Sunlight Matters

From Riot Police to Sunlight Healer: Theresa Bug on Trauma, Circadian Health & Natural Living.. Alles Wird Gut!

• Dave Wallace • Season 1 • Episode 10

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In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Dave speaks with Theresa Bug, a former German police officer turned online health coach, holistic nutritionist, and advocate for natural light, grounding, and mitochondrial health.

🌿 Theresa shares her inspiring journey from a high-stress career in law enforcement—across Paris, London, Israel, and Africa—to deep healing through sunlight exposure, circadian rhythm restoration, and reconnecting with nature. Her story is a testament to the life-changing power of simple yet profound lifestyle changes.

💡 Key Topics Covered:

  • How chronic stress and PTSD led her to holistic health
  • The science behind morning sunlight and mitochondrial function
  • Why grounding (earthing) and going barefoot can reset your nervous system
  • The truth about blue light, screen time, and modern lighting
  • The problems with supplement culture vs. real food and lifestyle
  • How to eat seasonally and locally for optimal health and gut function
  • Why gyms might be harming us more than helping—and how to exercise in harmony with nature
  • Insights into raw milk, hydration, EMFs, red light, sleep, and ancestral living

☀️ This conversation explores how sunlight analysis, circadian health, and shadow-free living can transform your physical and mental health—especially in a world of artificial light, disconnected routines, and overprescribed medications.

To find out more about Theresa, her Website is a great starting point:

 https://www.theresabug.com/home

or 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-christinerangebased/

Theresa:

First thing when you go out in the morning, sunrise sends a signal to your eyes. It's morning because of the infrared light. It has a healing effect on the eyes and the whole body. So it regulates all our hormones, cortisol, melatonin, and dopamine. So if you're super stressed out, that's the first thing at all, which really calms you down to watch the sunrise and best grounded to have the best effect barefoot. So my is basically eat seasonal and local as much as possible because it's also tied to phytochondria and how much we can absorb that food which comes from our area.

Dave:

Welcome to Sunlight Matters, the podcast that reconnects us with the sun. Join us as we explore the power and influence of our star, the force at the heart of everything. Each episode we speak with leading experts to uncover the ways sunlight shapes our world. Welcome to the podcast, Teresa. Could we start by just you giving us a brief introduction to yourself and what you do?

Theresa:

Yes, thanks for having me Dave. I'm Theresa Buch. I'm born and bred in Germany and living since three years in New Zealand. Yes, I am an online health coach and nutritionist. So yes, basically I help people feeling the best they've ever felt. So just Just to make it very brief.

Dave:

Well, no, fantastic, fantastic. But you've got quite a background, haven't you? So, you know, you came from, I think, the police force, didn't you? And find your way into this holistic nutritional well-being advice.

Theresa:

Yes, so it's basically a longer story. I grew up on an organic beef farm in Germany. So... very rural, peaceful, out in nature, freedom lover, walking a lot of barefoot at the time. And yeah, so I joined the police when I was 16. So pretty young. Wow, that is young. Yeah, like really young chicken. And it was my only, how do you say, job interview at the time. Yeah, wow. My dad called me crazy and stayed for 18

Dave:

years. From the discussion we had, you sort of moved up in the police force and ended up doing some pretty serious stuff, didn't you?

Theresa:

Yes, I joined the riot police right after the police academy. So

Dave:

how old were you then when you joined the riot?

Theresa:

I was 19. Wow. Still a spring chicken, yeah. That's amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and back in the days, you know, I really loved it, the action and the adrenaline. And it was a big learning curve, you know, to deal with different types of people, especially, and different scenarios. And, yeah, I mean, you really have to be good at decision making. I mean, you can't muck around long. So, um, yeah, when I was like 23, I decided to go abroad for like diplomatic protection service. And, um, basically the rest is history. No, I just, I started, I started one year in Paris. Then I went one year to London. Then I was one year in Israel, uh, one one year in Nigeria and one year in Ethiopia. So, but that was like over 10 years, how do you say, lifespan, like timeline, yeah. So, yeah. And

Dave:

then what happened? Because at some point, something must have happened which kind of drove you to sort of think about what you were doing and why you were doing it.

Theresa:

Yeah. Like already, um, it was around the time after Israel, I started to become a fitness trainer and I have to admit, I was never much of a gym lover because my father always said like, you can chop wood with me at home. That's better than any gym. And he was totally right. So, But I used to sauna there a lot, so no, I went to courses and stuff. But anyway, yeah, I did my fitness trainer license, and I just figured out I don't want to be a traditional fitness trainer, so I became a personal trainer and did more and more courses on athletics and prevention and rehabilitation. I mean, I did a lot. of those certifications, you know. Then I added nutrition and yeah, it was actually pretty good because like they didn't just teach the, I would call it standard German diet, you know, a bit like the standard American diet. So they were really good and always showed the

Dave:

different options. I guess, you know, from a kind of training, you were still with the police force at this stage, were you or...?

Theresa:

Yeah. So, so then I started like, um, having a client base in Frankfurt for personal training. Um, cause I mean, no certification is good when you don't work with it. Right. And, um, I mean, title, they, it means nothing, you know, um, you can just do so much and, um, I just want to have the experience and, um, yeah, that also like personal training overseas. with diplomats and expats and yeah it was just an amazing um really good experience and it prepared me yeah yeah and it prepared me really good for like now online coaching i mean it's a totally different level but still you know you have those human skills

Dave:

and so so why did you end up then leaving the police force

Theresa:

yeah basically um I had enough and I was also like suffering from PTSD and it was also like doing in between COVID and yeah I just didn't want to follow the mandates and I decided no I got enough and it's time to move on so I resigned and which is pretty unusual because yeah, I mean, in Germany, it's quite a safe job for, I mean, like financially, you know, retirement and all that stuff, typical government job. So.

Dave:

Yeah, well, that must have been a massive decision then in terms of prioritizing sort of how you were feeling above the sort of security of a kind of financially secure future. 100%, yeah.

Theresa:

Yeah, it wasn't an easy decision, but I felt also like, you know, when you do shift work and all that stuff, I mean, it just messes up your circadian rhythm and everything and I was just like, I don't want to do this for the rest of my life and end up like my police mates in their 50s and, you know, dying of a heart attack and stroke because many don't even make it into retirement, which was sad. Right. Yeah, it's, um, yeah. And it's not just like, yeah, again, it doesn't, it not just comes down to the lifestyle with nutrition, you know, it's just a whole, cause it's so messed up with the circadian rhythm and, um, yeah.

Dave:

So were you, so were you conscious at that stage of things like circadian rhythms and had that sort of reached your, reached your consciousness?

Theresa:

I mean, that came really slowly. So because I was in that stage, you know, learning more and more basically every day. And I was still pretty focused on nutrition, nutrition, nutrition, diet, tried basically everything under the moon just for myself and also like testing it on clients when they were open to it. And also exercise, of course, training. But like I always felt there's more to it and And so I did a deep dive on mitochondria and did more certifications on that from like a German, like a doctor. He offered that like a really good education. And so I was pretty hooked, but it came slowly. So it wasn't like that I'm wearing blue light blocking glasses like right now. That came way later. So yeah, let's say that's like four years ago when I was like semi aware. So came pretty slow, but I always knew, um, especially when I had my PTSD. So I did, I did like the ketogenic diet for three or four months. And because my therapist at the time, she was, yeah, sorry to say, but she was pretty useless. And, um, uh, cause I had therapy before in my my early twenties. Um, cause my mom died of suicide when I was a kid and I just, you know, did like, um, trauma therapy in my early twenties and she was a very good therapist. Um, it's also like we had a great energy and she, you know, she asked good questions. So anyway, back to the second one. Um, yeah, I just felt the whole PTSD. Um, how do you say like rehab, um, was pretty useless from them. And like, you know, they give you medication and stuff. And I took one sleeping pill and that's it. Like I just stack them up at home and I throw them away. So I just did my own experiment, but like, you know, I just figured out, okay, it takes time. And so I went outside a lot in the city forest, walked a lot, started the ketogenic diet. and had massive improvements within four weeks already.

Dave:

So when you say massive improvements, do you mean sort of from a mental health point of view?

Theresa:

Yeah, massive improvements, like really like my, like was a bit of rewiring of my brain, like calming down, you know, because like, I mean, everyone knows when you have like complex, pdsd it's just you have those sometimes kind of attacks and it can get into a panic attack and i always knew okay i have to do something about it because and you have to rewire your brain brain brain sorry all the time and um it's also a thing like you know what happens to you in certain scenarios it's not a normal daily thing right um So, yeah, it takes a lot of practice and also it's all tied to self-awareness. And I wouldn't consider myself back then very self-aware because I was also, yeah, I was quite sick at the time. But, yeah, as I said, the ketogenic diet helped a lot and just going outside a lot helped. having those regular walks just in the forest, spending time there in silence. And yeah, that did really massive improvement.

Dave:

But I mean, it's an amazing story, you know, I mean, from someone who has experienced, you know, really awful trauma to kind of see that actually things like going outside, reconnecting with nature, you know, diet itself can lead to improvements I mean it's fascinating I was just reading in the new scientists that they're talking about having to rethink the whole of psychiatry because you know what they haven't taken into account is the inflammation in the brain caused by things like diet and you know it's like you say the world is slowly waking up to all of this

Theresa:

Yeah. Yeah. 100%.

Dave:

Can I, I mean, just in terms of your story, you then end up in New Zealand on a farm. Is it an organic farm? No, it's

Theresa:

not. But it's a sheep and beef farm and it's, there's not much fertilizer use. So it's, I would call like 95% organic or 90%, you know, I mean, comparing to, to a conventional standard from maybe from the UK or Germany. Yeah. Yeah. Or like to stay.

Dave:

Well, I mean, it sounds idyllic, to be honest with you. And anyway. I came across you I think through LinkedIn because you've done a post about when you're in a car you always crack the window just to get sunlight through the window and it was sort of a really interesting post because you know you talked about how like it made you feel better on journeys and I it sort of got me at a stage where I'd be thinking you know here am I I'm sat in front of the sun but I've got a massive glass window in between which is stopping all the good stuff coming through and I've been sort of thinking a lot about that. But how did you start really understanding or leaning into the whole sunlight movement?

Theresa:

Um, probably spending so much time outside and just getting more into it. And because of what I learned already about mitochondria, I just was getting, was getting hooked on it. And then I want to know more, you know, quantum physics and biology and how it all works. So I just dive deep and, um, just tried it on myself, you know, started watching watching the sunrise. And basically that was quite funny because that came naturally because I worked on a dairy farm. So you have those early mornings. Um, I mean, I was quite lucky cause it was like also organic, organic dairy farm, pretty cool. And, um, so just, just once a day milking in the mornings. Um, which was awesome. And basically it's twice a day, you know, mornings and afternoon. So, um, And yeah, that really showed me like, oh my God, this is so cool. Like, why haven't I been a morning person before? Because of like, you know, working in the police and all those long hours shift work and in the riot police. I mean, we had like massive hours, like sometimes 17, 18, 20 in a row. And yeah, it takes some years to reverse that, you know, to get a normal sleeping pattern and yes through that I found out like it it was like the easiest way and yeah then I went really like deep into it I had like a great mentor I had Jack Schroeder he's he's amazing he's from Australia he lives now in the Philippines and yeah just Because when I want to know something, it's not just about having an online course or watching some YouTube stuff. I just want to really know about it. So yeah, I invested a lot of time and money in it. I mean, it's

Dave:

interesting because it sort of sounds like you started almost with the science, like looking at mitochondria. I mean, I've been reading a lot. about mitochondria. And I think the more I read, the more I'm, well, I mean, marvel. I mean, I don't think there's any other word other than marvel, like how ATP is produced and how, you know, they use light. And I was just watching a brilliant video that Roger Seale's done about some work that Glenn Jeffries done on eyes and, you know, and it's all to do with mitochondrial function. I think if you start with mitochondria and under, you don't even need to understand what's going on really, but you have to, but if you kind of get the concept that these things power us, you know, and they need light to kind of function properly, you know, that's a great starting point, isn't it?

Theresa:

Yeah. I mean, like it starts with farming. Basically every farmer knows how important photosynthesis is nothing will grow without sunlight, right? Yes. I mean, we know the difference with cattle being indoors all the time, never seeing sunlight, never get outside. The difference in the quality is night and day when they're grass-fed outside all year or at least, you know, in years. UK or Germany, um, six to eight months outside. And, um, it makes all the difference. Cause like our cows, they've been outside. I mean, on our family farm for basically six to seven months. Right. Which is pretty cool. And yeah, you just, it's, it's such a difference. I

Dave:

mean, it's just, I mean, it's not just the photosynthesis for them being, you know, eating the grass. They're also getting massive benefits from the sunlight directly itself. I mean, this has been the light bulb moment for me is like, we are like everything or all life on earth is, is tuned to light, isn't it?

Theresa:

Yeah. And I mean, it's also interesting when you look at the animals, if it's like a cow or sheep or dogs, cats, they all seek sunlight first thing in the morning.

Dave:

Yeah. Yeah. My three dogs are lying outside. out on the patio as we speak

Theresa:

yeah and the only one thinking like that we don't need it or we can replace it with a vitamin D supplement is the human race

Dave:

I mean that's interesting I want to talk about supplements as well because you know somehow we've got ourselves into a position where you know we'd rather watch a few YouTube videos listen to sort of people rank on about sort of supplements take those supplements rather than doing something like go and have a walk I mean that's extraordinary really when you think about it isn't it

Theresa:

yeah I mean there's a time and place for supplements definitely but it's always with context and for each person it's individual you know like you can't I mean when I see those you videos with like random you have to take creatine and all that stuff yeah it's all nice and good but like if you don't get outside and spend the whole day indoors and then go to the gym you know you're still missing the fundamentals so the generalization of supplements is a bit like yes very misleaded and yeah it's all a very profit driven industry now and which is okay but you know like the consumers just getting so misled like yeah take some pills and it's all good and

Dave:

but I mean it's sort of become such a huge industry in its own right you know and I think it's one of the it's one of the challenges actually I think the sort of nature return to nature kind of movement has is it doesn't cost any money really and in a way we've been trained to think about like there's a value exchange which involves like the more we spend the better it's going to be and here's this thing of just get outside walk a dog or whatever and your things are going to be better and I know this for myself because I've spent the last I'd say the last six months really focusing on getting up with the sun you know getting out in the sun prioritizing outside time eating well uh like you know i think we we chatted before i've got apples now on my apple tree and they're like i almost feel the difference of eating my own apples from like there's no pesticides nothing on them they're just pure organic i mean they probably couldn't be called organic because i'm not sure they can from organic stock but

Theresa:

yeah

Dave:

you know and i've lost weight i mean yesterday i swam five kilometers and you know there is no way sorry you're so fit five kilometers wow but there is no way i'd have been able to do that without focusing on a much more kind of holistic view of myself and i i somehow i arrived at this place on my own i don't know how but you know then started listening to be my i guess my brain was open to it i mean like you say it's like this awakening and then you you know i talking to people like yourself i mean i love the whole idea of kind of the holistic approach to training as well i mean can you talk a bit about that in terms of you know if i came to you as a client what other sorts of things you'd be looking to do with me

Theresa:

yes so um depending on what you have like let's say you low in energy your sleep sucks um sorry um have disturbed sleep and um you want to lose weight but you can't because you tried every exercise on the planet um under the sun um sorry every diet under the sun and exercise of course um so basically i just go back to the foundations to to the fundamentals. So I pick them basically up where they're at. And it always starts with sunlight first thing in the morning because most people don't do it. And because people have such disrupted sleep patterns, like I really focus on putting the mitochondrial health first So instead of just fueling the body, just putting the fuel in from the food. So we need more. We need light. We need grounding. We need movement. And instead of just focusing on the fuel from the food, we just want to optimize the engine first. So like that the cells, the mitochondria are really working. as they're

Dave:

supposed to be. So what does light first thing in the morning do to the mitochondria?

Theresa:

So first of all, like when you go outside and ideally you watch the sunrise, um, the signal to your eyes, um, shows, uh, Oh God, you have to cut that out. Um, I have to focus. Okay. Um, so. first thing when you go out in the morning like the sunrise it sends a signal to your eyes it's morning just put it plainly simple and because of the infrared light it has a healing effect on the eyes and the whole body so it regulates all our hormones cortisol melatonin and dopamine so So if you're super stressed out, that's the first thing at all, which really calms you down to watch the sunrise and like best grounded to have the best effect if it's possible, like barefoot.

Dave:

Can you just explain what grounding is?

Theresa:

Yeah. So, uh, grounding is like walking barefoot on, um, natural surfaces like soil, grass, um, sand yeah all those surfaces or rocks and the effect from that is like you charge up your batteries from the natural magnetism of the earth so it basically calls the Schumann resonance and because we're inside the whole night and get basically charged up by non-native EMFs from Wi-Fi. Or electricity. Basically every kind of electricity. Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, I turned my Wi-Fi off a long time, since a long time, and it made all the difference already. Really?

Dave:

I mean, that's...

Theresa:

I

Dave:

have to say, I'm still not at the point where I'm turning off my Wi-Fi. So tell me a bit about that as well, and then we'll come back to grounding because I'm now doing grounding, but it took me a little while to go, wow, that sounds a bit woo-woo, but I'm now walking around barefoot and I'm feeling the difference. So talk to me about Wi-Fi.

Theresa:

Yeah. So basically what you get from Wi-Fi is non-native EMFs and yeah of course you can't see them but they're everywhere so they basically are responsible for inflammation in the body and you basically always charged with those non-native EMFs and like to mitigate that you just do grounding and or recharge so you just counteract

Dave:

yeah I mean and this isn't like the more I've lived today it's this is proper science as well there is you know this isn't just sort of people making it up there is a real science to this isn't there

Theresa:

exactly yeah it's some yeah it's not some hippie nonsense anymore like I remember when I was a kid my my granny she had a she had a bed and breakfast and she had one lady there every year and she was walking barefoot all the time and she was in her mid 70s she was fit as a fiddle she was always she had a super nice tan she was always outside never seen any sunglasses and she walked barefoot through stinging nettle because of the also like healing effect from the stinging nettle I mean she was she was pretty hardcore but in a good way so amazing lady and I always think about her because we were laughing at the time that she went barefoot through a stinging nettle but yeah

Dave:

well listen I mean I because I think about like I grew up in the tropics so I was born in Kenya and I lived in Fiji and I didn't wear shoes for my first 10 years you know and now like rediscovering going around being bare feet I'm like you can actually feel something I mean and you know like like it's a really weird thing this because it's all so I don't know what the word is but you almost think yeah this is weird isn't it but the fact is is this stuff really makes a massive difference doesn't it you know so

Theresa:

100% and I mean like I just also see it from a point like your feet are hardened up so like I walk through sheep shit cow shit everything I don't even care and through sizzles mostly because they're dry they're dried out and then you know like you can't avoid it and in the beginning I was like oh you know shit it hurts but yeah I mean now I just don't even be bothered and years ago I was always a big fan of hiking so I did a lot of hiking already in my 20s also back in England I did Scotland I did the West Highland way and yeah at the time I had blisters like crazy and you know you can't tell me it's just the socks or the shoes no it's just because your feet are so bloody soft so you're not even you know i mean it's not like that is totally preventable you know but like i had such sensitive feet i walked a few k's a day and had already blisters and put up with it for the rest of the walk

Dave:

so so can i quickly sort of i guess going back to you and me as a client so i've got up early i'm now out look I'm looking at the sunshine. I'm in my bare feet. It's sort of like that's part one done. What else do you then look at?

Theresa:

Yeah, basically a lot comes back to like screen time. So before we adjust the food and diet, yeah, like screen time is such a big topic. I mean, you see it everywhere.

Dave:

I'm just going to swap these to these now. No, you don't need to

Theresa:

wear them outside. Sorry?

Dave:

No, you don't need to wear them outside. Oh, I'm inside at the moment, I have to say. Ah,

Theresa:

I said inside. Yeah, I'm inside. Ah, okay. Yeah, but you get the sunlight in your eyes, so you don't need to wear them. Okay, good. Yeah, it counteracts. Anyway, so where were we? So screen time, right? This is fascinating. Screen time, I mean, look around. I mean, people just walking on the street. It's like it's an epidemic. Couples sitting in restaurants and instead of talking to each other or families, they just stay on the screens. So, you know, it's also like a big... Yeah, I mean... Emotional thing, right? Like the social connection is so lost. So, but anyway, um, the whole screen saying like blue light, artificial blue light is super toxic for the eyes and the skin in general. I mean, you know, okay. You can protect your eyes, but also you have to protect your skin. Like, um, I talk with my clients about adjust your lighting, um, avoid over how do you say overhead lamps at night yes or at least put incandescent in or i always refer to those i just have block blue light here so i like those you can switch them and they have like no blue light in them and no green light yeah so they're they're pretty good and like a warm light because the

Dave:

led light you've got a fire behind you as well well haven't you

Theresa:

yeah it's a real

Dave:

yeah yeah yeah yeah

Theresa:

i had already like five people asking me is that real and

Dave:

i i know it's i mean i've got a farm i can tell a real far from but that's beautiful

Theresa:

thank you but you know that shows you also like people are so because you know you can put a fire on your screen you know people are just like losing it you know that they don't even think that can be real

Dave:

it's just It's amazing. It is amazing. So then, like, I mean, you know, again, the more I've read about kind of LEDs and, you know, there's senior academics who are saying, well, this could be what's making people sick, you know. We're in, like, particularly these academics are going into the sort of hospital environment and saying, well, doctors, nurses, they're all actually very... Not all, but many of them are quite unwell and it could be because of things like the blue light. So

Theresa:

it's quite interesting. You know, the. Back in the police, when the time I was the most depressed cop ever was at the airport in Frankfurt, because of that artificial environment. And now I totally understand it and get it. And I have just a funny photo where I'm just like hanging hanging on my arms and just staring outside and... watching the planes and I'm just like, I just want to be outside. And, um, you know, I mean, it's also not just the lighting there, you know, the whole AC and it's always warm, cool and like adjusted to the weather. And it's just,

Dave:

I must be EMF heaven as well with every sort of, um, yeah, type of radiation sort of bombarding the, you know,

Theresa:

definitely bad. Like, but the plane is even worse, like a plane. like a microwave.

Dave:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so you've got screen, people are like, you know, and I'm terrible. Like I, this is one thing that I've really got to get on top of is I'm completely addicted to my phone still. Like despite reading all of this stuff, I'm, I'm now, I still wake up in the night and will read my iPad and stuff like that, you know? And yeah. So this is my, that's my next phase is how do I kind of, and it's interesting interesting like what you're saying because I'm following this path almost intuitively so I'm very much aligned to your way of thinking so once you've got screen time sorted what's the next thing

Theresa:

yeah just one more thing for screen time like it's also much a mind thing like you know asking better questions like why do I always grab the phone no I mean if we're addicted to it that's another story but like when we work on our like mindset and like why are we always choosing the phone is that a coping mechanism for something and yeah I mean for me or my clients it always helps like do a detox like really get it out of your bedroom put it on flight mode turn off the wifi and stick to those two hours before bed no screens at all and And, um, it takes a while for them, but yeah, like once they stick to it and it doesn't have to be all the time, a hundred percent, you know, like when we all humans and we fall into some traps patterns, sometimes that's even happens to me. Sometimes I'm not, you know, like the, the, um, blue light saint or,

Dave:

you know, I think that's good. Cause you've got to be kind to yourself as well.

Theresa:

Yeah. But exactly when you conscious about it, it makes all the difference. Yeah. And like, and also like protecting yourself, you know, like put filters on, on every screen you have, if it's possible, like, um, on my, um, laptop right now, I got Iris tech. Iris tech is pretty good. It costs 15, $15 lifetime access. And, and, um, now I have it on race. so you know i just use use it a lot like that during the day as well so that was iris tech did you say

Dave:

iris

Theresa:

iris iris tech yeah yeah so yeah i mean you can put your iphone on on on red screen i got it here um so see it's normal now it's red just through a three-click button, which is pretty

Dave:

cool. I'll find that setting.

Theresa:

Yeah, you can find it on YouTube. It's pretty simple to adjust. I don't know how it works for Android, but Apple is pretty easy. Yeah.

Dave:

So we got screen time sorted. So what's the next thing as part of the coaching you're doing?

Theresa:

Mm-hmm. Yeah. definitely adjusting the sleep to it so like really getting into a regular sleep pattern because um so many people are sleep deprived and they don't even they're not even aware about it and they think like oh yeah i have my four hours and i mean it's yeah it's just no wonder you have no energy um this is our restoration um You can't out-supplement sleep or out-diet it. If sleep is crude, that's really the bottleneck.

Dave:

One of the things I wonder or I've started to give myself permission to do is if I want to go to bed, I just go to bed. Again, my family laugh at me because sometimes that means going to bed at half eight, nine o'clock. Then I was up at half four this morning. So, you know, but it, it's sort of like, I think so many of us just feel embarrassed about like going to bed early, you know, that could, that embarrassment could be the thing which is preventing people kind of getting a proper night's sleep. Isn't it?

Theresa:

Yeah, it's crazy. And when I see so many families with kids, you know, they have no rules that they go to bed. I mean, we had always like, we had to be in bed and be by seven seven thirty eight o'clock when we were teenagers because it was during the week and it was always the same schedule and um yeah I mean like even my parents they always said like you guys are getting cuckoo you need sleep so when people say like they're depressed and stuff like if you don't sleep proper you even be more depressed it's just a logic um It's just common sense.

Dave:

Yeah, I mean, I think if we looked inside ourselves and listened to what we were all saying to ourselves, we would hear that that's, as you say, common sense. It makes, you know, I don't know. I mean, if I listen to myself, I often feel much better about everything.

Theresa:

Yeah, 100%. I mean, stick to it. And I mean, look, you know, of course, we have some events or we have guests there And it's not about perfection, but like really, um, making the best out of it, especially during the week. And, um, just stick to it as much as possible. Like I am, I'm such an early, um, early, um, yeah, I'm an early bird. So I go early to beat because I need my sleep, you know? And, and during my police time, I was the complete opposite because everything was so messed up and I thought, oh, my creativity is is at peak at 11 o'clock at night or 12, you know, so bloody stupid.

Dave:

It's amazing because I guess you're like, I've always, I've always over my life, like if I want to achieve anything creatively, creatively, anything creative, sorry, I can't, you know, it has to be in the morning. Like the afternoon is a wash. It's always been the same for me. and as I say I used to feel embarrassed about it now I'm like well that's just the way it is so you know now I'll try and get up early because I know that that's the best time for me from a kind of creative point so I mean it yeah no it's fascinating to hear what you're saying so from sleep do you then look at things like nutrition or

Theresa:

yes yeah I go to nutrition and, um, a hundred percent. So my approach is basically eat seasonal and local as much as possible. Because like, it's also tied to also mitochondria and, um, how much we can absorb that food, which is, um, comes from from our area. So like, let's say you in winter time in UK and you have a banana from the Philippines, Ecuador, whatever. I mean, first of all, it gets shipped thousands of kilometers, miles, and, um, it is just not the food you consume basically, because it's not growing in your garden or, um, in your country at that time. So people always think they can extend an endless summer and then they wonder why they have gut problems and the microbiome is, you know, leaky gut and all that stuff. So it all ties together, um, that we eat like seasonal and local, um, best is like support your farmer, try to avoid more the supermarkets, like really support those small businesses and support your farmer. I always can just, yeah.

Dave:

I mean, I think it's great. I mean, like, again, I've been thinking a lot about eating locally and eating seasonally. I mean, I was listening to, I think it was Jack Cruz talking about, like, there are sort of, again, from his point of view, kind scientific reasons why, you know, your body is sort of tuned into the electrons of your environment. And, you know, actually me going and getting an apple off my apple tree, my body's more open to it because, you know, it will have shed electrons from the apple tree at some point. And, you know, again, I need to kind of really think about this, but it kind of makes sense. I mean, It's like this, people talk about like if you have allergies, eating local honey is a really good thing to do, like not honey from New Zealand or Manuka or whatever it is, but honey from your local area. Sorry? It's a pretty good one,

Theresa:

but yeah,

Dave:

I hear you. Yeah, I know, very good one. But it's sort of like, you know, people are starting to think about like locality, you know, and honey's, I think, quite a good start point but it's really made me think about all of this stuff like what we put in our mouths as you say like it there might be a nutritional element to it but it it's not you're not getting everything that you could get out of it because your body's not primed for it

Theresa:

yes and you said it so well with the electrons you know like it's basically like a barcode for your for your cells like when they see like oh bananas coming from the tropics, it's not growing in my country, you know? And I don't want to piss off people, you know, to never have any tropic fruits, you know? But it's like the majority of your food should be really tied to your country, local, seasonal, and you can have those little exceptions, you know?

Dave:

Interesting. So, I mean, again, from nutrition, we haven't even talked about exercise yet.

Theresa:

What I want to add for nutrition is also like I am a big proponent of like having a nutrient dense. So it's not just about, you know, the volume, it's about quality. So I'm always a big proponent of having quality high quality seafood, lots of oysters, lots of clams, mussels, rich in DHA, very important for our brain, the omega-3s, wild caught salmon, salmon, sorry, yeah, and yeah. Well, that's, I mean, because there's the other thing that... Liver, organs, you know, heart, liver, kidneys, all that old school stuff where we say like, well, you know, I don't like that. Um, it's just, yeah, it should be more on our diet. And of course, like meat, um, I'm a big meat proponent. Um, cause yeah, I love to support the farmers and meat is such a excellent protein source. Yeah. And especially grass fed and ruminant meat. Beef, lamb.

Dave:

I heard this term yesterday, which I thought was really interesting. It's qualitarian. I'm a qualitarian. I'm going to go and get the quality meat. You know, everything has to be high quality, you know.

Theresa:

Yeah, I mean, like, you don't have to be so super, how do you say, like, not getting paranoid. Yeah, rigid or paranoid about food, you know. I think you can mitigate a lot with spending more time outside for a start, you know, then you don't have to be so picky on the food. But I mean, still you should aim for best quality if you can and your budget allow it. Um, yeah. So, I mean, I started hunting over here, so I love to have venison in the freezer for, feeds me for three, three to four months, you know, it's just awesome. I'm very

Dave:

Well, I mean, here in the UK, we've got so many deer. We get some very good quality venison. I think it's the most free range that you can get. Although I've been reading a lot about the fact that they love to munch on farmer's fields and they're ingesting a lot of pesticides. But as you say, I think what is great about what you're saying is It's, it's, you can, like, if you're sort of being outside a lot more than you don't have to be so picky about foods, which means you can have the occasional pot noodle. So,

Theresa:

yeah, of course, of course. Like, I mean, enjoy life. And yeah, I mean, have, I have pizza sometimes and pasta, you know, it's not like that. I don't, um, enjoy those things, but like just, you know, in moderation, because if I have it too often, that doesn't, you know, I don't feel this good. And, um, yeah. So I think, you know, I made homemade, I make homemade ice cream and pudding. So chocolate points, which is, which is a pretty good

Dave:

food, you know? Um, yeah. Well, I saw, I've always liked when I was growing up, we always had pudding. Yeah. My mom would always make pudding and, you know, Nobody was, nobody was obese in those days. And I still like, I try and work out like we were, I don't know, we were eating good food. We were outside a lot more. Maybe all of these things were sort of adding together. A

Theresa:

hundred percent. My grandpa, he was outside his whole life. He was a farmer and he ate basically everything. And he never had a guts. He was so trim and lean and Okay, never had a six-pack, but he was pretty built. And I've never seen him with any guts in his life. So that shows you, you know, those big working hands, you know, like always in the sun. He never used sunscreen. There wasn't a thing. Sunglasses, forget about it. I mean, there was common sense, you know. I mean, it's not like you have to roast yourself in the midday sun. You stay in the shade. It's also like, you know, Some people in the quantum space, I would say, or circadian space, they also, like, overdo it with, like, you know, just be so much in midday sun. And, like, yes, to a certain degree, of course, but, like, you get also a lot of benefits from the shade.

Dave:

I mean, the shade is basically it's directing infrared at you. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, because the ultraviolet sort of bounce is absorbed. So, yeah, it's interesting. Interesting. So then, I mean, in terms of, I mean, as I say, you haven't mentioned exercise. Is that the kind of next thing? Yes.

Theresa:

So the training part is basically, if it's suitable for the people, I want to have them outside as much as possible for their training. And if they can, grounded. So I don't have a problem when they go to the gym, but also like there, I have some rules for them, like that they don't go before sunrise to mess up their rhythm or after sunset, you know? There's so many, like the training in that artificial light after sunset or before sunrise messes up your system completely. It's like just nuts. And it's also like common sense. It doesn't make sense so if you go doing midday after and have breakfast you know I'm not a big proponent of the old intermittent fasting in the morning so have your big breakfast and then work out or at least a smaller breakfast and then work out so not on empty stomach because it messes up your hormones and stuff and Interesting.

Dave:

Yeah. Interesting. I mean, I'm, I, I generally skip breakfast. Like, you know, I did my 5k swim yesterday. Wow.

Theresa:

Hey, just try it, try it for a while. Like have, like, you don't have to overdo it, but like take, have at least two to three eggs, you know, some protein and fat. Okay. Maybe a little bit. That's cool. I don't know, avocado not growing at the moment at your place. Um, or I Are they? No. No, no, no. It's apples at the moment. So, yeah, maybe a little bit fruit, but put it more like protein, fat-based in the mornings. Lots of butter. Maybe a little bit bacon. Good quality bacon. All right. Yeah, try to switch. Especially for 5K. That's a lot, Dave. It's a lot.

Dave:

Yeah. Well, it is one of the things I've realized is actually, you know, swimming if you don't if you want to swim further you have to eat you know like 5k is I mean I crawled out the lake yesterday but I know if I'd had something to eat beforehand I'd have probably been better so I've just got myself into a mindset that you know breakfast is not something

Theresa:

you know you can reverse it like instead of fasting in the morning do it in the evening you know just skip skip dinner or have a glass of milk with some honey and just see how that goes

Dave:

that's right well no I'll definitely try that going back to the gym though because I think one of the things again which is like you kind of alluded to which is fascinating is how gyms are actually because of the lighting you know a bit more toxic in terms of you know I guess I'm beginning to understand now if you go and train in a gym you're sort of it's effectively like fighting with one hand tied behind your back like you're missing out on and again I know this because like I've always hated gyms myself and I feel much better exercising outside and I think if people look inside themselves they'll probably hear that we all know this don't we

Theresa:

I mean what does this statistic, like 80% of the gym members don't even show up after January or February.

Dave:

It's very true. It's very true.

Theresa:

Yeah. So, um, you know, and you can't tell me that's just all about willpower. It's probably because it's not very aligned with people. So,

Dave:

um, Well, that, I mean, that's such an interesting thing to say, but actually our bodies may be telling it's just a toxic place so don't go yeah

Theresa:

which is basically yeah it's a good thing and i mean there are some really good gyms out there you know which i was like they have heaps of windows and natural light and don't you know put on full blast the leds um or don't have like screens everywhere i mean the gym where i went that was really like natural lighting and also good air quality because they had no air con there was just the doors open and windows open which was great yeah but like most gyms you know they're flooded with like blue light from the screens and then you know like walking on a treadmill like it's not a good idea because you charge up from that electricity and you rather walk outside you know and

Dave:

I mean just quick just on that if you'd charge up like you know there are a lot of like I guess I'm gonna say there's a lot of women who don't like exercising outside for due to safety concerns and things like that so if they go into a gym you know would you advise if you do run on a treadmill then maybe just sort of do some grounding afterwards to kind of release what's been built up

Theresa:

that's definitely an idea yeah Yeah. Yeah. 100%. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. I mean... Yeah. Like, just... You know, the exercise, the problem with the gym is for me, you train your muscles. Okay. But what about your brain? You know, like when you're outside and you do it grounded in your garden or in a park, whatever, you charge up your body and it just, everything benefits. You don't have that in the gym. And also like the movement is another thing. Like so many... kind of exercise on the machines. Like they're very like isolated and you wouldn't move like that in nature. And like, basically I just break it down for my clients very easily. I'm always like, what do you want it? What's your, what's your vision? What's your achievement? Like, what do you want to do? You know, basically people just want to be fit and strong. You know, they don't want to, I mean, my clients are not like to six six-pack guys. They just want to be lean and healthy. So I just go back to the basics, like hanging, lots of hanging, pull-ups, push-ups, all those big compound movements like squats outside, lunges, crawling, a bit more natural movements. I mean, the list is endless. Yoga, for a change, you know, just, and also like not overdoing it with strength training. Cause I think like three times a week is three to four times a week is more than enough. And then just add it with some mobility training and the rest just walk or do some swimming like you and

Dave:

just walk. I wanted to ask, I mean, I've got a question around swimming. Um, cause I, I, you know, I've been through the whole like I've been you know I used to do triathlons I was running and cycling and and actually where I've ended up is you know actually long distance swimming is like I it's it's the only thing I've done where I don't hate it you know I love it do you know what I mean so

Theresa:

yeah I'd rather swim than walk or run yeah

Dave:

but I I was very struck by there's something like very in intimate about being in clean water. I'm not talking about a swimming pool, I'm talking about lakes and rivers and unfortunately we don't have many clean places here in the UK. I've really been thinking about this exchange of electrons, like swimming in the ocean. There's something which happens where we swap something with the water itself And it's sort of like, again, the more I've learned about water through this whole process, the more you realize that water is a really magical, and I say that in the most scientific terms, it's a really magical thing. So I don't, I'm kind of interested in that sort of side of things with water is, is something going on? Because like I was swimming yesterday in the lake and I could really feel this sort of intense, intimacy with with it right and it's kind of odd because you've got to really sit and try and think about it and kind of notice it but once if you do think about it it kind of happens like you go oh i'm being enveloped by this thing and you know it's beautiful

Theresa:

yeah No, I totally hear you. I mean, I spent most of my time, uh, childhood in swimming pools. So, you know, but you always felt the difference in a lake and stuff. Cause I mean, what's the first thing you do after swimming pool? You wash off the chloride, right? Um, cause it's just awful. Um,

Dave:

you're right. I came out the lake. I mean, every time I swim in these places, you come out feeling clean and like, you know, back or whatever the word is, it's sort of like there's a clarity which kind of comes with it. And you don't get that in a swimming pool. And I feel bad because I'm almost like I feel sorry for the water in the swimming pool because it's been treated. I mean, this is why, as I say, I'm a campaigner for clean water here in the UK because I'm like, we're treating our water so terribly. But it's only recently that I've because I've been through this stuff that I began thinking that like it's the water itself, which is, that's what we have that connection with, you know? And I mean,

Theresa:

it's grounding. You are grounded in water. And especially when you swim in the ocean, you soak up all the minerals and, uh, by the way, like high quality grounding is at the beach, like at the shore.

Dave:

That part. lapping over your toes and things. Yeah.

Theresa:

Yes. You soak up so many minerals and electrons. It's amazing.

Dave:

Fantastic. Well, listen, we've, we've, we've rambled on for, uh, quite some time. Um, I was just sort of, I was wondering after nutrition, if there's another, another area that you kind of look at at all.

Theresa:

Yeah. Um, I go more into like also hormone So I check blood work quite extensively because like without blood work, you're just guessing. Um, so I need the numbers and to see like where deficiencies and, um, also like if we have to supplement, we do a target supplementation. I mean, there's certain supplements I always recommend like magnesium and all the minerals. And I'm a big, big fan of Toro. and definitely collagen because we don't eat enough collagen these days.

Dave:

Collagen, if you wanted to eat it, that's basically eating the bits off the top of the chicken bone.

Theresa:

Yes, exactly. I

Dave:

happen to love, to be honest with you. Again, my family don't love me, but I sit there gnawing on the ends of the chicken bone.

Theresa:

Me too. I love to nibble on them and Like all the gelatin. So yummy. Yeah. Yeah. But I can always recommend like have a good high quality collagen made out of the skin, not just the grinding of the bones. So that makes a big difference. Like also like for skin Ellis Ellis to city. Yeah.

Dave:

I'm not going to try and say it cause I can't. I'm happy that you feel that way. Honestly, you speak much better English than me, and it's my first

Theresa:

language. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks, Dave. Happy to hear that. Yeah, I mean, like, we can go on and on about it. I mean, there's still, like, hydration. So many people don't hydrate well and drinking plain water. Like, I, for example, like, I finished my, like, raw milk now. I drink, like... between half a litre or a litre per day minimum. Of raw milk? Yeah, for hydration.

Dave:

That's interesting. Yeah. Again, I've been reading a lot about raw milk, but I worry about things like listeria. You've got to reprogram your brain around all of this stuff, haven't you? I know. over sun cream and there was an article in the Sunday Times yesterday which was teenagers are starting to tell their parents they don't want to wear sun cream and the whole article was basically oh it's terrible like kids shouldn't be listening to these people telling them and there wasn't any balance you know in terms of what was in the article and you kind of just We are literally bombarded by messages which tell us this... The good stuff is bad for us the whole time, you know, without any balance to the discussion.

Theresa:

The propaganda works pretty well. I was a gardener here for the primary school for a year and, you know, mowing and cutting hedges, whatever. And the kids, you know, it's pretty cool. They have a lot of outdoor times, but also like they stay indoors and on their bloody screens you know like in primary school why do you need tablets sorry i don't get it that is so fucking wrong excuse my language but it's so wrong

Dave:

no no you you say it how it is because

Theresa:

yeah it's so dangerous and um And I mean, like I saw a video, I will send it to you for find it. Um, they did an experiment back in, don't get me wrong on the numbers, probably in the eighties or nineties with a kid. I think he had autism or ADHD. He was just like in that clip. He was just moving around and like totally hyperactive and they changed the lighting. So they changed from led back to incandescent and guess what happened like the kid was totally totally calm and normal so those are major and it shows you again with the LED lighting what it does right it's it's mind-blowing and but if you tell that to parents at the moment they just look at you like what are you talking about you know and like also the propaganda was like cover yourself up and just 50 plus SP for your kid and they're like ah because I mean it's a government school you know um you know if I come there they just you know declare me a nutcase so I just I focus on those who want to you know who want to listen and I see it a bit also like Jack Cruz you know you can't if you don't if you want to change the system that's basically the wrong thing like you do you help those people who want to get helped you

Dave:

know I think that's a really good advice because I think otherwise you're screaming into the void the whole time in terms of you know and actually what you're fighting against is a system which is you know actually got money there's money at stake and I think as soon as there's money at stake you're kind of really fighting enough uphill battle yeah but it's interesting what you say because I think you know that going back to ADHD I was reading about some Japanese research where based on photographs of the retina they can predict ADHD to 96% so you obviously go there must be something to do with light and eyes and ADHD and you know like my wife is a she's a teaching assistant at a primary school here in the UK and the kids are so fortunate because they have an outside space so when they're all like over excited they can all go outside and they've got a forest school and my my wife's taken on the you know she's gardening with them and she just tells me like how excited they get about going out and gardening and it you know it goes back to like you know if we just listen allowed ourselves to kind of listen to ourselves a bit more we would know what the answer to all of this stuff is and i think you know actually this this movement is about stopping and listening and going like what is common what does common sense mean around all of this stuff

Theresa:

right yeah common sense and like i always hear people oh i wish you know back in the days everything was better but no one asked the question why was it better you know like what did we what have people done differently these days. It's like forgotten history already. Within, what, 50 years, 60 years? It's crazy.

Dave:

Yeah, no, I think it's amazing. I think it's amazing. Well, listen, we could literally go on and talk all day. Maybe one day we should. And I was just looking that Lex Friedman's just done a 10-hour podcast, which is like wow that's that's extreme i know i mean but it's it's been really interesting talking to you um and you know if people are interested in your coaching they can find you on uh linkedin and

Theresa:

basically only linkedin and my website is uh i don't know if you can put it in the show notes um i will definitely put it cool yeah so it's theresabook.com pretty simple or back on the back

Dave:

yeah no brilliant well listen that's such a fantastic conversation and um you know i really appreciate your time and it like for me it's actually it's kind of it's i don't know it's brilliant brilliant because i think what you what you've talked about if somehow i've arrived at these places on my own but obviously it's not on my own because i've ended up listening to what's been going on and you know you you filled in a lot of gaps for me um so i really appreciate it

Theresa:

thank you i'm happy to hear that yeah yeah great fantastic yeah no i loved our conversation you know just like say it how it is and without you know too much technical uh chemistry terms

Dave:

well look i i and i think this whole point of actually you go back and you go what is the most basic thing about like our biology and I say basic because it's mitochondria are far from basic I mean god I read about what they do and I'm almost made me cry it's like shit you know we need to be looking after these little fellas with everything that we've got to be honest with you but so you know I really like that as a sort of starting point and then you kind of like build up from there somehow we've got ourselves into a position where we haven't thought in that way so I think for me that's a really great position to be in you know and I can kind of see how that would map out in my head so yeah and it's sort of like something that makes sense like I always come back to one of my key things is how do you explain this to people who you know if you say to them like get up and go and have a look at the sunrise who will look at you and go what the fuck is he talking about you know

Theresa:

or

Dave:

go and get your feet out and go and sort of wander around barefoot you know it's how do you get through to those people and I think what you've described is a really lovely way of doing

Theresa:

it thank you yeah I mean stop wearing sunglasses oh my god people are also attached to all their bullshit gimmicks gimmicks gadgets

Dave:

yeah look I I've taken my Apple watch off and my aura ring and that was a very sad day for me but I'm starting to feel better anyway thank you so much I really do appreciate it thank you me too