The Healthy Post Natal Body Podcast
The Healthy Post Natal Body Podcast
Insights with Dr. Jessie Hehmeyer on Functional Medicine and Lifestyle Transformation
This week I am joined by Dr Jessie Hehmeyer.
She is a functional medicine practitioner and the founder of Well Empowered.
We are talking everything Functional Medicine;
Why functional medicine gets a bad rep, how it works and how it should work.
Why a good practitioner does more than just order a barrage of tests and sell supplements.
The problem with the "quick fix" approach and why real improvement in your health often takes time.
How there is no miracle cure, and much, much more.
It's a great conversation and one that will no doubt leave you much better informed and, hopefully, inspired to take positive steps to improve your health.
You can find Dr Hehmeyer in all the usual places;
Her website
Instagram
and Facebook
As always; HPNB still only has 5 billing cycles.
So this means that you not only get 3 months FREE access, no obligation!
BUT, if you decide you want to do the rest of the program, after only 5 months of paying $10/£8 a month you now get FREE LIFE TIME ACCESS! That's $50 max spend, in case you were wondering.
Though I'm not terribly active on Instagram and Facebook you can follow us there. I am however active on Threads so find me there!
And, of course, you can always find us on our YouTube channel if you like your podcast in video form :)
Visit healthypostnatalbody.com and get 3 months completely FREE access. No sales, no commitment, no BS.
Email peter@healthypostnatalbody.com if you have any questions, comments or want to suggest a guest/topic
Playing us out; "Get yo own" by Lil Red Sky
Hey, welcome to the Healthy Postnatal Budy Podcast with your postnatal expert, Peter Lapp. That, as always, would be me. This is the podcast for the 24th of November 2024, you know, day before music means I have a guest on. Today I'm talking to Dr Jesse Heymeyer and we are talking functional medicine. I know what you're thinking, but hold on, Dr Jesse. Dr Heymeyer is a functional medicine doctor and we are talking about basically everything to do with functional medicine the right approach, the wrong approach, the over-reliance on supplements that some people have, the need for quick results and how that often doesn't work. All that type of stuff. You're going to love this one. So, without further ado, here we go. I could ask a million questions, but the first one would have to be functional medicine gets a bad rep sometimes. We all know of good people and bad people in our industries, but what do you mean by data-driven functional medicine?
Dr Hehmeyer:Yeah, you got it Okay good.
Peter:r.
Dr Hehmeyer:Okay, good, you got it. I will answer yeah. So by data-driven functional medicine I mean that we are using labs like actual objective numbers, to understand both where are barriers to healing and where are points of leverage or opportunities to promote healing. And the labs that I order are going to be really specific to the individual what their symptoms are, what they're struggling with, what their commitments are in their health. So we'll order those labs and that will give us insight into how the body is using.
Dr Hehmeyer:Now I would say beyond data. I'm going to expand that and say I use a lot of information, and by that I mean beyond a very comprehensive intake, which I know a lot of us do. That's not unique to me, but one of the things I do with the people who I work with is we actually work off of a shared document where they track their life for a couple of weeks, right Nutrition. They track their life for a couple of weeks, right Nutrition, what they're eating, what they're drinking, how they're sleeping and moving or not, and stress levels and how their symptoms are showing up over time, and that really gives me information that no lab test can give me right. It also minimizes the need to spend a lot of money on some of these expensive functional medicine tests that when we're really paying attention we can tease things out just by just in that manner.
Peter:Yeah, cause that's huge, isn't it? Cause quite often when you, when you see a doctor, the first step is okay, we're going to get some labs, so that's in the UK, 300 pounds, let's say 400 bucks, and then, but then we'll order some more. And then we to get some labs, so that's in the UK, 300 pounds, so say 400 bucks, but then we'll order some more, and then we'll order some more, and before you know it, you've spent quite a lot of money indeed on things like you said. That if you had a little bit more awareness, if you will, and it written down in front of you as the patient, quite often then you could just say okay, this is part of what I'm struggling with, and that would give you an insight into what the solution would actually be.
Dr Hehmeyer:Yeah, absolutely Absolutely, and I always think it's, you know, fun to when I reconnect with people after the period between our first conversation and the second, right They've done their labs, they've been tracking. We get back together and when we turn our attention to their tracking, I love hearing what people have to say about you know, what did you learn? What did you notice? What surprised you that you just didn't see that you were doing? Or you know and sometimes people are like I didn't realize how gosh darn tired I am all the time Like like I didn't realize how gosh darn tired I am all the time.
Speaker 3:Like yeah, I thought I was tired but I'm like tired all the time.
Dr Hehmeyer:right, maybe it'll be something like that. Or sometimes people are saying, oh my gosh, I thought I was having five drinks a week. It's really 15. I just didn't realize it was that much, and so it's beyond what I take from it that allows me to guide people. It's equally valuable for the insights people walk away with without me saying a thing.
Peter:Yeah, because quite often you'll then be able to say okay clearly, especially when you're talking about alcohol. Very relevant in the UK at least, people tend to have no idea how much they're drinking and other than they see the empty bottle collection at the end of the week, you know the we have a big blue what they have to take to recycling.
Peter:Yes, exactly you have to put it out on the street for the recycling van to pick up and they're like ah, I'm not sure how I went through 14 bottles of xyz. Uk drinking culture is special compared to american drinking culture, but it's quite often it. It can then just get people. Indeed, instead of like what you're saying, when you have that level of insight, it allows you to make lifestyle changes before you start taking medicine.
Dr Hehmeyer:Absolutely, absolutely. Before you start taking medicines. And you know I definitely use supplements in a targeted way before you start taking medicines. And you know I definitely use supplements in a targeted way. But we don't want to turn it into like green pharmacy, where we're just using a supplement instead of a medication either. Right so when people can make the shifts such that they don't need either. But yeah, it makes a big difference yes, because that is quite often.
Peter:Again, that's something you, you find with the, with the, the, your, the, the crappier colleagues in your field, so to speak. Right, and you'll be familiar with them all. Every industry, like I always said, every industry has good people and bad people. The bottom 30% in any industry always sucks. It doesn't matter whether you're a GP, a personal trainer.
Dr Hehmeyer:Carpenter plumber, it doesn't matter, the bottom 30% is terrible.
Peter:The issue is, of course, that we have social media now, yeah, and a lot of people who are, let's say, better at social media than say you are and than I am the marketing guys they're at the top and they're ruining the industries for us, and they usually do. They are huge on supplements without actually explaining to their clients what the supplements are for and what the end goal even is.
Dr Hehmeyer:A hundred percent, and when I do recommend a supplement, I actually create a document for each in in. In that document, it provides the what, the how and the why, right, I want people to be very clear, like you were saying, peter, on why. Why am I spending the time and the money on the supplement? Right, and of course, there are some supplements that people might have side effects with, and I'm I'm very conservative, right? I want people to be very, very clear. Even if I'm using a supplement where you know you maybe need 20 times the dose to have a side effect, typically they're always outliers. So I want people to know, you know, okay, be on the lookout for this. If anything comes up, reach out to me. We will, you know, we'll pause it and we'll figure out what's going on. But, uh, but yeah, being very clear on the why and also, you know, like, the long-term game is, you know, reducing the number of supplements. It's this is not a um.
Peter:You know who wants to be taking 15 supplements for the rest of their lives, my gosh, you know yeah, and, and you'll have had clients like this as well, because I've had clients like this where I ask them okay, so what do you take every day? And these are like face-to-face clients, and they'll show up the following week. When I see them, they'll show up with a shopping bag full of stuff literally not all prescribed right.
Peter:Let's be honest, a lot of people listening to this will be terrible for this, the same way that I am. Instagram recommends like a million things that I should buy um yes it all sounds very tempting.
Peter:All the ads these days are are wonderful and slick and smooth. Yes, it's very tempting to therefore say you subscribe something and then people think, yeah, but I'm also not sleeping well, so I'll take some magnesium and I'm taking this and I'm taking that. And to offset the magnesium, especially in my case, we're dealing with what you used to call older moms, which is a horrible term, but people will become mothers in like their late 30s, so the early stages of perimenopause.
Dr Hehmeyer:Geriatric, yeah, geriatric it's genuine.
Peter:I did an interview with the bbc a while ago and that was exercise in older moms and I was like, yeah, jesus, you have to change the terms. Guys, you have to change the name. You can't call someone in their 40 older mom. I know what you're going for, but yeah, yeah but, but.
Peter:But when you hit that perimenopausal stage, there's a lot of stuff now aimed at women's and take these supplements, take those supplements, and therefore it's very tempting. You must have come across that with people just that rock up and they've got a big shopping bag full of stuff yes it either doesn't work or it works against each other almost absolutely, and I have to say it is actually.
Dr Hehmeyer:I actually kind of find that fun because you know I'll do a supplement audit. I'll say if you have too many supplements to list them, take five photos, line them up, take as many photos as you need, send them all to me. We'll create a spreadsheet. I create a spreadsheet and then, as we get information, I go through and I say, okay, these five, get rid of these three, your dose is completely off, it's too high, it's too low, whatever it is right. Anyway, you get the picture right. We go through these four. They're garbage, right, they're actually nonsense, and so we get to make sense of it. And so we get to make sense of it. And ultimately, more often than not, in those cases, people with a significant reduction in their supplements uh, tools out there, people get mesmerized and and they show up and they go. I have no idea why I'm taking all these things, but I know when I started it was really important.
Peter:Yeah yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. And and that's the thing, the urgency that these things can create sometimes. Because, let's be honest, by the time people get to you, right, because it's functional medicine, at least in the uk, works different from the way the nhs works, in that I can go to my doctor for free. I can just rock up and just go get me an appointment now obviously I'm a middle-aged white guy, right. So so I go see my doctor by the time my leg is hanging off. I'm not going to see it before that. And I think most people are like that, especially moms, especially listeners to this podcast. Most of them they put their husband first, they put their kids first and therefore, when they're feeling run down, they're not going to see the doctor. When an arm is hanging off, they might consider it if it doesn't interfere with the school.
Speaker 3:Right if their kid doesn't need them.
Peter:Yeah, exactly, by the time they get to you, that urgency is really quite high, as in they've overcome many obstacles and finally taken or there are many obstacles in their way they're finally taking action. Facially, it creates the urgency. It says you're not sleeping well. No, none of my listeners are sleeping particularly well, because they're all mothers, right, and so buy this pill. That's a much lower bar. So by the time they've come to you, they've already spent hundreds of pounds, hundreds of dollars, usually, on alternative solutions. Let me put them that way Maybe some work, maybe some don't, but indeed, if you don't know why they work, if you only buy them because you've seen the Instagram ad, then by the time they come to you, you must have quite a lot of clearing up to do, as in tidying up of messes, so to speak.
Dr Hehmeyer:That is well said, absolutely yes. Yeah, there's a lot of sorting out of what's useful, what's not useful and what's downright harmful, right, I'm sure like you mentioned magnesium. How many people have you seen who come to you with gosh? I just can't figure out what's going on with my digestion. I'm going to the bathroom all day long and my bowel movements are loose. And you look at their supplements and you're like well, sorry, it's your magnesium. Magnesium citrate is not working for your body, right?
Peter:yeah, no, exactly, and it'll be a lot, a lot of stuff and so. So where do you start right from? From a? So you have the audit and you ask people to take a few weeks to write down whatever they're doing, what their life is actually like which I think you know puts things.
Peter:This is why, unlike some of my colleagues, I don't mind functional medicine protection practitioners like at all, because I think fundamentally it is so valuable to take an individual approach and say, take a few weeks to really get to know your patient. Because, let's be honest, within at least within the uk, within the health service and even private health care, no doctor of mine is going to ask me to fill in a food journal, right they're just they're just not going to do it.
Peter:Um, so where do you practically start with people when you see them coming in in that state and say, okay, you have your few weeks, and then from there on what we find? These are the actions we'll likely take first.
Dr Hehmeyer:Yeah, well, I would even step back in that first conversation as I get to know what's going on with that person, what their symptoms are, what their goals are, what their conundrums are, all those things their family health history, their personal health history, all that stuff. As we go through that, we ultimately move towards okay, let's figure out what information we need, let's get that data, let's get those labs towards okay, let's figure out what information we need, let's get that data, let's get those labs. But also, in that first appointment, we begin engaging in what I call authoring your vision of vitality for your health and your life. Your vision of vitality for your health and your life, and that's really a self-authored intention, right. So there's a process I walk people through, and where we start with that process is by doing a little bit of time traveling.
Dr Hehmeyer:So I invite people to time travel to the five-year future and you know, for those of you listening, I really encourage you to do this exercise, like today, right now, kind of thing, right. And you know, if you time travel to the five-year future and wrap your head around the number that's going to be showing up on, you know, if you time travel to the five-year future and wrap your head around the number that's going to be showing up on you know, number of birthday candles you have, right and uh and kind of envision what it's like to be you five years from now, with your health and vitality, as you intend and desire. They occur right. So I'll be 52 years old in five years, and so you know that same time traveling, exercise, when you arrive there and you start to envision what that's like, you're going to tell the story of what it is to be you, thriving in this five-year future and you're going to tell the story in first person present tense, right?
Dr Hehmeyer:So it might be something like I'm 52 and my body is strong, resilient and moves about the world with grace and ease.
Dr Hehmeyer:Whatever's there for you your words are your poetry, right? So you're telling that story of what it is to be you thriving, and also really looking at what is it like for you to move about the world, to get dressed in the morning, to be with your family and your friends and engage in your professional endeavors whatever's there for you. You're telling the story of your experience in this five-year future and that becomes a gateway to move along, to complete the process of authoring one's vision of vitality. But, fundamentally, when Yogi Berra said something like if you don't know where you're going, you'll probably get there, and so to me it's like, yeah, we want you to know where you're going and also why you're going there.
Dr Hehmeyer:And both of those are really, really important to me because, you know, making shifts, the shifts that we step into in this work, are not always easy and they're not always, like you know, compelling, at least on a like day-to-day basis, right, and so we need to really tap into what is it for and hold that in our reality, like, keep that alive so that we can remember what we're going towards, Because typically, if that doesn't occur, people aren't connected to their own unique why it devolves into an exercise of self-aggression. Right, it's. You know, I'm good, I'm bad. It's deprivation, it's overindulgence. It just really doesn't typically turn out well and I really believe one of the key reasons is that people have not been invited to get really clear on their unique vision for their health and their life.
Peter:Yeah, no, that's a very important. That's a very interesting point because obviously a lot of my physio colleagues and personal training colleagues use the same sort of things and where you see yourself with goals and then you work back from that, right, but especially when it comes to things like lifestyle changes that you're talking about a lot. So instead of you, you know, like I said, selling supplements, looking at what your lifestyle behavior is actually like and you know this food is huge, alcohol is massive so it is is epically important, yes, but all those things usually come.
Peter:Change is always difficult at the best of times. Anyone working in any office will tell you this that when they change a system, everybody in the office loses their mind. Getting people to change their lifestyle, however, is significantly more difficult.
Dr Hehmeyer:Well, and I would just say we can't, I cannot make anyone change their lifestyle just say we can't, like I cannot make anyone change their lifestyle, right, and so it really does need this. You know, I do these consultations before I engage with someone, before we agree, because it's a mutual agreement to work together, right. And if someone says to me, you know how are you going to make me fill in the blank? I'm like we're not a match if I had that superpower, you know.
Peter:Oh yeah, we'd all be a lot richer. No, that's a really fair point. That's a really good point, Because the lifestyle changes. Yeah, you need to find your own motivation and all you can do. I suppose I used to have this slogan where I just did I am just your guide towards where you want to be, I can show you the way, your guide and your partner, absolutely.
Dr Hehmeyer:And I'm going to help you see barriers that maybe you don't see, and I'm going to help you put tools in your toolkit that you don't know exist, that's for sure. But also, I'm not going to be in your kitchen on a Wednesday afternoon making your lunch.
Peter:No, exactly, that's a very good point. So what, what, what things do? You come across a lot then. When, when people are at that early stage and you say, okay, these are the things that we're looking at, picture yourself five years from now yeah, yeah what are the obstacles you most often come across? People?
Dr Hehmeyer:Oh goodness. Well, a few different things. One is just like the inherited approach of all or nothing right In most people's minds they're like I have to do Whole30, or either it's Whole30, you know like ban all unhealthy foods forevermore, or either that or I'm eating a kind of ice cream.
Dr Hehmeyer:right, like those are the two opposing options, when, really, you know what people I think, when they hear that, like, oh yeah, I really have been doing this overindulgence and deprivation tango, you know back and forth for decades, right, when people get that and they start to see a new possibility of authoring their middle ground, right, where they're able to honor their health as sacred, and that includes their emotional health, their social health, you know, like actually being a human being in this world, which might include a glass of wine, right, um, so you know, like, figuring out, like, okay, that dance, like, yeah, that's something I'm interested in, right, I'm interested in creating a path ahead where it's not too tight, not too loose, right, where I'm doing the things that I know are nourishing my health and my body and also, you know, my soul, so to speak, right, and so bringing it all together.
Dr Hehmeyer:So, when people get that aha moment, it starts to shift everything and I let people know, right, like this is one year, is one lap, right, there is no quick fix. And so, in one year, you're going to encounter all of who you are. You're going to encounter all of your emotions, the ones you enjoy and the ones that you would, you know, find challenging, so to speak. Right, you're going to encounter all of life in the logistical sense, right, you're going to encounter the vacations and the birthdays and you're going to encounter your typical Wednesday and you're going to encounter what it's like to be with some friends and other friends and all those different things. And that's really part of navigating what it is to elevate your health requires encountering those challenges. There's just no way around it, and so it is an endeavor of. I think about it like crossing the monkey bars of change. Right, you're grabbing one monkey bar and then you're doing the best to grab the next, and at some point the predictable future is you're going to fall off the monkey bars.
Dr Hehmeyer:Right, because if you're going to cross the monkey bars, you're going to fall off at some point, and so even there is a practice of not making it wrong, like not beating yourself up for falling off the monkey bars, but also whatever upsets there is there. But we want to get you back on the monkey bars as quickly as possible and also use it as a learning opportunity. You're going to make a mistake in the future. Let's do the best we can to not have to have it be a different mistake. Right, that's fine, nothing wrong with that. So it really is, uh, you know it. It. It really is, uh, you know it is. Uh, you know. To navigate what it is to be that you know in that middle ground and and figure that out in different situations and and with different emotions, it takes time and practice and that's a wonderful thing.
Peter:You said the one year is one lap, because I think I come across this a tremendous amount with some people where they, you know you work with someone for three or four months and in the run up to a holiday or whatever, or especially when it comes to diet, they'll find they can cut down on alcohol quite a bit, they can tidy their diet up quite a bit, usually during a period where there's actually nothing help, nothing happening, or when they're around certain people. So we all have we all have friends that are, let's say, we have our good friends and our bad friends, as our parents used to call us our good and our bad influences at least right.
Peter:We love all these people, but with some people you eat a bit more and some people you drink a bit more and all that sort of stuff. I have one, one, uh one client as a personal training client. I've known them for years, um, and you know, in in scotland, because it's winter, rugby season is coming up and every year season his friends are coming to stay and they go watch rugby together and they drink all weekend and think of it like every weekend is Super Bowl, right? And you just think, dude, we go over this every single the rest of the year he's fine, and over that few weeks he can put on quite a bit of weight because he can put away. Well, he's scottish and therefore they can drink quite a bit, even though, compared to his friends, he doesn't drink that much anymore. Um, but it's interesting that you're saying that, because if I were to only work with someone for the six months, say March to September, then he would never experience that rugby season winter.
Peter:And therefore he would make no progress. The following year he would be right back where he started because there wouldn't have been anyone to guide him through that rugby season at least putting the brakes on a little bit.
Dr Hehmeyer:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely yeah. And, just like you said, putting the brakes on a little bit, right, you're not suggesting he become, you know completely abstained from alcohol. It's just like no, can we just play a better game? Like just a better game.
Peter:Yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly. But just make it very simple, right? When your friend orders a second pint of beer because it all comes in a pint here, right, so there's half a liter at a time. For anybody listening to this, you have a glass of water, right, just to not mess it up too much.
Peter:Yes, and he's completely fine with that. He still gets buzzed, I think is the popular uh description that the cool kids use, but he doesn't get blindly stung as in falling asleep in the restaurant drunk anymore, which is used, which used to be the go-to um, which gives you some sort of insight into the drinking habits of the average Scottish male. So it's, yeah, all I can do is slow that down a bit, but it does mean that, from a weight management perspective, at least by the time March comes around, he's gained a few. He's gained a bit of weight, but he's not gained a tremendous amount of weight. Feeling lethar stopped exercising, right and all that, all that type of stuff. His lifestyle is still intact.
Dr Hehmeyer:He's just a little bit heavier, which is you know fine, right, right, and he knows what to do to shift it. And then you know the. Thing is like maybe, maybe not, but maybe next season, next rugby, he'll play an even better game. You know, wouldn't that be fun? Yeah, exactly, you know, just each year just kind of chipped away at those habits just a little bit, just a little bit, and you know to see how that evolves over time.
Peter:Yeah, because that's interesting, because you mentioned that all or nothing approach. We are very tempted, we are very driven. Driven, especially these days, to have results immediately. Right, yeah, we want short-term results. I'm sure you get a lot of people coming to you. Let's say I want to feel better tomorrow.
Dr Hehmeyer:I felt crap for nine years yeah, yeah, but I'm coming to you, it's urgent, it must happen now, all of a sudden.
Peter:it has to happen now and I need it to happen. I need you to give me a magic pill and just make it happen. This is where a lot of the, let's say, less scrupulous practitioners come in, in any industry, right, yeah, so how do you counter that a little bit? Because, let's be honest, we are, as healthcare professionals, you're fighting billion-dollar industries with regards to food and alcohol and socialization and entertainment, even Netflix, let's be honest. Getting people off the couch and moving when you're competing with Netflix, that's difficult to know. So how do you, how do you manage, how do you find you manage the expectations of, of people that come to you?
Dr Hehmeyer:well, a few things. One is, you know, I, if people are really uh set in that mindset like must have a quick solution, I'll just let them know I'm not, I'm right, I'm not going to be their partner, right, go to Instagram and find your answer there, right, it's not going to be me, which is fine with me.
Dr Hehmeyer:I love it when I get to be a part of someone's health journey and partner with them, but what's most important to me is that there's integrity to it, right, because this is, I'm in it to win it for the long run. I'm not interested in. You know, like I don't post before and after photos of the people who I work with. That to me is like oh gosh, no, it's really. You know, like I do see this as a sacred health journey and so if someone is not in that mindset, then we're just not going to be a good fit. But sometimes people arrive in that mindset but even as they speak, they'll start to kind of sniff out the not truth in that. Like the okay, yeah, I'd like quick results, but also I realize it's taken me a decade to get here and I really don't like the okay, uh, yeah, I'd like quick results, but also I realize it's taken me a decade to get here and I really don't like the way I feel. But I also know it's going to take time, right.
Dr Hehmeyer:It's kind of fun to hear people doing the tango between, like this unrealistic expectation and then like oh yeah, but in real life I do know it's going to take something, so, uh, so if someone at least gives has the the door cracked a little bit, that they are tuned into the reality of the situation, then it's okay. Then we can move ahead and listen. It can be motivating for people to. For a lot of people, it is how crummy they feel that becomes a bit of I I. I think about like we make changes given by the carrot dangling and the stick on the back right and and that feeling crummy. Like I don't want anyone to feel crummy, but if you're gonna feel crummy, use it use it to your favor, right?
Dr Hehmeyer:look in that rear view mirror and say I'm not, not going back there, no way. What do I? I will do whatever I need to do to not have that happen again, right?
Peter:Yeah, and then, like you said, that's a really powerful, that's a very powerful motivator as well to just not feel terrible anymore.
Dr Hehmeyer:Yes.
Peter:Not feel tired anymore. That's it. So what, what? What I come across a lot with people who have been, let's say, feeling crummy for a while is that they, they just don't know where to start anymore. Yes, right, and they're like, okay, they're seeing you, they finally made the decision to see you. Yeah, taken batches of supplements, they've already spent so much money. How do you, how do you slow them down?
Dr Hehmeyer:almost to well, what is, you know, getting the numbers, like getting the labs, and actually not just getting the labs, but, uh, just like I do with supplements, I I think of. A primary job of mine is is acting as an educator, right, like the term doctor comes from doceri, which means to teach. To me I'm a teacher, right, and so I walk people through their labs so they understand what I'm seeing as it relates to them and their health and their body and their symptoms, right. So, just right, there it really starts to shift how people are perceiving their health and then, based on that, we're going to take our next steps forward.
Dr Hehmeyer:Now I very commonly will start with you know, I will never use just one thing as the first step, but certainly nutrition is foundational.
Dr Hehmeyer:So, you know, like I said, crossing the monkey bars, we're going to look for the first one or two points of leverage that will uniquely support that person in front of me. Right, and typically it's a combination of yes and less. You know, like the yes, what we want you to focus on and take on something that's new, and the less something that is interfering with your health, that's interfering with your weight, that's interfering with your energy or your sleep quality or your hormones or, whatever the case may be, your digestion, and we're going to reduce it. And there are times where we'll say, let's give it a six-week break, eight-week break, whatever it is, so that we can really, if someone's's really feeling crummy, you want to fast track to healing, okay, but we're we're not going to do it all at once, but let's, let's make these, these critical shifts so that, um, you know we can, we can change the inertia yeah, so you can, we can slow things down a little bit and all that type of stuff.
Peter:So so, with regards to the testing because I'm always fascinated by the testing I did a little interview a long time ago like three or three or four years ago to start up the podcast with dr caddy burton, who's another functional medicine, uh, specialist, and she's like. She said that she could, she recommends because you're talking about the educating element she said she recommends people get tested at least once a year, get a full checkup and learn how to read your own stuff. Because, let's be honest, especially especially with, with women, but even with men, all are, everyone's an individual and we are, most of the time, things need to be within a certain range, sure, but if my, let's say, my testosterone right give the white man example, let's let's. Let's say my testosterone levels are usually because I'm bald and therefore I'm told that that's a high testosterone thing. So let's assume that my testosterone level is usually quite high and then a year later or two years later, they're a fair bit lower, but still within normal range.
Peter:What if I only get tested once? The doctor would say, yeah, you're within range, you're completely fine. Yeah, you might feel terrible. Yeah, yeah, within range, so you're fine, whereas if I compile all my tests together and have a regular checkup, so to speak, there's actually it's much lower than it. There's a change here, personal to me, yes. So where are you on that type of thing?
Dr Hehmeyer:Yeah, I mean, you know what you I think about it. Like your personal health dashboard, right, we all based on our like, listen, I like everyone doing comprehensive lab assessment once a year. But then you know, there are gonna be your unique lab markers that you really, really want to pay attention to. Maybe it's testosterone, maybe it's, uh, inflammation, uh, maybe it's certain nutrients, whatever it may be, those are going to be, you know, like your red flag, like dashboard, like let's keep those are the ones that you're looking at when you're driving down the street, kind of thing, right, and so being able to understand those for sure.
Dr Hehmeyer:But you know also, you, you do want to work with someone you know for, in in the case that you mentioned, let's see that, let's say, there's a measurable drop in testosterone still within lab normal ranges, but measurable. I'm going like, well, why is it? Are you over converting to estrogen? Is your zinc low, like what's? Are your you know? Like what you know. So being able to make sure that you know, okay, yes, you want someone, you want to be able to notice that yourself and flag it and have a conversation, um, but but also make sure you're, you're, uh're, uh, you know you're working with someone who can can peel back the onion and and and and help you figure out what is at the source of that.
Peter:But yeah, absolutely. Oh yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I wasn't saying that people can just get their own test results and and read themselves and then take action accordingly. No, you still need to be. The human body is so remarkably complex.
Peter:I was reading I don't know if you've heard of it Bill Bryson, the author, wrote a book which was the Body A Guide for Occupants, something like that and it's basically because he did an interview to promote the book and he said listen, the thing is, I drive my car and I know very little about how to fix my car. I know very little. I know when it starts making the noise it's not supposed to make, I take it to a mechanic, he said, amazingly enough. He said I spend maybe an hour a day in my car. He said I spend 24 hours a day in my body and he's a bit older, I think he's like in his 50s now I'll say 50s. I've been in my body for 50 plus years 24 hours a day and I know nothing about it. And I'm very much the same when my knee hurts.
Peter:I know my knee hurts and I kind of know I have more of an education than other people do. But I don't know. Like when you say if certain hormone levels are off, I have no idea whether that's related to zinc or any filament.
Dr Hehmeyer:Right.
Peter:So yeah, getting a medical professional to help with that interpretation seems quite important.
Dr Hehmeyer:Yeah, interpretation seems quite important. Yeah, and I mean I would say even for myself, like I know this stuff, but I still, I still work with someone, because it's hard to be objective when it's yourself. You know, it's like I just yeah.
Peter:That whole physician, heal thyself thing is very much you can do some stuff.
Dr Hehmeyer:You can definitely, you know right, but at a certain you know it's still very useful to have have a partner in this, no matter who you are.
Peter:Yeah, no, absolutely Absolutely. So what are you? What are you thinking? That, if, if, okay, if I could, if I could tell people that this and this is the one thing you really want to take away from from, from anything with regards to, to your health and the actions you want to take so you're not sleeping well and all that sort of stuff what is the one thing that that that you're like okay, everybody should know this, everybody should do this that I would say.
Dr Hehmeyer:The one thing is I want you to know is a better game is better than a perfect game, right, right. So give up all hope of the perfect game and step into playing a better game, and I mean playing a better game right now, like right now. You know, when you sit down and you have your next meal, what's a better game? Forget a perfect game. What's a better game? Right now, like right now. You know, when you sit down and you have your next meal, what's a better game? Forget a perfect game. What's a better game when you go out with your friends for a drink, what's a better game? Give up all hope of a perfect game.
Dr Hehmeyer:When you think about exercising and you're really meant to get that 45 minute, you know. You know high intensity workout in and you know life got in the way your kids, your family, your work, whatever it is. What would be a better game If all you can do is get out and walk for 10 minutes? Do that right. Just something is always better than nothing. So my encouragement is to be in that, looking of what is my best game right now and live that over and over and over and over again.
Peter:And it sounds like when you're talking about that, when you're talking about the better game, you're dominantly talking about the best lifestyle change you can make in that moment, rather than buying whatever is is flashy in a hundred percent.
Dr Hehmeyer:A hundred percent, yes, absolutely yeah. And to your point right, that better game might be. I need to. I need to get off that social media, you know or maybe I'll do, yeah, right I need to. I need to shut it down at least 45 minutes before my head's on the pillow. You know, coming up with your own boundaries right there's. You know the things that boundaries are set to help us, not to harm us, right? So creating your own self-authored you know what helps me, kind of strategies.
Peter:Yeah, because this is the beauty about being an adult. I always say to my wife my wife will sit on the sofa at like 9 o'clock in the evening sometimes and just say I'm tired. Do you think it's all right if I go to bed? I'm not going to say how old she is, but she's a little bit older than I am. But you're an adult human being. You can do whatever you want, right it is. But we are very much constrained, obviously, and I always blame the parents, right, we're usually constrained by our upbringing, but those type of things. Do you think it's all right if I take care of myself?
Dr Hehmeyer:Right, it's such a strange question to ask yeah. Yeah Well, I think it's a pretty common one and I'm going to say, especially for women, absolutely yes, right, because it's kind of, you know, socialized to put everybody else first and things like that. So it does take some practice to give yourself permission to yeah oh, yeah, no, I actually could do the thing that best honors my health right now.
Peter:Yeah, exactly. So if anybody can take that, if nothing else, if you take that from today's episode, yes, that I think will be very useful. Um, our happy note we've covered quite a lot of ground. Uh, was there anything else you wanted to touch on? If you're like, oh, absolutely, you have to mention this no, this has been great peter.
Peter:A total treat no, lovely, thank you very much for that. That was superb. I'm not happy now that we'll press stop record here, and press stop record is exactly what I did. Thanks very much to Jesse for coming on. I've really enjoyed that conversation.
Peter:You know what my initial approach is when it comes to functional medicine, doctors and all that sort of stuff, same as chiropractors and all that sort of stuff. I think you are familiar if you listen to this podcast regularly, then you know you're familiar with my approach. But, like I said and like I started with, any field is full of good people and bad people, and I think there is a lot to be said for someone like Dr Haymeier who sits in this field, who says, yeah, but we need to look at at the real things that really matter, work with the things that really matter, not just sell loads of supplements and all that type of stuff. So, and and you know the same as the interview I did a long time ago with Dr Connie Burton, I want to say it was Connie Burton who had the same approach. You know there are some really wonderful people working in these fields that we can work with and that are likely to going to give you real results, because the approach they take is as Jesse would call it, it's a data driven approach and they look at actual solutions rather than just say selling you loads of supplements or putting you on loads of medication and all that type of stuff. They're looking much more at lifestyle habits and lifestyle changes, that type of thing.
Peter:Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. I know a lot of you are interested in this sort of stuff. Anyways, dr Jessie is one of those people that I highly highly recommend checking out. Obviously, I will link to her website and all that type of stuff. Right, that is it for this week. Boys and girls, peter at HealthyPostNatalBodycom, if you have any questions or comments or anything like that, you can text. Now, as you know, it's in the podcast description. Just click that little link and apparently I get a text. No one uses it. Everybody has my email address, but you know you can now text as well. Um, that's it for this week. Here's a new bit of music and I'll be back next week. Right, take care. Bye, now I'm going in. Yeah, no, I can do what I want. Haters want me to follow, but I won't. Haters want me to slip up, but I don't Stop trying to come copy mine get your own.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know I can do what I want Haters want me to follow, but I won't. Haters want me to slip up, but I don't Stop trying to come copy mine. Get your own. Yeah, no, I can do what I want Haters want me Go. Yeah, clean, look at my shoes. I can cop a billy if I want to. I'll be doing things that you can't do.
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