Looking for ways to navigate through challenging times? Need a boost of resilience?
In this episode of Health Bite, Dr. Adrienne discusses how to build resilience in tumultuous times.
As a weight loss specialist, she understands the direct impact that our mental and emotional health has on our relationship with food.
Join Dr. Adrienne as she shares valuable insights and strategies for navigating difficult times and nourishing ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Don't miss out on this empowering episode that will help you redefine your nutrition and build resilience.
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What You’ll Learn From This Episode
- Learn how to build resilience in tumultuous times.
- Determine the impact of mental and emotional health on our relationship with food.
- Discover tips for navigating difficult times and maintaining mental well-being.
- Learn the importance of transparency and authenticity in fostering meaningful connections.
- Gain insights on the power of community and advocacy in building resilience and promoting positive change.
"Resilience is built into our being. It is built into our DNA. No matter what darkness you're facing, think about ways in which you can use positivity, transparency, community, and advocacy for the common good to help lift you out of whatever it is that you may be struggling with." - Dr. Adrienne Youdim
Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim
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Today we're talking about how to build resilience in tumultuous times. And if you're wondering, why do I talk so much about mental and emotional health and life in general when I'm a weight loss specialist? Well, it's because the happenings in our lives directly impact our relationship with food.
And our relationship with food is a window into our relationship with ourselves. Plus, I have to tell you, it seems a little disingenuous to talk about other things when so many of us are really impacted by world affairs. But even if you're not, I promise this podcast will be useful because, hey, who doesn't deal with tumultuous times in their lives?
Welcome back to Health Bite. I'm your host, Dr. Adrienne Youdim. I am a triple board certified internist, obesity medicine, and physician nutrition specialist. And I help people like you redefine their nutrition, not only to eat well, but to nourish themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. I'm glad you're here. It's been another difficult week, and full transparency, I was not planning on recording a podcast this week, and I missed the podcast last week. I have been in a total and complete funk, and it has been hard to do much of anything these days other than take care of my kids, take care of my patients, and keep my head above water. And from speaking to many of you, I know you're feeling it too.
So I thought I'd hop on and send you a little note to share with you what is helping me navigate through these tumultuous times. So number one is transparency. I've had a lot of conversations this past month, conversations that were planned before these events, before I knew I would be in a funk, but conversations that I had to go through with nonetheless, at medical conferences, with peers, with business partners, thought leaders, speakers, bureaus, and editors, basically conversations with people in which feelings don't usually come up. And yet, the feelings have been there. And I've opted not to mask my feelings.
And in fact, decided to be fully transparent and authentic in each and every one. Kind of like an AA meeting, I have introduced myself. Hi, my name is Adrienne. and I'm really heartbroken. And I laugh, but seriously, that's what I said. I have shared my heartbreak and my despair, not only about the events in the Middle East, but also the unfortunate and unforeseeable rise in antisemitism and really the intolerance in our country and around the world overall. It's really been heartbreaking.
And one of the tragedies, I think, of this tragedy is that it's kind of cost us our faith in humanity. You know, it is painful to witness the loss of any and all innocent life in any circumstance. And it is even more painful when that loss of life is not met with empathy and is not met with compassion. And really that's what we're dealing with. Not only the horror of terrorism and of war, but also this negative sentiment, this anti-semitism, this hate, Islamophobia, negativity, lack of humanity. It really is heartbreaking and I had no choice but to lean into that when I spoke to these various people. But you know what?
As inappropriate perhaps as it may have been, every single conversation with whomever they were, whether they were Jewish or not, Muslim or not, affected or not in these affairs. Every single conversation was met with compassion, with curiosity, with a desire to learn more, with concern, and really an abundance of love. And to be honest, with every conversation, every interaction, I kind of got back a sliver of humanity and felt like I was rebuilding my faith, rebuilding my faith in the goodness of people and in our common humanity, one conversation, one interaction at a time.
So for so many of you right now who are feeling all the feels and are yet being asked every day, how are you? The way we kind of rhetorically ask each other, I want you to consider being authentic. I want you to consider being fully transparent because I promise you You'll be surprised with what responses you are met with and what impact those responses may have. I know I was. My second tip, I guess, for building resilience during difficult times is to lean into community. challenging times can never be navigated alone. In fact, that was one of the most harmful aspects of the pandemic, right?
We were isolated, we were siloed, and we were unable to really engage in community to help us navigate the difficulty, the uncertainty, the sadness, and terror of that time, especially, you know, in those early months. I personally, in the last month, have called on everyone, friends, family members, friends that I may have lost touch with, during the last several years and particularly during the pandemic and COVID. I've reached out to like-minded professionals. I've reached out to some of our prior guests on this podcast. I've even reached out to influencers on social media and thought leaders that I have been inspired by. I have leaned on community in the broadest sense.
And I have found comfort and connection in every single interaction. Again, we cannot go at it alone. So I encourage you to reach out to your community. Reach out to your friends and family, to people who are in your like-minded, same cohorts. They are groups in which you can lean on each other's likeness and sameness and seek and receive comfort through that similarity and connection.
But I encourage you to even reach out to almost strangers. Trust me, I did. And you'd be, again, surprised by the response and surprised to know who is willing to be a shoulder to lean on. And that goes for me too. If any of you are feeling the feels out there, shoot me a message on Instagram, respond to my email and newsletter. I'd love to be there as a support. And my last tip for building resilience is through advocacy.
As I mentioned, I have been in a funk and last night for the first time, I feel like I slightly lifted my head out of the clouds and above water. I was listening in on a meeting for student government for a UC at which my daughter attends. She, alongside her friends, was presenting a speech to student government. to combat antisemitism and hatred on college campuses. And actually they had a public forum and I was allowed to speak as well. But to hear these young adults raise their voices with courage, with determination, with conviction, with passion, was really beyond inspiring.
And I tell you, there's a lot of noise right now. There's a lot of people making a lot of noise, throwing blame, taking sides, denying others the right to grieve, sharing inciting rhetoric and misinformation that really is harmful, potentially very harmful to our collective community. So let's not instigate. That isn't activism. Following the crowd is not activism. Promoting misinformation is not activism. Inciting hatred is not activism. Let's not instigate. Let's advocate. Without diminishing the perspectives of any other human, we are all allowed to feel the feels in this moment. Let's acknowledge each other with humility, with humanity, with compassion, and let's advocate for a kinder environment.
And just as a reminder, You don't have to be a member of the affected group to have a voice. You don't have to have ties to Israel or to Palestinians to have a voice. Just as we all used our voices in recent years to advocate for others, let's do the same thing now. Call it out when it's wrong. And if for nothing else, do it for our children, for our universities, and for our collective spaces. Because we all deserve to be in places and spaces in which we can thrive in safety, in tolerance, and with equity. So these really are, as I reflect back on this month, the three things that I have really leaned into and onto to help me get through what's been really a challenging time for me.
And I'm hoping that this will also give you some comfort as well as some guidance in how we can build resilience and see past this time. You know, resilience is built into our being. It is built into our DNA. Everything about us is built upon survival. It's built to survive. And so resilience is something that we really inherently all have. And no matter what darkness you're facing, whether you're facing it now or face it during the pandemic, or in the very many ways in which we face challenges almost every single day, I want you to think about ways in which you can use positivity, positive light, like transparency and authenticity, community and connection, and advocacy for the common good to help lift you out of whatever it is that you may be struggling with. I'm sending so much love and light out there to all of you.
And I hope that this serves you well. If you feel like there's someone in your life who might benefit from this guidance, send them this podcast. And if you want to be connected with me more directly, head over into the show notes. You can sign up for my newsletter.
And when you get the newsletter, you can respond. I read each and every message myself.
I'm sending you lots of love, have a great week, and hopefully I'll be back here next week again on Health Bite. Until then, bye now my friends.