided to share your story with others?  Stacey: I have been in corporate America for over 25 years and I have had a career in corporate America, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. During that time, I had Gone through breast cancer twice, and as a result, I've really looked at life differently. Stacey: In addition to that, throughout my career, I really loved mentoring and coaching women. It was like the highlight of my career that I just love to do. And as a result, I started thinking about, you know, I have a message that I wanna share and how can my experience, because what I would love to see people not go through trauma to learn the lessons that I've l that I've learned. Stacey: And people kept saying, You know, you really should tell your story. Tell your story. And you know, you hear things and you're like, Yeah, that's nice, but what's my next meeting that I need to go to? But I sat down and I said, You know what? If this can help, if my experience can help others, why would I not tell the story? Stacey: And of course, while I'm writing the story, fear came in because I'm being very vulnerable. I am sharing such personal, aspects of my journey. But you know what, at the end of the day, We are here to help each other, and if we can't do that, then you know, it's really a gift for me to share with other people my story, if it even helps one or two or three or a hundred other people. Rebecca: Oh, that's beautiful. And you mentioned fear, and that was one of the first sections that I highlighted In your book, you're talking about rewinding and recalibrating, and you ask, What is your worst fear? How much time do you spend thinking about it? Be honest with yourself. Do you really want to continue feeding it with your energy? Rebecca: That was really powerful to me. We do spend a lot of time thinking about our fears or the things that are negative in our life. How did you come to this realization? What part of your story brought about these questions?  Stacey: Thank you for asking that. while I was going through my second bout of breast cancer and going through, and at that point it was almost stage four, so I really statistically did not know how many, how much time I had on this. Stacey: Beautiful Earth. And I said to myself, You know, you start thinking about the time that you spent, and I realized two words that kept coming up that I equate now to almost a curse word is "what if?" And I realized that I had spent so much of my precious time and my precious heartbeats with the. What if, and most of the time, the what ifs don't come to fruition. Stacey: So what happens if you spending all of this magical time that you have here on this earth, thinking about what ifs while missing what's happening in front of you at the moment? So I really started thinking about that, and if we think about our worst fear and we lean into it, and then we switch the narrative, It frees up the energy around it and it, it, it weakens the intensity that we feel. Rebecca: Wow. And so when it comes to like negative thoughts, and I know you, I don't wanna give away too much of your book, but I know you had a lot of, I guess, negative thoughts and fears around cancer. I think a lot of times when people think about, how your thought life affects your reality, It can get into a little gray area. Rebecca: Can you explain to me how you feel like your thought life may or may not have contributed to some of the realities that you were facing during this time?  Stacey: Yes, and this is my personal belief. I, for whatever reason, had an obsession with getting cancer. It wasn't a, Hey, what if it wasn't a, you know, it, it was really consumed almost all of my thoughts, and you would say, But you don't have cancer in your family, and I really don't. Stacey: But I kept thinking about it now. I also believe that our thoughts affect our bodies. So the, the stress, when you have peaceful, loving thoughts, your body's at ease, your body, we are meant to heal. That is how we are built to always heal ourselves, are ready to heal. And when we're, we're thinking about thoughts that may make us upset or stressed, our healing may stop. Stacey: So that's one, one piece of it. The other piece of it is I do believe that what we think we're, we're more powerful than we believe. And when we think things, I believe that we send them out to the universe and they may manifest. So whether that's true or not, why take that chance either to affect how it affects your body, or how it affects your future and your existence and your, you know, your reality. Stacey: It's, we have so much control and power over that. Why not reverse it and make it really special and happy.  Rebecca: So true. And like you said,

This past weekend I attended the 22nd Annual Conference of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Multiple exhibits stressed the harmful effects of Electromagnetic Radiation on Humans including today's guest, Justin Frandson. You can’t hear, see, or smell them; electromagnetic fields. The earth emits low level electromagnetic fields. The earth, sun and ionosphere are all natural sources of EMF. However, the subject of this podcast episode isn’t how to block EMFs; it is about learning to live with them. Although, manmade magnetic fields are causing a broad spectrum of dangerous radiation to human health. As mentioned in this podcast episode, full blocking (like sleeping in a Faraday bag) would also cut us off from the good energy emitted by the Earth. The increase in biological exposure to manmade EMFs is in the billions, so how can we learn to live with them with the least damage? There are folks who suggest that EMF exposure is not harmful; however, let’s keep in mind that doctors denied cigarettes were harmful to public health in the beginning. Keep in mind it’s easier to prevent than treat disease, or as I mention in the podcast episode, err on the side of caution without living in fear. Types of EMFs On average, there are four types of manmade EMFs in a home. Dirty Electricity - Itinerant frequencies that create unnatural electromagnetic environments like fluorescent and LED lighting.Radio Frequency/Microwave Radiation - WiFi and Bluetooth devices along with microwave ovens.Magnetic Fields - These occur when electricity is flowing. Frequently used appliances with large motors are typically the worst offenders. (Avoid having these large appliances share an adjoining wall with your bed as the closer you are to these magnetic fields, the stronger. The further you are, the more they fall off.Electric Fields - Emanate from all the wiring in your home. This includes extension cords and power cords. Considering the four types of manmade EMFs, exposure can come from many sources, such as: mobile phones, laptops, iPads, bluetooth headphonespower linesx-raystanning beds, microwave ovens, and other electric appliances The main topic of this podcast conversation will be concerning electronic devices which use WiFi and Bluetooth, however we touch on other types of EMFs briefly. Where Does EMF Exposure Come From? Families are exposed to EMFs at school and at home. Children are exposed to electromagnetic fields in many forms from baby monitors to iPads. In American schools, children are often able to use computers as early as preschool. France banned WiFi in elementary schools years ago. The governments of other countries such as Spain, Germany, and Russia have recommendations to ban WiFi from schools due to potential health challenges. EMFs influence metabolic processes in the human body and exert various biological effects on cells through a range of mechanisms. 1 EMF exposure intensity decreases as you move away from the object that’s sending out waves. High-frequency EMFs are the ionizing type of radiation. Scientific literature agrees that large exposures can cause damage. Xray machines, CT Scans, and tanning beds are examples of this low levels of this type of radiation. (National Cancer Institute Fact Sheet.) Low- to mid-frequency EMFs are considered non-ionizing type of radiation. Examples include hair dryers, power lines, cellphones, and microwave ovens. EMF Exposure Symptoms The problem of health effects of RF EMF has not been definitively resolved, however, they suggest it appears necessary to use precautionary principles and ALARA (As Low as Reasonably Achievable) principles. it is recommended that the interpretation of results from studies on health effects of RF radiation should take sponsorship from the telecom or other industry into account. It is concluded that the ICNIRP has failed to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of health risks associated with RF radiation. The latest ICNIRP publication cannot be used for guidelines on this exposure. So what are some of the actual adverse health effects of exposure? Again, there is no professional diagnosis but reported symptoms include: sleep disturbanceschemical sensitivities (fragrances, etc.)headachesanxietysuicide and depressionnauseafatigueloss of libido Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity World Health Organization (WHO) has classified radio electromagnetic fields as a potential carcinogen. Electromagnetic fields can be dangerous not only because of the risk of cancer, but also other health problems, including electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). “The few high-quality studies in animals have provided no evidence that Wi-Fi is harmful to health.” 3 (Long term exposure of mobile phone use has not been studied sufficiently.) Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, which causes negative symptoms but is not a recognized medical diagnosis. Sensitivity to EMF is termed 'Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity or EHS, which in medical literature is also known as idiopathic environmental intolerance. Dr. Martin Pall states that our kids, kids will be the first to see DNA changes and here’s how to protect them from EMF Exposure. Tips for Reducing EMF Exposure We’re all exposed to electromagnetic fields on a daily basis but we can minimize the intensity of this exposure by taking some or all of the following precautions. Hardwire your home so your wifi is not always on.Go barefoot outside and have Grounding Bags near you.Avoid solar power: Solar in homes causes massive dirty electricity.Put your phone in airplane mode most of the time, check the setting to make sure this turns off bluetooth and wifi.Avoid dimmer switches which contribute to dirty electricity.Eliminate fluorescent lights - frequencies from these lights are terrible.Smart TVs emit EMFs even when they aren’t on.Opt-out of your SMART meter and convert it to analogue. Other interventions You can check out Justin’s EMF rocks at his website: https://emfrocks.com/ Once you put some of these practices in place, you may notice improvement in sleep and health. The cumulative benefits of at least 3% deeper sleep per night are massive for continued health, cognitive function, and performance. source EMR can lead to metabolic disorders of monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain, depending on the intensity of radiation exposure, and might in theory result in abnormal emotional behavior. This might explain why children with reduced exposure to EMFs and increased outdoor activity often experience improved behaviors. Further Reading The Invisible Rainbow by Arthur FirstenbergEMF*d by Joseph Mercola Meet Justin Frandson Justin Frandson is an Athleticism Performance Coach who has worked with amateur and professional athletes for the past two decades. He saw his athletes breaking down from the excessive levels of EMF from their SMART watches, wireless earbuds, and electric cars. He has tested hundreds of homes and clients. The solution? Grounding Bags with hand-mined crystals with moisture and magnetic properties to ground and repel EMF, which contribute to a deeper night's sleep, protecting them from the excess rollout of man-made radiation. Help us Spread The Word Please rate and review this podcast to help us spread the word about this important topic. You can read instructions for how to leave a review on iTunes here. Kıvrak, Elfide Gizem et al. “Effects of electromagnetic fields exposure on the antioxidant defense system.” Journal of microscopy and ultrastructure vol. 5,4 (2017): 167-176. doi:10.1016/j.jmau.2017.07.003Bortkiewicz, Alicja. “Health effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF EMF).” Industrial health vol. 57,4 (2019): 403-405. doi:10.2486/indhealth.57_400https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/electromagnetic-fields-fact-sheet#r8 Rebecca: Oh, this, this should be really a great conversation because anytime I talk to people about grounding or earthing, they're like, Oh gosh, you know, I. Rebecca: This is some Rebecca's wacky stuff she's into, or if I say anything about EMFs, they're like, Oh, conspiracy theory. So I'm like, Oh, okay. Here's someone who has, I'm sure a lot of things to say about this, actually, if you drive through my neighborhood, I'd say at least half of the people who live in my neighborhood have up signs, no 5g. Rebecca: So thought. Justin: I wanna move to that neighborhood.  Rebecca: Tell me a little bit about yourself, Justin. I mean, what made you decide to start a company helping us to guard our health against these electromagnetic fields? Justin: Yeah, well, I'm an athleticism performance coach, so athleticism.com started out about 25 years ago working with amateur and professional athletes for sports performance. I do nerve work for sports performance and really looked out of the box to see how I could help facilitate it and these guys to perform at the higher level. Justin: and obviously one of the easiest things to do to get someone better is to clear the stressor outta their life. So I started seeing EMF as the manmade stuff as one of the biggest invisible stressors that we were facing. And then they just kept getting stronger and stronger and closer and closer to us. Justin: And so that's what brought me to the emf.  Rebecca: Wow. So in case people are listening and they don't know what EMFs are, why don't you explain a little bit about them and why they can be hazardous to our health?  Justin: Yeah, so everybody, let's have a little biology, physics lesson right here. Justin: We're not just a body in air, like there's a little more to it than. Everything has a wave form resonance. Everything carries a frequency. We are one with the universe as resonance. Let me say that again. We are one with the universe. Okay.

This article was originally written in April 2015. In 2022, after a comment from my daughter, my goal was to slow down. I noticed it was becoming harder to get my family together, so I invited an expert to give us insight for making family meals happen. You'll find tons of helpful information above and below, including resources and links, a podcast episode, books, and more. What to do if Family Mealtimes Stop Happening The importance of family dinners is clear, however life happens. After four of my six children became adults and moved out, our routines gradually became less consistent. Add in the fact that my husband commutes to work. Family mealtimes weren't happening. While frequent family meals is high on my priority list, the cold hard fact is that as kids grow into young adults, it's not always possible, our schedules were all over the place. I reached out to FamilyDinnerProject.org for some tips. Links Mentioned In Podcast Benefits of Family Dinner for Adults (Empty Nesters, College Students, etc.) Family Breakfast Project - Activities with make ahead or quick breakfasts to get in some quality time Welcoming Table - A special series of resources for families with unique mealtime needs and challenges. Family members who are on the autism spectrum, or who have ADHD, learning disabilities, feeding disorders, or sensory processing issues need family dinner to be a safe and welcoming space.Technology at the Table - resources to help you decide what feels best for your family, along with fun ways to use devices to enhance family bonding, not distract from it.Youth Sports and Family Dinner - top tips and advice from a team of experts, as well as meal ideas that are perfect for busy athletes and their families. Use these tools as inspiration to keep family meals on the calendar, right alongside the big game.Eat, Laugh, Talk, The Family Dinner Playbook - 52 weeks of ideas for achievable family dinners with great food, fun and conversation. With tips to overcome common dinnertime obstacles, set goals and get closer as a family. Chapters on picky eating, screen time, tension at the table, busy schedules and more — plus hundreds of easy recipes and tons of ideas for engaging conversation and exciting dinner games. Other Posts Mentioned in Podcast Meet Bri DeRosa Bri DeRosa is a freelance writer and communications consultant with a background in creative and dramatic writing, arts education, and service learning. She’s spent over a decade working in program development and creative initiatives, largely for non-profits and small businesses. Bri has been the Content Manager at The Family Dinner Project since 2014, has contributed to three cookbooks, and practices her family dinner skills every night at home with her husband and two teenage sons. Here are two examples of newsletters from the Family Dinner Project that are applicable to this podcast episode. Family Dinner with an Empty NestTeens at the Dinner Table Rebecca: I actually reached out to you because I am struggling myself with this subject, and so I thought as much as I try. And as much as this means to me, if I'm struggling, there have to be people out there that are also in the same boat. Rebecca: It's easy to think that, Oh, I'm the only one that has this problem. My life is so difficult and busy. But it's not true really.  Bri: No, I mean, it's. We hear from so many families that this is challenging, This is hard. Family meals have gotten more difficult over the years. The external pressures, the things that make family life what it is today are actually like, they pretty much work against family meal times, right? Bri: And, and everybody has this sense that like, I'm supposed to be able to do it all. I'm supposed to be able to do it all and do it perfectly. And that is not the. So, no, you are not the only one who is struggling. I do this for a living and I sometimes find it difficult, so I think we all just need to own right up front. Bri: It is hard. It is hard for everybody. There are no right answers. There are only things that might help. Right. That makes me feel so much better.  Bri: Can you introduce yourself and tell me a little bit about what you do at Family Dinner Project? Sure. So I'm Bri d Rosa, and I am the content manager for the Family Dinner Project. So I do our communications, our editorial, our website , our social media, you know, all the things as well as, you know, we're a small and nimble team, so I also help out on the partnership side and just kind of where many hats, , And I've been doing that for, gosh, over eight years, , since I officially joined the team. Bri: And I was consulting with the team for a few years before that even. So I've, I've kind of been around the family dinner project almost since the beginning. , and just have, you know, so much love for the mission and for the whole idea of. Eating together as a family. It's something that was important to me growing up. Bri: It's something that is important to me as a mom and as a wife and, and you know, just, I think that, it's one of those things that although it is really difficult for many of us to pull off, it is rewarding and important to try to keep it at the center of, of our practice and our philosophy as families. Rebecca: Yes. And that actually leads me to my first question is I wanted you to reiterate for us, I mean, cuz I think a lot of us know that family dinners are important. It's important, especially when you have children, but even if you don't, But I think it's so important, but some of us maybe lose sight of exactly why it's important. Rebecca: So can we start out with maybe telling us a few of the top benefits of family dinner?  Bri: Yeah, no, and it's a great question and there are so many, , , so it's hard to highlight,, what are the most important ones, but family dinners, research has shown over decades. Decades of research has shown that family dinners have benefits. Bri: That are physical and emotional and social and academics. So family dinner is really the one single activity that we know of that actually confers a number of different benefits in all of these domains in one package, right? You can certainly get nutritional benefits in other ways. You can get mental health benefits in other ways, academic benefits in other ways, but we don't know of any one thing that brings them all together in the way that family dinner does. Bri: Some of the things that people are surprised to know about, and I always like to highlight these because, it, it's like, Oh, I didn't even know that was a thing. For example, family dinners actually increase literacy. In young kids, so the act of having conversation at the dinner table. The way that we talk to each other with multiple ages and stages, parents talking to kids, talking to each other. Bri: All of that actually increases kids' vocabulary, their sequencing skills in the way that we tell stories, their language skills, and those things roll up to increased literacy. They have better reading skills when they're older by like grade three, grade five, those kids who have dinner with their family more frequently actually are better readers and they're better storytellers than kids who don't eat with their families. Bri: That's, to me, like a mind blowing statistic, and I always love to bring that out because it shows that family dinner, you know, we think of like, Oh, my kids will, you know, be healthier. They'll eat better. Yes, absolutely. There are health benefits, right? There are all these other sneaky ways in which family dinner makes us stronger, happier, healthier people who eat dinner with their families. Bri: young parents or new parents tend to actually be more satisfied with their marriages if they're trying to keep family dinner on the schedule while their kids are little. , which is the most challenging time actually, in some ways. People are like, I, we can't eat together. We can't even. Sleep. We can't function. Bri: But if you can actually eat together, you're going to possibly have a better, stronger relationship with your spouse. we find that kids who eat dinner with their families, bounce back more easily. From cyber bullying and from other, interpersonal challenges, we find that they have better friendship skills, better social skills, teenagers tend to have lower incidences of depression, anxiety, mental health issues, eating disorders.  Bri: there's a lower risk of drug use and misuse, lower risk of, pre unwanted pregnancy. All of these things that parents worry about tend to be lower in families where kids eat with their parents. Rebecca: Wow. And that's just a few of the benefits. I mean,  Bri: that's just a few, right? Like I could go on forever. That's a whole podcast in, in and of itself. But yeah, for real, these are some of the big ones. Yeah, I can say that you will absolutely be communicating a connectedness of bonding and importance of family life and importance of them to you as human beings. Mm-hmm. that can be really protective. Yes. And really vital. Right. If you do spend the time to eat together. Rebecca: Mm-hmm. , I really like the way you put that. It actually gave me cold chills, so I, I really feel that it is so important. But families often face these scheduling challenges. You know, where one parent works a lot of overtime, or like my husband commutes a long way to work. On the way there and back, so like hours in the car or kids are involved in a ton of sports or other activities, or maybe they have, you know, an after school job or whatever. Rebecca: Are we too busy? I mean, what? What are the creative ideas and solutions that you have for highly active families or families that just have to do a lot to get by?  Bri: Right. Yeah. No, and I think, So there's two, there's multiple questions right there and,

The toxic chemicals used to treat clothing remain on the fabric, even after washing. Chemicals such as formaldehyde, stain blockers, flame retardants, and more are endocrine disruptors. These can penetrate the skin and lead to serious health conditions. Exposure to these chemicals, often used in fast fashion, is shown to cause multiple abnormalities in the reproductive system of women, even in minimal doses.(1) Clothing is one of the most significant environmental problems, along with housing, transportation, and food. Not only that, but many manufacturers don't pay factory workers a living wage. What's the answer? Learn to be ethically fashionable for your health, the sake of the environment, and for humanity. The more you know, the less you need.Yvon Chouinard What is Ethical Fashion? Throughout the full life cycle of a garment, from manufacturing to disposal, making choices that are responsible towards the environment, people, and animals. Using textiles created in a responsible and conscious way. Materials, dyes, labor, and even buy back programs are part of sustainable and ethical fashion. Are ethical, sustainable, and slow fashion all the same? Technically, most of us mean the same thing when we talk about these terms. However, each of us may hold different ethics. In the end, slow fashion is a movement meant to provide better quality products that consumers are able to hold onto longer, thus slowing the need for disposal. Slow fashion may include limited items as well as made to order clothing. Sustainable fashion is entirely based on a more environmentally and socially conscious production. Overall, the combined goal is similar. Fast fashion is sold in high volume with a pretty low profit margin, for example a popular example is Shein. Workers being underpaid and overworked along with dumping untreated waste into local waterways. Many clothing manufacturers such as Shein and others may say they're working on sustainablity, but the proof is not forthcoming. Supply chain transparency, fabrics, and waste management are three big areas to look at when deciding if a company is ethical or sustainable. Options for Being Ethically Fashionable The fashion industry has a detrimental impact on the environment - in fact, according to EcoWatch, Fast Fashion is the Second Dirtiest Industry in the World. It is up to you, the consumer, to vote with your dollars. To make it easier, suggestions are listed below to help you get started becoming ethically fashionable. All of these recommendations may not suit your lifestyle. One or two of them will be enough to help you stay stylish and make ethical clothing purchases. Purchase second-hand clothing Undoubtedly, the most economical way to be ethically fashionable it to purchase clothing second hand. Second hand purchases reduce carbon emissions, save lots of resources, water, and energy. When you buy clothing from a second-hand shop, you are making a sustainable purchase. Every time you buy used clothing you are keeping one more item out of the landfill. Your purchase also keeps local thrifts shop in business and your dollar going back into your local community. Win-win. You can make your ethical purchases even more effective when you shop for sustainable clothing brands at a second-hand shop! Being budget-friendly and ethical are two of the main reasons why I buy more and more of our clothing from second-hand shops. Speaking of buying locally Local clothing shops and boutiques are another good way to make an ethical choice in clothing. When you shop at a local boutique, you can ask where they clothing came from, see the quality and support your local business owners. If you still prefer to purchase your clothing brand-new, consider taking your items to a second-hand or consignment shop so that they will be reused and kept out of the landfill. You can be ethically fashionable by donating your gently used quality clothing to a homeless shelter, battered women's shelter, or local church that has a freebie-closet. Ethical Fashion Costs More Unfortunately, ethical fashion is more expensive than fast fashion. Why? First, the garment workers creating those clothing receive a living wage. This means they aren't working unreasonably long hours and they're paid enough to afford the basic necessities of life. The second reason ethical fashion costs more is that it is higher quality. Consider this concept. You pay $100 for a pair of jeans that you wear once per week for a couple of years. The cost per wear ends up being less than $1. (That's why Kristian has the option of making payments on jeans.) Slow fashion garments are built to stand the test of time. That's another reason they're more sustainable and ethical. If you dislike the idea of buying second hand clothing, but find ethical fashion is stretching your budget, consider a minimalist approach. Two pair of sustainable brand jeans is better than a dozen pair of fast fashion jeans. They'll likely fit better and definitely last longer. What To Look For in Ethical Fashion? So how do you go about finding fashion brands with sustainable practices, ethical working conditions, and a small carbon footprint? Research your favorite brands looking for their sustainability initiatives. If they don't meet the mark. Learn which certifications to look for so you can support the companies that line up with your goals. Sustainable designers use renewable resources, eco-friendly materials or deadstock fabric to reduce waste. They incorporate earth-friendly production processes that reduce carbon emissions. Fair labor practices are employed and high quality materials are used to produce small batches. Certifications such as: OEKO-TEXGOTS CertifiedFair Trade Certified meets rigorous social, environmental, and economic standards.Bluesign Certified which supports suppliers and manufacturers in their sustainable, resource-saving production of clothing and textiles through on-site assessments Many brands using sustainable materials also have a buy back or recycling program. Some even have a section on their website to sell "previously loved" items. Identifying Sustainable Fashion Brands For New Clothing Kristian outlines some good points in this podcast episode. Design, labor, and materials that are kind to the earth from seed to garment. (Find transcripts at the bottom of this post.) Hire a tailor As discussed in this podcast episode, tailored clothing tends to be better quality. I know this is one that many will opt out of. Still, it is a viable option. Especially if you are like my friends and I who appreciate fine-looking unique clothing styles! Do a web search for tailors near you or an alterations shop. You may be surprised at how affordable this can be. My daughters have their military uniforms altered, my husband has his clothing altered sometimes. I've purchased high quality sustainable jeans that were a bit too long and had them hemmed. So, it just makes sense to check out this option. Of course, with Slowjeans.co you can get your exact measurements taken excluding then necessity for having them tailored. Meet Kristian Hansen Founder of Slo Clothing Kristian Hansen, AKA 'The Jeans Guy', is an award winning serial Entrepreneur, explorer, content creator, and mission-driven founder currently on a journey to solve the climate crisis through eco-conscious capitalism, the power of consumerism, and data. His company, slø, is part of the slow fashion revolution giving function, fit, and quality back to the masses starting with jeans. Kristian and slø are redefining what it means to build companies through community and creating clothes that make everyone feel confident and make their lives easier. After Kristian's viral TikTok, over the pocket discrepancy of male and female jeans he posed the question “what do your dream jeans look like?” to the TikTok masses. Over 600,000 people, returned over 800,000 suggestions sparking the unprecedented community-driven, community-owned project: slø. Visit the website at slojeans.co What to look for in fabrics Ethical clothing is made from materials that are grown or manufactured in an environmentally friendly way. Many people automatically assume organic cotton is the best choice. Organic cotton is a sustainable alternative to regular cotton as farmers do not use pesticides to grow the cotton so workers aren't exposed to chemicals. Organic cotton, still requires a lot of water to grow and is a rather expensive industry. If you are going to spend the money on organic cotton fabrics, look for the GOTS-certification so that you will know it is worth what you are paying. To make one pair of cotton jeans requires 2,108 gallons of water, 659 gallons to make a cotton t-shirt. According to hidden water in everyday objects. Recycled cotton is a sustainable choice as it has the potential to help reduce water and energy consumption and keep clothes out of the landfill. You will also find recycled denim in packing materials sometimes when you buy from eco-friendly companies. Make sure to recycle your denim after you wear it out! Some manufacturers make it into nontoxic insulation. Last time I checked, the company had collected 2.5 million items of denim which diverted more than 1230 tons from the landfills. The Amazing Hemp Plant Hemp is considered the most versatile plant on earth as it can feed, clothe, clean and medicate, humans! Not to mention, hemp is a durable fabric that only gets better with time. With each wash and wear, the material becomes softer. When you are ready to discard hemp clothing, it is biodegradable. Organic linen is a natural and sustainable fabric which is also biodegradable. Eco-friendly linen is naturally moth resistant and robust, so it lasts longer than other materials.