Redesigning Life with Sabrina Soto

Navigating Inflammation and Wellness with Mel & Mel

• Sabrina Soto, Melissa Coulier, Melanie Samuels • Episode 82

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Melissa Coulier is a certified Function First Pain-Free Movement Specialist and breath coach. Melanie Samuels is a functional nutritionist and wellness expert, specializes in bio-individual nutrition. Together, Mel & Mel are on a mission to revolutionize women’s health in leadership through holistic wellness.

Imagine living with an autoimmune condition like lupus and learning how to manage it through mindful lifestyle choices. That's the journey Mel shares with us as we unravel the complexities of inflammation and its effects on our health. Mel and Mel from Live Well Lead Well bring their expertise to the table, discussing how acute and chronic inflammation differ and how factors like diet and stress can fuel the latter. Together, we explore how paying attention to our body's signals can reveal hidden food triggers and how making strategic adjustments can significantly improve well-being.

Balancing the demands of a busy life while maintaining wellness can be challenging, particularly for women managing both careers and family. Our episode provides practical self-care routines, like establishing bedtime rituals and incorporating morning exercises to manage stress and prevent burnout. Mel's personal health journey with lupus serves as inspiration for integrating professional expertise with personal challenges to create new business ventures. We wrap up with simple wellness solutions, ensuring that even with packed schedules, anyone can take the first steps toward improved health.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Redesigning Life. I'm your host, sabrina Soto, and this is the space where we have honest conversations about personal growth, mindset shifts and creating a life that feels truly aligned. In each episode, I'll talk to experts in their fields who share their insights to help you step into your higher self. Let's redesign your life from the inside out. Welcome to Redesigning Life.

Speaker 1:

This week I have Mel and Mel from Live Well Lead Well, and I want to thank you guys for being on the podcast. I'm going to ask you so many questions, but and it's kind of I'm being selfish because a lot of them are just for me, but I do believe that my listeners are probably wondering the same thing, so I'm just going to sort of inundate you with a lot of questions. But first, thank you both for being here. Thank you so much for having us, sabrina. We're so honored.

Speaker 1:

This is going to be a fun conversation because I'm sort of dealing with some issues right now in my life that it didn't even occur to me until last night and I swear this is why the universe always has perfect timing for everything. So I broke my hand like a year ago and last night it started feeling really achy and I really thought oh my gosh, what have I been eating? And I started thinking about inflammation. And I know that you both talk about inflammation a lot in your practice and how you teach clients. Can you sort of dumb down and explain how inflammation works and how there are certain foods or maybe supplements or things that we're ingesting that lead to inflammation? Can you really kind of give us the gist of it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so there are two types of inflammation, first and foremost of it. Yeah, so there are two types of inflammation, first and foremost, acute inflammation and chronic inflammation. So acute inflammation is like when we stub our toe on the bed which I feel like happens to me all of the time and you start to actually experience swelling. So that's your body's immune system kicking in and protecting you from that thing. So we have inflammation is our body's way of protection. Now, chronic inflammation is when there is an underlying issue that's causing longer term inflammation. So Melissa has lupus, which is an autoimmune disease, and that is an example of chronic inflammation.

Speaker 2:

It's first important to differentiate between the two of those, and your injury was acute inflammation, but is it turning into chronic inflammation if you're noticing that you're still experiencing that swelling or if it's kind of going up and down based on what you're eating? So that's sort of the basic way to describe what inflammation is. And when it comes to foods, everybody's body is different, which is the concept of bio-individuality which we also talk a lot about. So certain foods could inflame your body, that don't inflame my body or Melissa's body, and so that has just so much to do with where we came from what we're exposed to on a daily basis in our environments and how, actually how stress affects our body. So, obviously, so much to deep dive with that. But I'll ask you a question, sabrina Do you notice that your injury gets worse after eating certain?

Speaker 1:

foods, no, Okay. So this is my then next question to you, because I feel like people listening to this, because I never even thought, could it be something I just ate? At first I think, oh, I must have banged my hand on something and didn't notice it. But if somebody is listening to this and they think, oh, it could be the things I'm eating and everyone's different, then how do you even figure out what it is? Is it food? And how do you even? Everybody talks about this elimination diet, but I don't want to not drink water and then just slowly bring a tomato in, and that's not realistic. So I think we all want to stop eating the foods that might be inflaming us. But how do we even start?

Speaker 3:

Well, I think it's from really tuning in to your body's own cues. So like, as you just said, right, you felt that inflammation and you felt like the achy, then doing exactly what you are doing of like backtracking Did you have tomatoes? You are doing of like backtracking, did you have tomatoes? You know, like you were just saying, um, when melanie and I first started working together and I was trying to really dive into figuring out what my triggers were for inflaming, for the inflammation that were causing these flare-ups, it was about being so extra like quiet and in tune to everything your body is. Like speaking to you has like little whispers, and for me it looked like, you know, gluten was an inflammatory, tomatoes were inflammatory, but, like I know my husband, for example, he's not gluten intolerant, so like he was doing okay, or you know he was able to have tomatoes.

Speaker 3:

Um, and to the point where it's like overwhelming because, yes, eliminating is is intense, but if you're, if you're doing the work and then just thinking like, okay, this is cuing me and my body, so I'm going to eliminate it for a week and we'll see how my body starts to feel. I mean, my number one thing was sugar caused migraines and I never put the two together until I just stopped doing refined sugar. And now I'm like I know right away if it's in anything. I have that like tinge of a headache and I know it's like an onset. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Go ahead. It's also about just looking at your overall stress bucket, and I don't mean just things that might be stressful, I mean what? What are you? What is your day look like? What? How long are you working working? What is your diet like and when are you eating? How often are you eating? Are you responding to hunger cues?

Speaker 2:

There's so many things that also cause inflammation as sort of this total piece or total puzzle, and we have to sort of start to pay attention to the pieces that make up that puzzle.

Speaker 2:

So sometimes it isn't just a piece of fruit that you read might be inflammatory because, let's face it, there's so much information out there and the elimination diets are really intimidating and, honestly, they're not sustainable for somebody who has a lot going on in their life and cannot only focus on that elimination diet, because it's like you have to basically be in a cave and only be eating these foods and preparing everything. So I think a more realistic approach to figuring out what that is for you is, like I said, taking a step back and looking at the full picture. How often are you eating at home? Are you eating at restaurants? Are you eating on the go or are you sitting down and properly chewing your food and kind of creating this, this sanctuary for yourself around meals, um, and it's you know. I wish I could tell you exactly, but you can tell us more about your day.

Speaker 1:

It's like okay, so you're saying like, are you sitting down and having a sanctuary for your meals? And I preach about self-care, and self-care, of course, is being the even just sitting down for lunch, which I never do. I didn't even realize how much I don't do it until somebody was over my house and I actually gave them a plate of food and asked them to sit down. And I ate over the sink because I'm just so used to eating over the sink like an animal. But I think that, yes, that sounds great to be able to sit down and properly chew your food. But I feel like and I'm not just speaking for myself, but a lot of people that I know that are just always on the go that, unless I'm going to maybe do a food diary to figure out what it is, or just eat at home for like a week and make sure that I'm like knowing what was going in my meals, but that's just not realistic.

Speaker 3:

Something that really worked for me specifically is getting my body into a parasympathetic state while on the go. So if you are on set or if you are running from one thing to the next, it's maybe taking a few really deep breaths. So like the fastest way to get our body to kind of like in that reset of our nervous system is taking an inhale for four count, exhale for six, count and just doing that like four to six deep breaths beforehand, and that can really make a difference too.

Speaker 2:

And even just paying attention to are you chewing your food? I think we all have time to chew our food right, so the more that we chew our food, it's sometimes the simplest changes that make the biggest difference. We don't always want to chew our food right, so the more that we chew our food, it's sometimes the simplest changes that make the biggest difference. I mean, I wouldn't put a number to it, but you should chew until you don't have big pieces of food to swallow, and I know that's a lovely description.

Speaker 3:

I think the way you explained it was like chewing until it's piece.

Speaker 2:

You might if you're not paying attention. I trust me, I have seen it all. But it could just be chewing your food, because chewing your food helps you digest better, and when you don't digest, you can bloat, you can have inflammation, and so, again it's. It's some of the simplest things and, like Melissa said, sometimes you just have to go. It's some of the simplest things and, like Melissa said, sometimes you just have to go. You know, work with what you've got, and even if that means parking your car in the parking lot and eating instead of eating, you know driving driving.

Speaker 1:

Exactly Do you? What do you with all the clients that you guys work with? What do you see the most like the issue that most people deal with?

Speaker 3:

I would say that, with our practice together, it's skipping breakfast and moving your body, not moving your body. Yeah, so not getting any sort of movement in.

Speaker 3:

So I'll speak to the movement side, since that's my side of things, that's your side of things yeah, your side of things, um, but just getting in, like you can achieve small amounts of movement that will have huge impact. Um, by just simply adding in movement while already doing things that you do so, while you're brewing your cup of coffee, doing some lunges, while you're brushing your teeth, doing some shoulder rolls or high knees, like, there are ways that you can get in these like little, bite-sized moments of movement that are going to help create the body to crave more movement, and that's, you know, and that's one big way that we can introduce it, because there's so many of us there's over 60% of us are not getting the amount of exercise that is required, and so, if we're all starting at ground zero, that's an easy way of like a mini boot camp, so to speak, of just grabbing some ways of moving, or taking a walk during meetings rather than sitting in a boardroom that's another great way.

Speaker 1:

Taking a walk during meetings rather than sitting in a boardroom. That's another great. Yeah, I my friend, posted yesterday that she got a treadmill for her desk and then I was going to get it for myself because I'm like that's actually a good idea. But I don't know if I would be able to focus on editing and doing anything while I'm walking. But I mean, it's probably a good way to get your steps in if you can do two things at once. But I agree, I mean, I think what you said is that your body starts to crave movement when you introduce it to your life, and I can attest like that really does happen, because once I started getting more fit, I, if I don't do it, if I like, miss a class I feel a little bit more crabby.

Speaker 3:

So, yeah, it's getting the oxygen into the brain. It's fueling your brain just as much as it is your body.

Speaker 1:

What's the minimum amount of movement everyone should be getting, especially women in their 40s, a day, a day, minimum, minimum.

Speaker 3:

I mean, if you can get in 10 minutes a day, that's great. It would be better to do 20 to 30 minutes. But we also don't want to over condition our body. So I'm a big believer in doing exercise classes three to four times a week, not every day of the week, because we're never going to give our body that rest, recovery time and that's vital for so many different things of again inflammation and when we over condition, we can really like leave our whole system in an inflamed state.

Speaker 1:

I went to a class this morning and it was pretty. It was athletic conditioning at the gym. I like to go to classes because I feel like somebody's got to tell me what to do or else I won't do it. And I was in the locker room and the two girls that were in that class with me I overheard them saying, well, like that wasn't even a workout. I swear, ladies, I was, I couldn't. No one size fits all. I think if you can get in a workout, like even just a walk for a little time, I feel better. But there are people that over condition Maybe that's just me saying that about those two women because I feel bad they were saying that it wasn't a workout.

Speaker 3:

To your point. It's so true. What you're saying about there is this it's not a one size fits all Right. So I used to go to this class with a couple of actresses who were like very in LA. It was a super intense boot camp, like Zumba slash boxing class, and it was like I was throwing up mid class. I'm not kidding, I would leave in this in the middle of class we throw up and then finish being like I got this, why didn't you just go home? And then that's when I was like I cannot do this anymore.

Speaker 3:

It's like trying to like younger self. I would tell like get on girl, like go, do your own thing, go somewhere else.

Speaker 1:

But in the moment you're just like trying to keep up with doing the cool thing that everyone else is doing, and that's why there's so many classes, because not everything is for you, I know, but classes work for me. And it's like my ego, because I almost have to, in my head, pretend that everybody's staring at me and judging me if I'm not doing my hardest. No one, by the way, is looking at me, no one in that class is staring at me, but in my head I think they are, and then I work harder. So classes work for me. But there are friends of mine who hate classes and love working out by themselves, which is why you can't pay attention to what works for other people, because it might not work for you.

Speaker 1:

So true, speaking of not a one size fits all, how are you, ladies, on supplements? Because if I buy one more supplement that I don't look, I have right here NAD pills that are just sitting here. I haven't even taken them because they're so big. But what supplements do you think people should be with? Like on, just like the bare minimum, if any?

Speaker 2:

It's such a great question and it's so funny because so we have, you know, Live Well, Lead Well. And then I also have a private practice where I see clients and the first thing I say is I am not a supplement pusher and you are not going to have to, you know, buy a new cabinet for all of the things that I recommend. So here's the thing I always say that supplements support, they don't solve. And the other thing is, if you are not absorbing those supplements, they're just a waste of money. They're going right through you. So we have to look at, obviously, every individual and their needs. Sometimes, you know, they'll get blood work and say, okay, I'm deficient in vitamin D.

Speaker 2:

Vitamin D is my favorite vitamin. I'm super passionate about it. So if a woman is deficient in vitamin D and her doctor confirms that, I think a vitamin D3 supplement is a really great thing to take. It's also easily absorbed by the body and it just helps with so many things I also love. I love how I'm like I don't push supplements. But here are my two favorites. But I really just only have those two favorites. So vitamin D and then the other thing that I would that typically recommend is a magnesium supplement before bed. So there are different types of magnesium. Magnesium glycinate really does help restorative sleep and, again, easier for people to absorb and something that I've seen help so many different types of people with all different types of underlying conditions. So those would be the main two and then the rest. You know. We have to remember that supplements are also moneymakers and it's very trendy to say An unregulated industry as well.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes, and you know a lot of holistic health is. You know a lot of holistic health is some which is also good, but I think it's just good to be aware of sort of the advertising behind it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I agree, and but you said earlier about and, by the way, mel, I have a cabinet for my supplements. I have an entire cabinet in my garage for supplements, because I, as I'm sure a lot of listeners do the same thing. You see somebody on Instagram talking about how this stopped their gray hairs, or now I've never felt better, this mood enhancing, and I'm like, oh, I want to feel that good. So then I buy them and then they just like, sit here, they just sit here, I don't even take them. But you say that your body, if they don't ingest it, it doesn't work. What does that mean? Am I supposed to be taking them with food? So it ingests with the food? How do I make sure that the supplements I'm taking are ingested into my system?

Speaker 2:

Well, it obviously depends on the supplement. Some supplements are just easier for the body to absorb. It also depends on your deficiencies, because really what we should be doing is getting our vitamins and minerals from food, and I think a lot of people are not eating a diverse enough diet and therefore finding oh well, let me just supplement with this. And again, it's the supplements are just because they're not in their natural form from food, harder to absorb from the body. So that's sort of what I mean by that. Our body can digest and absorb the nutrients in food easier, just because that's how nature intended it to be.

Speaker 2:

And then, you know, on that digestive piece, sort of back to what I was saying about the how portion of eating, was saying about the how portion of eating In order for our body to optimally absorb our food, we must be in what Melissa said, a parasympathetic state to start, because that full rest to digest piece is so true. And the more that our body is relaxed and not producing extra cortisol, which can actually inhibit the production of stomach acid, which we really need to digest our food properly, we won't be getting all the good stuff that food provides us. So I think for somebody who is looking to maybe cut back on supplements. It's like well, where can I supplement pun intended with my food? Am I getting enough colors on my plate?

Speaker 1:

Melissa, because you're like a movement and I think that now everybody's saying you have to lift heavy weights, eat 700 grams of protein. Are those things really important in somebody in their 40s to lift heavy weights and to eat like 100 grams of protein a day In order to physically get your body into a state that's, you know, the best for that age group?

Speaker 3:

Again, it's not a one size fits all. So some people are going to hurt their body or their muscles or whatever by lifting heavy. I do believe that we should be lifting weights regularly, and that's I would say two to three, two times a week, if you can, to start and then kind of working your way up. But yeah, I mean, we start losing muscle at early 30s and then then from there, I mean every decade we're losing a decent amount. And so, yes, muscle is very important, because your muscle then also supports your brain health, which helps against memory loss and things, things like that. So, as we age, the research does show that that muscle is so vital in order to aging well, um, and and living well in your life for a long time. With that said, um, you want to pair it. You know, protein is also important. I'm a big believer in protein. Now to how much, that all depends on your regimen.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and your weight you know.

Speaker 1:

But then I was told that you should have as many grams as you weigh.

Speaker 3:

I don't practice that personally have as many grams as you weigh.

Speaker 2:

I don't practice that personally, so again, that's like it's another thing where you would want to.

Speaker 2:

Really, you know you should eat a gram of protein per pound that you weigh. We really try to simplify wellness and make it sustainable for people. We both come from places where wellness was overwhelming for us, and so it led to sort of extreme behaviors on each side of the spectrum. So what we really try to do and I hope that this resonates with your listeners is try to tune out some of this noise and just do your best, and if that means just having a good quality source of protein at every meal, instead of being so obsessive about the numbers and the grams and what that might do for your 80-year-old self, I think that that's a more sustainable model because it feels like people can actually do it and that they're successful at. You know, staying to some structure, and I just my advice would be to not get so caught up on it, on it, you know. Recognize the study, appreciate it, but try not to put that pressure on yourself to then live this life accordingly.

Speaker 1:

But it's like every day when I open up social media, there's something else. We should be cutting out Seed oils, you know non-organic. The pesticides like the water filter your you know nonstick pans. Don't use your air fryer. I'm like, oh my God, I like you, just I'm. I am inundated and I think I'm pretty well versed in the health. You know what's healthy and what's not. And sometimes I get overwhelmed, especially because I have a nine-year-old daughter that I want to make sure I'm setting up for success. But you know, then I look in everything that's in her foods or, you know, in her snacks at school, and it's all garbage. So it's like I can see why people are overwhelmed and I can see why people just want to simplify. But I also like, don't know where people you know where do you start? Where do you?

Speaker 3:

start yourself and you take note of exactly what your body's craving so, for example, what Mel was saying about, like, the protein. If you learn to listen to what you know, those whispers are saying of like, oh, I'm craving protein right now and you're fueling up protein, or I'm craving movement. You move, like trying to just keep it so simple as like, just do what your body says. To just keep it so simple as like, just do what your body says. To your point of the overwhelm Like we're both in this space and it is beyond overwhelming because every day there's new studies and there's new things coming out and it is hard to keep up. And especially, there's a lot of loud people on the internet saying what you should be doing. But there's also a lot of individuals who are sharing information who may not be educated in to share that information.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 3:

So that's something to pay attention to. There's so many influencers on the Internet on TikTok and Instagram that are telling you how to move your body or what to fuel your body with, who are not qualified to do that that's right, and I was thinking about this yesterday.

Speaker 1:

I realized growing up we had magazines and the magazines were curated by editors who fact-checked all the articles that were in it and had fact-checked to make sure that the people that were contributing to the articles were actually experts in their field. And now we've you know, we've walked away from a lot of that sort of those publications and we're using Instagram as sort of a magazine, but a lot of the people that are writing don't have any idea what they're talking about. But we think that they do, and it's that's why I feel like a lot of people are confused.

Speaker 2:

Yeah it's a wild world out there sort of avoid most of what you just said. There is some truth about the seed oils and there is some truth about the plastics maybe you know being found in non or in your air fryer or non organic food. You know consuming those pesticides. There's truth to all of that. But how do we sort of find this balance between not spiraling and never leaving your house and then also starting to do some really good things for your health?

Speaker 2:

And I think it really does go back to cooking most of the time, and when you cook from your kitchen, you are more likely to be using real, whole foods. If you have the opportunity to go to a farmer's market and I know, sabrina, you and I are very lucky living in LA, like we can toss a coin and find a farmer's market. But I think people would be surprised too that that is more accessible in their area than not, especially with produce boxes that can be delivered and simply just eating locally could be a huge step in that direction. A lot of local farms don't. They can't afford the organic certification, but they are practicing organic practices by not using toxic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and you can always ask, so that could be a more you know obtainable way for organic food or organic-like food.

Speaker 1:

But you just sort of have to do the best you can and it's true of like how expensive sometimes organic foods could be, and I totally understand that. I mean they're also the dirty dozen of you know. Let's make sure at least to get those in organic. So even if you just work on the dirty dozen and you could anybody listening can just Google that and you could see the foods that you should buy organic. But you know, finding things on sale I mean I love a coupon and I love a sale, but I do believe that you can.

Speaker 1:

Cooking at home does not have to be taxing. I have a joke with Olivia when she gets home from soccer practice, I make 10 minute tacos and it's because she has to jump in the shower and by the time she gets out, tacos are done and I have made tacos from scratch in 10 minutes, so it could be done. Amazing. I do feel like you know we are all so busy and I know I wanted to talk to you ladies about burnout and I feel like more than ever we are asked to do so many things in our lives. As you know, busy professionals and then if you have kids, kids that on top of being a partner or maybe even just making you know being healthy for yourself and making sure that your house is clean when you are dealing with burnout. How can women recognize sort of the early signs before it fully takes over your life?

Speaker 3:

Some of those early signs are going to look like just fogginess. Tired.

Speaker 3:

Those early signs are going to look like just fogginess, tired maybe some like emotional, heightened emotion, yeah, and then like our again, when our, our bodies speaking to us are your shoulders tense, tight, maybe your stomach isn't feeling well and you're having a hard time digesting properly, headaches, that sort of thing. I mean there's a lot of different little cues and, honestly, a lot of us are going through all of these different symptoms, thinking that it's absolutely normal. But just because it's common does not mean it's normal, and so we just have to kind of like tune in and cue into that like stress and how we can, how we can lower it, and kind of build the stress resilience in order to fight the burnout.

Speaker 1:

What are your daily practices? Like you must do this before you go to bed.

Speaker 2:

Before bed.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, like before the end of the night, like you must get this like off your list before you go to bed.

Speaker 3:

So I'm big on setting up a routine to get my body in rest mode, because that's what helps me, kind of like set myself up for success, to get quality sleep. So it's my non-negotiable is like kind of just like writing everything out and like, whether that be on my phone or in a journal, write it all out. Then I have to do my like wash my face, brush my teeth, do the whole thing. I'm not wrapping my whole body. I'm not one of those who's literally taping everything up so that I, you know and shedding, but I do just like the. I just can't go to bed unless like everything's clean. Then, um, I usually put my feet above my head for 10, 15 minutes just to send all of like the blood flow back down into my heart space, because we're so used to being on our feet all day long and as a fitness instructor, I'm like moving a lot and so it helps to really like lower the inflammation in my body and get all of the toxins like brought.

Speaker 1:

Okay, you need to do an Instagram reel about this, because I that I have not done yet, so I'm going to put my feet above, so they're like kind of sit on the floor against the wall and put my feet up on the wall.

Speaker 3:

So I just do it on my bed and then I'll like listen to a podcast or you know, like just meditative music or whatever, but I have my feet above my headboard and then my head is like laying on the bed.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, I'm going to do that tonight. Okay, mel, what are your non-negotiables for your day? Like, what do you need to do every day? To, like, keep you on your path?

Speaker 2:

So mine is kind of a two-part answer. The first thing is actually in the morning, and this all has to do with the fact that I have a three and a half year old daughter and so I have to get up before she does and I have to do some form of movement and I need to just like prepare all systems in check for today, Otherwise I wake up a totally different person. So I usually wake up, what time is that? So I set my alarm for 545. It doesn't always happen that I, you know, respond accordingly, but I will say I'm up by six and then I immediately drink water and I do some form of movement. So that could look from like anything from 10 to 25 minutes.

Speaker 2:

I just do like some sort of a video or my own self-guided workout in my space upstairs and then so that just sets me up and that isn't total, non-negotiable, it sets me up to be able to handle all the things. And then the second part of my non-negotiable day is having space to unwind after a full day of working and parenting. My husband works in television and so he has gone a lot of the week. Sometimes you know unpredictable schedule. So I'm doing dinner and bedtime and all the things and it it's, you know it's exhausting.

Speaker 2:

And so when she goes to bed, I need time to unwind, and that could look different every night. Sometimes that's just like folding laundry and listening to a podcast, sometimes that's watching a show. I know that's not like a wellness answer, but it is me, you know. It's true to myself and it's true to what I need to Well that's what you're watching. Yeah Well, we won't go there.

Speaker 1:

But you're watching some Bravo show.

Speaker 2:

I mean maybe, maybe some nights Depends the city, sabrina, it depends the city. I love it, but it just it gives me some time to feel like myself again. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Good, OK, I do want to ask like what made you guys merge both of your specialties to create your new business? Like what, what sort of? What happened?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So I was diagnosed with lupus in 2006 and lived with it for a very long time, with suppressing it instead of finding the root cause of my flare-ups, and so I had gone down this long journey with it and was in this constant burnout mode. Enter my husband is an actor. He was on Fuller House and Melanie and Full House, and Full House. Yeah, so yeah.

Speaker 1:

So do you want to tell everybody?

Speaker 3:

who your husband is, of course. So Dave Coulier is my husband and played the beloved character Joey Gladstone, and so he met Melanie. Because Melanie was working in production on Fuller House and was like I think this, you know, I met a girl that I feel like you're going to be fast friends with, and so he kind of like set us up on a little friend date. And he was right. We just started hiking and talking about all the different ways like where we were in our path during that time and for me, I shared my journey with lupus and I really did not like talking about it because I felt like it was always limiting opportunities if someone knew I was struggling with chronic pain and with this autoimmune disease. So, and at the time that I shared that, melanie shared with me that she was getting into holistic wellness and going to become a holistic nutritionist and so I became her first client and after a small amount of time working together, I was finding that things were actually working for me. That things were actually working for me, so it became my medicine.

Speaker 3:

After three years of working together, I got off all medication. I have flare-ups maybe once or twice a year now and I haven't touched any sort of medication in years Maybe an occasional steroid injection if I'm like in a really bad flare up but so I was like it was my biggest aha moment of life. I was like I feel like we have to help other women realize that like there is a way through this battle, and so many of us are facing autoimmune issues or chronic pain and inflammation. So then we, in our practice, we worked with a lot of leaders and women who were, you know, producers and directors, and all of these women were kind of coming to us of, like I have this full plate, how can I balance, how can I maintain, and also how can I feel better in my body, and so that was like how it all came about. I love that.

Speaker 1:

I love that I am for anyone listening. I will put in the show notes Mel and Mel's information Live Well, Lead Well. Also the Instagram and how you can get in touch. Thank you, ladies, for giving me your time. I know I probably was all over the place with questions, but I feel like it's what everybody is like wondering how we can start, what we could do, Because I feel like, at the end of the day, we all want to look and feel our best, you know, and regardless of our schedules or where we live. It's just about making it simple and easy to digest.

Speaker 2:

Totally Thank you for having us. Yes, thank you, we hope we provide some clarity for people.

Speaker 1:

Thank you Bye.