144. The Real Reason Diets Don't Work After 40 (And What Actually Does) | with Juliana Leamen

What if you could use “weight release” to get back to who you were always meant to be?

💬 Episode Summary:

In this empowering conversation, I sit down with Juliana Leamen, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, podcast host, and bestselling author, to explore a radically different approach to weight loss and wellness in midlife.

Juliana brings the receipts—blending science, functional genomics, and feminine wisdom—to help high-achieving women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s ditch the punishment-based wellness playbook and reconnect with their bodies. She shares how unlocking her own DNA helped her release over 30 pounds—and how you can do the same, without self-abandonment or shame.

We dive into:

• The difference between weight loss and weight release—and why it matters
• Why so much wellness advice feels like a full-time job for midlife women
• The hidden masculine energy driving burnout in your body
• How functional DNA testing can help you customize your health strategy
• Why trying to "fix" your body is a losing game—and what to do instead

This is your permission slip to stop hustling your way to health. There's a smarter, softer, science-backed path—and Juliana is here to walk you through it.

🧠 About Juliana Leamen:

Juliana is the founder of Naturally Joyous Inc., host of the Confidence From Within podcast, and author of the bestselling book Release – A Woman's Guide to Releasing Weight in Midlife Through Becoming Your Body’s Best Friend. She holds a Master’s in Science, is board-certified by The American Association of Natural Wellness Practitioners, and specializes in functional DNA testing for weight management and longevity in perimenopause and post-menopause.

After releasing 30+ pounds by applying what she teaches, Juliana helps other high-achieving midlife women shift to a functional and feminine approach to wellness—one that works with their bodies instead of against them.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Learn more about Juliana’s work: naturallyjoyous.ca
• Grab her bestselling book: Release – A Woman's Guide to Releasing Weight in Midlife

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Transcript

[00:00:00] 

If you've ever felt like your body is fighting you in midlife, or like the weight loss has become some kind of full-time job, you are not alone. In today's episode of the School of Midlife Podcast, I'm joined by Juliana Leamen, functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and founder of Naturally Joyous Inc.

Juliana's flipping the script on what it takes to support your body in perimenopause, menopause and beyond. Juliana isn't about crash diets or one size fits all approaches. After releasing over 30 pounds by unlocking the power of her own DNA, she now helps high achieving women in their forties, fifties, and sixties adopt a functional and feminine approach to weight release, one that's grounded in science, customized to your genetics, and deeply compassionate to the real demands of midlife.

We talk all [00:01:00] about why losing weight and releasing weight are not the same thing, how your genes can hold the key to your midlife vitality and freedom and so much more.

This is not your typical wellness conversation. It's way more honest. It's based in science. It's so much more empowering, and it's 100% focused on what's gonna actually work for you. Please enjoy this conversation with Juliana Leamen.

Welcome to the School of Midlife podcast. I'm your host, Laurie Reynoldson.

This is the podcast for the midlife woman who starting to ask herself big life questions. Like, what do I want? Is it too late for me? And what's my legacy beyond my family and my work. Each week we're answering these questions and more. At the School of Midlife, we're learning all of the life lessons they didn't teach us in school and we're figuring out finally what it is we want to be when we grow up. [00:02:00] Let's make midlife your best life. 

Laurie: Hi, friend. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to get into this discussion with you on the School of Midlife podcast. Will you please do me the favor and introduce yourself. Tell us where you're from and what it is that you do.

Juliana: Thank you so much, Laurie. It's a pleasure being here with you. So I'm calling from Canada and I work with women in midlife, specifically through functional DNA testing, as well as mindset work on really finding a way to love our bodies in midlife and beyond and really get to the best health outcomes that we can while loving what we see in the mirror.

Laurie: I, I have wanted to bring you onto the podcast because I love what you talk about. You talk about, and in fact, you've just written a book about it. Um, I am excited to get into that. I thank you for the advanced copy on that. I really [00:03:00] enjoyed reading it. I learned so much. The name of your book is called Release.

Um, and you talk about weight release versus weight loss. I mean, I wasn't sure we were gonna just start here, but let's just dive into it. So can you tell me and the listeners what is the difference, what is weight release and what's the difference between weight loss and weight

release?

Juliana: I've been using the term for a long time now. I've been, you know, in this field for about 11 years now, and I noticed because of some celebrities that in the last few months the word weight release started trending. So I'm like so excited about that. So I think you're gonna see more of that.

Laurie: But you've been, you've been using it longer than

Juliana: Yes, like for a very long time, and I've always come from this perspective that the whole concept of, and I even talk about this in the book, that I never really felt I belonged to the weight loss industry [00:04:00] because I think it has such a pressure field shame inducing negative connotation. Aspects of it, of course. That we're always looking to fix and change and get rid of parts of ourselves, and I think that is very much the core of the difference between the two that weight release for me stems from wholeness. It is about even if you still wanna see the scale go down, even if you wanna still see

the number on your jeans change, whatever it is your goal is, we can go about it from a very different perspective. So I say the way to release is an internal game, right? We're not just using external metrics as success, but also we're not chasing a number, we're not chasing a diet. We're really doing the inner work required so that we can get to our most optimal cohesion between mind and body and get the body to match the outside, whatever we are doing on the inside. So it's a lot more about shifting towards the wholeness, [00:05:00] self-acceptance and doing the inner work that it's been, you know, asked of us in order to get the place that we are real congruent between what we see in the mirror and how we feel inside.

Laurie: That is such an interesting distinction between internal and external. And you're right. I mean, when it comes to weight loss or body perception, so many of us are chasing this external ideal and we may never get to what the external what what we, we want the external to look like. Like it might never match what it is that we want. But doing the internal work is fascinating. I am, I'm curious, how did you get started in this industry?

Juliana: It's interesting because I was born and raised in Brazil, which is a country that I think most people know has a huge focus on external beauty, right? A lot of the highly talented plastic surgeons are there, and I'm not pro against anything like everybody. You know, you pick a cup of tea. [00:06:00] But, um, when I moved to Canada now 20 ish years ago, it was incredible because the standards of beauty that I was raised by and, you know, worked really hard towards, completely changed overnight, like literally. And that was such a striking experience for me that I thought, wow, things that I believed were the all in all, this is what we want no longer apply in this different culture with different expectations. Right? So that was the first thing that really shook me early on in this journey.

Laurie: A lot more, and you wear a lot more clothes in Canada than you do in Brazil.

Juliana: I had to buy socks. Imagine. Um, absolutely. So it was very different from that as well, because I was in a very hot part of Brazil as well. Versus like not even having one proper, like winter cold, right? Versus now, you know, Toronto. So that was the first piece of it, but really my career in this field started more like it found me [00:07:00] more than I chased it, you know, if that makes sense.

And I think because of a lot of the, it was more like what people would come to me for and what I was passionate about. So it's almost like one thing led to another. And then when I realized that even though my practice taught a more broad, all women came to me for, and again, I was broad, but it was always midlife women, so I, it just became something that I got really interested in, passionate about, and then I went all in, you know, years back. So that's kind of how I got here.

Laurie: You, you talk about your practice. Is it exactly that you do?

Juliana: Yeah, so I do everything from DNA testing, so that's the first thing we do before any protocols are put in place for women. So it's like a cheek swab and we basically get this blueprint, this map of how your body is wired. Specifically talking your metabolism, your stress genes, your, you know, those different systems of how, almost like how the hardware [00:08:00] of your body is wired.

And then my job is to interpret that, put it in context from a functional training to what you're looking for, your symptoms, your goals, and then create a plan that also takes care of the software, right? Which is the emotion that the human behavioral side of implementing, right? Because I can give you a perfect plan that does not match reality and that's not gonna do anything.

And so my job is to bridge the two worlds and really give you a way to implement and match your lifestyle, your choices, your perspectives with how your body best is designed to operate.

Laurie: This is so intriguing to me. Uh, this whole idea of DNA testing and how you are able to craft an individualized plan for the women that you work with based on what you call their hardware, software. Right. Because I, I feel like [00:09:00] the weight loss, weight release, the weight industry as a whole kind of approaches it almost in a one size fits all

Juliana: Yep.

Laurie: idea. How does the way that you approach it, how does that differ from a one size fits all approach?

Juliana: Yeah, I work with women in the same age bracket with the same goals, and their plans are incredibly different. Right. Uh, so that's the first, um, point that I like to make. And I would say that, you know, I think about this a lot especially, and I'll, I'll bring this point as well, that your DNA does not change, right? From if you test it as a baby, if you test it in your fifties or in your seventies, but we see such radical shifts around the forties to fifties with menopause transition, right?

So I usually tell women, well, your genetics do not change something did, right? And so it's very much a big part of what I bring into the picture, and I think why things get so customized, because what is [00:10:00] really happening is that your hardware, unchanged, say your genetics. But DNA, like the way that I talk about the book is always listening and responding, right?

So that's what we call epigenetics, which is without changing the hardware. How is the software, the stimuli, the anywhere from, you know, food and supplements to your perceptions, your fears, your belief systems, your traumas, all of those things are bringing signals that can change how genes express themselves.

Weight is incredibly complex like most conditions are, but weight is very complex, very multifactorial, and I have women with beautiful metabolic genes that are blocked. I have women like myself that we have tricky genes everywhere in our stress genes and metabolism and all sorts of things. So knowing where quotations the root of the problem is allows us to be targeted in how we solve the [00:11:00] problem.

As opposed to just, you know, food is a big piece of it, but food is not all of it. And I think that is the big point of differentiation that we can do when we can see your genes.

Laurie: Fascinating. So we've got food as one piece of it. Other pieces would include exercise, sleep, alcohol, what other pieces would go into why the hardware is expressing itself in a different way as we age?

Juliana: Yeah, so when it comes to our signals, I like to think of it as in from a specifically genetic perspective, the major pinch point for weight is going to be the intersection between our stress gene, Our sleep genes and our inflammation genes, because it's sort of like a vicious cycle, the three of them, right?

So stress can turn on up to 90% of those trigger genes. So they're unfavorable position. So this is big, right? [00:12:00] Because it can be eating well, doing your supplements, even moving. But if your environmental circumstances, how you see the world is incredibly stressful right now. Maybe aging parents and you know, instability in other areas, that is a lot.

Laurie: Well, the state of the world,

Juliana: Yes, you

Laurie: may be causing some stress.

Juliana: Look out the window or turn on the tv. All of these things can be such big inputs. And then if you have my stress genes that I have overblown reactions and I get stuck in that on switch, you know, the whole sympathetic side, then I can make small problems look enormous, right? It's almost like it's disproportionate to what is actually in front of me.

So I may have a much more exacerbated reaction and then cascades down, impact sleep, and you know, so it becomes almost like this, like house of cards, that one thing leads to the other and then everything is on. So now we [00:13:00] have a much harder time dealing with toxicity, pollutions and, and things that are normally part of our environment, right?

So we look at all the components, how the food piece, which would include alcohol, like food and drinks, how the lifestyle, the habits, right? Your circadian rhythm are you, you know, not just going to bed at a good time, but what are the habits that impair impairs or impacts sleep, quality, inflammation, the things that inflame you, but also can you detoxify and then get them out rid of the body.

Like we're looking at all those pieces and building this puzzle that encompasses them all, and that's how we start to really make progress in whatever is your root cause.

Laurie: there's so many questions I could ask. I mean, , how did you get into this to begin with? I know that, you know, you work with, in functional medicine, you work with clients. How, how did you bring the DNA piece in to begin with?

Juliana: Yeah, like. I, I thought about this too before, uh, and it's [00:14:00] funny, like DNA had been part of my studies for many years, like even 20 years ago back in university. I studied it in various levels through different degrees and different things that I've done. And when I started with the functional testing, like I was doing a lot more like hormone testing, food sensitivity.

This is back in 2019. That was sort of like the bread and butter of my practice and I was still seeing enough, you know, this almost like a disproportionate amount of effort from the client standpoint versus results, right? And I'm somebody that I'm never satisfied. Like it's a good and a bad part of my personality.

I'm never satisfied. Uh, and I think for that reason I kept pursuing. It's like, you know, there's gotta be a better metric here because every time you test your hormones, the levels are different. And DNA is a picture in time. It's a one and done. It's not a picture in time. It's a one and done. It never changes.

Right. If you think about you from the research side of things, like, you know, it was 2003 when the big Human Genome [00:15:00] project really got concluded. So this is like newer technology, right? There's so much to being discovered on genomics and, and all of those things. So when the testing team became a little bit more available and all the direct to consumers, companies started to flourish and so on, that's really when it piqued my interest and one thing leads or another, and then I deepened my studies and then I, I did it for myself.

I always go first as like in my philosophy. Tested it myself, and I was eating very healthy for about eight years at that point, moving, all the wellness strands like working on this field. And I was still about 30 pounds overweight. And it was very much primarily due to inflammation in my body. I have autoimmune conditions, I've had spinal surgery.

So I've had a lot of things that I dealt with, like burnout, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia. I have a lot of diagnosis in my, my background. And it wasn't until I saw my, what I call trigger genes understood the hot [00:16:00] mess, you know, that it is that I was actually able to very specifically start making different choices that are not healthy for me, that may be healthy for someone else.

And then that was it. Like 35 ish pounds melted from my body. And it was such a radical transformation for myself. It wasn't, it was gradual, but it was radical in the sense that I was making a lot of good decisions for a very long time. Right. And I was still not able to really overcome this piece. And I think it was such a big aha for me that I shifted eventually and now fully my practice to starting with this as our, you know, starting point.

Laurie: Can you give us an example of one thing that you changed after you started looking at your DNA that made a huge difference for you?

Juliana: Yeah, I would say. Inflammation is probably the biggest. So I'll give you something like, I discover that I have the variant meaning the say worst case scenario for [00:17:00] the the most popular obesity gene, right? So I looked at that. I was like, okay, you know, what do you do with that information?? Right? Because, you know, I don't wanna treat DNA as fate, right?

Because we know there's all those switches and things like that. But when it comes to inflammation specifically, because I know I have a lot of, um, places for inflammation to be exacerbated in my body, I realized that my detoxification pathways were incredibly slow. And the way that we test functionally, we test various genes in a system.

So instead of, we're not looking at one, gene does this, right? So me knowing I have the obesity gene doesn't actually mean anything without context, right? So the test gives context and I realized my detox pathways were for both phases one and two, incredibly slow. So that meant for me that I have a ton of inflammation upfront and I can't get rid of it.

Whereas some people be totally different. They could be really fast. Phase one, [00:18:00] there's all these different combinations. So I knew from my genetics that anything that slowed down further was a problem, right? And anything that would speed it up a little bit would be good for me. So a big thing that I stopped doing was taking something like turmeric, which is normally known to be anti-inflammatory 'cause turmeric counters what I needed to do for speeding up my detox pathway. So this is just an example. A supplement that we can get anywhere that I was putting in cooking, I was cooking with it constantly, right? Uh, that for my specific genetics was not ideal, right? So that's just one example.

Laurie: This is so interesting because I feel like there are, turmeric is a great example. Like it is, everyone thinks it's, you should put it in all the things, right? And so I think women hear something or they see something on social or they, [00:19:00] they hear something on the news, you know, maybe even just read a headline and, and we run with it. And it doesn't work for everyone, and now we know why, because we all have different genetic makeups. So clearly this makes so much sense to me now that, you know, you just kinda walk through it, but what works for one person isn't going to work in the same way or maybe at all for a second person.

Juliana: exactly, because, and we hear this all the time: we're unique. We're unique. And that's true. But what does that mean? Right? And I think, and even talk about this in the book, that a lot of times, like even from the emotion side, oh, you have all the answers inside of you. True, but that annoy me my whole life.

Like, but what does that mean? Like, what do I do with it? Right. And I think I'm a very practical person. Like if I cannot take a concept into action, like I just, just don't wanna know that concept. You know? Just like, okay, I, I need to move on to something else. And I [00:20:00] think that was genetics in the functional sense.

It's something that we can actually put a lot of actions that are very specific, targeted that are backed, that I can explain why that is. That also takes a lot of the, the, the pressure I think that we feel of not knowing what is right for us, right? Something that I believe humans from all my studies in human behavior, we're great at adapting, right?

You know, look at the news, you look at anywhere in enough chaos out there, but we adapt. But the one thing that we humans are not able to adapt to is uncertainty. And I think that that is like in part what happens and why I see such excellent results with GNA testing is that we get enough certainty.

To get us through the, you know, adaptation phase, the discomfort, or is this right as is wrong? And then we can catch up with the emotional mindset piece and then it clicks. Right. And I think that's sort of like what I feel is one of the big blessings of having this. It's not your destiny. We can influence [00:21:00] our genes, but I know I can tell you what the buttons are that can be pushed.

And that's kind of how I like to look at it.

Laurie: For women that are interested in working from a genetic level. Is when the, the buttons are dialed in and, and we know how it's working and how things are going to impact certain genes. Does the weight release, is it quick? Does it happen, does it happen fast? Does it, is, is it still a fairly slow process?

Does it depend?

Juliana: Yeah.

Laurie: where you are, where you're, I mean, obviously everyone's starting from a different standpoint, but. You know, I know that like a GLP one is getting those kind of shots. They're getting a lot of attention right now because there is some fairly rapid weight loss that goes along with that. If we're starting in a more genetic level, [00:22:00] is it a similar timeframe?

Is it a little bit longer? Does it matter?

Juliana: I I would say it's not linear in the sense, like a lot of times think of like a pound a week. Like it's definitely not linear. For myself, it, it was, I would say like definitely slower if you're comparing to something that, for me it was quite slow at the beginning 'cause there's so much healing that had to, to take place first.

Right? Like even like my immunity that went into remission. Like there's so much that was happening. But when things clicked, that's usually how, not a scientific term, but like when things click, then the last like 20 pounds were fairly, fairly fast. But I would say that it also depends on are you somebody that's fairly healthy that are just adjusting things versus someone that.

Maybe been in a chronic stage of insulin resistance for 20, 30 years. Very different scenario, right? Also, our, you know, the person is the person maybe taking medications that depended on their genetics, it's also gonna [00:23:00] cause wage resistance. There's lots of variables that would, you know, really play a role.

But from a timeline standpoint. If we're not talking about those more extreme cases, we usually give about eight to 12 weeks of good compliance. We start seeing some of the buttons resetting. That's very much obviously from the, the research out there as the timeline of starting to really see some good progress.

Laurie: 8 to 12 weeks seems much faster than I think a lot of women. I, I, I guess what I would say to the listeners is we are so quick to jump on the next great thing, or the next thing that some influencer tells us is actually gonna work. Wouldn't it be better to spend eight to 12 weeks dialed in with a really concrete idea of what it is genetically we're working with and give that a shot.

See how that goes. I mean, to me that makes so much sense. You [00:24:00] mentioned, um, you, you mostly work with women in midlife, so perimenopause, post-menopausal. Why, what makes weight release so hard? Maybe, maybe I'm not, I feel like women in midlife think it's hard to lose weight. Um, that might be your perception.

It might not, but why does it seem to be harder in midlife?

Juliana: I would kind of sorta go back to that, you know, triangle that we visualized earlier. I'm using my hands a lot. Uh, the whole idea of the stress, inflammation, and the sleep, right? So definitely we're gonna see the hormonal shifts, no doubt, right? That's what everybody blames it on. I even talk about in the book, let's go beyond hormones.

Yes, that is part of it. Uh, so yes, you're gonna have the decline of. Estrogen, progesterone, and then you're gonna have cortisol a little bit more in a post. Sure. That does will cause a lot of things. [00:25:00] But also remembering that if we're gonna be, you know, under a lot of pressure, maybe aging parents, like all this competing priorities like midlife since should be this time also for a lot of emotional awakening.

That we're starting to discover ourselves again. And there's a lot of, I would say, unknowns and uncertainties at that time. That makes the adaptation that we talked about harder as well. And then we also have the cumulative effects of, you know, poor sleep habits and our circadian rhythms being really like dysregulated, you know, the carbs, the sugars, the insulins, and like we have all of those things that just kind of like builds and there's almost like a little bit of a tipping point.

I'm not saying that it has to be this way, right? Like midlife. Does not mean decline, but for some women it's almost like a little bit of a perfect storm that a lot of things kind of come together and make us pay attention. Right. And definitely because of epigenetics, like we said, like those signals are telling our DNA what to [00:26:00] do.

Right. And I think that it becomes kind of like this tipping point that it almost forces us to pause and pay attention. And I almost feel from the emotional side that it's almost a way too, that our bodies ask us to prioritize ourselves. Don't give us as much room to decide not to. So I'm kind of like, you know, heavily encourages you.

Like, that was my health crisis in 2017. Like you decided Step up. It's like, you know what? We are doing this now. And I think it's a part of that as well that happens in midlife.

Laurie: It is interesting that we do seem to pay attention when there's a diagnosis on the line, or you know when when our health declines rapidly, then all of a sudden we do seem to pay a little bit more attention to our, how we're sleeping and what we're eating and how we're moving our body. And, um, it's, it's too bad that we can't get ahead of it a little bit and make some adjustments before that happens, but maybe that is [00:27:00] just the human condition on some level.

Um. Uh, tell the listeners about your book. Why did you write it? Why now? And I know that this is a second edition, um, but there are so many listeners, myself included, who writing a book is on our list. So tell us about the book. Tell us why now, tell us all the things.

Juliana: Yes. The book is very much. The, the, the mindset, the emotional side of it. And I'll even, I'll, I'll give you something like funny, like, you know, part of writing a book, a big part of the process is knowing after the book is done, you know, researching keywords and knowing what are the terms that best describe the book.

So just for fun, I started looking at, you know, things such as weight loss and mindset, psychology of weight loss. And it's surprising or almost shocking to me that there's almost nothing out there like on Amazon and stuff. Those are not terms that people are searching for. But [00:28:00] when you go

Laurie: That surprises me too. That's what are they searching for?

Juliana: You know, fast diet, quick weight loss, fast, fast, fast, then abundant, right?

Um, and that was so interesting as I was looking at it. 'cause I'm, I'm very curious person. I'm always like, I'm a overthinker of whatever topic at hand. They're like, wow, this is interesting because often, especially when it comes to, and I think that's a big part of the issue with the weight loss industry, that there's always an next shiny thing, right?

That hits that dopamine and we feel maybe this time that is a big part of the book, I wanted to, you know, break the fantasies, right? And really give people almost like a play, a playbook that goes through what I believe to be like a sequential order to really help you understand, first of all, how do we make choices?

Very much. How is the mind wired? 'cause it's the same for everyone, right? Understanding that then knowing how to deal in the middle of the book with the bigger, I would say, [00:29:00] roadblocks to weight release, the self-sabotage is the perfectionisms, the overwhelms. Like those types of things. And then how to actually get what you want.

'cause I think there's a big difference in between trying a new diet or even DNA, whatever the diet is. The book does not. You know, it doesn't matter what the strategy is. I wrote the book to be the one you read before your next diet. And if you're in the middle of one, that's fine too, to hopefully give you as best outcomes as possible for whatever strategy that you're currently trying. Because I wanna explain how is the mind operating and often getting in the way of us actually getting what we want.

So it's sort of like what the philosophy of the book is.

Laurie: It, it really is. Um, it's a quick read, but it is fascinating to look at it more from a mindset standpoint than, um, a, a how to book or, you know, I, I've [00:30:00] always, it. It's always interesting to me when somebody says, makes a promise that you're gonna lose 50 pounds in five days, or you're going to make a hundred th you know, your first a hundred K in two days.

Or it, it almost feels like they're really good at selling you something. But that's really all they're interested in doing is selling you something instead of this kind of long-term change that is needed to actually make meaningful change in your life. And like you touched on in the book, that all, that's an internal job. That starts with your mindset.

That doesn't start with the next diet that you select, right? It's all mindset.

Juliana: Exactly, and I know I'm nobody's first rodeo. Like I joke, like I am not most people's first choice, right? And if they're still trying to, you know, get back to the body they had 20 years ago, I'm probably not their cup of tea either, because I'm all about upgrading to your [00:31:00] next level version of self. Like to really stepping into it and then bridging the gap so that the body matches this awesome person that I know the women listening already are, rather than seeing the body as this thing that we wish was different, that holds us back. Right. Which is sort of part of my story as well, that even with chronic pain that I felt my body is almost like trapping my mind, just ready to rock and roll, right?

Uh, and then getting back into that congruency, you know, took a little bit of walk. But at the same time, if the person is willing and ready to do the internal work. The results are fascinating, right? Because once you understand the inner workings, like my frameworks for how I see the world shifted, and that's what the, they're all in the book, right?

So if something happens, you know, I can look at something as in this is happening to me, therefore life is unfair, or whatever the, the story is. Versus life [00:32:00] happens through me, and no matter what happens, I can always neutralize it in my mind, get back into my heart, and off I go. The same quotation stressor will impact my genetics very differently from person A to person B, right?

So I think it's a very important skill set you have to take the behavior, the human behavioral side matches with whatever strategy you're doing and then together I think you can become unstoppable. And it doesn't matter age doesn't matter what's going on in the world. I think there is a, a beautiful recipe for everyone and hopefully the book will help them find that version for themselves.

Laurie: And wouldn't it be wonderful if women concentrated on how incredible they were versus these are all the flaws with my body that I don't want, that I don'r like.

Juliana: Yes, I look at people. From a different perspective, lower than most people, right? Like, and I don't know, I've always been this way. I look at somebody and I see biochemical [00:33:00] reactions, like literally like that's how my

Laurie: more on that.

Juliana: Um, and I look at myself or anybody and imagine there's millions of perfect reactions happening right now while we're having a wonderful conversation about something else with no need for conscious awareness.

Right. The magnificence of the vessel that we call the human body is so, in my mind, extraordinary that even to see any flaws in it, it's crazy to me, right? But we do it because we're conditioned for all the reasons, all the layers. And as I saying the book like a little baby is not gonna look at its chubby legs and think, oh, I better skip my meal this morning because look, my legs are chubby.

Like it doesn't have this distortions of perceptions that we gain, right? As we, as we age, and I think it's part of this freedom that everybody wants, food freedom, whatever, freedom. But I think we live so like we live trapped in our minds, essentially our preferences and all of [00:34:00] that. And I think the more light we learn to shed on it and understand what is really going on, then we have choices to make.

Like do you wanna continue to subscribe right to this pressure filled set of standards that are totally self-imposed, like the beauty standards that I saw change or do I want to just have an awesome life and enjoy myself even if I eat a cookie here and there, you know? And I think that's kind of like the path that I took that hopefully the book will inspire some women to take as well and go have a good life rather than, you know, focus on the problem.

Laurie: Yes. Um, yes to all of that. As a former attorney, I know that I'm not supposed to ask a question I don't actually know the answer to, but uh, here we go. So, if women, they're listening to this podcast, they go get the book, they read the book, but you're in Canada, so are they able to work with you if they're listening in the United States?

I mean, how does [00:35:00] that work?

Juliana: so I have clients all over the world. We shipped DNA kits internationally in two days. Like it's a beautiful thing, the world of internet these days. So yeah, absolutely.

Laurie: And then is, because my guess is there's, is is there medicine involved in the treatment? Is I, I, I'm having a hard time getting my head around that. So you do the DNA testing, just, just assume I'm your client

Juliana: Mm-hmm.

Laurie: Walk me through what our engagement looks

Juliana: Yeah. So the first step is to ship you the test kit you get a couple days later, you swab your cheeks. Kind of like CSI like, like literally, that's what it looks like. Uh, ship it back to the

Laurie: These are their stories.

Juliana: Ship it back to the lab. We're looking at different things. Let me guarantee you that. Um, ship it back to the laboratory and then once the results are ready, I get basically a sets of numbers and letters, right?

So the results itself are just, you know, [00:36:00] letters and numbers. And then when I do that, I turn that into a very comprehensive report, and I call that the book of you. So it's usually like about 50 to 60 pages long, so it has the first 10. It's very much like chapters in a book. That's how it's organized. And the chapters are gonna go through the big systems, your metabolism, your stress, your detox, your fitness, all of that.

And then the remainder 40, 50 pages is all the science, the background. What each gene means. And so it's very much like an educational piece as well. And I, I printed mine. I have it beautifully bound and I keep going back to it for like deeper insights 'cause it's, there's so much in there, right? So then what I do when we have our first session, I interpret that for you.

And the way that I like to do it, I tell this story, right? So I take the whole thing and I create a list of highest top three priorities for you, based it on your symptoms, your [00:37:00] goals, and your genes. And I tell it the story of what is the root cause of what is going on? What are you experiencing and why?

So that depending on how much of the science you watch, the report is there, but at least everybody leaves knowing what is going on and really understands that piece right. Then from there, depending on the packages and what we're doing, so I can craft, you know, meal plans that are based on your genetics.

We can do the mindset work if that's more necessary. Supplements that, you know, dependent on where you live. We either get in your country or we can ship from here. So there's all these different things that we can do. Afterwards, but it depends on what you're a, what you're after. As we're testing your DNA.

Laurie: I love this. There are plenty of reasons why it feels like the internet can be challening, or you know, like connection is lost because of it. But this allowing, you [00:38:00] know, you allowing yourself to do what it is that you do and work with women all over the world. So good. That like, that is a perfect example of technology being used for good.

Um, so that's so interesting. What would you say is the most typical lifespan of your relationship with a client?

Juliana: Mm-hmm. I have people that, you know, if we were to do like the shorter packages that were done in two months. I have people that have been working with me for over five years.

Laurie: Oh my, yeah.

Juliana: I think it depends really on what you're looking for. But, and the five years is not seeing each other every week, of course.

Right. But like having me there, sort of like if we're doing more the emotional, the mindset work have like a, a long-term container that we work in that format. And I think too, the way that I built, especially the, the curriculums, the science is that because the DNA never changes, I set [00:39:00] my business up in a way that you will always have access to information that you need, right? And then if you need extra support, people come in and out based on what life circumstances are happening. So I have people that are under coaching for a bit and then they go and they come back. So it's a beautiful, it's a very organic, like I'm a believer that I'm always accessible if you need something from me, but I don't have any you know, hard timelines or, you know, I, I wanted to work for you and you have to be ready and choosing this work because this is this type of work that I do, it takes courage, right? You have to be ready. You have to be willing, and I, I'm not a believer in external motivation. I'm not like your motivating ha ho.

Like I'm not, I'm teaching you how to do a from within. And the person has to be ready. Right? So that's why there's such a discrepancy in the, in the time duration, because there's that flexibility in terms of being ready for the next phase and the next level and the next level. [00:40:00] Yeah, we can go down many levels together.

Laurie: It sounds like it. If I'm a listener, how would I know that I'm ready to start working with you?

Juliana: I would say the major commonalities, the first one is you try many things before, right? So it's kinda like, I would say three main pockets of clients. I know you try many things before, and you just have not found the thing for you. So that would be sort of like probably the most common that people come to me.

I also have clients that they are willing to invest in themselves. They have the time, but they just want the shortest path with certainty. Right? So that's another, you know, comment that, you know, if we. They set everything on your genetics that's as certain as we can get in terms of what to do. And I also have the other side of things that people that are fine, they're eating healthy and so on, but they're not seeing results.

That's like my personal story, right? That they're just like, they're even very committed. They're highly motivated. Like I'm an [00:41:00] incredibly inner motivated person. Like I don't need accountability for anything I care about. Right? Really not. But that was not enough. And just trying harder is not a solution, right?

Like we can keep like hitting the same nail and it's not gonna go in. Uh, so those are the sort of three. Aspects of it that if you want answers in a way that whatever else you try have not provided you, then that's when I would say let a, not from like single genes like me telling you I have the obesity gene, you know the nickname obesity gene.

That's not enough information we need to look at functionally in the context of who you are, what you're looking for, and how you're coded.

Laurie: God, I just think this is so all, so fascinating. Um. Where can the listeners find you if they wanna work with you?

Juliana: Yeah, so I'll say my website is the hub that I have everything in one place, and so that's naturally joyous.ca. [00:42:00] Www. Uh, and in there I even have, I explain what is in the test if you wanna, you know, read the different sections. I organize it in a way that hopefully is user friendly so I can find anything you're looking for.

So that'll probably be the best place to, and I also have a masterclass in there, have my podcast, the book coming up. So there's all this like resources in this one hub.

Laurie: That's perfect, and we'll make sure that there's a clickable link in the show notes, for your website so that people can pick up a copy of the book and go listen to the podcast. They can take place in the mass, all the things. Um, it'll be interesting to see how many women raise their hand and say, you know what, I, I've tried all the things.

I'm really ready for this. I, I want to understand from a genetic standpoint, what's going on and how we can fix it. So that's fascinating. Um, I've taken up a lot of your time. You've given us so much information. Is there anything that we did not cover that you [00:43:00] think would be meaningful or helpful to the listeners as they are trying to figure out what is next for them?

Juliana: I think the major thing I like to remind women, and I know it's very much your message as well, is to not look at midlife is this moment of crisis. You know? And really, really look at it as this opportunity. This time of awakening, this invitation to really take stock of what is important to you and make some hard choices, right, and some hard decisions, and really prioritize your life.

And it's a big part of what the book is about, because that's how my work been for a very long time. I think that's technically the, maybe the shortest path when we're talking about speed earlier, because that's how we can calm our nervous system. That's how we can get into congruence and that's how we can have the most satisfaction in life when we are actually living life by our terms, you know? I know you do a lot of work with this as well. We're helping women discover themselves again. Right. And I think when [00:44:00] we do life on purpose, it just feels so good. Rather than always catching up on this rat race that yes, our health is gonna be impacted. Right?

And I don't believe that another diet is a solution. Even with, you know, some of the medications. Yes, they can help the right person, the right circumstances. We still need to do the inner work so we can even see the change. We still have to do, you know, eating properly and all those things are still part of it if we want this long term, right?

So I don't believe in weight loss at any cost. I really believe that we can find this beautiful balance between how we feel and how we look, and really finding that freedom that I think is very individual. But remembering the midlife is not a crisis. It's an incredible opportunity if we choose to embrace it.

Laurie: I obviously endorse that, that message. That that's exactly what we talk about here at the School of Midlife. Um, you, you put that beautifully. Thank you. We end every [00:45:00] guest episode at the School of Midlife with the same two questions, Juliana. Number one, if you could go back with all of the life lessons you've learned, all the information you have gathered, everything that you know to this point, what advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

Juliana: Hmm. So this is a question that I think about a lot because I, I use that as even part of reframing my own problems. You know, if my 7-year-old self is talking to me right now, what would she say? What would she tell me? And I think the thing that always boils down to me is my relationship with time. You know, that.

You got time to take a deep breath and maybe not try to do all the things at once and go a million miles an hour. I'm, I put so many, I would say, and I know you recently talked about that 'cause I was listening to your podcast recently as well about we put all this timelines, we impose so many timelines in ourselves about when we need to hear this and hear that, and they're all subjective.

Right. [00:46:00] And I think they rob us of joy. They truly do. And then we're not enjoying the journey. So I think it's really, really being present in the journey and enjoying the moments. I was so looking forward to this conversation, right? And then being in the moment here with you, listening to you respond to you, rather than thinking about what I'm doing for dinner.

You know, like we put so much pressure, so be shifting my relationship with time. That would be the number one thing that I always come back to.

Laurie: Um, I don't think anyone has ever even touched on anything close to that. I love that so much. You know, I, I think that you would agree that there is sort of this, this balance though between not trying to force everything into this compressed timeline, and actually getting into action and not thinking that we have all the time in the world and we can just wait and push it off.

I mean, there is kind of a, a, a sweet spot in the middle somewhere that, that is, is [00:47:00] probably where we need to land.

land Um, do you, do you consider yourself a midlife woman?

Juliana: I do.

Laurie: Okay. Okay. Because everybody's different, right. Um. So my, the, the second question is, what do you like most about being a midlife woman?

Juliana: Hmm. I would say like my significant hormonal shift happens earlier than most people I normally didn't see in my practice. And a lot of it, a lot of it really reverted once. You know, release my last 30 pounds and really manage inflammation in a different way. So it was a little bit of like aha moment for me that was like, wow, like, you know, some of it was maybe a little inflated.

I thought I was earlier than, you know, actually I was in my, you know, journey of transition here. But I would say I have a level of certainty in myself and who [00:48:00] I am now. That looking back 10, 15 years ago, right, with all the chasing and the status, and I think I had a lot more like outwards looking of success and so on.

And I have a much different metric of success right now for myself. And a really inside of productivity, which I've always been a highly, you know, high output individual. I manage my energy. I don't manage my time. You know, I look at success in terms of my degree of satisfaction with actions, even if somebody else disagrees.

As long as I'm integral and I know I would not have done anything differently, that I'm in full integrity with what I chose and what I said, that's good enough. And I think that's a maturity that comes right with, you know, midlife and all the beautiful things that we learned. So I'll say that that's my favorite part, is the shift in how I measure success and how much more certain I am and who I am and what I bring to the table.

Laurie: Ugh. I love that. I love it [00:49:00] so much. I think that is the perfect way to end the conversation today. Thank you so much for being here. This has just been a perfect way to spend my afternoon, and I know all of the listeners are gonna love, uh, this conversation. So thank you. Thank you so much for your time.

Juliana: My absolute pleasure. Like I said, I was really looking forward to this conversation, Laurie, so thank you for having me.

Laurie: Same. Yeah, you bet.

 Thank you so much for listening to the School of Midlife podcast. It means so much to have you here each week. If you enjoyed this episode, could you do me the biggest favor and help us spread the word to other midlife women? There are a couple of easy ways for you to do that first. And most importantly, if you're not already following the show, would you please subscribe? That helps you because you'll never miss an episode. And it helps us because you'll never miss an episode. Second, if you'd be so kind to leave us a five-star rating, that would be absolutely incredible. And finally, I personally read each and every [00:50:00] one of your reviews.