2023...what a year! It was a big one for me and I am looking forward to setting up my intentions for 2024. Setting intentions that propel us forward and letting go of the past is essential. In this episode, I open up about my journey and share the lessons learned through adversity and the power of releasing what no longer serves us.
Embarking on the wellness landscape of 2024, I talk about what I think will be the biggest wellness trends of the year, with the ones you can leave behind in 2023.
I'll especially highlight the controversial topic of weight loss medications, like Ozempic, delving into its societal ramifications and its anticipated disruption to the wellness industry. It's going to be big.
RESOLUTION REDO FREE GUIDE! Click HERE
HEATHER'S ONLINE CALENDAR Click HERE
Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.
Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.
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"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.
2023...what a year! It was a big one for me and I am looking forward to setting up my intentions for 2024. Setting intentions that propel us forward and letting go of the past is essential. In this episode, I open up about my journey and share the lessons learned through adversity and the power of releasing what no longer serves us.
Embarking on the wellness landscape of 2024, I talk about what I think will be the biggest wellness trends of the year, with the ones you can leave behind in 2023.
I'll especially highlight the controversial topic of weight loss medications, like Ozempic, delving into its societal ramifications and its anticipated disruption to the wellness industry. It's going to be big.
RESOLUTION REDO FREE GUIDE! Click HERE
HEATHER'S ONLINE CALENDAR Click HERE
Let's Be Friends
Hang out with Heather on IG @greenpalettekitchen or on FB HERE.
Let's Talk!
Whether you are looking for 1-1 nutrition coaching or kitchen coaching let's have a chat. Click HERE to reach out to Heather.
Did You Love This Episode?
"I love Heather and the Real Food Stories Podcast!" If this is you, please do not hesitate to leave a five-star review on Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hello everybody and welcome back and happy, happy New Year. I'm not sure what it is about flipping the calendar into New Year, but for me, I get so excited about the possibilities. I love having a couple hours on New Year's Day to sit with myself and my journal, write out what unfolded for me in the previous year and what goals or visions or intentions or whatever you wanna call it I want to try and create for myself in this upcoming year. It can feel sort of like a challenge, but in a good way. But I do know that clearing and letting go and forgiving your past and setting sights on the here and now is always a good thing. We don't need to get overly ambitious about resolutions. Those, oh so vague, go nowhere. Promises you might make with yourself, that sort of drift away by the third week in January you know what I'm talking about the quote this year I'm going to get into shape or it's time to lose weight. These type of resolutions come with no plan of action and are just too large and unwieldy. They get confusing and if you don't know where to start or if you get too ambitious out of the gate, chances are you're going to drop off and soon those resolutions are a forgotten memory. I certainly have many memories of feeling so crappy by January 2nd that I felt I needed to do something desperate, like a detox or a harsh cleanse, and before I quit drinking for good, I lamented about how much I blew it during the holidays, how crazy I went and I spent a couple of January's attempting dry January, which never lasted for me personally because of the dozens of excuses I had. And how could I not drink champagne on my birthday, which is right in the middle of the month? When goals come from a place of shame, I am here to tell you that you will not get very far. Shame and guilt may motivate you at the start, but they are not good motivators in the long run. Compassion, gratitude and kindness continue to be what I value when it comes to moving forward. So let's fast forward to this past year.
Speaker 1:I am the first to admit that 2023 was not the easiest year for me and who knew when I started the year? But I experienced some pretty big loss and a lot of stress and a ton of worry. Worry threatened to become my permanent mantra and I am not the worrying type of person but I lost two dogs this past year One, my beloved 11 year old golden retriever buck. I had hip surgery. My husband, mark, had two knee surgeries and he ended up having an unknown bleeding ulcer that literally almost killed him. I had funerals to attend. All these experiences took up a lot of my physical and mental time, and this is all of what I want to let go of now. I want to process it. I want to forgive myself and forgive others and not keep gazing down at my past. Once I can let go of it, I want to consider all that I was grateful for this past year. We bought a place in a remote part of Maine which just takes my breath away every time I am there. My hip surgery went well. My youngest son graduated college. All my kids are employed and living on their own. Mark's surgeries are behind him and I am getting a new golden retriever puppy in a few weeks. All is okay and well in my world right in this moment.
Speaker 1:Diet and health gurus and wellness influencers know that you are likely going into the new year with some regret about the holidays or what happened to you last year. They want you to feel ashamed, because shame sells. They know you might feel like you overdid it during the holidays and I don't blame you if you did. The holidays are a never ending season, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, and they can sometimes become a lesson in true perseverance. It's almost impossible to be totally compliant during the month of December, so can you forgive yourself and start again? There are very effective ways to do that, especially if you have a big goal like giving up alcohol. Making yourself feel bad is not one of them. Trust me on this. I've tried it. It doesn't work. For right now, be kind to yourself, recognize that you did your best and start over, but not with a crazy starvation diet. And while you're at it, if you want to learn how to redo your resolutions and do them differently this year so that you are going at them with compassion, go right now to my show notes and be sure to download my resolution redo guide. It's totally free and it gives you the step by step to letting go of last year, honing into what you might want to focus on this year and creating small, actionable goals that just might actually work. Again, check out the show notes for my free guide.
Speaker 1:So let's look back on health and wellness in 2023 and then go ahead to 2024 and look at the things we can let go of and the things that might be coming up and trending in the new year. I want to break down what's worked, what was total quack and what is coming up so you can be prepared with real evidence, so you don't fall down the wellness rabbit hole and spend needless money and time on things that just don't work. Let's talk first about trends in diets. 2023 felt a little quiet for me, actually, in terms of anything totally brand new. Yes, there was the ultra quacky carnivore diet, but that's been around for a while. It just suddenly started to spring up a little bit more for me in 2023. And it got my attention briefly because it's just the craziest of all diets. It's a diet of only meat, eggs and butter. Pretty much. There are always going to be those fringe diets that emphasize one food group while neglecting to address just exactly how you are going to get the other essential nutrients you need.
Speaker 1:Glucose monitoring and wearing a glucose monitor was getting more buzz than usual, but I believe that this trend is going to start waning hard. This is not any different than the gluten trend that is all but gone and that I barely hear about anymore. For example, if you have celiacs, which is a gluten allergy, by all means you do not need to eat gluten. Don't eat gluten, you cannot. But if you don't have celiacs and it makes you feel better to not eat gluten, go for it. That's okay. If it just is a personal thing for you, fine, because there are other really good for you whole grains that you can fall back on. Back to the glucose monitors, though. If you are diabetic, by all means you need to track your blood sugar. Of course you do, but if you are just curious to know how your blood sugar is doing after you eat food, you do not need to waste your money on a blood glucose monitor. There is not a whole lot of evidence for this and I would not waste your money.
Speaker 1:Many wellness trends often fall into the quote it's too good to be true category or in the cure for everything category. I want to preface that I am all about wellness. I want to feel good and comfortable in my own skin. I want to feel a peace with my body, just like all of us do. My top wellness goals for myself are getting a really good night's sleep, consistently eating well, but not having to break the bank for it with high price shakes, powders, pills and supplements. That's not necessary. We just need food. Managing my stress through journaling and meditating, connecting with friends and family all told, these things cost me pretty much nothing, except for my time to cook my food or write my journal or sleep, and that is how wellness should be.
Speaker 1:But wellness has, of course, gone from a well-meaning endeavor to an outright multi-billion dollar industry. A few of those wellness trends that you can seriously, for real, let go of in 2023, because there is no science behind them whatsoever and sometimes they verge on dangerous, are things like infrared saunas, iv therapy, cold plunging, food sensitivity testing, coffee enemas I mean gross, just drink your coffee. Detoxine cleansing, fasting and that goes for intermittent fasting. There's not a lot of evidence that you will lose more weight intermittent fasting versus just reducing calories. If you hear words like miracle cure, secret or biohacking your health, run away. We can't hack our bodies. We're not machines. The word natural is still a big hit in the wellness industry. If anyone tells you that things like gummies are derived from the marijuana plant and all plants are natural, just run Okay.
Speaker 1:After the break, I am going to look at the biggest trends this year to date and how it might change 2024. I'll be right back. I know how difficult it can be when you are trying to get clear on health goals in midlife. Not only are we contending with a whole host of unfounded information on the internet, our bodies might be rebelling too. Perimenopause and menopause can wreak havoc on women physically and mentally, which only ups the confusion even more Serious. Weight gain, terrible sleep and more anxiety than you can imagine can become a seemingly permanent part of life. If you want and need some coaching and accountability with your midlife nutrition and health goals this year, let's definitely chat. The link for my online calendar is in the show notes.
Speaker 1:I work with people virtually anywhere in the world. You don't have to go this alone, so reach out and let's talk. I was talking previously about wellness trends to let go of this year, but there is one biggie that I'm very confident will be sticking around this year, and that is weight loss drugs like Ozympic. I first want to say that I have no judgment here. If you are taking this medication, I know that for many people, obesity and being overweight is a huge health issue and can be a real struggle. These drugs are fairly well studied, but not for the long term, and it is well known that they do not come without risks. So let's first talk about what Ozympic is, how it works, and then some of the side effects and what I see as coming up for 2024.
Speaker 1:Along with Ozympic, there is Wagovie, monjaro and Zepbound. While Ozympic and Wagovie are prescribed first for diabetes management, monjaro and Zepbound are prescribed first, and form us, for weight management. They all work in similar ways. These medications lower blood sugar. The drug also imitates a hormone called glucacon-like peptide-1 that we naturally produce in our intestines, limiting appetite by signaling to our bodies that we feel full and prompting our stomachs to empty more slowly. As a result, people with obesity and accompanying health concerns have lost weight. While taking it, people feel fuller faster.
Speaker 1:Some people have reported that these medications turn off the food noise in their heads, so they are not obsessing about food all day long. As a result, you end up eating less and in turn, just like the old-fashioned way, you lose weight because you are eating fewer calories in your day. Now, as a side note, and to make one of my bigger points about weight loss, come through loud and clear. It is not about eating certain foods or eliminating things like dairy or just cutting out candy. These medications are about eating less food period. What I have been hearing through the growing popularity of this drugs is nothing about healthy eating and, honestly, not once have I come across an article about the benefits of eating healthy while taking these medications. But I'll get back to that in a minute. Now there's some other surprises that have come up from taking these medications. Some people have also reported that while their food alarms get turned off, so do their alcohol alarms they crave less alcohol.
Speaker 1:The media is very stuck on the fact that with significant weight loss can come significant reductions in major health issues such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular issues that are very lifestyle and weight dependent. The impact that these medications can have on health care and health issues is no doubt astounding, but with all things in the category of, are these drugs too good to be true? This very well could be the case. There are side effects to most medications, and drugs like Ozympic certainly have the potential to cause damage and are not without side effects. Beyond the usual nausea, fatigue, generally not feeling good while on these drugs, there is the risk of severe diarrhea, constipation, gallstones, pancreatitis. You may even become malnourished if you are consuming too few calories and on top of it, those calories are not good quality, muscle loss and bone loss may occur too. The bottom line is these medications are not without a lot of risk and unless you have a designated medical condition like diabetes or obesity, your insurance company is also not likely to pay for these medications. And they're not cheap. They're about $1,000 a month on average. So if you're in it because you want to lose 20 pounds, as many people on these drugs are, you're going to be out of a lot of money.
Speaker 1:Now one last and, I think, very important side effect is weight gain. Studies have shown that once you lose weight, you are likely going to gain the weight back once you stop using these medications. That's like the worst case scenario in any dieting regimen. So do you stay on these meds the rest of your life? Do you risk the weight gain? These are all very hard questions to think about, and we don't have any research that shows what happens when people stay on these medications the rest of their life. They're just too new right now.
Speaker 1:What it all says to me, even more than ever, is that people are sick and tired of trying to figure out how to lose weight. Social media and the internet have made weight loss and healthy eating so incredibly confusing that I don't blame people for wanting to gamble with side effects and the costs just to be thin, maybe for their first time ever. But I'm especially fascinated with how these drugs are going to upend the wellness world because wellness influencers want you to stay overweight and stuck because they believe they have the solution to your problem. But what if there was no problem anymore? What if people were just losing weight?
Speaker 1:Now we're a country that is stuck on vanity and the judgment, shame and criticism that comes from being a few pounds above your ideal weight, and we can be harsh, especially when it is to ourselves. The people I know who are taking ozempic are not risking taking this medication because of the health benefits they might gain, nor do they seem to care about eating well or nutrition. They are willing to gamble for the sake of a flat stomach. We are not even close to body acceptance In our society. Being even a few pounds overweight is almost criminal. But this doesn't mean that we can lose all the weight we want and still get away with eating a crappy diet.
Speaker 1:There is a little known fact that you can be at an ideal weight, even underweight, and still be entirely unhealthy. You can still have heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis. Ideal weight is not going to make you immune from hot flashes or your weight shifting towards your middle. Like it or not, you are still going to get older and age. You are still going to be facing health issues for someone your age and you are still going to be left with whatever demons and insecurities you had when you were heavier. You are going to wonder if you will gain the weight back. You will wonder if you are going to have to go off of the drug and then gain the weight back, and you might even have dreams that you did gain all the weight back. I can't emphasize this enough. If you do try these medications and that's totally valid do everything you can to create new eating and dietary habits for yourself.
Speaker 1:To simply rely on medication is like simply relying on Facebook to make a few new friends. It might be unreliable. The algorithms or science may change and I personally would not want to put all my eggs into the medication basket Because you are consuming far less calories than you previously were. You need to make every single calorie count. They need to be high in quality. Otherwise you will be contending with the possibility of even newer and greater health issues.
Speaker 1:And I have to laugh a little too. I've been watching social media carefully. All the diet and health gurus are literally shaking in their boots right now because they're going on and on about how dangerous ozempic is, and it might be that the drug has not been used enough long enough. To see what happens when you are on it for several years is a little bit alarming. But seeing quack diet doctors like Dr Mark Hyman the other day literally almost pleading on social media to not go on these drugs just made me laugh. Drug like ozempic have the great potential to put people like Dr Mark Hyman out of business. If losing weight is as simple as a weekly injection, no one needs people like a medical quack to tell them to buy his expensive books, shakes and pills.
Speaker 1:People are sick and tired of dieting. Who wants to diet and eat weird foods and radically change their diet, such as eating keto, when you don't have to? The other day, oprah Winfrey announced that she has been taking one of these weight loss drugs, as if we didn't already know this. She's lost a ton of weight lately and she looks good, and she has been very quiet about it. Now Oprah has also been very public about her struggles with her weight. She claims that she just became sick and tired of trying the latest diet and, if you don't know this, oprah is also a major shareholder in Weight Watchers and is on their board. Weight Watchers just bought an online drug company that allows you to get drugs like ozempic through them. So, dr Hyman, take a cue from the Weight Watchers handbook and jump into the possibility of weight loss drugs. I believe that if Weight Watchers did not embrace and strategically partner with a drug company, they could be out of business. Noom is another one, which is a diet in every sense of the word. They've also partnered with an online drug company. It's a smart move for the diet world and, I believe, one that you will only see more of this year. Well-wellness influencers like Mark Hyman and many others might see their businesses wildly affected.
Speaker 1:Now back to the reasons why people might take a drug like ozempic. Nowhere have I heard that Oprah is taking this drug for health reasons. She talks very openly about obesity being a disease, and she talks very openly about the shame cycle that she has experienced with herself and her body. She's tired of shaming herself, she said. I wish that Oprah, though one of the most influential people on this planet, would say something about getting healthier too. Her words mean a lot to women, so I hope that in 2024, weight loss drugs can work hand in hand with healthier eating. Now, there's nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight, and there are many reasons that being at a good weight for your body and height is good for you physically, but I can say that I know many, many women who are at an ideal weight who will never feel like it is enough, and I wonder, now that Oprah is at a lesser weight, how she feels about herself. Does she feel good about herself, or is there always more weight to lose? So I'm wildly curious to see how these weight loss drugs boom and just unfold this year.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's talk about some other wellness trends that I am looking at this year, and the first one because it's January, is the year that this will be about mock tailing and the recognition that alcohol is not at all healthy for you. There's been a lot of buzz lately about alcohol in 2023, but I think that 2024 is going to definitely embrace this even more. Now I feel like such a trendsetter now, having quit alcohol over five years ago and embracing the mock tail movement. This is exactly the kind of wellness that I like. It costs me nothing, but I have gained so much from just even waking up 2024, hangover free and feeling really good about that decision. Dry January is definitely here right now, and if you even take a month of drinking off, then great for you. That is a fantastic start.
Speaker 1:If you find this challenging or even impossible, it may be time to really consider your relationship with alcohol, because the fact is, as much as we know about the detriments of drinking and alcohol, alcohol is addictive, and not just physically. For years, I relied on wine to cure my boredom or fix a bad day, and it was absolutely not negotiable. When socializing, of course, there was going to be wine. There is a lot to look at with our relationship to alcohol, because it's everywhere, but the fact is, alcohol is a toxin and no amount of alcohol is good for you. I know the old thinking of having a glass of red wine daily, but that's old thinking. It's no different than saying that smoking is bad for you, but having one cigarette a day, it's just not okay. So my prediction this year is that the detriments of alcohol are going to become more and more clear to people, and it might be something you want to explore with yourself.
Speaker 1:Now, what this does not mean is that you lean back on other substances like weed or gummies, which have almost no research behind them as to their safety. Marketing is so amazing. When marijuana was getting legalized, it was suddenly good for just about everything. Sound familiar. It does to me like coconut oil. Do you remember that trend that came out years ago claiming that it even cured Alzheimer's disease? It doesn't. Marijuana does not cure your anxiety, it's not a fix for your sleep, and if you suddenly feel like you can't fall asleep unless you take a gummy, listen to that. Weed is 100 times stronger than when you smoked joints in college. The fallback from weed and its so-called benefits. I think we'll start to get more attention this year too.
Speaker 1:And this leads me to my next wellness prediction for 2024, which is going to be everything mushrooms. I really think this is going to be the year of the mushroom Microdocene, macrodocene and all of the non-psychedelic mushrooms that are available that supposedly promote wellness and peace of mind, anti-anxiety. The people and experts I have talked to claim that mushrooms are going to change the world and, of course, there is still a lot we don't know, and it's the a lot that we don't know that can get wellness trends into trouble, because without regulation and guidance, so-called experts can start to make claims that might not even be close to true. Now, as far as cooking with mushrooms, I am, of course, a fan. Mushrooms have what is known as umami, the fifth taste, and they make your food taste delicious. So watch out for mushrooms to possibly take over the world this year.
Speaker 1:And finally, to close out this first podcast of 2024, I believe that we are all in great need of a big dose of community and togetherness. Having community is part of wellness. It makes us feel like we belong. I have to admit I still feel a little bit dazed and confused from COVID and the lockdowns, and I am ready to get back to more in-person gatherings. In my teaching kitchen I used to have gatherings called mocktails and mingle, for people to get together and explore the wellness trends and cook along with me, and I'm really looking forward to bringing that back. So if you are local to me, get on my email list. The link is in the show notes so you can find out about upcoming events and workshops. Come meet with me live and in real time. And happy, happy new year. Everybody here is to a great year and to even more health and wellness for you, and I hope it's a great one.