5 Things That Will Determine Your Success With a Holistic Approach to Endo

Trying a holistic approach to endo but not seeing the results you hoped for? In this episode, I'm breaking down the 5 things that will truly determine your success, and it goes way beyond what's on your plate.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why your mindset is the foundation of everything
• The importance of committing to the long game (and how to stay motivated when progress feels slow)
• Why having the right coach or support system is a game-changer
• What a true holistic approach actually looks like
• How cultivating gratitude for your body can transform your healing journey

Reflection question: Which of these 5 pillars is your weakest area right now?

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. This may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 1:14

Hey my friend, and welcome back to the podcast. Super excited you're here with me today. This is going to be a fantastic episode because really what we're going to talk about is covering the reasons that people can be unsuccessful with a holistic approach to endo, because it's something that I hear all the time. Women will try something holistic. Maybe they'll try some dietary changes or a supplement or try some practices to help with stress reduction. But why is it that some women get transformational results while others feel like it's not working? Today I'm going to break down the five things that will truly determine your success. Coming from somebody who has had huge transformation in her own health, I've gone from truly completely debilitating, painful periods, and infertility to becoming pain-free and being able to conceive my baby girl naturally after a nine-year-long fertility journey. And I work with many clients every single day who have had transformations just like mine. So I want to walk you through the five things that I have found to help people most in being successful on that journey. Okay, so let's dig in. There's five major pillars that we're going to cover today. So pillar number one is your mindset. And I know, I know this is probably one of those things that if you're not super familiar with all the mindset stuff, you may just be rolling your eyes right now. Trust me, I get it. But truly, it's one of the most effective tools that you have in your tool belt. And you know what? It's free. Right? And here's why. Have you ever heard that phrase, whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. So what I used to repeat to myself over and over and over again, and I definitely encourage others to do as well, is repeating to yourself that this will work. Truly believing that the changes you're making for your own health are going to work. Because if you if you don't believe that what you're doing is going to really help, it's probably not going to really help. If you don't believe that healing is possible, well, it may end up not being possible for you. And I get it. I get it if that's a struggle for you. I get it if you're listening to this and and again kind of rolling your eyes, because when you've gone through years of being dismissed by doctors and having your symptoms brushed off, it really can break down trust in yourself, in your own body, in your intuition and what is possible for you. And you know what? We're told over and over again that, hey, endo is the incurable. There's no cure for endo. Basically, there's just not much you can do besides surgery and or birth control. And I feel like that leaves so many women just feeling hopeless, myself included. When I first started this journey, I definitely felt that. I mean, I was in my 20s and basically being told, like, yeah, you're gonna suffer with this until menopause. And maybe even after that. Basically, you're just stuck with this for the rest of your life. And I was going, whoa, slow down, wait a minute. I don't want that for myself. And I know so many other women out there are feeling the same way. And that can be hugely challenging. Now, this isn't about just that phrase that's been going around lately, toxic positivity or just blind optimism. It's not about that. It's about creating beliefs that are useful for your own healing. And here's what I mean by that. You may have certain beliefs that you've developed over time based on what's been happening in your life. Maybe you've experienced feeling a certain way for a long period of time, or maybe you've tried making changes before and it hasn't really helped. And so in your mind, say, oh yeah, maybe I should give that a try. But then there's that little voice in the back of your head saying, Yeah, well, we've done that before and it didn't really help. Making dietary changes didn't help. You know, changing my diet can't heal my body. I totally understand. Now, this isn't me saying that changing your diet will completely change everything in your life. I have talked about this many times on the podcast before, that I really believe in a holistic approach to endo. And that doesn't just mean natural stuff. That means taking a whole body approach, looking at all the things, your diet, your lifestyle, your mindset, your emotions, taking into consideration just all of the pieces that can impact how you feel. But the more that you can create that useful belief that healing is possible for my body, this will work, this can work, this has worked for others, and it can be effective for me as well. The more that you can work on creating beliefs like that that actually can be conducive to your own healing and reinforcing those beliefs by looking for evidence that that is true can be incredibly powerful because at the end of the day, two major things come to mind for me. One is that I'm a big believer that every cell in your body does listen to your thoughts all day, every day. And so we have to pay attention to what those thoughts are, right? And the other thing is that we have to start to find a way to create thoughts that are going to be conducive. As your body listens to those thoughts, as your the cells of your body listen to the things that you're repeating in your mind day after day after day, it can be conducive to getting to a place of healing. And that's so incredibly important. They may include tools like journaling can be super helpful. What I would recommend there is write down the belief that you really want to have. Even if you don't fully believe it yet, that's okay. Like the belief that healing is possible for me or what I'm doing can work. This will work for me. Write down that belief at the top of a piece of paper and then start to write down everything you have to back up that belief. Look for evidence in your life that that's true. Look for examples in other people. Look for tiny bits of evidence in your own life because it becomes a habit to look for evidence of your beliefs. And that can go both ways, right? If you believe that healing is not possible or none of this will work, your mind will automatically start to look for evidence to back that up. But if you start to flip that and start to look for evidence that healing is possible and this will work and this can work, well then guess what? You, your mind will start to look for evidence of that. And that, my friend, is super, super powerful. So that's why that is the first pillar for me, the most important one is that belief that this will work. And just know that it may not be an overnight shift. It may take some time to really shift that belief if that's been a struggle for you. That's okay. That's why that's honestly a big part of the work that I do as a coach. Yes, I'm a functional nutritionist, so I help people in figuring out, you know, the practical physical pieces as far as what to support your body with as far as food and supplements and using the functional tests to get to the root cause of what's really going on in your body. But the other half of the work that I do is the actual coaching along the way to help you to shift into a place where you're actually able to heal. And that's again, to me, what I consider to be a holistic approach. Okay, let's dig into pillar number two, which is a dedication to the long game. And this is an important one, my friend, because this is a mistake that I see all the time. Women will come to me saying, Yeah, I've tried making dietary changes. Like I had someone recently who came to me and said, Yeah, I made some dietary changes a couple of years back. I went gluten and dairy free for 30 days, and it didn't really see a huge difference. So I kind of just stopped doing it altogether and just ate whatever I want because I decided it didn't really matter. Here's the thing making dietary changes, making lifestyle changes, all those shifts that we make, it's not going to make a difference overnight, right? You can start to see changes quickly, right? Many of my clients that I work with will start to see positive results within, say, a few weeks of starting to make some shifts and changes. Assuming those shifts and changes are targeted to you and your healing, not just random changes. But true healing takes a minute, right? You didn't get to where you are overnight, right? Most of us just didn't wake up one day, symptoms came on at the severity level that they are right now. For most of us, this happened over a process of months, if not years. Have conversations with women every single day, my clients, as well as I offer a free consultation with women who are interested in working with me. You can always find the link to that in the show notes if you're interested in having one yourself. But through those conversations, I hear that time after time, just I have been struggling with this for years. And so you have to understand that it may not be a complete shift to total health in two weeks or 30 days, right? True healing can take some time, and that's okay, right? But what we want to do is track the small changes over time, get out of the it's not working danger zone. The reason that most people quit too soon, this goes back to the coaching side of what I do, not just the practical side of what I do, is we look at where did you start? When we started working together, say four months ago, where were you then? What was happening then? What was the severity of your symptoms? So that then we can come back and look at what that's what's going on with that now and see what changes have made. Because sometimes it's hard when you're living in your own body every day and maybe you're still going through some struggles. It can be challenging to kind of see how far you've come. But it's super important to do that, to be able to look at how far you've come, not just how far you are from where you want to be. It's not a pill that's just going to instantly fix all the things, right? Taking that holistic approach to healing is really a long game. It's a it's a lifelong game. And I don't mean that in a negative way. A lot of people start to lose hope when they hear that. Like, what do you mean it's a lifelong game? Well, it is, because your health is not a linear thing. It's not a point A to point B. Your health is something that's going to matter for the rest of your life. So as you're making dietary changes, lifestyle changes, and I'm not talking about doing something super restrictive that just feels like you've lost everything that you love in life. I definitely don't recommend that. But making small shifts over time that help you to feel really good and that feels sustainable and practical to be able to still live your life and be able to go out with your friends and have a social life and all the things. And also just to be aware that setbacks can happen. I see this again with my clients all the time. And it doesn't mean that it's not working, right? Like I have a client I am currently working with who we had started working together last year and did some initial work on her gut healing, and she saw some really positive results and then and was feeling really good for maybe six months, and then some things were going on in her life, and she ended up having a setback where all of a sudden her some of her bloating was coming back. She was having that period pain again, and she came to me going, Oh my gosh, I feel like I've come so far and I've just lost it all. And was just tearing up. And I had to sit down and talk to her and say, Hey, you know what? It's okay. Totally get where you're coming from. Just know that this is totally normal, right? Your healing is not a linear journey. You're going to have ups and downs along the way. You live in a human body, and this is okay. This is normal. And we're just going to make some little tweaks and changes to get you back on track so that you're feeling really good in your body again. And it's it's going to be okay. And she just breathed this huge sigh of relief, going, Oh my gosh, thank you so much. I was totally freaking out thinking I just messed up everything that we had done in the past. And fortunately, that's not how it works, right? You can you can have ups and downs and still generally be on the healing journey. Having a dedication to the long game really lends itself towards feeling better and better and better on the long term. Um, and just to give a little update on that client, she um she did end up feeling better. We we made some tweaks, we made some changes, she got back to a place of feeling actually even better than she had before. And she's now able to make some plans for some social events and some traveling and things that she had been really afraid to do in the past. She's now has the confidence to be able to do that because she knows that even if setbacks happen or little flare-ups happen along the way, she knows better how to handle that. She knows how to listen to her body and her intuition and how to guide herself back to health before things get really, really bad again. And I think that is so fantastic. Okay, pillar number three, getting an excellent support system, right? Because going it alone just makes everything harder. And trust me, I know because I used to do this myself. I'm very much a strong, independent woman type, and definitely thought that I could just do all the things myself. I didn't need help. I initially started making all these dietary and lifestyle changes on my own and definitely saw some difference there. But the struggle really that I ran into is that I had all the knowledge, but I also had a human brain. And so trying to get myself to, you know, sustain the changes that I was making and keep that mindset going the direction that I wanted it to go was a challenge. Now, I am thankful that I have a wonderful, supportive husband that has made a huge difference in my life, highly encouraged. I know that may be easier said than done, but definitely if you can find a person in your life who is your cheerleader and will support you and help you out with all the things, super helpful. It gives you the power to be able to kind of pass off some of that mental load. Now, having a supportive person in your life is helpful, like a loved one, a friend, uh spouse, somebody who you can really lean on. But the other side of it is having somebody who's not related to you in any way, not as close to you, but uh does really understand what you're going through can be super powerful as well. So looking for a coach, a practitioner, a community of people who really, really understand. I'm a functional nutritionist myself, and I actually ended up hiring a fellow functional nutritionist to help me along my journey because I knew that I needed that coaching, I needed that support, I needed a brain outside of my own brain to look at all the things who was going to be able to be objective and not freak out at the smallest thing and be able to guide me back towards where I really wanted to be. And honestly, I'm so thankful that I did that. It made a huge difference in my life, even though this is the work that I do professionally. And if you can work with somebody, but what I really want for you is to find a practitioner, a coach who is knowledgeable, who has experience with working specifically with your unique situation, your unique need, working with endo, working with gut health, working with hormone health, all the things. And somebody who can really understand what you're going through because it can feel so incredibly isolating. And there's mental and emotional challenges that can come along with that. And just having somebody in your corner is more powerful than I can really convey to you. So that's pillar number three. Pillar number four is taking a true holistic approach. A true holistic approach, not just diet. Diet alone just may not get you to where you want to be. It's one of the most common mistakes that I see. People here take a holistic approach and they think it just means making a bunch of dietary changes that are going to feel super restrictive and you're not going to be able to have fun and enjoy your life. And while working on making sustainable changes to your diet can be super powerful. It's not the only thing if you're thinking of a true holistic approach. A holistic approach means you're looking at all the things, your diet, but also what does your lifestyle look like? What's your stress look like, your sleep? How's your nervous system doing? What are you doing as far as movement? What's the environment around you like, physically and you know, mentally, emotionally? What are you, what are your relationships like with the people around you in your life? And each one of those pieces absolutely affects inflammation and hormonal balance and your immune system and all of the things. So it really is a matter of looking at all of it. It doesn't have to be all at once. That's where a lot of people get overwhelmed. Look at where are the biggest gaps? What are the things you might be missing most? Maybe it is diet. Maybe you're thinking, yeah, I sleep pretty well and I exercise, but I really eat pretty terribly. I'm eating a lot of processed foods or fast food and could use some work there. Great. Start with that. Or maybe the opposite. Maybe you're eating an amazing diet. I have people come to me with this all the time because people think like, well, you're a nutritionist, so I don't really need to work with you if I'm already eating a really clean diet. But it's so much more than that, right? I call myself a functional nutritionist. That's the heart of what I do. I really help people take a look at all of this and how all of this can be impacting the way that you feel and can help you to get to a place of feeling better. And then finally, pillar number five is having gratitude for your body and its healing. And again, I know you may be kind of rolling your eyes at this, going, oh, is having gratitude really going to help? Or how can I possibly have gratitude for this body when it feels so terrible and in pain and all of the things? But this is an important one. I used to have the daily thought of, I'm broken. My body is broken. My body is fighting me. And gosh, I almost wanting to tear up as I talk about this because having those thoughts day after day after day was exhausting and kind of kept me stuck in a place of not really doing much about it because I just felt like I was broken and there was nothing that I could do. And I started to shift that to instead having that gratitude for what my body is doing for me, knowing that my body is doing its best with what it has available. And when I did have symptoms coming up, it was really my body just telling me what's going on. It's my body's way of communicating, right? I am currently the mother of a newborn baby. She is uh just about to turn eight weeks as I am recording this episode. And currently her only form of communication is crying, and sometimes quite loudly. And it's my job as her mama to figure out what the matter is. Does she need a new diaper? Does she need to eat? Is she just really tired? What is going on with this baby and how can I help her? When your body has symptoms, whether it's pain, it's fatigue, you're having gut symptoms, whatever the things are, it's exactly the same thing. Your body's communicating with you. It's telling you that there's something going on. And our job as basically the mama to your body is to figure out what your body is telling you and how to best support it. And that's really the heart of the work that I do with my clients and what I do with my own body every single day. I really do my best to tune in, see what's going on, how I can support myself, and it makes a huge difference. And my friend, the mind-body connection is real. It has a true physiological impact on your healing. And it's something that's actually being studied more and more. It used to be kind of this woo-woo thing, you know, the mind-body connection, ooh. But it truly is something that that matters. And it goes back to that holistic approach, right? Your mind and your body are intimately connected. Your thoughts, your emotions, and your physical body are connected. Bring to mind something for a moment that gives you a lot of anxiety, right? And how does your stomach feel? How does your head feel? What happens with your breathing? What do you, what is happening with the muscles in your body? How does your physical body react to that thought? I know this has happened to me before. If I've had if I have something coming up in my life that I'm feeling anxious about, my stomach hurts a little bit, my digestion is a little off. I my muscles tend to tense. All of a sudden, my shoulders feel really tight or my hips. And it's it's that actual physiological impact that my thoughts and emotions are having on my body. It's a real thing. All right, my friend. Quick recap on those five pillars we talked about today that will help to determine your success with taking a holistic approach to endo. Number one was your mindset, the thought pattern that this will work and healing is possible. Number two is dedication to the long game, knowing that this is a long-term process, not overnight, not a quick band-aid fix. Pillar number three, getting an excellent coach or support system. Pillar number four, taking a true holistic approach, not just diet. And pillar number five, having gratitude for your body and its healing. So take a moment, my friend, to pause and think about which of these five is your weakest area right now. There may be some of these that you're listening to going, yep, check that box, I've got that down, I'm good to go. And you may also be listening to this and thinking, wow, that is an area that I really need to work on most. And really take that into consideration when you consider your next steps on your healing journey. All right. Now, if you find yourself struggling with one of these areas, these are the places that I help clients with every single day. And if you'd like to just chat about that and where you might be struggling and where you could use support, I'd be more than happy to chat. Feel free to hop into the show notes where you can find a link to book a free 30-minute consultation with me. And I just wanted to remind you, my friend, that healing is possible. And your body, in fact, already has the perfect blueprint for healing already inside of it. It's just a matter of bringing all the things into alignment to allow that to happen. It's been possible for me. It's been possible for so many clients that I've worked with and women around the world. There are so many positive stories, and I just know that it's possible for you as well. So if that's something that you want for yourself, definitely stick with me on the podcast here. I love to continue this journey with you. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single episode. And take a moment to leave me a review and just let me know where you are on your journey, how this podcast has helped you. I would love to connect and hear what's been going on with you. All right, my friend. Thank you so much for being here today. Much love to you.