PART 3: The Sweet Escape: Confronting Sugar Addiction and Transforming Your Health

Are you ready to break free from sugar's sweet clutches and revolutionize your health? My journey, kickstarted by the eye-opening challenges of motherhood, led me down the path of confronting my own sugar addiction. In this soul-baring finale with my guest Melissa Rohlfs, we pull back the curtain on the not-so-sweet truths about sugar detox, revealing how to transition to a lifestyle where sugar no longer reigns supreme. With personal victories and strategies that go beyond mere abstinence, we offer a roadmap to reshaping your relationship with sugar and nourishment itself.

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DISCLAIMER:
*This podcast and its contents are for informational purposes only and are not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or a qualified health provider for any questions concerning a medical condition or health objectives. Additionally, the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every individual and are not guaranteed for business or personal success. Use discretion and seek professional counsel when necessary.

Transcript

Nika Lawrie: 0:06

Welcome to the Inspired with Nika Lawrie podcast. Melissa, welcome back for our third and final episode of our Sugar Deep Dive series. I'm so grateful to have you come back again and join me.

Melissa Rohlfs: 0:25

Of course, thank you for having me. It's been awesome.

Nika Lawrie: 0:27

I'm sad it's our last one, I know. I know I'm sure you and I will find other ways to elaborate and other topics. To you know, gone are our soap boxes on, so I'll look forward to that in the future, but I'm grateful for this opportunity too. So can you tell me, um you know for the, the listeners who um are just joining us. Please go check out the last two episodes. We discussed, uh, the damage sugar causes in our bodies as adults. And next episode, we discussed, um sugar and the relationship with our children and the damage it's causing to our kids. This episode we are going to deep dive into how to quit or reduce sugar in our lives. But before we get into that, melissa, will you share just a little bit about yourself and how you got to where you are today? Yeah, I was a sugar addicted kid.

Melissa Rohlfs: 1:15

I started hoarding sugar in my room at eight. Mika, like I was that girl, yeah, and that you know transpired into eating, you know, buckets of ice cream in college and after college, and into marriage and childhood or having children. And I'll never forget, our son was a newborn and we took him to the chiropractor because he was really fussy and she was like, well, what did you eat? I'm like I had some Oreos. Didn't think she'd ask me how many. And I'm like, well, what did you eat? I'm like I had some Oreos.

Melissa Rohlfs: 1:46

Didn't think she'd ask me how many. And I'm like she asked me. I'm like, maybe like half the container. And she's like, okay, this is affecting not only you but your baby. And it was really that point where I'm like, okay, I've got to change this. Yes, I'm using sugar to handle the overwhelming, the exhaustion, the motherhood and a husband that travels and me having some trauma that I haven't worked through, but this is not the solution. So figured it out and went to school to become a health and life coach, and here I am helping other women find sugar freedom.

Nika Lawrie: 2:10

I love it. Well, you know. Again, I commend you for the work you're doing. I think it's so important and you know, like we've talked in the last two episodes, sugar addiction is so real, it just so prevalent and it can be really really hard to overcome. So I'm grateful for the work that you're doing and helping women you know really reduce this dependency in their life.

Melissa Rohlfs: 2:32

So thank you Of course, thank you, because it's legal and socially acceptable. And yeah, we don't, we don't really think of it, as you know the level of we do with drugs or alcohol or cigarettes, but it's. It's like, yeah, thank you, it's just legal.

Nika Lawrie: 2:50

I mean really, yeah, yeah it's. It's crazy Once you, you know, once you dive down that rabbit hole, you know, it's like I always talk about with the toxins, the same thing you dive down that rabbit hole and you're like, oh my God, it's everywhere. What am I going to do? Sugar is the exact same way, and so I want to get into today, like, what do we do? How are we going to get into it? My very first question for you is should we quit sugar altogether, or should we simply reduce it? And is it even possible to actually cold turkey quit sugar?

Melissa Rohlfs: 3:23

This is my personal opinion based on my own experience and working with other, multiple other women. I think when we do the cold turkey and we cut it off, we want it all the more. Right, like the mind goes where the man, the man follows. Where the mind goes, the man follows. So if we're thinking, oh my gosh, I can't have sugar, I can't have it, all we're doing is thinking about it, which makes us want it all the more. So I'm a big proponent of without deprivation. So have a little bit, but don't use it to stuff or numb or soothe or escape, like have a healthy relationship with it. Go to the birthday party, have a piece of cake and be done. Don't stand in front of the pound pan of brownies and use it to like buffer your feelings or eat more because you're exhausted. But have a healthy relationship with it where you're not dependent on it, you're not using it, you enjoy it, you like it and then you're done.

Nika Lawrie: 4:18

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, as as we're getting ready to quit um sugar or or significantly reduce it in our lives, is there anything in the sense of health concerns we should be aware of, anything we should watch out for?

Melissa Rohlfs: 4:35

That's a good question. Um, I don't know what's coming up and this is not really as related, but I think when we have, maybe, a sugar addiction and we scale back, we might have some withdrawal. What I'm agreeing to is the keto flu. I hate keto, I'm not a fan of that, but our bodies are trying to tell us something, so we need to figure out what's going on and what our bodies are saying. Usually, with sugar, there could be a sign that we have a nutritional deficiency, so maybe we need to look at what we're not getting that we need. Or maybe it's a craving of, we're missing something in our lives and we're looking for sweetness in the form of sugar when actually what we need is connection, or we need alone time because you're an overwhelmed mom or whatever that is. So really, it's finding where. Where is that coming from and what can I do about it? So, health-wise, I think minimizing sugar is the best thing you can do for your yeah.

Nika Lawrie: 5:36

Yeah, I absolutely agree. I love that you brought up other factors too that you know, a lot of times there's nutrient deficiencies, like we talked in the last episode about the children, about how sugar not only has zero nutritive value, it has negative nutritive value because it's it's ripping those nutrients out of your body in order to process it and push it through. And so you know, I think a lot of us who have had sugar addictions, or a lot of us that don't even have sugar addictions but just eat sugar in the standard American diet, the AKA sad diet, you know, I think we don't realize the damage that it's caused over all the years and the deficiencies that we likely have from other vitamins and minerals.

Melissa Rohlfs: 6:23

Absolutely, and I think, too, the biggest line that I fell into, nico, is I need it for energy. I'm tired. Well, no, if you're tired, your body's asking for a break. So that's a great time to rest. Heaven forbid this type A person would rest, but you can rest. Or maybe you need to go outside and get some vitamin D, like your body's kind of begging for a break. So give your body what it needs and don't use the sugar to make it keep going.

Nika Lawrie: 6:51

I think you know a big one for me that that was really um, uh, impactful for me to learn was I was. I always craved sugar first thing in the morning, like that was kind of my thing, it was my, it was my get up and go boost kind of thing. And you know what? What I realized was you know, you mentioned in one of the other episodes about drinking some water and I was freaking dehydrated, like I needed water, like you know, you'd gone, I'd gone eight, nine, 10 hours without drinking any water while I was asleep, you know, and you breathe all night long and that's how you uh, uh, release a lot of the water that's stored in your body. And so you know I was really thirsty and I just didn't know. Like I was like, well, I'll go get my you know my sugar fix and go on with my day and I just needed to drink some water with my day and I just needed to drink some water.

Melissa Rohlfs: 7:49

And it's interesting because dehydration can mimic sugar cravings and so can caffeine. Right, Like too much caffeine can mimic a sugar addiction, and really the cause of, or the solution to both is water staying hydrated?

Nika Lawrie: 7:59

Yeah, absolutely so, I know you know one of the biggest hurdles or fears that people have when it comes to wanting to minimize or reduce sugar intake in their life, or or to cold turkey quit, is the detox period, the getting over the cravings that look feeling for the first three, five, seven days of quitting sugar. How long, on average, you know, does that usually take for people? And then, do you have any suggestions on how to minimize the symptoms that come from the withdrawal?

Melissa Rohlfs: 8:35

I think it depends on the person because we're all different. We'll have a different baseline, so that would be dependent on how much sugar you were consuming before. I think that's going to vary. Um, as far as how to navigate, maybe some of the symptoms I found for me when I am nourishing my body and I have that mindset and that perception of this is nourishment. This is not an emotional crutch, this is not a buffer, this is not my savior. This is nourishment and deal for my body to keep me going through the day. When I'm giving it what it needs and I'm staying hydrated and I'm getting enough sleep and I'm managing my stress and my basic like the basics of health are kind of in place, the cravings aren't as potent and your body's not able to retaliate as much because you're giving it what it needs and it didn't need the sugar in the first place.

Nika Lawrie: 9:25

I think that's. I think that's interesting. I haven't. I haven't done it, but I know um Dr Mark Hyman has a book about like the 10 day sugar detox or something like that and, and I know, throughout the book he talks about all of these um different supplements or or food, specifically foods eat so you get specific types of nutrients that really kind of help reduce that craving. So I think, understanding that if our bodies are nourished and rested and hydrated and well taken care of, a lot of times those withdrawal symptoms aren't nearly as difficult as they may seem. I think a lot of times too, it's just the fear like you have, the fear of going through it, and that's almost even worse than the actual process itself.

Melissa Rohlfs: 10:09

Totally, because if you've used it as a crutch, you're kind of forced to either find another crutch or really kind of deal with what's going on.

Nika Lawrie: 10:18

Yeah, absolutely yeah. So can you start to give us some of your favorite strategies for limiting or minimizing sugar in our daily diets?

Melissa Rohlfs: 10:30

Yeah, I think it goes back again to knowing where it's coming in. You've got to know where the sugar's coming in so you can know. You know again, it's that baseline of this is where it's coming in, this is where it's showing up, and then you can choose to either get rid of it from that source or you can upgrade swaps. I love to do things like honey, maple syrup, um, coconut sugar I use those as our sugar sources, um, rather than the refined sugars we talked about in that first episode. Um, but I'm all about like even reducing it. So so many recipes call for like a cup. You don't really need a cup of sugar, like you could do half a cup of coconut sugar and it's going to be just a sweet yeah. So it's kind of getting that big picture of where is it coming in, how am I using it, and then making a plan and a strategy going forward of where am I going to reduce it? Am I going to upgrade? Am I going to cut it out? What am I going to do?

Nika Lawrie: 11:25

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think you know, um, we, we don't think about how we can change recipes and things like that. We don't think about, like you know, we don't have to fall, this is just a suggested route to take, um, you know, with making, uh, chocolate chip cookies or whatever. You know, it's like I made chocolate chip cookies the other day at home and I did the same thing. I replaced, I think it called for like a cup and a half of sugar, which was, and then it was like I think it was a cup and a half of sugar and then a cup or something of brown sugar too. Like it was insane. I was like this is crazy, and it was.

Nika Lawrie: 12:02

I Googled, you know, um, you know best chocolate chip cookie recipe on Google, and you know it had like 40,000 positive reviews. And so you know what I realized as I was making is like 40,000 plus people have eaten you know three cups of sugar basically in their chocolate chip cookies for who knows how long we'll following this recipe, and so it was kind of heartbreaking for me, but I that's what I did is I? I used the rest of the recipe and then I swapped out the sugar. I used some maple syrup, just to give it that kind of traditional feel, and then, um, I'm I'm drawing the blank on it Now I will, uh, link to it. There's another sugar that I found that um doesn't really affect your um insulin level. It starts with an L I can't think of what it is. I'll find it, though, and I replaced that, and they taste delicious, and you know, I gave a couple to my friend and she's like these are like the best cookies I've ever had, and so you know she didn't, she didn't know that it wasn't.

Melissa Rohlfs: 12:58

Isn't that the best, when you give somebody something that's healthy and they're like oh, that was so good, I wouldn't even know yeah. Yeah, exactly Because we believe that lie, that if it's healthy it doesn't taste good.

Nika Lawrie: 13:11

Yeah, I mean, that's the thing your taste buds change. Your taste buds change when you um make make an effort to reduce the amount of sugar that you take in.

Melissa Rohlfs: 13:23

Totally, and everything kind of feels more alive too, like even how you perceive the world, and the brain fog is gone Like it's amazing Right.

Nika Lawrie: 13:30

Yeah, absolutely. Do you have any other um suggestions in in reducing sugar? So you know, one is limiting what you're bringing in or kind of like reading those labels. The other one is like changing your recipes or, you know, using different sugar options. Do you have any other suggestions that kind of help people navigate this as they're getting started?

Melissa Rohlfs: 13:53

Yeah, absolutely. I think you need to get curious and see where is the sugar coming in and what is my relationship with it. That's a question nobody asks, right Like we don't sit there and go gee, what's my relationship like with sugar? But I think that's a really foundational piece because we've got to figure out when we're turning to sugar and why and what we're using it for, and then, when we have that awareness, we can make those necessary changes if needed.

Nika Lawrie: 14:18

Yeah, absolutely. So you know I get. This question is like what can I eat if I quit eating sugar? Cause it's like an everything I mean. What can you eat when you're not eating as much sugar? Whole foods, I mean fruits.

Melissa Rohlfs: 14:34

Those are a great source of natural sugar. They're good for you, they're healthy. They give you vitamins and minerals, supports your immune system, supports your gut health. Like fruit, fruit is a great thing. Vegetables you can add spices. You know again, your taste buds are going to change, so food is going to taste different. It's going to taste better. Nuts are great, gosh meat I mean. There's so many things you can eat. It's just you've got to figure out where the sugar's sneaking in and just make some simple swaps and just be on your way.

Melissa Rohlfs: 15:07

Yeah, I think there's so much you can eat.

Nika Lawrie: 15:10

I think it goes back to the conversation I think it was in the first episode we had about. You know, the easiest way to do this, if you really want to do that, is just stop buying processed foods. You know that doesn't mean that you have to give up every single processed food. But, you know, really start buying that whole, fresh food, so real vegetables, preferably organic, as much as you can, depending on what your wallet can approve or support. You know, fruits as well looking at.

Nika Lawrie: 15:43

You know if you don't have a lactose issue, looking at really quality dairy, but you know, also understanding that lactose itself is a sugar too. And then watch out for your yogurts as well, cause those are scary when it comes to the amount of sugar that's in them. I think you know, um, I, my mom, sent me a picture of a non-dairy yogurt the other day and she's like delicious, and it was like chocolate cream something, and I was like how much sugar is in that thing? And she rolled and she just sent me the like oh, no, face, cause there was like 13 grams or something in this little cup of sugar. And that's not even the worst ones I've seen, you know. I've seen some that are, I think 23 or 24 grams in a little tiny cup of of yogurt.

Melissa Rohlfs: 16:28

So it's supposed to be healthy, right? Like it is one of those foods I'm glad you brought this up because it was on my mind in an earlier episode Like we think it's healthy, we think it's good, and so we eat it, and no, they're loaded with sugar A lot of the times.

Nika Lawrie: 16:41

Absolutely. Speaking of that, can you mention a couple of the other foods that are things to kind of watch out for? So yogurt's a big one where sugar is often hidden, especially the low fat, nonfat yogurt, so it's a big one to watch out for. Do you have other ones that you you've noticed that are big kind of uh?

Melissa Rohlfs: 16:59

low fat or nonfat really, cause, like you said, when those food manufacturers take out the fat, they're based on sugar. So anything low fat, fat free, um, that would be one to watch for. But I think yogurt is really the big one. I think the granola bars are big. It's, you know, just those foods that are marketed towards us and our children. Is healthy yogurt, granola bars, fruit strips, um, and I think, what else Gosh? Oh, juices, can we talk about juices?

Nika Lawrie: 17:28

Man, we should have talked about juices in the kid episode, cause that of all things, I mean, you're literally drinking a soda Like there's literally no difference Um the way your body process it. Maybe you have slightly less, uh, you know, chemicals that are in the sugar and the juices. But even that, I think, is kind of debatable, because a lot of times the you know, take apple juice, for instance those usually are non-organic apples, so they've been sprayed with pesticides, they have been processed through different machines. A lot of times they have, um, they have specific chemicals that strip out parts of the parts of the um flavor or the smells and things like that. There's all kinds of things that happen to make juice, and so I think that's not only toxic in the sugar level but toxic in the chemical side of things too 100% and they both, yeah, are terrible.

Nika Lawrie: 18:21

Yeah, it's scary for sure.

Nika Lawrie: 18:24

So, um, you know, we talked a little bit about alternatives to sugar, um, in the sense of, uh, artificial sugar sugars, in the first episode.

Nika Lawrie: 18:33

But, um, just in case people haven't listened to all three episodes, I really want to address that here too, because I think that is a misnomer that people are often confused by. They think I have a person that's a distant relative who is a health coach and she's phenomenal and she does a great job, but she touts artificial sugars a lot, and and I really have a struggle with her on that, because I think it is so detrimental to our health. And so I want to get your opinion again on artificial sugars and if they're appropriate and what the concerns are there. No, they're not appropriate, and now I'm curious why she thinks they are. Her approach is calorie counting, and so artificial sugars often don't have calories, and I get really angry about this because calorie counting has been completely debunked and it's a misleading statement that puts the um, the faults on the eater. You know, the person with the weight issues opposed to this is not actually how the science works, and so another, you know, another deep dive that I can go into.

Melissa Rohlfs: 19:44

But yeah, so that is why, before I kind of had you know my my own transformation, I did Weight Watchers and I figured out how I could eat all of the zero point foods that were sugar and not eat anything nutritionally. You know that had nutritional value at all. Did I lose weight? No. Did I feel better? No, so I wasn't getting health or weight loss, I was getting nothing.

Melissa Rohlfs: 20:07

but I had figured out how to coax the system because of that zero calorie which, like you said is is bunk. Um. So just because those artificial sweeteners have zero calories doesn't mean they're good for you. They're full of chemicals and preservatives and things that are linked to diseases like cancer, so please stay away from them at all costs.

Nika Lawrie: 20:24

Yeah, I think the other really important thing that often isn't addressed with them too and I don't think we addressed it in the other episode was that your body actually thinks it's still sugar, Like it's still. Like you still get the dopamine spike, you still have the insulin increase, Um, like it's it, your body processes it the exact same way as sugar, and so not only are you still getting you know the insulin issues, that the fat increased issues, but but you're also adding in all of these toxic, um, potentially, um, you know neurotoxins into your body. And so I think it's a big thing there to recognize that this is a triple whammy, not just a double whammy that comes from refined sugar.

Melissa Rohlfs: 21:07

But it's been marketed as healthy.

Nika Lawrie: 21:09

Yes, absolutely, and I think it's also important to know that most of these chemicals aren't tested for safety in humans. It's it's assume safe and then have the consumer prove that it's not right, and I think there's a. There's also a misnomer around the FDA is going to test and approve all these chemicals that go into our food and our beauty care products and self-care products, and the FDA really regulates almost nothing when it comes to those chemicals, and so it's it's really important to be aware of what's allowed through and and how little testing there is around these things 100%, just like food dyes.

Melissa Rohlfs: 21:54

You know they're not legal in other countries, but yet they're perfectly acceptable here. Explain that.

Nika Lawrie: 22:00

I know I think about the food babe. She is kind of a powerhouse in food toxins and stuff.

Nika Lawrie: 22:08

And she did a whole campaign against Kraft's mac and cheese because in Europe and the UK they had removed the yellow I think it's yellow number five food coloring diet because it's directly linked to behavioral and developmental issues in children. Yet it was still in American versions of Kraft macaroni and cheese, and so you know this is the food that's fed to children everywhere. Why is that okay to feed to American children and not to children in the UK and Europe? And the reason is because UK and Europe have much higher standards in what they allow chemical wise to be in beauty, personal care and food products and the US really doesn't regulate that at all, no, and that's why, if you go to those countries and you have American products, like Coke, they taste so different, so different.

Nika Lawrie: 23:01

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's unfortunate that it's that case and it's unfortunate that Americans are so unaware of it, and it's not our fault that information hasn't been out, but I think it's getting out there and I think people are starting to become aware of it to create that change.

Melissa Rohlfs: 23:22

And so I think it's our responsibility to do that due diligence and start to learn about these different things 100%, and I think that we have to be our own best health advocates, because nobody else is really going to do it for us. I mean, it's our health and our lives are our responsibilities, absolutely, and when we trust other people to do that, that's dangerous in my opinion.

Nika Lawrie: 23:50

Oh yeah, I totally agree. You know, I love that this conversation is kind of naturally veered this way, cause my, my next question for you is actually how can we change the way sugar is sold to us and how can we change it in the sense of how it's used in society? And I think it goes back to what we're talking about is to get educated. What are, what are your thoughts on this?

Melissa Rohlfs: 24:11

Well, with your dollars, right Like, manufacturers are going to produce what people are buying. So if you don't want all of that crap on the shelves, stop buying it. When there's no demand, they won't have the supply because there's nothing, nobody to sell it to. So I think we definitely can vote with our dollars. I'm also a big proponent of sharing what you've learned and helping other people get better along the way. So this information that you're hearing, share it with other people. Because it wasn't until I went on my own journey and started to follow people like the food babe that I learned oh my gosh, these things have been marketed and directed at us as health products and they're not healthy. Look at what's in them, look at what they're doing. But because I blindly fell for the idea that it was healthy, because somebody said so, I gave them my power, essentially.

Nika Lawrie: 25:01

I think you know giving up our power goes a lot to physicians too, and I'm not knocking doctors. I think there is a really, you know, beneficial place for them. I think the vast majority of them mean well, but I think it's important to understand two things. One is the AMA, the American Medical Association, where you know, which really controls most medical schools and it controls how doctors are licensed. It controls the continuing education that doctors receive are licensed. It controls the continuing education that doctors receive.

Nika Lawrie: 25:37

They are primarily paid for by pharmaceutical companies, and the pharmaceutical companies do not want to prevent disease. They don't make any money when they when you are healthy. They only make money when you are sick and needing pills and medication, and so there's a lot of of control or stoppage in the way of the information that's getting to physicians, and so I don't think the physicians will intentionally point you in the wrong direction, but they're not of 17 to 20 years for breakthrough information to actually make it through the system and then down, empowered to take care of your own health and to be that leader in your own life.

Melissa Rohlfs: 26:40

Well, and I think that's hard, Nika, because I think we've been trained that when someone is in a position of authority or they know more or they hold a position that we need to do, what they say is gospel. And what we found with our daughter was we were going to the pediatrician and they weren't able to help us, so we had to go somewhere else. And that's kind of when I learned oh my gosh, there's this whole other side to health and healing and wholeness that I didn't know about because I kept just trusting someone because they were a doctor. Well, what about intuition and what you know, like God has placed inside of you? Like he, like we have intuition for a reason. We need to follow our instincts and we have to know how to tap into that. We have to know how to listen to and honor our bodies and ourselves, and I think that's where that all comes in. But we haven't been taught that. We've been taught to outsource.

Nika Lawrie: 27:32

Absolutely. Yeah, I mean I think you know it's funny because we're taught to outsource basically everything. Like you know, we are a service-based country in the sense of industry, and so it's you know, whether that's, you know, uber and Lyft drivers, or whether that's having a housekeeper clean your house, or that is going to the fast food restaurant to pick up our food, or putting our health in a physician's hands, you know we literally outsource everything. And so I think you know part of my mission to kind of create this conscious living movement is to really get people to slow down for a minute and and and consciously make some decisions for themselves and for the impact that we're making on the planet and for our children. And it's not really this whole woo thing, it's literally like let's take some evidence-based research and views on what we're doing and reassess and readjust how we're approaching life 100% and I think, on that note, I think physicians, they don't get very much information on nutrition, so I think that's another part of the system.

Melissa Rohlfs: 28:42

Right Is, why are we not educating physicians on the power of food as medicine and prevention, and being proactive rather than reactive with health?

Nika Lawrie: 28:53

Yeah, I think I mean the majority of medical schools in this country have zero nutrition education for physicians. So you think they're going to school for eight to 10 years and they have zero nutrition. The schools that have the most, I think it's 20 hours total, it's like 18 or 20. I mean literally no education on nutrition. I mean that's two days of education in a, you know, eight to 10 year span. I mean it's, it's insane. And to understand that, um, whether you believe food is medicine or not, you can personally tell, like, if I eat, you know, um, the Alfredo from Olive Garden, which don't get me I love the Alfredo from Olive Garden I feel like garbage, my stomach hurts, I get all girly, I feel bloated, I feel like crap for the next two days. And I'm not trying to diss on Olive Garden there, but I'm just telling you like my body is telling me that this food is not good for my body and so it's. You know food is medicine. Sorry.

Melissa Rohlfs: 29:59

I agree just because of my own experience. And the thing was, nika, before we had this like realization, I used to laugh at people who thought that way and I called them granola and I was so judgmental because I didn't know, I didn't have my own experience.

Nika Lawrie: 30:16

Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot in like you know your granola, or oh, look at you trying to save the world and I'm like I mean, yeah, I want, I want to do good things and positively impact the world, but I'm like, no, I'm coming at this as like I don't want to see you get sick and I know what's, I know what's coming, Like I can see your future. I can see into the future in the sense of like you keep eating this way and you keep treating your body this way. I may not be able to tell you whether it's going to be cancer or heart disease or diabetes, but I can tell you one of those is coming. So you know it's it's it's not about being granola and being. You know it's. It's um, it's not about being granola and being, um, you know, kind of woo, woo and trying to save the world.

Melissa Rohlfs: 30:57

It's about like, no, this is real and you know I'm trying to help you, help yourself, kind of thing we are called to share that with other people to spare them from what they could potentially go through or what we went through. You know what I mean? Like it's like I would never want somebody to be like when I was back in the pit of eating sugar and being depressed and angry and all of those things. I would have loved for somebody to come alongside me and say, hey, let me help you, let me show you the way out. Instead of doing all these things I did to figure it out. Like I feel very called to. Hey, I've been there, let's do this together.

Nika Lawrie: 31:37

Let's get out of it Right? Yeah, for real. And and I think you know I, I have the privilege of interviewing so many amazing people Um, I apologize, my puppy's walking around over here, but, um, I, you know, I have the privilege of interviewing so many amazing people. And over and over and over again, I hear the same story of I was sick, I changed the way I ate and I changed my lifestyle and I got better, and now I want to help other people do the same thing.

Melissa Rohlfs: 32:08

Yeah, so I think of that saying like when you what is that there? I just posted it not that long ago Like when you see somebody who's upstream, like you don't just sit there and watch them flow by, you like get in with them and you pull them out Like yeah, yeah absolutely so.

Nika Lawrie: 32:29

I have one last question for you. Today I think we've kind of deep dived a little bit into how we stop and why it's important and all of these things, and I know we could go on and on. But my, my question for you before we leave is you know, I've seen a lot. I know it's been really big here in New Mexico over the last couple of years. We've seen seen it take place in New York, I think California too. But a lot of people are talking about kind of a tax on sugar or a tax on soda as a way to get people to stop eating so much. Basically, it's the same concept they use for cigarettes over the years. Right, they keep increasing the cost of cigarettes to help reduce the usage. What are your thoughts on this and do you think it's a good idea or good avenue?

Melissa Rohlfs: 33:11

Well, it's funny because I remember when Mexico announced that and I posted it on social media and at first I was like this is such a good idea, good for them, and I got so much attack for that. People were like no, you can't do that to people. You feel like you're punishing them and I think, at the end of the day, if people really want something, they're going to find a way to do it. Whether it's a higher price, whether it's harder to get, I don't know. I don't know that it would have the long-term sustainability that people like you and I would hope that it would. You know what I mean.

Nika Lawrie: 33:41

Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah. I think we've definitely seen a mass reduction in smoking and cigarettes, but I'm not sure that that was because of the cost of cigarettes. I think it's because the awareness of the damaged cigarettes cause became public. It was known throughout the society. It was common knowledge is what I'm trying to say, and I think we have not reached the common knowledge era of sugar and the damage yet, and so I'm not sure those taxes do anything. And if anything right now, because so many people in lower income communities heavily use sugar, right, so they're drinking their sodas, they are buying the cheap snacky foods because that's what they have access to, right, they have the bodega at the corner, opposed to the whole foods that some people in more affluent communities get to go to. And so I think, while I like the idea of helping to minimize the use of sugar, I'm not sure it is the appropriate direction to head in.

Melissa Rohlfs: 34:53

I don't think it is, and I think part of that too is because you're not addressing the root cause of why are we going bigger? Why is it put in everything? It's a bigger problem, I think, than just taxing it. I think we need to really deal with the heart of it.

Nika Lawrie: 35:06

Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and that root cause can be so many things. That can be, you know, um uh, financial kind of um, situational issues. It can be trauma and PTSD and things like that that we've talked about. It can be, um, you know, I know a lot of times, um uh, former addicts. So like heroin addicts, alcoholics, things like that. They sober up but they turn to sugar because they still get that dopamine rush, but it's not as detrimental to their daily life, and so I think it's, you know, there's so many causes there and and, um uh, you really have to get to it at a personal level.

Melissa Rohlfs: 35:43

Because it's different for everybody. We're not one size fits all, you know.

Nika Lawrie: 35:47

Yeah, absolutely Well, Melissa, this has been absolutely fantastic. I'm so, so grateful for the opportunity to connect with you on all three episodes. I'm so grateful for all the knowledge that you've shared with the listeners today. So thank you so, so much for that. I'm grateful.

Melissa Rohlfs: 36:02

Of course, thank you for having me. I loved it. I thought it was great.

Nika Lawrie: 36:05

I think we could do this for days, oh, yeah, for sure, for days. Before we go, two questions for you Once again. Where can the listeners connect with you and find you?

Melissa Rohlfs: 36:16

online. Yep, my website is free. The number two, the letter B coachingcom. So free to be coachingcom. Facebook is happy, healthy mama Melissa Rolfs. And then Instagram is free to be underscore coaching. There's an underscore somewhere in there.

Nika Lawrie: 36:29

Perfect. I will link to everything that's shown us again too. So normally at the end of each of my podcasts, I ask three quick, fire, rapid questions to my guests, and I want to see if you are up for me asking those three questions for you. Oh sure, why not? Okay, perfect. So my first question for you is what is the most impactful book, documentary podcast, anything along those lines, and why?

Melissa Rohlfs: 36:56

What is coming up is the book the Slight Edge, because it talks about like just that one small thing. I think so many times, nika, we think we have to do everything all at once and then we do all the things, we get overwhelmed and our brains go into fight or flight or freeze and we don't making that forward progress. And the Slight edge really talks about how just doing the smallest thing to go forward can really make that big progress. And one phrase I learned in my training is small hinges open big doors. And I love that because we think we need to, like, do all of these things to make this big impact, but really it's the small things that you do every day that add up to that big impact. So the slide edge is a great book.

Nika Lawrie: 37:32

Man, I day that add up to that big impact. So the slide edge is a great book man. I love that. Small hinges open big doors that I'm going to have to remember that one.

Melissa Rohlfs: 37:37

That's a great one for sure I have a client that made a sign. I'll send it to you later Cause I've got it hanging in my house.

Nika Lawrie: 37:43

It's that, that quote oh, that's so good. I love that. Yeah, that's amazing, for sure. Show it to me, okay. So my next question for you and you've given a bunch already. I think we could probably do a whole nother episode on this, but if you can think of one more, what is your best non-toxic or eco-friendly living tip?

Melissa Rohlfs: 38:03

Gosh, I think it's getting aware of where things are coming in, because it's kind of like you mentioned earlier Once you open that Pandora's box, you realize that we are surrounded by toxicity. Pandora's box you realize that we are surrounded by toxicity. And so it's really creating that awareness of where is this coming into my life.

Nika Lawrie: 38:22

Absolutely, I totally agree. I think you know I'll say a bazillion times it is not about perfection, but it is about awareness and conscious decisions. So I love that, totally agree. So, melissa, my very last question for you today and through all of these three episodes, is what does living consciously mean to you?

Melissa Rohlfs: 38:42

I think living consciously is being aware and present and curious. And I think so many times, nico, we get busy and we don't give ourselves permission to pause and breathe, and then we can get into habits, out of autopilot, and then we can get judgmental and critical. But if we can just be present, if we can be curious, that can be really powerful, because then you're present and you're conscious and you're aware of what you're doing and what's going on around you.

Nika Lawrie: 39:09

Absolutely, yes, 100% agree with you. I love that. Thank you so much, melissa. Again, thank you so much. I'm so grateful for the opportunity and thank you for coming on all of these shows. I'm grateful.

Melissa Rohlfs: 39:21

Of course, thank you for having me. It was awesome and. I can't wait to see what's next for us. I know me too.