Autoimmune Health Secrets | Ease Fatigue & Improve Your Health With Autoimmune Disease Using Simple Feel-Good Habits
Ever wonder the real reason autoimmune disease leaves you exhausted, overwhelmed, and unsure what to do to actually feel better?
Welcome to Autoimmune Health Secrets, the podcast revealing the smarter, simpler way to create habits that ease inflammation, boost energy, and bring back confidence in your health and life.
Hosted by Dr. Amy Behimer, a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach living with multiple autoimmune diagnoses—including MS—Amy shares the science, stories, and small steps that make big health changes feel good and last for good.
By listening, you’ll learn how to:
• Build feel-good habits that can make or break your health with autoimmune disease while also lessening fatigue and uncertainty
• Simplify healthy living without feeling like you’re either “on” or “off” the consistency train
• Shift from managing autoimmune disease to creating autoimmune health in your everyday life
It’s no secret that better habits lead to better health, especially with an autoimmune diagnosis. What’s missing is an approach to make them fun, effective, and inevitable.
Enter The Habit Hub Approach to Autoimmune Health—six spokes of mindset, food, movement, rest & relaxation, connection, and “good stress”—to strengthen your body, steady your mind, and finally feel like yourself again.
Start with #1 to kick off your autoimmune health journey to feeling and functioning better. Or, if you stop your scroll on an episode that speaks to you, lean in and trust it's the perfect place to start!
Autoimmune Health Secrets | Ease Fatigue & Improve Your Health With Autoimmune Disease Using Simple Feel-Good Habits
#105 | Why Disability Isn’t A Dirty Word And Other Powerful—And Funny—Truths Of Life With Autoimmune Disease (With Ardra Shephard)
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Ardra Shephard joins me for an honest, insightful, and refreshingly real conversation about living with a big diagnosis, the power of words, and what it means to adapt. From the unexpected challenges of socks and bidets to redefining health and self-worth, Ardra shares her journey with humor, wisdom, and zero tolerance for toxic positivity. We also dive into the evolving language around disability, why words matter, and how shifting our perspective can help us navigate uncertainty with more confidence.
Key Takeaways:
- MS—and chronic illness in general—isn't just one diagnosis; it's an ongoing evolution that requires constant adaptation.
- The language we use about our condition, disability, and even hope itself can shape our experience in profound ways.
- Tracking progress is important, but knowing when to let go of certain metrics (like step counts) can be just as crucial for mental health.
- "Disability" isn't a bad word, and avoiding it only reinforces stigma.
- Uncertainty is one of the hardest aspects of autoimmune disease, but looking at what we’ve already overcome can help us face what’s ahead.
- Small, practical changes—like adding a bidet—can have a massive impact on quality of life. As we know around here, we can TRUST in the TINY.
- Reaching out to others, whether for support or to offer it, can be a powerful way to reinforce our own worth.
DO of the DAY:
Reach out to someone today—send a text, make a call, or check in with a friend. Whether you’re offering support or simply reconnecting, small acts of connection remind us (and others) of our worth.
Resources & Links
New episodes released every Tuesday and Friday.
Personalized Energy Audit & Edit HERE.
Privacy Policy, T&C, Medical Disclaimer HERE.
This podcast explores health and wellness through the lens of autoimmune disease—multiple sclerosis (MS) and others—diving into how challenges like fatigue, brain fog, flares, and other symptoms related to the nervous system, inflammation, and mitochondria can be supported by healthy habits in food, movement, sleep, and rest, while fostering consistency, effective self-care, and a resilient mindset. If you’ve read the bestseller Atomic Habits by James Clear and still don’t have the healthy habits you want, this show is for you. Adjacent to functional medicine, holistic health, the AIP diet, and the Wahls Protocol, the podcast offers guidance from a health and wellness coach to help those navigating chronic illness feel better and thrive.