From Pills to Plates: Can Food Really Replace Medications?

Are you struggling with weight loss or managing your blood sugar? Wondering if medications like Ozempic are the answer?

Many people turn to quick-fix medications without exploring natural, holistic approaches first. This can lead to dependence on drugs and mask underlying issues.

Dr. Tamar Lawful shares how integrating pharmacy, nutrition and genomics can provide personalized solutions for sustainable health and weight management.

BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

• How medications like Ozempic work and their potential drawbacks
• Natural approaches to blood sugar control and weight loss
• The importance of addressing emotional eating alongside physical symptoms
• How genetic testing can provide personalized health insights

Dr. Lawful’s unique background bridges traditional pharmacy with holistic health coaching to help clients achieve optimal wellness.

LISTEN ON THE HEALTHIFIED PODCAST

Chapters

• 0:01 Health Coach Advocates Holistic Wellness Approach
• 6:37 Navigating Medication and Holistic Approaches
• 19:45 Analyzing Ozempic and Placebo Effects
• 28:04 Changing Habits for Long-Term Success
• 32:40 Self-Care Strategies for Busy Women
• 43:12 Navigating Health and Nutrition Challenges
• 54:45 Embrace Your Journey to Health

Transcript

Dr. Tamar: 0:01

being able to realize it's okay to do something for you first, it's okay to set your boundaries, it's okay to say no so that you can take care of yourself. And I always tell them you need to take care of yourself first. If you want to break the mold of traditional pharmacy and healthcare, you are in the right place. Welcome to the Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics podcast. Part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network. Here's a little truth bomb. We're all unique, down to our DNA, so it's no wonder we react differently to the same medications, foods and environment. Here's a million dollar question how can you discover exactly what your body needs, which medication, what foods or supplements and which exercises are right for you? How can you manage chronic conditions like diabetes without more medications? How can you lose weight and keep it off? How do you tap into your genetic blueprint so you can stop surviving and start thriving in health and life? That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answer. I'm your host, Dr. Tamar, Lawful, doctor of pharmacy. Let's pivot into genomics and bring healthcare to higher levels.

Dr. Tamar: 1:19

Hello, welcome back to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics. I am your host, Dr. Tamar Lawful, Doctor of Pharmacy and Certified Nutritional Genomics Specialist. You know, in a world where the go-to solution often involves prescriptions and quick fixes, we're taking a step back to assess the power of our daily meals and managing health concerns, particularly blood sugar and weight management. This discussion is not only timely but essential as we strive to lead healthier, more balanced lives.

Dr. Tamar: 1:48

This episode I'm sharing with you today is a special one because it's a replay of an enriching chat I had during my guest appearance on the Healthified podcast. We tackle some crucial questions, questions like how do medications like Ozempic function, what are their long-term implications and, most importantly, can a well-curated diet provide similar or even greater benefits without the dependency on pharmaceuticals? We'll also touch on a holistic approach to health that incorporates emotional, physical and genetic factors to create a personalized wellness strategy that goes beyond conventional medicine. So, whether you're curious about these topics or seeking practical advice to transform your health perspective, this episode is for you. So gather around, grab your favorite healthy snack. Let's uncover the truth behind transitioning from reliance on pills to harnessing the healing power of what's on our plates. Let's listen in to this conversation on the health of mine podcast tomorrow.

Speaker 2: 2:47

Welcome to the Healthified podcast. Thank you, Sarah. I'm glad to be here. You have such a unique story and background and current approach, just based on your past in pharmacy school and now you're a health coach, and I am just so intrigued by how you've kind of blended everything together, so I just want to get all into it today. Could you kick us off and tell us a little bit more about you and how you got to where you are Of?

Dr. Tamar: 3:14

course. Thank you, Sarah. So yes, I am a pharmacist still and I have a health coaching company. So what led me to this health coaching company? That my ultimate goal is to get people off medication because I'm a pharmacist doing things right.

Dr. Tamar: 3:32

And I would say the turning point for me as far as why I decided to go this route of helping people get healthy so they wouldn't have to rely on medication so much stems from my experience in the pharmacy and hospital pharmacy environment, where I actually saw patients with heart failure and diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and my job was to actually counsel them, follow their therapy while they're in the hospital and their day of going home, their day of discharge, I would go to their room and actually counsel them on their medications, counsel them on their disease, state that you have heart failure this is what heart failure is. Reduce your salt intake to this. Exercise 30 minutes five times a day, and then I would say OK, bye, wish you well. And they would be back in a couple of weeks, or maybe a week or a couple of days. And this was so disheartening to me because I realized that more was needed. I didn't want to see them back in hospital suffering, right. So it made me think okay, what is needed? How can I help?

Dr. Tamar: 4:32

And I realized I can't help in a hospital setting. In a hospital setting, there's only so much you can do. You're treating them acutely, they're presenting with a problem right then and there. You have to address it right then and there. But what can I do to prevent them from coming back to the hospital? And I realized it's helping them learn and develop healthy habits, helping them really understand what it means to eat healthy, what being healthy is and how they can do it. And to do that it took more than 10 minutes on their way out the door. So that's where I created my company, life Balance, which stands for Love Yourself First, Every Day, l-y-f-e, so that I can help clients, mainly women, who are not prioritizing themselves so now their health is going down the drain and actually guide them to really understand what true health is and how they can obtain it.

Speaker 2: 5:20

Well, that's amazing and such important work in this world. And I've had so many other conversations with health coaches such as yourself, and functional medicine doctors and naturopaths and acupuncturists, and I think what constantly comes up is this divide between more holistic modalities and approaches to health versus kind of that traditional Western setting. And correct me if I'm wrong, I do think you are a living example of how the system is moving in the right direction, but it almost seems too slow, like it almost seems as if it has to happen on such an individual level, because obviously I have no medical training, but from what I've heard, this type of stuff is not talked about in medical school. So what do you think it's going to take for more leaps and bounds to be made so that these two worlds become more enmeshed and less separate?

Dr. Tamar: 6:20

Wow, that is a great question, Sarah, and unfortunately I'm not too hopeful that it will get to that point. I think that is still going to be individualized, mainly because of the driving force behind medications, the big companies that are making these medications, especially in the Western world. In medical school, even pharmacy school, what we're taught is the medications. What we're taught is the medications. Yeah, you know we are taught.

Dr. Tamar: 6:44

Yes, before prescribing a medication, say, someone has their diagnosis of hypertension or high blood pressure, promote nutrition and lifestyle changes. But we got a very small I don't even think it's one page of information about that. Wow. And then the rest of it is all medication, how does it work, what it does in the body, and I don't think that's going to change. They might have an elective where we can learn more about nutrition and holistic type approaches, but the driving force behind how medicines currently practice in the Western world is very powerful and I don't see that changing unless the majority of people in the healthcare profession turn to the holistic approaches. Right, and then you see less of the support for the companies that are driving the medications.

Speaker 2: 7:34

And you're so right. It's just so unfortunate that I mean I feel as if money is a huge motivator, and so I just think as long as that is a part of the equation, it's going to be really hard to change. It is Now.

Dr. Tamar: 7:46

I don't have the facts 100%, but in countries that are not so driven by the money when it comes to health care, I know they're more open to the holistic approaches and it's more widespread. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:00

And so what we just talked about is kind of the medical professional side, but I'm so curious on kind of the individual patient, client, consumers, of healthcare side, because, you know, I do think that there's this mindset and, archaic as it may be, there are still people I mean in my life maybe you know someone in your life and I'm sure people listening could relate where the immediate answer to an issue or an illness is medication, like even something as small as like allergies, or like treating a common cold, or even like a fever or something.

Speaker 2: 8:39

And this is where my husband and I butt heads a lot and he knows my approach, he knows my philosophy, he knows my beliefs around it, but it's almost like he likes to remain stubborn, just to kind of get to me Like, you know, if it's allergy season here in Virginia, and so my immediate response is like, okay, I need to go get a neti pot and I need to incorporate those foods that might help with allergies. I need to be taking my manuka honey, where he's like Claritin, zyrtec, you know, and so it's like I'm just like there's other ways, just about like popping pills every day that can help solve your problem in a preventative, more sustainable way. So I guess my question after all of that is like okay, so what if you have those people that are just so rooted in this thought that, like you, experience an issue or an ailment and then the immediate next step is to take a pill? What mindset shifts can we start to encourage, to get them to embrace, to maybe make shifts towards that more holistic approach?

Dr. Tamar: 9:40

My approach to everyone I speak with that comes my way is a no judgment approach. Everyone's entitled to their opinion and what they choose to do in their life. My job maybe coming from a pharmacist aspect, where I was a preceptor and a teacher as well is to educate. Now I educate you, give you the facts and help you make your own decision. Yeah, it's like I tell my daughter, my five-year-old don't just look at a food and say you know, I don't want it unless you try it, because it might be the best thing you've ever tasted in your life. You're going to love it.

Dr. Tamar: 10:15

So, when it comes to holistic approach, try it. Try it, yeah. See how easy it is and see that it will actually work and at least try it out, you know. So I guess, in that sense, that is the mindset you could have. Like you know, don't just disregard it simply because it's different. It's not something you tried before or had before. Try it out, see how it works. Guaranteed you're actually going to love it and you're going to benefit from it in the long run.

Speaker 2: 10:43

Oh my gosh, that is such a good point and such just an element of human nature, and it made me think of this experience the other day.

Speaker 2: 10:49

This is a huge tangent and has nothing to do with really, like you know, holistic health, but my son, two and a half, loves apple juice and it always comes in a green container, and so the other day we ran out of apple juice and they only had the fruit punch, which is a pink container. Literally tantrum, I mean throwing himself on the floor and for some I don't even know how I reverse psychology to him, but he ended up trying it and the sound of glee that came out of his mouth after he realized he liked it. So you're so right, and I think that that can be carried into adulthood, where you just remain skeptical about something and we have just this layer of judgment on things if we're not educated enough or we've never tried it before, and so I just love that more open-minded curiosity approach to all of this. Do you receive a lot of skepticism from your clients and or any peers colleagues? Have you ever received?

Dr. Tamar: 12:43

pushback. No, the only thing I think of is kale. When they're tall, when their genetic profile comes in and it says you could benefit from incorporating kale in your nutrition. Oh my goodness, Sarah, kale like they, they don't want anything to do with it.

Speaker 2: 13:01

Oh, that is so funny.

Dr. Tamar: 13:02

And I share some recipes that they can use. Like you can put kale in soup, you can put kale in your smoothies, and they try it and they actually love it. Now it's like kale, they over spinach, they want some kale, you know. So that's the only thing I can think of where I got pushed back from. But when people are coming to me, they're already ready to try something different. They're ready to try to get off these medications and reduce the need for them. So they're in that mindset already where, okay, I want to try something new, so that helps.

Speaker 2: 13:31

I would love to hear kind of how you know from pharmacology to holistic health coaching, like what is kind of the evolution been of your business and the way that you work with people. Like I imagine that it's probably gone through different evolutions. Like maybe you've incorporated that from your education and you I think I read or learned that you went to IIN yes, same here and so I imagine that through trial and error you probably blended some things, some things stuck, some things didn't. So I would love to kind of hear if there's anything from your more like traditional schooling that you have kept around, or tell us a little bit more about how you work with people.

Dr. Tamar: 14:13

You know it's interesting. As pharmacists we are trained in how the body works down to a cellular level. So when I went to IIN and my focus was integrated nutrition, it all started making sense to me that the food that we eat will affect our body, just like the drugs we take has a response. You take a drug, you have a response. You eat certain foods, you have a response. So to me it was just a natural transition.

Dr. Tamar: 14:37

Yeah, that makes so much sense, Right replace the medication with the food, and the way I work is pretty much a merging of pharmacy and nutrition and, of course, genomics my specialty. So in addition to my training with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, I also trained with the American Nutrition Association and became a certified ketogenic nutrition specialist. Wow Later on, a certified nutritional genomic specialist, I became obsessed with nutrition. But I needed to know science wise. So my training with the American Nutrition Association gave me all the studies, I got all the science behind how nutrition affects our body and I was blown away. I had no clue, no clue. But at the same time it made sense. So I decided hey, I'm a pharmacist. I actually love being a pharmacist, being able to help people understand what's going on with their bodies and making sure these medications are being used safely and appropriately, because they're going to be there. So I want to at least still be there to make sure they're being used safely.

Dr. Tamar: 15:42

So I decided to merge the two. So I have patients or I call them clients, because it's more of an accountability thing. If they see me or see themselves as a patient, it's like oh, dr Tamar, you're going to make me better versus a client. I'm going to take the steps I need to take to get better. So, with that being said, they come in.

Dr. Tamar: 16:04

They have, they are on medications, whether it's for blood pressure, diabetes, whatever it is, they're on medications. So in that and I'm licensed in three states, so for the clients that are in those states I'm licensed in I can dive deeper into their medication profile and collaborate with their physicians, communicate with their physicians as to what's going on, so they get that medication review from me and I can see drug-drug interactions, drug-disease state interactions, things that are. They share their labs with me so I get to use that clinical aspect that I was trained in to help them out from the pharmaceutical side. And then a nutrition side comes in once their genetic profile results, where now I can work with them to apply the recommendations in that report. Yeah, just merge those two together and what we see is they're improving their blood sugar, so they need less insulin. They're improving their blood pressure. They can get off the medication.

Speaker 2: 17:03

Yeah, that's fascinating and, like I said in the beginning, such a unique approach and just I'm sure gives a lot of assurance to your clients that you work with, because I just think having that clinical lens can be super powerful in working with a client. And what you said about after finishing IIN I remember feeling that exact same way and I did go on to receive additional certifications, but I get asked a lot about IIN. So I just wanted to elaborate a little bit more on that for anyone listening, because you know I have an audience that's very interested in health and wellness and I've talked to multiple people who are exploring health coaching and that is one thing that I would say. It's like you come out of that program and you're like well F, like I need to, like you know, I need to go a little bit deeper into the workings of the body and I love the way that you framed that in terms of how the medication works in the body versus like food in the body. And I, going back to the traditional medical setting, I don't think people are taught that that like in again, like I think it's only been in recent decades that we've started to make the connection between what you eat and how you feel and disease manifestation and all of these things. So I think that's really cool that your path has definitely unfolded as it's meant to. Your path has definitely unfolded as it's meant to.

Speaker 2: 18:31

And before we go a little bit deeper into some of those things that you mentioned, like blood pressure and diabetes type 2 diabetes specifically, because those things for me and again I don't know too much about the clinical side of things, but I imagine are issues that can be either prevented or reversed with dietary and lifestyle choices. But I want to go on a little bit of a tangent and talk about the placebo effect, because I think about I've done a lot of work and research on the placebo effect in my own work, mostly from, like, a power of belief, mind body connection type perspective. But as I was prepping for this interview, I listened to another interview you were on and you were talking about it and I think it's absolutely fascinating. So can we talk about the placebo effect a little bit more, what it is, maybe, how it works with medication and then how it can actually be like translated into other areas not medication speaking. Yeah, so the placebo effect really when it stems from research right into other areas, not medication speaking, yeah.

Dr. Tamar: 19:29

So the placebo effect really, when it stems from research right In the research study, for example the weight loss medications I'm thinking of a Zempik.

Speaker 2: 19:37

Oh my gosh, I can't wait to talk to you about that.

Dr. Tamar: 19:39

So they gave people the medication and they gave others. They didn't give others the medication. Usually in a research study you don't, of course, you don't know that you have, you don't have the actual medication, right. So in studies they find that people are like, for example, pain, oh, their pain is better. I'm taking this medication, the placebo, and my pain is better.

Dr. Tamar: 20:01

And it's very interesting and, yeah, it is on a psychological level and it goes in support of how our mindset plays a huge role on our well-being and so that the placebo effect is believing that you have the actual in the sense of medication, the actual medication. When you don't, and you're getting results, you're feeling better Although the medication is actually not in your system, like a sugar pill, yeah. So that's really interesting to me to when I read those studies and I see that people have that placebo effect when it comes to certain conditions. Now, with the weight loss studies, people that didn't actually get it, they only lost about 2% of their original weight versus the actual group that had the medication lost about 15% of their original weight. So you know the numbers would show in that effect. But that was just an example of placebo where someone they didn't receive the actual medication, but thought they were.

Speaker 2: 20:58

Uh-huh, but the results were like a lot more subtler with the placebo. Then Can we talk about Ozempic, because I mean, it's such a buzz topic of conversation and, I'll be completely honest, I really don't know too much about it. I know that there's controversy, I know that people are having success on it, but I like don't really understand how it works. I don't understand really, like, what makes someone a candidate. So can I know? It's just like such a? It's on the top of people's minds whether it's right for them or not, or whether they should be bashing against it. I don't know. I would just love to be more informed.

Dr. Tamar: 21:35

Yeah, well, that's a great question, Sarah. So Ozempic is a brand name on the medication that was designed for type two diabetes. The chemical name, or some people might say generic name, is semaglutide. It's supposed to be prescribed for people type 2 diabetes and also then there's Wegovy, which is the one that is indicated only for weight loss, but it's actually the same medication. It's also semaglutide. They just market it as Wegovy because it's under only the indication of weight loss versus Ozempic is type 2 diabetes Got it. So, of course, a few years ago, when they discovered Ozempic had these huge success for weight loss, people were being prescribed it for weight loss when they didn't have diabetes, and that created a shortage. I believe there's still a little bit of a shortage. It's supposed to be alleviated this month. I haven't checked in a couple of weeks to see the status of it. But now Wigovi is created by the manufacturer for just weight loss.

Dr. Tamar: 22:39

So what this particular medication does? It works like a natural hormone in our body. This hormone is called GLP-1. It's a glucose dependent insulin. What it does? It increases insulin. So when we eat naturally we have, our blood sugar rises. The sugar in our blood rises. In response to that, insulin is released from our pancreas. Some people may not be able to, their body may not respond to insulin the way it should, so that the blood sugar stays high in their system.

Dr. Tamar: 23:13

So what medications like Ozempic will do is increase the amount of insulin that's being released in the presence of sugar, so after we eat.

Dr. Tamar: 23:22

And then it also reduces another hormone called glucagon, which can actually contribute to high blood sugar as well, and then, because it's a hormone that works also in the brain, it reduces our appetite, so it makes us feel like, okay, we're not as hungry as we normally would be, and it also slows down, slows down gastric emptying. So our stomach is going to, food is going to stay in our stomach longer, okay, so it increases the tidy yes, indeed, and as a result, so our stomach is going to, food is going to stay in our stomach longer, okay, so it increases the tidy yes, indeed, and as a result, you're not going to eat as much, yeah, yeah. So that's how it works, but with all the mechanism actions in the stomach, because it's slowing down our emptying, it's making us feel full longer because the food is still in there, and that's where you come across the stomach effects, the side effects with the stomach, so nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, even constipation can happen.

Speaker 2: 24:16

That's so interesting, and just a question on that. So when there's more insulin, though, that's where I'm confused, because this is what I thought, that those drugs in response to type 2 diabetes got it wrong. Because when you put more insulin in your body, doesn't that decrease insulin sensitivity? And don't we want to be insulin sensitive so that the blood sugar gets cleared more effectively?

Dr. Tamar: 24:42

Yeah, so it depends. So these medications are actually increasing the body's response to insulin. Okay, so there's. You mentioned insulin sensitivity. Then there's insulin resistance, which is a huge role, plays a huge role in weight gain Gain.

Dr. Tamar: 24:53

Yeah, so the way I explain this insulin resistance to my clients is think of a pancake where you're pouring syrup on top of it and you get to a point where the pancake cannot absorb any more syrup. That's a good analogy. So now the syrup is pouring into, like the bacon or the eggs or the fruit on your plate. So the inability for the pancakes to absorb any more sugar is like the inability of your tissues to absorb any more sugar from your blood, although insulin is doing its job. Insulin is aware that, hey, there's sugar in the blood. I'm supposed to come out and help tell the muscles, the tissues, to draw up the sugar out of the blood. So insulin is doing its job, but the tissues are no longer responding and that's insulin resistance. The tissues are no longer responding to taking the sugar out of the blood. Now the new weight loss medications are improving their response to insulin's presence.

Dr. Tamar: 25:53

Got it In addition to increasing putting more insulin out there. Now, insulin's role in weight gain is because it helps store fat. Yes, it signals the hormone and it's telling the body to store fat as well. So if we're putting more insulin in our body, we going to store more fat right as well. But with the glp-1 the medications like wikov and non-olympic or zet, bound or manjaro is the other name for it it's because you're eating less but also increasing your insulin response. You're reducing that presence of sugar, got it?

Speaker 2: 26:29

And so it's just better blood sugar control.

Dr. Tamar: 26:37

Exactly that's the key Better blood sugar control is the key to weight loss.

Speaker 2: 26:38

Yes, but what obviously this drug does not deal with is kind of that emotional side of eating, of eating.

Speaker 2: 26:54

Now, there are two sides to that coin.

Speaker 2: 26:56

Obviously, if someone is overweight and their leptin signaling has gone haywire and it's like that overfed but undernourished and they're not experiencing those natural hunger signals as someone with a healthy composition may, so someone actually physiologically feels hungry. But then there's kind of the emotional eating side which I've seen so much with my health coaching clients when I was previously health coaching I don't know if you have as well and I imagine the decrease in hunger and the increase in satiety would solve that to a certain point, unless someone just has such a not detrimental relationship with food, but one that has just been challenged, I guess, and you know that emotional eating piece is still there, even if they're not hungry. I mean I have experienced that in my life and I mean that to me is the definition of emotional eating when we eat in the face of when we're not physiologically hungry. So I don't know if you have an answer to that. I'm just like so curious about like what the long-term effects of that for someone are if they don't really get help on the emotional side of things.

Dr. Tamar: 28:04

That's a great question, Sarah. I've been speaking to doctors at weight loss clinics over the past month. Oh, that's so cool. I have an answer for that question, because it was very interesting to me. They're saying that their patients are not having those cravings. Wow, they're not having those cravings like for the emotional eating or stress eating it's gone. Stress eating it's gone. However, what they do see is that when they get off those medications, those cravings come back and they seem to be more intense than they were before. Wow, yeah, so that definitely tells me that we need to help people understand how to deal with their triggers If they're going to be emotionally eating, understanding what the triggers are, understanding what they can eat instead and, as we mentioned, how food, just like medications, has an impact on what we feel and what our body does and how our body responds. You can eat certain foods that will turn that trigger off, that will turn those cravings off.

Speaker 2: 29:11

Yeah, that's so cool and that's something I actually feel like I could come around to, because I'm a big believer in sometimes, when you're stuck in a certain habit loop, if you allow yourself in some way, shape or form, to gain the space to see how you can operate outside of that habit loop, just to be very vulnerable for a second.

Speaker 2: 29:32

So in my 20s, when I was at the height of my emotional eating issues, it was very connected to my alcohol consumption and so I just had this story that, like if I drank too much, I would immediately like binge eat or overeat, and I was just stuck in this very vicious cycle that was physically detrimental, emotionally detrimental, all the things. So when I started to work with a therapist and she finally, like encouraged me to take a break from alcohol for a while which at 24, 25 is very difficult to do but I did it I was able to see myself operating outside of that pattern and that gave me a lot of confidence when I eventually added alcohol back in, because I did to sort of like operate in a different way outside of that vicious cycle. So I can see how that medication would actually be very helpful for somebody if they did the work alongside of it.

Dr. Tamar: 30:34

From that emotional standpoint, Exactly exactly, and that's how I help my clients who, like I said, I don't judge. If someone makes a decision to be on these medications, that's fine. My job is to, as their coach, make sure that they're doing it safely, that they're monitoring their side effects, that they are visiting their doctors on a regular basis yeah, and my side of the health coaching is to help them learn these habits so that they become normal, the norm for them. Yes, yes, rest and have self-care and manage stressful experiences while they're on these medications. Yeah, develop these healthy habits now so that when, if they decide to get off of them, those habits are there and they can continue doing it, so that they don't have that rebound waking.

Speaker 2: 31:42

Yeah, and it almost has to be an identity shift at like the most fundamental level. Like we talk a lot about mindset on here and I've even kind of taken it a little bit deeper because I do think obviously your thoughts are very powerful, but subconsciously or consciously, if you're tied to a certain identity, as you just mentioned, it's going to be really hard to change and sustain habits if you feel like it's going against your identity, whether that's subconscious or not. So how do you sort of help your clients make that shift in order to really like integrate those habits into a new way of being?

Dr. Tamar: 32:25

It's part of our health coaching sessions. The first two weeks is what I work on, but two weeks is not enough to transform your mind, because you thought this way, this has been part of your identity the majority of your life. So two weeks is not going to turn around. So this is something that's incorporated on a regular routine, weekly in our group coaching sessions. Just asking them where they are, what they're struggling with, what do they think, what's holding them back and, yeah, sometimes they're still holding on to those self-limiting beliefs. So, walking them through that, talking them through that, helping them set the goals, their SMART goals, to if that's something that they identify they really are struggling with that week. It's a process. It takes time.

Speaker 2: 33:10

What are those hurdles or those barriers that you hear the most from your clients getting in the way of achieving their goals?

Dr. Tamar: 33:18

You know, it's interesting, another foundation of my business, why it's called Love Yourself First, everyday Life Balance is because I realized that, especially with women, we're not prioritizing ourselves. We are such caretakers, we're taking care of everybody, whether it's parents, spouse, kids. A lot of my clients are in the healthcare industry Patients, you know, feeling like they have to do for others and if they don't, they are guilty. They feel guilty Dealing with that guilt of putting themselves first, every single one of them.

Dr. Tamar: 33:52

Yeah, that's what it is, and being able to realize it's okay. It's okay to do something for you first. It's okay to set your boundaries, it's okay to say no, yeah, so that you can do for yourself, take care of yourself. And I always tell them you need to take care of yourself. And I always tell them you need to take care of yourself because it's yes, it's important. I see that it's important for you to be there for your husband or your kids or your mother. Yeah, but if you're not healthy, are you going to be able to help them, right? So we have to take care of yourself first. So we have to take care of yourself first.

Speaker 2: 34:31

So it's funny and I know that that is such a mindset that majority of women have. But you know, as you're talking, I have, as I've mentioned, a two and a half year old pregnant with my second right now. You know, I've been an entrepreneur, I have a husband who's kind of like a man child that I take care of, and I definitely have the mindset of self-care, like I don't feel guilty for taking care of myself, like I will set boundaries all day. If anyone would like advice, please email me. But what I struggle with is the logistical barriers.

Speaker 2: 35:07

You know where, before kids, I had a lot of freedom, I had a lot of flexibility. I could make myself very delicious and nutritious homemade meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, I could go work out whenever I wanted to. Five o'clock yoga class, sign me up, like now I don't get to do that, like I'm very tied to my son's schedule, and so I think you know that's a very real phenomenon too Like doing the mindset work and making that airplane mask shift is really Number one foundation, yes, but then it's just like navigating those other things, like when you want to go to a workout class but then your toddler throws up and you have to stay home. So it's like what are maybe some like little, small self-care items within the constraints of busy motherhood that we can start to embrace, to just like, slowly start to incorporate things in.

Dr. Tamar: 36:06

I'm going to tell you this, Sarah. I work with my clients to come up with their own self-care routine and all of them have something different. So I can give general, but I'm going to give you these very specific examples from a few of my clients. One of them she worked from home. She had two kids, her husband just died, so she was going through depression and she worked from home. She had two kids, her husband just died, so she was going through depression and she worked from home. So she would just get out, roll out of bed, send the kids off to school, sit in front of her computer and start working, but just felt melancholy the whole day. So at my group coaching session I helped her work through, identify what she could do. What's one thing that you could do for yourself. And she said you know what? Take a shower in the morning. And I said, okay, let's start it, let's start tomorrow.

Dr. Tamar: 36:52

Sarah, that one shower in the morning set her mood, changed her mood, adjusted it. For the whole day she felt more alive, more vibrant, like ready to do things, want to be out in the world Taking a shower. So for her her, that's what it was. Other people like taking a shower. I do that every day, no biggie. But that's what she another client was um, for her it was.

Dr. Tamar: 37:26

Setting boundaries was a huge thing for her and it became part of her self-care actually. So, for example, she would talk and she wasn't getting enough sleep. She realized she was talking too long to her best friend on the phone at nighttime so she set the boundaries of okay, girl, it's seven o'clock, I'm gonna get off the phone because I need to start winding down and I need to take my bath because my coat's dead. So she decided boundaries to talk less on the phone so that she could have a relaxation routine at bedtime which involved taking a bath have some salt and some herbs, you know and absolutely loved it. And she got to bed on time, slept super well, was more rested. That was her self-care routine.

Dr. Tamar: 38:11

But it started with setting that boundary, of course, and my other client for her it was just walking. Walking was very therapeutic for her. So I would really recommend that you sit down with yourself, find five minutes at least to be with yourself, think about what you need and where you can start making some changes in your life so that you can have some time for yourself for at least 10, 15 minutes, to start every day, every morning or wherever. You have that space and time of free time for yourself.

Speaker 2: 38:52

That's really powerful and I think kind of goes along the lines of really visualizing how you want to feel. And then what are those like very small things that you can do that will achieve that feeling? Because I think that that's what self-care is. And I think where people get stuck in self-care is this idea of should and the feeling on the other side isn't the way that they want to feel Like.

Speaker 2: 39:16

I remember having this health coaching client one time. We were talking about self-care and I was like well, what do you think are some self-care practices you can start to implement into your day? And she was like take a bubble bath. And she asked it like a question and I was like well, why did you frame it that way? And she was like because I don't like bubble baths. And I was like well then, that's not self-care to you, because it wouldn't be something. The process of it and the end result wouldn't achieve the feeling that you're looking to achieve through self-care.

Speaker 2: 39:44

And I think where people get stuck and let's take the shower example for a minute, because that's kind of funny, because I'm someone who, like I work from home, I'm by myself, I usually work out in the morning and then my son goes down for a nap and maybe I have a podcast conversation, just like this.

Speaker 2: 39:59

And I don't really care if you think I look like a ragamuffin because I'm not showered, but like I do have this idea that like I would feel a lot better if I woke up in the morning and I showered, and maybe I even blew dry my hair and put on some makeup, and then I get really caught up in those thoughts of like, dread, of like oh, I don't want to, that would just take too long, and like I have no one to impress and like.

Speaker 2: 40:29

And then it's so easy to get wrapped up in that and I think that's where a lot of people stay stuck the stories that are going to prevent them from actually taking action. Right, but then again, if you can keep that visualization in mind and play the whole tape and focus, like literally in your mind, okay, I am visualizing myself feeling very clean, refreshed and just looking and feeling a little bit better about myself I do think I would have this whole other energy as I went about my day, and so that's very motivating, and you can do the same with your workout. You can do the same with reading a book instead of scrolling social media like those. Little things really do make a huge difference.

Dr. Tamar: 41:07

They do, they do. I absolutely love that Visualizing how you would feel, what the end result would be to get that as your motivation to do it and follow through with it. Because, yeah, we, we have the tendency to to stop our own happiness. Right, we're going to make excuses of why I can't be happy, right, if I try, you know. But try it, do it yeah.

Speaker 2: 41:29

I love that, yeah, so I want to talk a little bit. This idea, this concept of very busy, overwhelmed women not to generalize, but it is a thing and I think we're almost in this epidemic right now and I don't know if this is familiar for you, but it's something that I've heard about and had even years ago had a health coaching client approached me for this very reason of turning to medications and pills to solve various problems in their day. For example, ambien to get to sleep, anti-anxiety medication to calm down, adderall to like keep you focused. And you know, it's just. It's a phenomenon among women and I mean I don't really know like if that resonates with somebody, and they feel as if they're like turning to medications for those reasons, like not like blood pressure or type two diabetes, but literally to function in life. Like what can we do to sort of like reverse that and heal and take a little bit more of a natural approach?

Dr. Tamar: 42:36

Do you ever come across this in your work, I do, I do, and with friends as well. Yeah, to a certain extent they don't know any better. Yeah, in the world that we live in, you turn to a pill.

Speaker 2: 42:49

Yeah.

Dr. Tamar: 42:50

And it's easy. You can go to a therapist and talk about why you're anxious and get some help through it, Right. But maybe they don't want to share with a stranger? Yeah, so I'll just go tell my doctor. I have anxiety, get a pill. Yeah, so there could tell my doctor I have anxiety, get a pill. So there could be many reasons why they're not pursuing a more holistic or natural approach to it. You say busy women. They feel like they don't have the time to. One thing I noticed because I've been guilty of it myself is you're not really slowing down enough to assess what you need for one and what you can do to get better.

Dr. Tamar: 43:28

That is not a quick fix. So because you're so busy, you're going to turn to a quicker solution and then some. I honestly don't know that there was another way right For me. I was. I served on the board of three nonprofits at the same time. I joined the third one when I was pregnant for the first time.

Speaker 2: 43:46

Wow, talk about piling things on your plate.

Dr. Tamar: 43:50

Yeah, and you know, newly married just bought a house and I was still working full time, and on top of that I was working night shift. It wasn't even like an ideal hour to be awake, it wasn't even like an ideal hour to be awake. And so I was very busy, very busy indeed, volunteering, momming, wifing, working, and I didn't slow down to smell the roses. Yeah, and with that comes, you don't remember a lot of things, you don't remember what happened, you don't remember, like I know, I went there, you know, but you don't remember the experience because you never took it in, you never slowed down enough to take it in, and I could see how people can be so busy that they rather go to a quick fix to help them handle things.

Speaker 2: 44:37

Yeah, you're so right. Yeah, and I feel as if an alternative approach would just take a lot more work. And it's so true about the slowing down and assessing what you need, and even if you do slow down and you figure out what you need, actually doing that it can be tricky, as well Actually doing it, and that's why it helps to have life coaches, health coaches, to guide along that process.

Speaker 2: 45:05

Yeah, absolutely so. Can we talk about a little bit more about those lifestyle issues, because I know that it's so common, especially, I deal a lot with blood sugar balance and so I want to hone in on the prediabetes, type two diabetes side of things, which you know, even insulin resistance is so common, and for populations who just like don't know, they're just going to quickly take their doctor's advice and get on the metformin or what have you, and so you know, this whole blood sugar conversation, thank goodness, is becoming so much more mainstream, and now there's technology, like currently wearing a continuous glucose monitor as we speak, which gives such great information. But what are some of those dietary and lifestyle approaches in that area that you find yourself encouraging the most?

Dr. Tamar: 46:02

that, if someone is listening and they want to get their blood sugar under control without having to turn to medication, that they can start doing today well, first I'm going to say that, depending how far advanced their diabetes then is when it's diagnosed, yeah, definitely they're going to need some medication on board to help. You wouldn't want someone with a blood sugar 800 without yeah, trying to get some medications that can actually be very effective right away but people get blood sugar up to 800.

Dr. Tamar: 46:32

Oh yeah, oh yeah that's when they're in my hospital oh my goodness, my hospital okay, yeah yeah, and so, along those lines, teach the foundations of what especially we talked about insulin resistance earlier and that it's really a blood sugar problem. So controlling those blood sugars, we can do that with healthy fats, you know. Limiting the carbs, carbohydrate intake. Now, what a lot of people don't realize is that vegetables are carbohydrates. They're a source of carbohydrates, but they're the right kind of carbohydrates. Those are the carbohydrates we want, the carbohydrates we need. They're packed with nutrients and so much for our bodies. So if you're going to eat a carbs, go to a vegetable over a pancake, Right, right. Or just limit how much. That's hard for people. It's hard. They have some pancakes you can make out of vegetables.

Speaker 2: 47:25

Like Sunday they have, they have some pancakes you can make out of that.

Dr. Tamar: 47:27

Like sunday morning. I don't want brussels sprouts, right, and it's okay if you, if you do that every once in a while. But in western culture we we over consume these processed foods and these unhealthy carbs, refined flour yeah, refined flour and everything like. When I was on keto, I did. Of course I had. I'm always my own guinea pig, so I had to try keto to see how it works, and I did. I replaced regular flour with coconut flour and made pancakes with them. The kids loved it. They loved it better than regular pancakes.

Dr. Tamar: 47:53

Oh yeah, I love those, yeah, but then keto is a whole nother thing. You can't, you know.

Speaker 2: 47:58

I could talk to you for another hour on that, yeah.

Dr. Tamar: 48:07

Yeah, so the goal is to control your blood sugars, keep it low, reduce the release of insulin.

Speaker 2: 48:09

so that it's not storing fat bottom line.

Dr. Tamar: 48:10

So healthy fats olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, or have actual fruit itself, and then exchanging your refined carbs for more vegetables, more green leafy vegetables, even like squash, you know vegetables, just think and think color, all the things we learned at IIN. Yeah, yeah and yeah, eat the rainbow. So there you go, if you anything at all eat the rainbow, and healthy fats. And then, when it comes to if you eat meat, you want to choose the best sources of meat, the best quality meat. So grass-fed comes with a lot of nutrients for us, as well as with, like poultry, having the cage-free type in organic, and I know a lot of that's. Another challenge with the clients is the the cost of these healthier foods, which I think is absolutely ridiculous, like why is it more affordable to buy a burger than to buy a salad?

Speaker 2: 49:12

I know, I know, and my husband and I were just talking about this yesterday, just like with inflation, and now going to the grocery store, like and I am someone who, like I don't shop, I don't like buy clothes or shoes or like handbags, but like healthy food, like that's my, you know, that's my outing and so I'm kind of ashamed to say I never really paid attention to, like if I wanted a thing of cauliflower or whatever, like I'm not going to look at the price, I'm just going to buy it. But now I just feel like with inflation and rising grocery costs, it's just like I walk out of there and I'm like what just happened? You can't help but notice it.

Dr. Tamar: 49:45

I'm on the same page with you. What I know? I haven't paid this much before for groceries, yeah Gosh.

Speaker 2: 49:51

And I mean I am someone who like, if I wanted to just like have something so simple for dinner, but I think, because I put pressure on myself to like make a, a dinner that both my husband can enjoy and make it an experience, like I'm just like peruse all these recipes and kind of try and get a little fancy with it and then I'm just like I can't do this anymore. Like it's like sourdough grilled cheese with some vegetable soup tonight. Sorry about it.

Dr. Tamar: 50:15

But then I give the clients tips Like you can do frozen instead of fresh. Go to farmer's markets, look for farmer's markets in your area. Yeah, of course there's questions. You ask them too, because not everyone's necessarily organic, right? Yeah? So a lot of tips and bits about what they can do to get more affordable foods, and then starting out, not everything. You don't have to go all gung-ho, not everything has to be organic, just start somewhere. Yeah, you know is what's important.

Speaker 2: 50:42

Yeah, I know a funny story about that. I am kind of crazy about organic and my husband went grocery shopping the other day and he brought me home a big head of cauliflower. And I'm used to him getting the like bags of organic cauliflower rice but they were out of it. So he's like I brought you a big cauliflower and it wasn't organic and I literally just like swallowed my tongue and I was like you what? I'm not old. Sarah would just have a little bit of a bratty hissy fit and I'm just not going to do it. I'm going to wash the cauliflower and I'm going to be happy and grateful that he brought me something. Yeah, I'm like painting myself into being like an unshowered crazy the way I'm illustrated. Anyway, I could talk to you for the rest of the afternoon but we are running out of time. I would love to hear tomorrow what is the most rewarding aspect of your work.

Dr. Tamar: 51:28

The most rewarding aspect of my work is when I review my client's nutrigenomic report with them and they get this aha moment where everything makes sense. Everything that's been going on with their health finally makes sense. Everything makes sense. Everything that's been going on with their health finally makes sense. They understand why. Because this report is explaining to them what it means. You have an issue with inflammation or methylation. This is what methylation does. This is why it's important. And they're like, oh my gosh, that's why. That's why this was happening. And I'm like, yeah, likely, but now we have a solution. Now we have a guide, a map to tell you what you can do now, what you can eat, what kind of lifestyle changes you can make to fix that methylation issue. So get on it, and I'm here to be your guide.

Speaker 2: 52:19

That is so important. I was talking to someone about this the other day because she just discovered she had anemia, but it was like and she also has like a B methylation issue or whatever, and that is a prime example of you can do all the right things, you can eat the kale right, but like, if your body has an issue with absorbing what you're eating, it's not really going to matter. So I think that type of information needs to be more accessible for everybody. Yeah, so I think that's so important. Yeah, indeed, yeah. Well, before I ask my final question, I would love for you to let people know where they can find you, support you, work with you, all the things.

Dr. Tamar: 53:00

Indeed, you can find me at my website, thelyfebalancecom that's T-H-E-L-Y-F-E balancecom, and I'm also on social media Instagram. Tiktok is my home. Hopefully they don't ban it completely. Linkedin at Dr Tamar Lawful D-R Tamar Lawful. If you visit me and you've heard me on this podcast with Sarah, let me know so I can let Sarah know, oh, I love that.

Speaker 2: 53:31

Well, thank you so much, and you know, we just did spend an hour talking and you sharing your message. But I would love to know that if you could stand on a stage and shout your message in just one to three sentences and shout your message in just one to three sentences, what would you want people to hear?

Dr. Tamar: 53:45

I would say that please prioritize yourself. That's the first step to having your optimal health, and that it's possible to get off certain medications. You just have to be willing to make the effort and listen to your genes.

Speaker 2: 54:04

I love that. I love that genes part, because that does play a very important part, and people need to understand this bio-individuality of what it takes for them to get to reach their goals and eat the right foods for their particular body and exercise in a way that makes them feel good. So, yes, I love that focus on self. That's so powerful. Thank you so much for coming on here and sharing your message and mission. It's just such important work that you're doing and I appreciate you so much. Thanks for having me, Sarah, it's been a pleasure.

Dr. Tamar: 54:35

Thank you for joining me on this replay from the Healthified podcast today. I really hope this episode empowered you to think differently about your health as Today. I really hope this episode empowered you to think differently about your health. As we close out today's replay, remember to embrace the uniqueness of your journey. Your plate is more than just food. It's your medicine, it's your therapy, and it could very well hold the key to reducing your dependence on medications. So, for those ready to take the next step, I invite you to connect with me over at Life Balance, where we're loving yourself first.

Dr. Tamar: 55:04

Every day is not just a mantra, it's a lifestyle. So visit us at wwwthelifebalancecom, and that's life spelled L-Y-F-E wwwthelifebalancecom. Until our next session, take a moment to reflect on the choices on your plate, because that's where true health transformation begins. I would love it if you can send me your thoughts, your successes, your challenges when it comes to choosing the right foods and even making healthy choices the first option so that it is a habit and truly becomes part of your life, a lifestyle. I'm here to support you as we turn these insights into action, and if you found value in today's episode, don't forget to share it with someone who could benefit from this conversation. Talk to you next Friday. Until then, always remember to raise the script on health, because together we can bring healthcare to higher levels.