Holistic Nutrition and Fibromyalgia With Amanda Love

Dr. Tomi Mitchell, your host of The Mental Health & Wellness Show, had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Love.

Amanda Elise Love is a registered holistic nutritionist specializing in fibromyalgia.  She herself suffered from this debilitating illness for many years, and now her passion is to help others find wholeness and healing in their own lives.  She is a writer, podcaster, registered holistic nutritionist, speaker and resides in Austin, Texas. You can tune in and listen to her extensive library of podcast material called Fibromyalgia Real Solutions with Amanda Love on all platforms or find out more about her personal coaching available on her website www.amandaeliselove.com.


Key Takeaways:

We talk about the importance of nutrition when dealing with any illness or disease.
Without your health, you won't be able to live up to your fullest potential.


You can tune in and listen to her extensive library of podcast material called Fibromyalgia Real Solutions with Amanda Love on all platforms or find out more about her personal coaching available on her website.


Contact Information

Website

https://amandaeliselove.com/

Instagram

https://bit.ly/3fhjmfJ

FaceBook

https://bit.ly/2Wlwc4a

LinkedIn

https://www.instagram.com/amandaeliselove/

ClubHouse or other Audio Link

https://apple.co/2TgYURy


Key Takeaways:

Without your health, you won't be able to live up to your fullest potential.

Transcript

SPEAKERS
Amanda Love, Dr. Tomi Mitchell

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  00:00
Hi there, my name is Dr. Mitchell, I am your host today of the Mental Health and Wellness Show. Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Love. She is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist specializing in fibromyalgia. She herself suffered from this debilitating illness for many years. And now her passion is to help others find wholeness and healing in their own lives. She is a writer, podcaster, registered holistic nutritionist, speaker and currently resides in Austin, Texas. You can tune in and listen to her extensive library of podcast material called fibromyalgia, real solutions with Amanda Love on all the platforms. Plus, you can find out more about her on her website, which is www.amandaeliselove.com. And More details will be in the show notes so you can get that later. All right, with no further ado, let us introduce the lovely Amanda. Amanda, welcome to the show today.

Amanda Love  01:09
Thank you so much for having me.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  01:10
Oh it's my pleasure. You know, I am really looking forward to this conversation because I love Holistic Health for me it eyes whole body, and then nutrition, which is the foundation. So can you tell me a little bit about holistic nutrition and what it means?

Amanda Love  01:27
My belief, this is what I say it is it's my body and spirit. And that's that's simple. I think we overcomplicate it and stuff, but what is your mindset? What are you doing for your body? What are you doing nutrition wise? And because it all interacts. It's not just one thing? And a lot of times we focus maybe we're focused more on the physical. But are you focused on the eating right? Are you focused on your relationship and stuff? A lot of times I think we were the relationships is the last thing that we want to focus on.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  02:08
Got it? Yes. I love that we are mind, body and spirit. Definitely. And as far as holism, relating to nutrition. Can you explain more about that?

Amanda Love  02:18
Yeah, so nutrition is not a one size fits all I feel like and I think a lot of times, we get told by our best friend, oh, this worked for me. And so you think it's going to work for you, or people just automatically just tell you? Well, if you have a cold, you should take this or if you have diabetes, you should do this. And they really don't know too much. Maybe they don't struggle, that condition. But somehow they've heard it from the news or something. So you really have to be able to check your sources and find out like real, like people who could deal with that health issue. I think that's the big thing with nutrition. We are not, we're all different. We all have different things happening in our lives. Some have kids, some don't have kids, some of us are married some of their singles, some divorce. So everything we do nutrition wise, is different from somebody else. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  03:20
I really love that. So that really highlights the importance of looking at the individual's lifestyle and their situation. Right?

Amanda Love  03:28
Right. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  03:29
So for them to have optimal health through their nutrition. Right. And I loved how you said check your sources. That has been a big thing. But it's all over the media like misinformation, check your sources, check your sources, check your sources. And you know, I tell people I didn't get my degree from Dr. Google or Dr. Reddit or Dr. Facebook, I got mine from a real school. Right. 

Amanda Love  03:52
Right. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  03:53
Likewise, you had the certificates behind you, you got your information from an accredited source.

Amanda Love  03:58
Yeah. And I think that a lot of times people don't even I never get asked, which is crazy to me. Do you have any nutrition knowledge to do do courses, did you? Or did you do? And I actually just signed up for a course too, just because I wanted to learn more and stuff. But I mean, like, people don't ask that. But then it's interesting. There's a lot of health experts out there. And then they say they're health experts, but then you know, they're not really health experts, I find out and they just that's the problem right now is that it's not like anybody can call themselves a health coach or a nutritionist. It's not like regulated or it's not like a dietician type things. So that's a problem. So you really have to ask people like, ask them, Where did they go to school? Because that's what we do with our doctors. We we look them up and we say I only look at their schools and we say oh, they went to that school that's probably really good. I mean, we do it with like doctors, but we for whatever reason we don't want to do with our health. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  05:07
That's a really good point, making sure that you're talking to a vetted source, somebody that has experience, qualifications, credential.

Amanda Love  05:15
Right.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  05:15
Doesn't necessarily have to be an MD. But I mean, I have cooking certificates. I have nutrition certificates. I have I'm a lifetime learner, like a nerd. So I nerd out, I think I love what they love about you. Yeah, I'm consistently enrolled in a course.

Amanda Love  05:32
Yeah that's why I just signed up for one.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  05:33
I know I yeah, I have four that I'm still waiting to get too, like, I have a, like a list of backlog of courses I have to do in the courses that I'm currently in. But yes, you need to find someone who's passionate, someone who's current who's willing to learn what is new, because let's face it, science changes, certainty over time, our world changes, our diet changes, our gut health changes, the pollution in our environment, the stress, everything changes, all those pieces affect our health, and holistic health. Hence the wellness wheel where health is physical, emotional, intellectual, environmental, spiritual, financial, social. 

Amanda Love  06:15
And everything.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  06:15
Is everything. And that is why we are having this discussion to understand it's not just one narrow view, you have to look at the whole picture. Your relationships, as Amanda mentioned, who you live with, where you live with, like, all these things matter, right. And it's not one size fits all. There are foundations we have to all pay attention to. Right, like drinking water is a must, exercising, not smoothie. Right? 

Amanda Love  06:48
Yeah. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  06:48
But then it's tailored to you. And that's one thing I really love about the work you do. Amanda, I know you have a special interest in fibromyalgia. Can you please share about that? 

Amanda Love  06:59
Yeah so my interest in fibromyalgia started back when I was diagnosed with it back in 2010. So this was a loving years ago. And for me, it was I ended up what fibromyalgia was going to be supported by I was very sick from a young filed a lot of immune issues and a lot of fatigue and stuff. And then eventually, after high school, I completed a personal training program six months, and I feel fine. I haven't issues with like pain or anything like that. But I still get constantly sick all the time. So then I was like, I wanted to go into nutrition. That was a love of mine at the time. But all suddenly I couldn't get off the couch. I turned 20 years old, like two weeks after that program ended and I was in so much pain, I was fatigued, I couldn't focus. And 10 months later, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which started this crazy journey, finding answers for my health. And that's the big thing that I want people to realize. You can't say, oh, I've tried everything. Because there's always something to try in the health field, I think. And sometimes you need to do it longer than you do it. Maybe you've only done something for like a week, like going gluten free and going gluten free. I always tell people, you have to do it for at least four to six weeks. And I always tell people one little molecule a gluten thing your body up two weeks after months. So you can't cheat with gluten. I tell me yeah, you might have to go gluten free. But you might have to get rid of everything else. And that's like a big thing to do. But I mean, it's your life and you have to make the choice. I'm going to keep working on my health to be there for my family be the best version of me. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  08:50
I love it. That is music to my ears. Key points is you got to do the work. And you have to do it consistently. It's not why you used to when you feel like no, if you don't want to be in the suffering and pain like you were before. You have to do the work, right? 

Amanda Love  09:05
Yeah, I still am doing the work. Like I'm always improving my health. I'm always looking to see, okay, what should I do next maybe I'm dealing with hormones and stuff, then I'm still working on that. I mean, that's one of the things I'm working on. And then my 30s so that's a hormone stuff. But I mean, you gotta take the action. I think that's the big thing.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  09:27
Definitely. And you mentioned hormones, if yes, there's a condition called fibromyalgia, call it diabetes, call it whatever that's going on. But then life is also changing. You are maturing, you are getting older, you are going through your stages, which affect that condition. So you have to be willing to learn and adapt and change because that is part of life.

Amanda Love  09:49
Right. Yeah, I totally agree. Because I think a lot of times we think, Oh, we are going to get to this end point with our health and it's like no you're what you did maybe 10 years ago in your 20s, maybe you can't do that anymore. And there's a lot of change. And then once you hit your 40s, and you're going through menopause, or whatever you're going through, that's a huge thing as a woman also. So I mean, we think we get to this, we think, oh, there's maybe it's our world, or just how we're like, brought up, but it's sort of like, we want the quick fix. And there's not a quick fix to your health.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  10:29
Yes, I love it. This is not a drive thru. This is not you know, you want burgers and fries with it. You have to do the work.

Amanda Love  10:38
You have to do the work. But there's a benefit to doing the work. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  10:42
Yes.

Amanda Love  10:42
You might not see the benefit, you might see the benefit a week or two weeks, but or it may take a month or two or a couple months. It depends on how sick you are I think and people will need to realize you can't give me a wake up, you probably didn't wake up like sick and dealing with all your health issues that you're dealing with a lot of times accumulates over the years, 10, 20, 30 years if you're really into your 50s, 60s and stuff. What's like one thing you could do today to take that small blip. I always say baby steps. And if you're all as long as you're moving forward, you can fall backwards, you can slip up that's okay, because we're not perfect. Nobody's perfect. But you got to keep flooding as you're making progress with your health when you're on the right track.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  11:31
Yes, I love that. I love that mentality. You're making progress. And for those of you are listening, sometimes progress looks like three steps four and a proceed two steps backwards, right? That's okay. That's life. It's teaching you something it's training you keep on going, our life changes, just like fashion changes like who wears the tracksuits from the 80s remember them? I don't.

11:58
I wasn't born in the 80's. So I tota...

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  12:00
Oh I'm a little older with my vintage on you I was born 80's so styles have changed significantly from my childhood till now. So I'm in my 30s for all y'all listening forever and my 30s. Awesome. So if you could say one thing to society about their nutrition in general, what would you say? And please, I don't do politically correct. This is just about seeing the truth and love. So what if you could change one thing about society? Let's say North America and America that's really holding us back? What would you say? That we should change or do differently?

Amanda Love  12:37
I think what we need to do differently is just get back to the basics. What are you eating? Are you eating the right food for your body, learn about like what foods help with energy, what foods help with sleep, what foods help with certain health conditions or hire someone to, to educate you on that. I think a lot of times we are very busy people and we just need this slow down. Start cooking, like cook your meals from home, you'll start to realize you'll save money and stuff like that. But you're also starting to feel like your energy's better. You're sleeping better and everything. So like, get back feel just like cooking from home. That doesn't mean you don't have you could go out just make sure it's a healthy meal. Don't make it's like don't sit, go straight to the fast food or something. Plan out what you're going to like plan it out. Like so you're not you're like well if I'm running around with the kids and taking them to soccer practice and doing the mom thing then have like some fruit and nuts in your bag so you're not like starving by time at dinner rolls around or whatever. You're not like going straight to the fast fit. So it's really just getting back to the basics and just making little small little tweaks throughout your day.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  13:57
I love it. Getting back to the basics, basics. I say if you're not planning you're planning for failure, right? As a busy young mom I've learned to chop up fruit like my kids love watermelon or whatever put them in little containers you know have those healthy snacks because it's so easy to go through a drive thru and before you know it you're like wondering why do I feel so gross? Because when your body is not used to toxic when you find when you do so common to make the wrong choice, you bought it? What are you doing to me and it is possible because if I can live a healthy life and I will say this year I have done a 180 as far as embracing and honoring my whole health if I can do it as a busy mom of two young kids and running three businesses and crazy pandemic you just have to make those baby steps like Amanda says make that conscious decision to do it. And please don't buy into the lie is like oh I deserve this because I've been good aka I should have this piece of cake as a reward. But actually not a reward that's actually hurting your body I must say You don't have kids don't get me wrong, I have this 90/10 rule. 90% of the time, have a halo around your head, be a good girl or boy, and that 10% is called life. But right life still enjoy in moderation, you get what I mean, go ahead, Amanda.

Amanda Love  14:56
Right. Yeah, I think it's in life, it's all about moderation, you make it a special occasion, then have that piece of cake or whatever, whatever you're doing. As long as it's not, you're not allergic to that food, or it has sensitivities to that food, you gotta realize your life is not always going to be perfect, you're not ever going to be perfect with your diet, you're never gonna be perfect with working out, you'll probably have days where you don't want to do something, but it's better to prepare ahead of time. So when you're tired, we all have those days when we're tired, or we just didn't sleep or whatever, we had that food, even if it's just like a smoothie, or something, just something healthy, easy, or just a salad or something to and to get us back to feeling better. Because I think a lot of times, that's the time where we're going to reach for the ice cream, or we're going to reach for the cookies, or go through the fast foods. So it's really, like we said, just sort of preparing for those times when we're not always gonna be at 100%.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  16:16
Yes. And adding to that point is being aware of how we feel because many of us are emotional eaters. When we're sad, we reached the quote unquote, comfort food.

Amanda Love  16:27
Right. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  16:27
Comfort food really isn't comforting to our bodies nutrition, but that's what it's a food is like a represents another issue that's going on. That's why it's really important to understand why these behaviors are happening. Your thoughts on all of those things. It's not just looking at life, at the surface level.

Amanda Love  16:46
It's right. I always say you should look at like, okay, it's certain times you're going to reach for that cake and you're like, and then the next day, you're like, Why did I reach for that? And maybe it was because we were stressed out? Maybe you're just tired? Maybe or maybe it's better to just not tap it in the house? Yeah, I mean, I find that the best for me is not to have things in the house that are like tempting, because I'll reach for them when I'm tired or stressed, or I haven't slept and stuff. Not that you can't have those things. Or you could just go to a I always say go to a restaurant and enjoy that ice cream or whatever, so that you don't have like the whole ice cream container.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  17:31
That is so true. That's a really good point. And you know, one thing as a result of this pandemic, I have learned to do online grocery shopping. So it's my online app is my grocery list. So I'm I have more self control that way than being in the bakery. I'm looking at the cinnamon buns. And it's calling my name come eat me. You need to eat me, right? So I'm not. I'm not going in there when I'm hungry. When I'm when I'm hungry. I'm vulnerable. I want to eat everything. So it goes in my cart, so.

Amanda Love  17:59
Yeah, that's I find that habits to me. Like when it's that time of the month. I'm like.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  18:03
Yes. 

Amanda Love  18:04
I'm like I did this couple months ago. And I'm like, Yeah, I probably shouldn't have gotten sugary stuff, because I was just like, hungry. And it was that. And I'm like, is I'm just hormones. It's like, Yeah, that's probably not the best. So it's really great if you can or online. Because you don't impulse shop. I feel like.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  18:28
Definitely. 

Amanda Love  18:29
And you know what you instead of you're typing in like vegetables and fruit and you're not really going down the aisles and stuff.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  18:36
Yes, I'm speaking of vegetables and fruit for all of you who are struggling at some point or have struggled with your weight, which is the majority of us, including myself. One thing that you need to know is that our stomachs are looking at the volume, not the calories. So if you want to feel up on two pounds of watermelon, for example, I don't know if this is an example, which is maybe 600 calories or two pounds of bacon which is 1000s. It's your pick, your stomach only knows volume. So eating foods that are rich in water. So avoiding calorie dense food is really going to help you and hydrating and being aware of your emotional health because your emotional health will show up in all aspects of your life. Not only your nutrition and your relationships and how you spend money and how you interact with others. Would you say so Amanda?

Amanda Love  19:32
Yeah, I would totally agree. I think we I don't like the whole calorie counting thing. Like it's starting to slow. I think it's starting to go away. I feel like but I mean, I feel like calories people get stuck on like, oh, I had I have to have this many calories and I have to I mean we've all done it as women like we've all done it because it was the end thing to do and stuff like 5 years 10 years ago, I think but I mean, it's really just looking at your body and like dealing it with like the right foods.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  20:10
Definitely. And you knows this next point I'm gonna make for some people's controversial. I've spoken to other people in the day. 

Amanda Love  20:18
Yeah.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  20:18
Right? It's looking at your body. Not only that, but remembering that a large percentage of society's ability to look at what is healthy is distorted because we have moved from being active society to be more sedentary where it's, you know, app, skip the dishes, Uber Eats DoorDash, whatever, you know, through lifestyle. So now we have tools to help us Body Mass Index has kind of gone out of favor in some degree. However, there is some benefit to being aware of one's weight. And for me, one thing that's helped kept me in shape is I go on the scale every morning around the same time after going to the bathroom because I know me, I can be very bad. Like, it's just in my bones. Okay. So, in order to stay honest, I look and then when I'm like, Okay, I know what I did yesterday, that was too salty. Or you know, maybe it was your period, then you make adjustments. I find if you go a long period of time, without accountability I including will fall off the wagon. I was there. So what I made that conscious decision this year is I have accountability. I record things I have my coaches and people I work with, that helped me keep me on track and encouraged me to live the best version of my life yet because I believe the best is yet to come.

Amanda Love  21:43
I totally believe that the best is yet to come. 

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  21:46
Love it. So for those of you who are listening, remember nutrition is fundamental for your health garbage in, garbage out, it will eventually catch up with you just like for those of you who are younger who used to bake yourself in the sun and rub Crisco on your body. Now you are likely enjoying skin cancer and damage and wrinkles. Okay, I get many of women in my aethetics practice who complain that I wish I had known I'm like Sorry girl, no least now you know, you make good choices moving forward. Awesome. So Amanda, how can people reach you especially those suffering with fibromyalgia?

Amanda Love  22:27
Um, yeah, so I have a website which is amandaeliselove.com Instagram is the same and Facebook is the same I keep it simple and if anyone wants to do a 30 minute call with me to discuss their health issues and stuff like that and find out their next steps, that's a great way or I have a free sleep on the website so they can start with that first or the podcast which is Fibromyalgia real solutions with Amanda Love which we talked about.

Dr. Tomi Mitchell  22:55
Love it. Thank you Amanda. Thank you everyone. Make sure you like, follow, leave a good review, this was a blessing to you, share it with your friends. Till next time. This is Dr. Mitchell and Amanda Love on the Mental Health and Wellness Show.