I’ve been getting asked what the most impactful changes I’ve made are. Today, I wanted to share some of those ideas, even the ones that are a little off-the-cuff.

To be upfront, this isn’t going to break down the specific diet changes (I’ll break those down throughout the summer). And yes, I know I’ve been really elusive with what diet changes I’ve made, and it’s for good reason. Because honestly, none of the diet changes would have mattered without the other things I did.

It’s exactly why I built the Summer Walking Club — and why I’ll be walking right alongside you this summer, using the same tools to help you create your own changes.

If you’re not in yet, I want you to join me. And I promise, it’s so much better than last year.

Dig out your sneakers and join the club here.

The 7 Health Changes I Made That Broke Every Rule I Was Taught:

01: I Changed My Story

I know, this isn’t sexy at all. And you’re probably inclined to skip over. But can I be honest? This was singlehandedly the most important change I made.

I got honest about the story I was believing about my health, my body, even my life, and started to take note of where I was living it out. It was startling to recognize how much of my story was creating all the things I wanted to change… and yet it was the story holding me to those things.

Sigh.

The story you tell yourself is truly creating your reality. Not in a ‘manifesting’ kind of way, but in a deeply neurological one. In fact, research shows that cognitive reframing, literally changing the narrative you tell, changes how your brain processes threat, stress, and possibility.

The story you tell shapes your stress response, your habits, and ultimately, your behavior.

Your story (or at least the story you tell yourself) is linked to identity, perspective, and pattern. This explains a lot about why you can’t get yourself to do the things you want to do. It’s not that you can’t. It’s that you’ve been running on a story that leads you somewhere else.

What I love most about story-work is that it can always be rewritten. Even the past, which is perhaps the most important space to rewrite.

The health space, in particular, is saturated with negative stories. It’s the worst-case thinking, or the stories that revolve around: “it’s too hard,” “you’re not capable,” “you’ll never get there.” And yet, all of that can also be rewritten.

When I rewrote my story, editing it through a new lens and seeing it from numerous perspectives, my health not only changed, but so did the way I showed up in all areas of my life. Story work is some of the most powerful work you could do.

We’ll be diving into story work in the weekly devotional of the Summer Walking Club, drawing on Bible stories to help you build a new story.

To start story-work, ask yourself, What is the story I’m believing about my health? Where do I see myself living it out? Is it helping me get to where I want to go?

02: I Stopped Wearing Sunglasses

Talking about stories, somewhere along the way, I picked up the stereotypical story that the sun is ‘bad.’ It’s common. So common that most people just believe it without question. I did too, until one day, as I was lying in the sun, catching rays, I quietly wondered, if the sun is so bad, why does it make me feel so good?

Now, I know you could say that about a lot of “not good’ things. But it at least opened the door for me to start looking for another perspective I might have missed. Honestly, I knew there was another view, because for the vast majority of human history, the sun wasn’t avoided. It was essential.

When I started digging into the research, I found far more evidence in favor of regular sun exposure than against it. Morning sunlight, in particular, plays a significant role in regulating cortisol, melatonin, and circadian rhythm, all of which affect energy, sleep, mood, and metabolism. Of course, sunlight exposure is also a primary driver of Vitamin D synthesis, which is linked to immune function, bone density, and inflammation.

Like anything, how you use it matters. I’m not advocating for burning your skin or eyes. But I have done the deep dive into the impact of sun exposure, specifically through your eyes, and have found the value for myself.

• It has changed the melanin in my skin. I rarely burn anymore, which is a huge shift as I have very fair skin.

• It has changed my energy output. I literally come alive in the sun.

• And it has helped me become fat-adapted.

I still wear a hat at midday and find shade when needed. But I haven’t worn sunglasses in over two years, and I genuinely can’t see myself going back.

**This conversation also applies to contact lenses, as most block the beneficial rays of the sun.

03. I Stopped Living in Health Fear

If you’ve been here a while, you know I’ve been through a mold and Lyme disease journey. And if you’ve been through anything similar, you know how terrifying the world can become afterward. I was constantly assuming the worst about my environment (I genuinely thought I was going to be exposed to mold everywhere I went.

It was exhausting. And deep down, I didn’t even believe it was helping me. Even though I was consumed by it.

The research backs this up. Fearing what’s hurt you doesn’t actually help you in the way you think. For most people, it makes them more unhealthy. Chronic fear and hypervigilance keep the nervous system in a sustained stress state, which ironically suppresses immune function… the very thing I was trying to protect.

I was so focused on avoiding what might hurt me that I was depleting the resources my body needed to actually defend itself.

As I shifted my story (seriously, point one is everything), I made a conscious decision to redirect my energy from attempting to micro-manage my environment to building a body that’s resilient enough to handle whatever it encounters.

That doesn’t mean recklessness. It just means I’ve taken my fear and turned it into action. And it’s made an enormous difference in both my health and my quality of life.

04: I Got Serious About My Sugar Consumption

My knees were the wake-up call. Nobody has to have stiff knees in their daily life, and you can’t even blame aging. It’s really a result of your lifestyle. And for me, that was my diet.

I was consuming far more sugar and refined carbs than my body could efficiently use. I had even spent most of my nutritional career trying to back up why sugar wasn’t the problem. Even though I never could, I still attempted.

But once I got honest about my sugar consumption and made real changes, my knees stopped hurting. It might seem silly, but I can now do a full squat with no pain.

Of course, the science is pretty clear on this one. Excess sugar consumption drives systemic inflammation, and inflammation is a primary driver of joint pain, fatigue, and a long list of chronic conditions. High sugar intake also disrupts insulin sensitivity, which has downstream effects on energy, hunger, and mood.

Not to mention, if you're regularly craving sugar, that craving is a symptom of excess sugar consumption, not a sign that you need more of it. The more you eat, the more you want. That's the cycle.

05. I Focused on Building Healthy Structure (Both Mentally and Physically)

In the last few years, I shifted my view from losing weight (scarcity) to building structure (abundance). I moved away from trying to lose weight and started working on building stronger muscles, better posture, and greater physical and mental resilience.

And the research on this is compelling. Skeletal muscle is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body, and building it improves everything from insulin sensitivity to cognitive function to longevity. Muscle mass is also now considered one of the strongest predictors of long-term health outcomes.

What I love about this work is that the physical structure of your body does not begin and end in your body. There is a direct correlation to the strength of your physical body and the strength of your life (or ability to show up in life).

It’s the story of the three pigs made biological. How you build the house determines what kind of stress it can withstand and how much.

That’s why I’ve become such an advocate for consistent movement, and why I keep handing out weighted vests like they’re candy. Because building a strong, resilient structure changes you, and not just in a vain way, but in your ability to get out and live.

06: I Started Having More Fun

I know, I know. This sounds like the least “health” tip I could give you. And so cliché. But I genuinely think this one is underrated and, honestly, one of the more impactful.

Somewhere in the pursuit of health, I think a lot of us (myself included) made health really serious. Like, suffocatingly serious. Every choice had weight. Every meal was a decision. Every workout was loaded with meaning. And all of that seriousness became its own kind of stress.

But when I started loosening my grip and letting myself have fun, I became more in control. I started to make better decisions without the weight. And honestly, I think that really comes down to the difference between making decisions in clarity versus under stress.

Your body genuinely responds differently when you’re enjoying your life versus trying to white-knuckle your way through it.

I think we could all stand to loosen up a bit. Take a breath and remember, if it’s not fun or at least a little bit enjoyable, you’ll never stick with it. That doesn’t mean your workout has to be fun or that you have to love what you eat. It’s not about making everything fun, but about creating a more fun life overall.

Take kids, for example. When their life is fun, they’re rather unconcerned with what they eat. Honestly, when kids are having fun, it’s nearly impossible to even get them to eat. That’s the kind of fun I’m talking about. And when’s the last time you had fun?

Fun isn’t a compromise. It’s actually a good strategy.

07: I Started Having More S**

Okay, I debated putting this one in. But then I thought, why not? It’s one we should probably talk about more.

The truth is, intimacy was something I had let slip in the busyness of life and the weight of my health journey. I also made the justification based on the story that women just have no “drive.” I followed the stereotypical ideas that s** was a chore.

And I didn’t even fully realize how much that was costing me until things shifted.

Here’s what I’ve come to believe: The health of your relationships changes you in powerful ways, s** or no s**. But if we’re talking about sex, research shows that regular sexual intimacy is connected to lower cortisol, better cardiovascular health, stronger immune response, and improved mood.

It’s not a side note to your health. It’s part of it. Connection, touch, and intimacy are biological needs, not luxuries. And truthfully, I think family structures are collapsing because of the stories and narratives that disconnect us from this need, these intimate spaces with our spouses, and have led people to find them in artificial ways.

It’s not the same.

I think we talk a lot in the health space about what to eat, how to move, and which supplements to take, and almost never about this. Which is interesting, because it’s one of the most human things there is.

So I’m not going to be weird about it. I’m just going to say, don’t neglect it. It matters more than we give it credit for.

Here’s what I want you to notice about this list.

None of it is extreme. None of it requires a perfect diet or a gym membership or a complete life overhaul. What it required was a decision to show up consistently, honestly, and with a little more grace than I’d given myself before.

That’s exactly what the Summer Walking Club is built around.

Not punishment. Not perfection. Just movement, community, and the kind of small daily decisions that quietly change everything over time. We’ll be diving into story work through the weekly devotionals, walking together through the summer, and cheering each other on in ways that actually stick.

I built this because I needed it. And I think you might too.

If you’re already in, I’ll see you June 1st. Sneakers on.

If you’re not in yet, there’s still time to join us here.

I’m a squeaky wheel at this point. And I’m not even sorry. I’m declaring this is a summer of action.

Not a summer of learning more, researching more, bookmarking more, or adding another podcast to the queue. A summer of actually doing the things you’ve been talking about doing.

Here’s the question I want you to sit with: How different could things look by September if you really showed up this summer? Not perfectly. Not with a complete overhaul of your life. But because you’re actually doing the things you’ve long known you should do but haven’t.

Information can’t change you. Only action can.

Your Summer Diet Changes

Over the last two years, I’ve been working to become fat-adapted. And honestly, I’ve experienced more benefits from this shift than from any other dietary change I’ve ever made.

I know this might sound silly, but one of the things that finally pushed me to do something different was the stiffness in my knees. It was a kind of stiffness I started noticing when I worked out. That eventually became the loss of the ability to squat on my knees at all.

It was my sign that something had to change.

Yes, I know I’m aging. But I also don’t believe that I’m a victim of aging. My lifestyle was the problem, not my age.

Which is why I’ve made some significant changes to my diet since then. Changes that, if I listed them all out right now, would probably send you running. That’s why I’m going to introduce them slowly. But also because the bigger changes only became possible when you start really small.

Think of it like a snowball. We all want to be a snowman. But we look at the hill and think we need to start pushing a boulder. When really, we just need to start with something small and let momentum do the rest.

The Most Important Step Everyone Skips

Before any diet change, you have to do the small things. It’s just how the body works.

You can only change to the degree that you have the capacity to do something different. Change requires resources that include energy, nutrients, bandwidth, and mental clarity.

Far too many of us are trying to make big leaps while running on empty.

This is why people get stuck in the consumption loop.

You read the article, watch the video, save the reel, buy the book. It feels productive. But deep down, you know it’s not. The real reason you keep consuming instead of doing isn’t that you lack information. It’s that you don’t have the energy to act on what you already know.

Consuming just gives you the false impression that you’re doing something productive.

Which is why, before anything else, I will always come back to this…

You must have a consistent movement practices before you attempt any diet changes!

Movement comes before diet. If you’re not moving consistently, don’t try to change your diet yet.

A step before a leap. Always.

I posted a clip about this recently (watch it here). The idea that movement is a step and diet is a leap. And I had this backward for the longest time.

For years, I was trying to optimize my food while my body was under-challenged and dysregulated. It wasn’t until I went back to the simplest thing, just walking, that everything else started to get easier.

Walking snowballed into the bigger changes. The true fat-adaptation I had been chasing for years became accessible because I first created the capacity and resourcing for it.

If you haven’t joined the Summer Walking Club, I’d highly suggest you do. It’s the first snowball that generates the momentum to build the entire snowman!

Start with one step at a time.

Join the Summer Walking Club Here!

(And if you want to understand why walking does what it does, I documented everything I experienced walking 15,000–20,000 steps a day. The results might surprise you. Read it here.)

If you are moving consistently (and only if), then there is one diet shift worth making before summer begins. It’s highly optimized for this season, and it actually has nothing to do with what you eat. It’s the when of eating.

Become a subscriber to get the first diet change.

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Can I tell you something that took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out?

Someone else doesn’t hold the “secrets” I need.

I’ve spent numerous seasons of my life thinking I just needed one more thing. I needed the secret sauce, a new protocol, a better program. Someone to tell me how to live my life. And it wasn’t just for health. It was to get more done, fix my marriage, and optimize my morning routine.

Do you know the feeling?

We live in an era of information overload with an infinite amount of content at our fingertips. There is always a new study, a new routine, a new supplement, a new trend, and a new expert telling you exactly what to do. And whether it’s their marketing or our own insecurity, we buy into it, don’t we?

It even makes us feel productive. Like we’re pursuing health just by consuming information about it.

But can I be honest?

It’s not the same as building it.

The truth is, no one really holds the secrets you need. What worked for them won’t work exactly the same for you. But the only way to know that is to take action.

Which is why this summer, I want to try something different.

What if we committed to a summer of less consuming and more doing? What if instead of adding another podcast to your queue, you laced up your shoes and went outside for even 20 minutes? What if your body became your primary source of data this summer?

What would change if you spent more time doing and less time consuming?

Here’s what I know: your body already has the information you need. It’s probably been trying to get your attention. The question is, are you paying attention? And even more, are you using it to make the changes your body actually needs?

I want to help you test data like:

• Do you sleep better on the days you move?

• Does your mood shift after a walk?

• Does that breakfast fill you up?

• Do you respond better to a high-carb or high-fat day?

• What removes your anxiety?

That’s real-time, personalized, completely free data you need. And it also happens to be 1000% more relevant to you than any study you could read.

But the only way to access it is to take action.

I’m not asking you to run a marathon or overhaul your diet or life. I’m talking about going back to the basic things we’ve stopped doing because we’ve put our energy into consuming. We’re going back to the things you need to build capacity.

We’re moving to a summer of choosing to show up, shifting your energy from consuming to doing.

What do you say? Are you in?

Would you make this commitment?

To start with, let’s get moving.

I know this might be controversial, but I think movement is more important than what you eat (I said what I said).

To start with, take the 20 Minutes a Day in May Challenge. Commit to 20 minutes of movement every day. It doesn’t have to be fast. It doesn’t even have to be a walk. Just do something for your body each day.

(Follow along here for more inspiration)

Let’s be real, it’s also less time than you lie in bed scrolling in the morning ;)

This challenge is also a great warm-up for The Summer Walking Club, where we go all-in on action together. Registration is open now. Use it as your verbal commitment that you’re going to show up for yourself this summer.

And imagine where you could be on September 1st if you committed?

REGISTER HERE FOR THE SUMMER WALKING CLUB 👟👟

As you start the 20-minute-a-day in May movement challenge, notice:

• What happens to your energy?

• Your sleep?

• The low-grade anxiety that has taken up space in your mind?

• How do you respond to the chaos of your day?

And can I be honest about one more thing?

God designed us to move through the world on our own two feet. There’s something deeply right about it. Something that reconnects us to ourselves and to God in a way that sitting and scrolling never will.

So here’s the invitation.

Set down the content for the next few months. And invest that time and energy into doing something!

Let me know you’re in by leaving a comment below!

xx,

Make this the summer you stop starting over.

Your sneakers are already waiting. The only question is whether you’ll lace them up? The Summer Walking Club begins June 1st!

Register for The Summer Walking Club here!

I want to ask you something, and I need you to be honest.

How many summers have you said, “This is the one”?

• The summer you finally get consistent.

• The summer you actually shift your health.

• The summer you stop waiting and actually create the change you’ve been talking about for years.

And you really believe it, because you want it to be true. But then life hits, kids' activities ramp up, work overtakes, and suddenly the plan that felt so doable in May has disappeared halfway through June.

Here’s what I know for certain:

1. You want to be well.

2. Motivation is not your problem.

I know it might seem like you have a motivation or discipline problem, but you don’t. You have a structure problem, and structure is something you can actually change. This summer, I’m going to show you how to create a framework that shifts showing up from a task you have to complete into a default part of your day.

The Summer Walking Club is officially back, and it’s so much better than last year!

(Registration is open right now, with the club beginning on June 1st.)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CLUB

Last summer shocked me (and I built the thing).

Movement has been my therapy for my entire life. It has always done more for my health than nearly anything else. Which is why I built the Walking Club, because I knew it could help you, too.

Yet, somehow, last summer I still got more than I expected.

I’ve mentioned numerous times that last year was one of the most transformative of my life, and the walking club was what set it into motion. Not because there was anything profound about walking, but because it was ultimately the shift in what I was using walking to gain.

I’ll be honest, my relationship with movement hasn’t always been healthy, even if it’s always been a form of therapy.

Up until last summer, I had been using movement as an escape. A way to outrun my thoughts, stress, and even my to-do list. And while it was still beneficial in some ways (I can’t imagine my sanity without it), the shift from using movement as a form of escape to a means of creating space really changed things.

Instead of checking out, I opened up, and this sparked a new kind of curiosity. It became a safe place to get curious and process life.

It also changed how I viewed walking from something that took time to something that gave me time. It gave me space to tune back into God. It shifted my perspective and became a way to reconnect with my body (and actually feel good in it).

And underneath all of that, something bigger was at play.

I became consistent! Not out of obligation or because I needed to hit a step mark. But I stepped into the real, sustainable, non-pushing consistency that happens when something is simple enough to do and meaningful enough that you actually want to come for more.

That is what the club gave me, in a very unexpected way. It’s also what I want to give you.

Here’s the thing about consistency nobody tells you.

You are already consistent. The problem is never consistency. It’s what you're choosing to be consistent with.

You might currently be consistent with:

• consuming

• overthinking

• starting over

• waiting for the right time

Consistency isn’t something you need to find. It’s pointing your consistency in the right direction. It’s redirecting your consistency.

Walking became my redirect, and this club can be yours.

Truthfully, you have all of the information you need. You don’t need another plan or to read one more book.

You just need to start. Which is why I’m inviting you to start, and once you start, then we can talk about staying.

JOIN THE SUMMER WALKING CLUB

5 things we added and 2 we cut:

This summer, we made the club better than ever!

Here are five things we added:

01. A brand new community platform on Circle.

Last year’s platform was clunky, so we rebuilt everything. Now you have one home that includes everything you get inside the club, from your step tracker to the community and even your lessons.

02. A weekly faith element.

Last summer, I discovered that shifting from escape to space was how I began to actually hear from God on my walks. It was something I didn’t expect, yet it was also the catalyst for the greatest change.

This year, we added a faith element: a weekly devotional that will be integrated into the experience. We like to think of it as an anchor rather than an add-on.

03. More weekly challenges (and more prizes).

Challenges were the most loved part of last year. So we added more. Every week, there’s a new challenge that is accessible no matter how many steps you’re taking. If you complete it, you’re entered for a prize. No minimum required. The only requirement is to just show up.

04. Weekly recipe + workout roundups.

We heard your requests. You want more meal inspiration and recipe ideas. This year, we’re including a weekly roundup of healthy meal ideas and also strength workouts to add to your walking rotation.

05. Guest experts.

In addition to the weekly lessons, we have guests coming in to share their stories, their science, and their strategies. I am very excited about this aspect, as it gives you the opportunity to learn from others. The guests will be announced later this month!

BONUS: The Family Plan.

My own kids insisted on getting in on the challenge last year and turned it into a full family competition. The person to beat was actually my mom. Needless to say, it created some fun memories, and it got the entire family moving.

This year, we wanted to offer you the same experience. Now you can add your immediate family members at a lower cost. Because it’s always better together.

Two things we cut:

01. The choppy old format:

We cut the clunky platforms, the numerous log-ins, the deep and overwhelming lessons, and the community platform you didn’t like.

02. The daily lessons:

We cut the daily lessons that made you feel behind before you even started. And we replaced it all with a more cohesive experience that is less about learning and more about inspiring you to take action.

**You still have daily access to me, but on a more cohesive platform.

This year, I promise: The entire club is simpler to navigate, the lessons move you forward instead of overwhelming you, and you will never feel like you’re falling behind.

This club is for you if...

• You are already walking and want the competition and community to push you further.

• You barely move right now and need the motivation and accountability to actually start.

• You want to feel better in your body without punishing it into submission.

• You want your health to actually connect to your faith — not compete with it.

• You are tired of starting over and ready to stay in it.

It doesn’t matter whether you walk 2,000 steps a day or 15,000. The goal is freedom, joy, and capacity that you’ll create through movement.

Truthfully, the goal is a life you’re actually living instead of just thinking about and wishing for.

Here’s how to join:

The Summer Walking Club begins June 1st. Registration deadline is May 31st

On May 20th, we open the doors to the community, where you will gain access to the new and improved walking guide, a lesson on walking posture, and some of our favorite summer recipes to get you started.

Once you register, we will send you an email with more details.

JOIN THE CLUB HERE!

One more thing before you go.

I want to say something directly to the woman who almost didn’t read this far.

I know you’ve tried before. Maybe you even tried last year. And you meant it every time. But I need you to know, you are not someone who can’t do this. You’ve just never had the right structure around you to do it.

While the Summer Walking Club is not magic. It’s an enviornment that is simple, faith-rooted, and forward-moving that will help you make showing up easier than not showing up.

You don’t need to be ready. You don’t even need to feel motivated or have the perfect morning. Heck, I don’t even care if you walk in the morning.

You just need to register, because the rest will unfold if you trust the process.

Imagine how you will feel on August 31st? You’ll feel regulated, consistent, lighter, more present, and even more joyful. And it didn’t happen because of willpower.

It happened because you started.

Share this with a friend to join you in the club. Walking is always better together.

xx,

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In the last year, we changed the lighting in our home, and I will never go back.

My kids honestly thought it was just another one of my “crazy ideas.” They often think my ideas are a bit out there. But what I was shocked by was how quickly they started making the shifts for themselves. They even took it upon themselves to download an app that blocked blue light on their phones. The best thing, it was all completely unprompted by me.

They felt something, even if they couldn’t define it.

Honestly, I think those are the best health changes. The ones you can feel working, but can’t precisely explain. It’s often a sign that it’s not just affecting one thing but actually benefiting everything.

That’s what happened when we took our family’s light exposure seriously.

I can attest that I definitely sleep more deeply (especially when I compare it to how I feel after sitting under harsh LED lighting at a late-night gym). But if I had to put the biggest shift into words, it would be a sense of calmness. And that really comes back to what light does to your nervous system.

Healthy Lighting is like a deep breath for your entire body.

Lighting has taken priority in our home over nearly every other health “protocol.” Even movement, although they’re close.

I’ve long understood the power of circadian and infradian rhythms and how both quietly orchestrate nearly every function in my body. I made the obvious shifts, changing when I eat, optimizing sleep, and paying closer attention to rhythms I used to ignore.

Yet somehow, I overlooked one of the simplest and most powerful inputs of all… change what light I’m exposed to.

While everything influences your circadian rhythm, it’s light exposure that controls it. Which is why no food change, supplement, beauty swap, or biohack can outperform the effect of light on the body.

And honestly, we in the health space have collectively done a terrible job of showcasing this.

We vilanize blue light, but then make the solution, sunlight, the enemy. All while simultaneously forgetting that sunlight is the original regulator of everything we’re trying to optimize. And then we wonder why people feel confused.

To put it simply, blue-enriched light belongs to daytime. Where warm, red light belongs to sunrise, sunset, and night. “When” and “how much” light exposure you get changes your body.

It influences metabolic output, nervous system regulation, hormone signaling, recovery, and even thought patterns in ways most people never pause to consider.

Have you considered your home lighting?

Just over a year ago, I started looking into something I had completely ignored: our home lighting.

In an effort to make health easy, I realized how much easier it could be than changing the light bulbs in your home. It might be one of the most effortless, high-impact shifts you can make. Even better, one that affects not just you, but your entire household, without anyone needing to change a single habit.

Just over a year ago, we bought our first circadian-friendly bulbs from Healthy Home.

We started small, buying just enough bulbs to place in lamps across the rooms we used at night. I wasn’t skeptical that they would work, but rather how long they would last. I think I had fallen too hard for the LED marketing that made you believe LEDs never go bad. But we all know that they don’t last nearly as long as the marketing makes them seem.

At first, it was just a test. Something to try and “see” what we noticed. And I’m not lying when I say it didn’t take long for us to realize we wanted to replace every bulb in the house.

Our girls even moved from thinking they were ridiculous to exclusively using them in a matter of weeks. I may have even started handing them out to others, like you hand out candy at Halloween.

Circadian Friendly Light Bulbs By Health Home

What I love about the circadian-friendly light bulbs by Healthy Home is that they have three settings: daylight, sunset, and campfire. Each one emits a different light spectrum, and unlike traditional LEDs, they are free from the flickering that quietly fatigues the nervous system over time.

The daylight setting doesn’t look drastically different from a normal bulb at first glance. But if you pay attention, it feels softer and less stimulating.

But nighttime is where everything shifts.

The sunset and campfire settings emit a warm, red glow. I’ll be honest, from the outside, it looks like your house might be on fire. My girls used to joke that they’re shocked the neighbors never called the fire department.

Now, it’s become one of the most grounding parts of our day. As mentioned, my girls are quick to call each other out if they don’t switch their lights quickly enough. They even go throughout the house adjusting the lighting based on the time without being asked. It’s just part of how we take care of our space now.

I don’t recommend many physical products, but when something genuinely changes our lives in this way, I feel like I’m doing a disservice by not sharing. That’s why I wanted to fill you in on these light bulbs.

If you’re someone who is asking, " How can I help my kids or spouse live healthier?” This is one of them!

If you’re curious, start small. Put a few bulbs in the bedrooms and living spaces where you wind down. Prioritize the rooms you use at night. Then expand from there.

They also make a nightlight version, which has been especially helpful for hallways and bathrooms.

If you’re questioning how long they last. We’ve had some of our bulbs for nearly 16-months and never had to replace one. Shop Healthy Home to learn more. Use code LIVINGWELL at checkout for 10% off your orders.

Shop Circadian Friendly Light Bulbs Here

Don’t overthink health. This is one simple step to make it easy!

If you already have Healthy Home light bulbs, leave a comment below! I’d love to hear your own review!

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT: It’s my favorite time of the year. The Summer Walking Club is quickly approaching. To kick things off, I started a new Instagram account, @summerwalkingclub, to inspire you to take action now! Give it a follow and start doing. As you’ll learn below, it’s the most important thing you can do!

Are you stuck in the information trap?

The other day, I caught myself two podcasts deep on a walk, saving three more for later, and then opening Instagram to “just check one thing.” By the end of it, I couldn’t tell you a single thing I actually learned. Yet, I felt behind. Like I needed more.

Have you ever felt that way?

Like you don’t know enough or have enough information to make the right choice?

That’s the trap.

This highlights what I share in the final, most important episode of the podcast series, Health Illusions — The Illusion of Information.

I know it’s not as sexy as the scale or body composition.

No one is lining up thinking, “Please, tell me more about my cognitive overload.” Yet this one matters because we so quickly jump to gathering information and ideas that we miss the biggest factor influencing how you feel: the actions you do or don’t take.

Most people aren’t stuck because they don’t know what to do. They’re stuck because they’re not doing anything with what they know. They’re not using their knowledge. They’re just stockpiling it. And, similar to food, that impacts your metabolism.

The metabolic downgrade of information overload.

Information overload is basically the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet. It feels productive at first. But then you keep going back for just one more thing, and soon enough, you’re mentally unbuttoning your jeans, overwhelmed, uncomfortable, and still thinking you need more.

Just like more food doesn’t equate to more nutrients, more information doesn’t actually mean you know more. Most of the time, it’s actually the opposite. Stuffing yourself equates to less. It’s called the information paradox, where the more you consume, the more fragmented your thinking becomes and the less you actually know.

You’re not clearer. You’re just more overwhelmed and stuck.

When what you really need is to do something with what you consume. To be clear, you just need to move!

You have what you need.

The number one phrase people say to me sounds like this:

• “I don’t know what to do.”

• “I’m confused.”

Arguably, health is confusing. But it’s only confusing because we stop at consuming information (knowledge) and never put it into practice to develop wisdom (discernment). We get stuck in consuming and not doing, which means we can never conclude what is or isn’t working.

And that means you stay right where you’re at.

But what if you stopped letting confusion win? What if you took what you already knew and put it into practice? Not because it works every time, but because you learn what works based on your experience.

If you’re confused, let it be a sign you need to act, not consume.

I believe you know enough to get started. You have what you need. Now you need to choose to start.

Become a doer:

Zoom out with me for a moment:

• What could your life look like a year from now if you consumed less and acted more?

• What if you stopped searching for the perfect plan and just committed to taking action on an imperfect one?

• What would be different if your learning came from doing, not consuming?

I think you’d be shocked at how far you’d get. Getting really always boils down to those who are doing.

What should you do?

Walk. Run. Or just get up and move.

The cool thing about doing with what you’re consuming is that they don’t have to be directly related. Go back to calories. Calories out doesn’t have to relate to what you consume. Meaning you don’t need to shift your workouts based on the foods you eat.

The same is true for information. Don’t overthink it. There isn’t a specific action that correlates with consuming news information versus consuming health information.

The idea is that you move. Through movement (physically moving your body), you’ll determine if there is a specific way you desire to move or if there is a specific action you can take to process the information.

But the first step is physically moving your body.

That’s why I’m a big fan of walking. It has a low entry barrier but offers massive returns. You’d be amazed at what a simple walk, even five or ten minutes, can do for your mind and nervous system.

Go take a walk. And make sure you follow @summerwalkingclub for more inspiration.

While you’re walking, turn on the last podcast of the Health Illusions series to learn more.

“After the show”: What’s coming up, what to do with information, and more!

In today’s “After The Show,” I’m sharing more about the wisdom gap and how the gap differentiating humans is going to widen in the world of AI.

Plus, I also share more about what’s coming up here at The Weekly Fill, including a summer filled with ACTION, both physically and nutritionally.

Leave a comment below if you’re ready for a summer of action!

I might be stepping into slightly controversial territory with this post, but I promise, I’m not here to come for your coffee.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with a friend who asked me about coffee alternatives. In her words, “I love coffee, but coffee isn’t loving me back.”

Honestly, I think a lot of people go through seasons like that. You might even be in one right now, where coffee feels like it’s working against your body more than with it. You might not always notice it, especially if coffee is what’s getting you out of bed in the morning (though if that’s the case, this article is probably worth paying attention to too).

It might show up as jittery or unfocused energy, an inevitable crash later in the day, or just consistently poor sleep. For some, it can also mean digestive discomfort or hormonal disruption. I don’t say that to make coffee the villain. Like most things, it’s not inherently bad. It’s possible that your body isn’t responding well to it right now, and instead of supporting you, it’s adding stress.

It’s similar to what we talked about regarding caffeine. Most of the time, coffee itself isn’t the problem. More often, it’s the way we consume it. Including everything we add to it.

I don’t use the term “hidden calories” often, but what should be a simple, low-calorie beverage can easily turn into something much more. Some coffee drinks can contain a significant portion of your daily energy intake without you even realizing it. And in the end, you’re left feeling worse instead of better, missing the very thing you were hoping coffee would bring in the first place.

What most people actually want is calm, sustained, jitter-free energy that carries them through the day.

Insert: Coffee Alternatives

Which brings me back to coffee alternatives. These have been growing in popularity for a reason. Many people are discovering that coffee just doesn’t agree with them. If you’re one of them, coffee alternatives are great news.

What I love about good coffee alternatives is that they don’t just mimic the coffee experience. They offer additional health benefits that coffee doesn’t. Of course, not all alternatives are created equal, both in taste and quality. That’s why I want to mention one of my favorites from Piqué.

Piqué makes one of the best adaptogenic coffee alternatives on the market called Nandaka. It’s the Rolls-Royce of coffee alternatives. Unlike some others that miss the mark and end up tasting like a gritty, underwhelming imitation of coffee, Nandaka is different. Many describe the flavor as a cross between chai tea and hot cocoa. It’s both rich and spicy, and enjoyable both warm or iced.

I promise, this isn’t one of those “chug it down for the health benefits” situations. It actually tastes good! Even better, it leaves you feeling good afterward. Like providing the benefits you assumed coffee would, but never did.

As mentioned, this coffee alternative also offers more than just energy support. Nandaka by Piqué includes ingredients designed to support mood, promote cellular health, provide calm, sustained energy, and support metabolic function.

So if you’ve been curious about coffee alternatives, my answer is yes!

I think it’s worth exploring. But rather than grabbing just any option, it’s worth investing in one that prioritizes both flavor and quality. And while an investment, it’s still much less than the average $5-$6 coffee you pick up from your favorite coffee shop.

Try it as a latte with steamed milk and a splash of vanilla, or pour it over ice for something smooth and refreshing. You choose the way you like it.

If you’re unsure whether coffee is friend or foe for you, the only real way to find out is to experiment. You may not realize how much it’s affecting you until you step away from it, even temporarily.

Try Pique’s coffee alternative, Nandaka, for a few weeks or commit to finishing the box and allow yourself time to notice. Only you can decide what works best for your body. But the only way to know is to test it.

Get the exclusive offer from Piqué:

To support your body’s seasonal transition, Pique is giving you this seasonal offering:

20% off for life + free gifts

Enjoy!

I finally realized what made the biggest change in my health this past year (and honestly, I would never have guessed this in a million years).

This past year has been one of the most transformative seasons of my life. Besides becoming a mom for the first time, that stands in its own category. Nothing really compares to that kind of change.

But this year brought something different. Something I’ve been trying to understand and articulate for a while because it didn’t come from a new diet, a stricter routine, or more discipline, even though it changed all of those things.

It came from inspiration.

I know, probably not what you thought I was going to say. Definitely not at all what I could have imagined either. But when I look back, living inspired and having something meaningful to move toward changed everything.

It shifted how I eat, how I move, and how I show up in my marriage, parenting, and even my relationship with God. And not at all because I forced it, but because it happened naturally.

Now, before I lose you. I need you to hear me out. Because I think it’s going to blow your mind as it did mine. And honestly, maybe it’s the question you need to ask yourself…

What if your health issues aren’t because you have a discipline problem, but because your body is bored?

What if your eating problem wasn’t a food problem, but because you’re lacking purpose?

What if your marriage issues weren’t because of your spouse, but because of your own uncontentment?

If you read nothing else, think about this…

A bored body. A bored mind. A boring life always creates problems because problems get you moving and doing.

What I’ve realized in my own life (and in others) is that a lack of purpose and inspiration is silently destroying people’s health.

Which is why “destination thinking” has become so attractive. It leads you to believe:

• If I could just get x, then I’d be happy.

• If I could achieve y, then I’d feel satisfied.

But life, at least this side of eternity, isn’t really about arriving. It’s about growing. And that “arrival” message is doing more damage than we realize, all while making a lot of money for industries that benefit from your misery.

I know this might be controversial, but I think it’s also transformational. Especially if you see the action is really only a slight pivot from chasing to creating, but the outcomes are massive.

And that missing piece most people don’t see, what I didn’t see, is we’re bored.

Our bodies are bored. Our minds are bored. Our lives are boring.

And I know there’s a lot of conversation right now about how we “need to be more bored.” But I think before we make assumptions, we need to define what that actually means.

What most people are experiencing isn’t healthy boredom. It’s emptiness, which leads to stagnation and becomes the opposite of how we were designed to live, which is why people create problems.

Healthy boredom is an action, an exploration, and creation.

It’s all action, but in a different direction.

Boredom doesn’t actually exist in the form of nothingness, because nothing is still something. You’re always in motion, even if you say you’re not. Take meditation, for example. It’s often what people assume is the absence of thought, but it’s really the redirection of your thoughts (because the mind never stops thinking).

We are wired for movement. For creating, building, living, and doing. When you feel bored, you’re not actually doing nothing — you’re always doing. The direction is just away from what you want to move toward and back onto the old patterns.

It’s why boredom leads to:

• Binging the bag of chips

• Mindless scrolling

• Distracting yourself

• Addictions (although there is a bit more to this than boredom, even though boredom is a player)

• Creating problems because problems give you reason (if not even force you) to move

I can’t tell you how many problems I’ve created in my own life, including with my health, because I was bored.

How many times have I eaten, not because I needed food, but because my body was bored?

How many times I engaged in behaviors that didn’t serve me, simply because I didn’t have something greater pulling me forward.

Do you see it?

Boredom isn’t the absence of doing. It’s just doing things that keep you stuck. And when the gap boredom creates isn’t filled with purpose, we fill it with problems.

That’s why a “bored body” becomes an unhealthy one. And it’s also why something as simple as walking can have such a powerful effect, not just on your body, but on your mind and creativity.

Ask yourself this…

The real question isn’t: Are you doing enough?

It’s: What is driving what you’re doing?

Because most people fall into one of two patterns:

1. We let boredom build until it creates problems that force us to act.

2. We bring in inspiration and let that drive how we live and create health, life, and purpose.

One path is hard (and is the creation of your own misery).

The other is easy (and builds momentum to continue).

This past year, I finally chose path two, and can I tell you how easy that made health? Not because it’s always easy, but when you remove the “problems,” the choice carries less resistance.

Are your health problems a boredom problem?

Which leaves me to ask:

• Are your health problems a boredom problem?

• Could your eating problem be because you’re uninspired in life?

• Is your marriage a problem because you don’t have any fun?

• Could your anxiety be because your mind has nothing purposeful to do?

This is one of those important questions that forces you to shift what you are looking at. It turns the mirror back on yourself.

Over the last year, I created a three-minute ritual I add to my morning that has shifted my purpose and changed my direction (the key to behavior change is not changing your behavior, it’s changing your direction). As a subscriber, you will get:

• The exact 3-minute exercise I use to shift my direction daily.

• The “After The Show” episode, where my husband and I break down how we eliminated “trying” from our vocabulary and how this changed our understanding of control.

Here’s a free preview of “After The Show.”

Get the full episode below.

Why You Should Stop “Trying” And What To Do Instead

Check out this week's podcast (LISTEN HERE) and then listen to this “After the Show,” where we prove why “trying” gets you nowhere and what to replace it with.

Read more

I was putting together the plans for the upcoming April cleanse and had a moment where I thought… do you even want this?

Or did I assume something that wasn’t true?

Maybe instead of talking about an April cleanse, you’d rather keep the conversation rolling around sexual intimacy?

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve put out a lot of information, but I’m coming to realize that information you’re not asking for isn’t helping you. Which means I might be serving myself more than I’ve been serving you.

I’m giving you what I need, not what you need. And I want that to change.

But the only way I can actually serve you is to know you.

Can you help me get to know you and how I can better serve you? Let’s use this as a start…. but if you have time and are willing, hit reply and let me know how I could better serve you even more than the survey below.

Let’s start with the one that got me thinking about this topic…

If you have time to share any additional thoughts or comments about what you actually need, or any off-the-cuff topics that interest you, please send me a message. It’s truly in my heart to serve you, and I need your help to understand how I can best do that!

Just for fun…but I’d also love to know anything else that I couldn’t fit on the list.

I can’t wait to understand your needs!

I really appreciate you helping me out! Talk soon!

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I’ve spent most of my life trying to “fix” things. Honestly, it’s why I got into the health space. I wanted to “fix” the world of health so that we could be free of our health problems.

Because I equated your health problems with your life problems. Arguably, most people believe this. That’s why you think that if you could get to a lower weight, you’d:

• Have more fun.

• Be happier.

• Experience more intimacy.

• Be more loved.

• (Fill in the blank — be honest, what does this look like for you?)

I get it, I believed this too. Which is why I wanted to save you… And by saving you, I thought I could save myself.

I’ve since learned that there are a number of problems with this approach.

1. Fixing health is often just a band-aid approach that masks it rather than fixes it. In the process, it often leads to other problems.

2. It’s a problem-focused approach, or what is considered a move-away strategy, which keeps the problem as the main character in your story.

3. Your health is really not up to me. I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do or don’t believe you can do.

4. Health is often a secondary issue, not the main issue.

Truthfully, health is not the goal of life, even though most people live as if it were. But that misses the point entirely. Not to mention, it makes creating significantly harder. Not because it has to be hard, but because you’re attempting to wrap it up in something it isn’t.

Health is not the point of life.

Health is not the point of life. It’s just a tool to live your life and the purpose you were created for.

I think it’s important to put it in context. As I’ve learned the hard way, if you don’t, you’ll always be chasing something that doesn’t exist while overlooking the choice to live it out daily.

And yes, I said health is a choice, making it your responsibility.

By shifting your belief and story from fixing to choosing, you open up to so much more of life.

I recently wrote about the new era of self-care and how it’s changing. Here’s a clip from it:

The new era of self-care is really a return to the original version, or rather, meaning. It’s a motivation that honors the sacredness of life and the one who created it. In the process, it moves self-care from wishing, striving, and fixing to choosing, honoring, and owning.

That doesn’t mean you abandon action. Action is in the definition. Care is a verb. But it shifts the motivation from problem fixing to filling. From avoidance to expansion. It’s less about impressive gestures or big performance and more about quiet integration, participation, and alignment with what fills you and fuels you.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

The current state of self-care is fear-driven.

It’s why we buy books on preventing disease, search for longevity hacks, and ask, “How do I burn more, get leaner, or do more?” There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting health. But fear-driven self-care misses the sacredness of being human.

It misses the rhythms of life and the interconnectedness of all things that actually bring more life.

Self-care was never intended to be a checklist.

Making it a checklist reduces its benefit because anything done out of obligation triggers a stress response. It implies a sense of scarcity, whether by time (you have to make time for it) or perfection (if you don’t do it and do it perfectly, it doesn’t matter).

But I’ve learned true self-care is different.

When I stopped trying to fix myself, I started to see health in a new way, and that changed what I did.

Keep reading to get:

• The wake-up call that finally let things click.

• The major shift that changed how I approached health.

• The Biblical narrative that helped me see this.

• Five acts of self-care I do daily.

Read more

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This month’s live Q&A got a little spicy!

Here’s a taste of the few questions we discussed inside:

How can I rebuild a healthy and life-giving sex life with my husband rooted in true intimacy?

Please teach me to retrain my body to experience sex with my husband as safety! I struggle to experience any physical touch as safety because I fear that it might be a precursor to sex, which feels more like an obligation than safety.

Can weight gain be a response to feeling unheard in marriage? If so, how do I reverse this?

How can understand the biblical idea of women being the weaker vessel and how that relates to health and wellness?

We also discussed a thought worth pondering.

What if focusing on body weight as the problem is distracting you from what is the root of why your body is holding on to extra weight?

Your body does nothing without reason. Yes, it could be that you’ve simply overeaten and stopped moving, creating excess weight. But it could also be,

• Stormed trauma and/or emotions

• A job you hate

• Marriage problems

• The thoughts you tell yourself

• Deconstructing your life

• Financial worries

• (fill in the blank)

In this live, we address how to look beyond your body while also connecting your body to all of life.

Watch this month’s live below and join in on the conversation.

Read more

I love watching my kids do the things they love. I also love watching them be challenged and overcome the challenge.

I will say it, I mostly love youth sports.

Yet, sporting events are one of the most deregulating environments for me.

Bright LED lights. Yelling. Overcrowded spaces. Competition. Bad memories. Terrible seating (and thus posture). Heightened emotions.

It does something in me… and, arguably, in most people that pulls me out of balance.

If you’ve spent any time in a gym, you know that a good majority of the parents there are generally dysregulated. It tends to present humans in some of their least finest moments, myself included.

Which got me thinking of this exact topic. It’s these moments that showcase the power of wellness and what it’s really for.

It’s not to achieve a state of perfection, because that will never exist this side of eternity. It’s to help you regain balance when life pulls you out. And life will always pull you out.

If it’s not a gym or a youth sporting event, it will be something else.

Don’t fear it, just recognize it and know these are the moments you’re building wellness for. You have the tools you need to help you regain balance.

And if you don’t have those tools, well, you’ve come to the right place.

Inside this week’s podcast, I share about the perks of dysregulation. Specifically, how to use it to build strength and resiliency. “After the show,” I talk about how I created wellness tools for myself that helped me overcome my addiction to pain and anxiety.

Listen to the podcast here.

Spoiler: It helped me move away from attempting to change the people in my life (namely, my husband) and move toward the only thing I could change…my choices.

As a subscriber, continue reading to get:

• My go-to tools for regulation

• A look into my triggers of dysregulation

• How to use dysregulation for good

• Retraining your brain to change

If you’re not a subscriber, sign up to get the details inside this post.

My Go-To Tools of Regulation:

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Let’s talk about caffeine…

If we’re honest, there are a lot of things we could overthink in the health space. Caffeine is one of many. There are those who are hyperfixated on topics such as this, and others (most likely the caffeine-obsessed) who completely overlook the conversations.

I personally think it deserves some attention, but not obsession.

In my opinion, the conversation surrounding caffeine should be less about whether it’s good or bad and more about why you are using it. And/or how much do you rely on it?

Caffeine in itself isn’t bad. In fact, it has been found to have numerous benefits, including improved alertness, mood, and cognitive performance. You know this. Especially if you’ve ever had to “perform” before your morning dose of caffeine.

For many people, caffeine is a required form of morning fuel.

On the flip side, there are equally harmful effects to excessive caffeine consumption, including insomnia, increased anxiety, and even heart conditions.

Which brings me back to the original question that you must contemplate for yourself.

Do you rely on caffeine, and/or how much are you consuming?

For most people, a natural dose of caffeine can increase performance and focus. It can help you feel more energized and vibrant. But like all things, too much can create biological and psychological consequences.

As we come out of a very low-energy season, it’s easy to trend toward consuming too much caffeine. You might have ended the summer with a healthy relationship with caffeine and now find yourself tied to it as if your life depends on it.

Yes, I’m calling out those who are guzzling two (or three or four) energy drinks a day. This is a sign you’re trying to mask a deeper energy issue, and you need a caffeine detox.

Don’t panic, that doesn’t mean a complete elimination.

Your Spring Caffeine Detox:

As we transition from winter to spring, your body’s biochemistry is shifting to adapt to the change. Part of your internal biochemical transition is getting rid of the excess you’ve stored over the winter.

Spring is a season of detoxing. And I’m not referring to external detoxes, although that is why you see more pop up around this season. I’m referring to the internal detox your body undergoes during the transition from winter to fall.

Just as you spring-clean your home, your body undergoes its own form of spring cleaning by enhancing its detoxification pathways.

Too much caffeine, especially from artificial sources like canned energy drinks, can disrupt this detoxification pathway.

It’s similar to what happens when you deep-clean your home but lose energy halfway through. Do you know what I’m talking about?

You start out really energized, you might even be powering through at a good rate, taking things down, sorting, and organizing. But eventually, you hit a point when everything is off the shelves and scattered on the floor, where you get overwhelmed.

It’s the point where everything seems worse than when you started.

If you don’t have adequate energy, you’ll lose steam, burn out, and quit. Making a larger mess than when you began.

That’s similar to what happens when you push the body with too much external energy. It rebalances with a crash. To prevent this and maintain steady energy, it’s important to be mindful of how much caffeine you consume and what types you choose during the transition from winter to summer.

To support your spring detox, I recommend limiting imitation caffeine. Instead, choose more natural options, like coffee or tea, over packaged energy drinks.

While I’m a tea lover at heart, making this a no-brainer for me, I feel the need to do a little convincing and tell you why my favorite tea is not your average “bitter” tea.

Pique is fueling my spring detox:

I’m serious, we’re really not talking about your average run-of-the-mill black tea. Pique’s Pu’er isn’t just tea. It’s actually a living, fermented exlir that nourishes your gut ecosystem. It works gently and consistently, helping the body adapt and rebalance over time.

Scientific research supports this traditional use. A randomized, double-blind study published in Nutrition Journal found that Pu’er tea consumption was associated with improvements in lipid metabolism and markers related to fat accumulation, suggesting a supportive role in metabolic balance and digestive health.

This makes Pu’er especially beneficial during the winter-to-spring transition, when your energy is sluggish, and your digestion needs extra support to get back on track.

Think of this Pu’er black tea as your morning metabolic support. It creates a calm, energized, lightness that you are looking for this time of the year.

As mentioned, it’s naturally fermented and rich in probiotics and flavonols that support digestion, microbiome diversity, and metabolic efficiency, helping you feel energized and supported, even when the weather patterns are all over the place.

I’m always going to remind you that vilifying substances is never the answer. The answer is to understand how your body responds, most importantly, what your body needs.

If your body is looking for a natural boost, or you feel like you’ve spiraled into a caffeine overdose, I suggest trying this Pique Pu’er Black (or Green) tea. The dynamic duo, black tea in the morning and green tea in the afternoon, is a gentle, restorative daily ritual that keeps my digestion balanced and energy steady throughout the day.

It also changes your cravings. You might just find you no longer think about that mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Each box comes with 28 individual servings. Shop Pu’er black tea here!

Get the exclusive offer from Piqué:

To support your body’s seasonal transition, Pique is offering you 20% off for life + free gifts. It’s a simple way to commit to digestive balance, metabolic support, and clean energy all spring long.

How do you feel about caffeine?

Does your body love it or hate it? Do you rely on it or just like it?

Have you ever done a caffeine detox? How would you rate it on a scale of 0-10 (zero being never again)?

Leave a comment

“How do I boost my libido?”
“Why don’t I feel excited about sex?”
“Why can’t I control my food desires, even if I know what I should be doing?”
“How do I stop self-protecting?”

Last month, we spent a lot of time in the community, talking through these questions (join the community to get the replays)!

At first, these questions may seem unrelated. But the truth? They’re deeply interconnected. Boosting your libido, managing your food desires, and letting go of unnecessary self-protection all come from the same root.

It’s like the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all ships. Health works the same way. All healing happens the same way.

It’s not just about doing more (even though action is a critical step).

What I’ve learned, through my reckoning with the scale, the shifts I’ve made in my health, and the transformation in my relationship with my husband, was directly influenced by one thing:

Body satisfaction.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many layers to body satisfaction. It’s not a surface-level conversation, but it’s deeply connected to your identity. As I thought about the anonymous questions people have been asking, I kept coming back to the same idea: How little time do we spend inhabiting and appreciating our own skin?

Instead,

• How much life do we spend attempting to “try” to change how we look?

• How we “attach” ourselves to things we think will help us fit in.

• How much time do we spend “wishing” things could be different?

I get it. I’ve spent plenty of time wishing I could look like someone. I’ve chased endless external strategies promising results I didn’t fully believe I could achieve.

To be honest, I was never fully content in my own skin. Not when I was at my lowest or at my highest weight.

The body dissatisfaction. The not-enoughness. The hate, for lack of better words, is a pattern that changes how we engage with everything from our relationships to what we eat, how we move, how we show up in life, and even our intimacy.

Research confirms this in our food choices:

Lower body image satisfaction is associated with increased emotional and uncontrolled eating, while higher satisfaction aligns with greater cognitive control and emotional regulation. How we perceive our body often shapes how we feed it more than biological hunger signals themselves (source).

In our sex drive:

Body image satisfaction directly impacts libido. Higher satisfaction boosts sexual desire, confidence, and frequency. Lower satisfaction can trigger sexual dysfunction, anxiety, and avoidance. Positive self-image fosters presence and pleasure, while poor body image pulls us into cognitive distractions, reducing desire and satisfaction (source).

All of that to say…

We need to talk about body satisfaction. Which starts with self-responsibility.

I know, I know, I know. We’d really just like to walk into body satisfaction, or better yet, wait for it to magically appear. But it doesn’t work that way.

The truth is, you are responsible for your body satisfaction.

Not the scale. Not your spouse. Not your friends. Not the health blogs. But you.

And there is a lot of power in owning that.

It changed things for me. I wanted to share how I made the shift and how that changed my intimate relationship with myself, husband, and even God.

And to be clear, body satisfaction is not always about feeling good in your body. It’s not even about body positivity, but a range that most likely exists in neutrality more than anything.

It’s not about falling in love with your body. It’s about stopping the war you’ve created with your body.

It’s not expected to feel good all the time. But you can likewise celebrate when you do and not fall into despair when you don’t.

Keep reading to get:

• The perspective shift that took my body satisfaction from “not satisfied” to very satisfied.

• The difference between contentment and complacency.

• My conversation with my husband about body satisfaction, body weight, attractiveness, and the connection to intimacy (get the “After the Episode” bonus podcast).

• The actual ways body satisfaction has changed how I eat, move, and live.

Read more

I’m in the camp of, let’s just leave the time alone!

How do you feel about it?

Of course, I know there are arguments on both sides. I’m not here to get into the politics of it. I just want to help you adjust.

Because you do need to help your body adjust. It may seem like just an hour of change, but that’s a really big deal to your body.

In fact, daylight saving time, particularly the spring forward/lose-an-hour that’s sneaking up on us in just a week, is notoriously hard on the body.

Statistics show up to a 24% increase in heart attacks on the Monday after the switch, an 8% higher risk of stroke, a 6% rise in fatal traffic accidents, more workplace injuries, and even a significant uptick in suicide rates in the weeks following the time change.

I’m not one who generally points out the negatives, but I wanted to make sure I get my point across. This isn’t “just an hour.” Your body needs some real support.

That’s why I’ve pulled together a few tips to help you prep and slide through the shift without feeling it.

Don’t complicate it. This is pretty simple. But also, don’t overlook it because it is simple. The goal is to maintain healthy energy flow and give your body battery a boost so it can handle the adjustment the time change is bringing.

Remember: your body runs on tightly regulated schedules. That’s why you get hungry at the same times, feel tired around the same hours, and often wake up even when you could sleep it.

Your body is following a routine, including your hormones, neurotransmitters, and even metabolism, which is why you need to help it out.

Tips for (to start today) to prep for daylight saving time:

01: Be strategic about light exposure.

Light is what programs your biological routine. You have to use it to help it. Using light strategically is one of the best (and easiest) ways to help your body adjust to the time shift.

Leading up to daylight savings time (and after), get outside early and sit in the morning sun. No sunglasses or contacts. Get your bare eyes in the sun. Even one to two minutes can make a difference.

Repeat that at sunset. Yes, even on cloudy days. A few minutes of evening light cues your body that it’s time to wind down.

Action: Get morning and evening sun exposure.

02: Make gradual sleep adjustments (starting now).

Don’t wait to just “lose an hour” and adjust when you’re forced to. Help your body by making slight adjustments all week long. Shift your bedtime, going to bed 10-15 minutes early each night leading up to the change.

And skip the weekend sleep-in, at least for the next few weeks. Keeping your weekend schedule close to your weekday schedule prevents mini “jet lag.” If you need extra rest, take a short nap instead of sleeping in.

Action: Go to bed 10-15 minutes earlier each night leading up to the change.

03: Take a nap (or a few if you need it).

The goal is to avoid sleep loss. As you adjust your sleep, you might feel more tired. Give yourself permission to take a nap. Don’t fight through fatigue, but work with it.

But be strategic with it. You don’t want to sleep so long during the day that it prevents you from falling asleep at night. That’s just a vicious cycle you don’t want to begin.

Action: Take a 20-30 minute nap, earlier in the day if feeling fatigued.

04: Adjust your meal times.

Similar to adjusting bedtime, adjust your meal times. Shift your meal times to align with your sleep schedule. This will help your metabolism sync nicely.

Action: Shift your with your sleep cycle. Eat 10-15 minutes earlier at all meals leading up to the time change.

05: Cut back on caffeine (and skip alcohol).

Both caffeine and alcohol can disrupt sleep, hormone balance, and overall body rhythm. Consider them stressors you don’t need while your system adjusts to the time change.

You don’t have to eliminate them forever, but in the week leading up to and after the time change, limit both as much as possible. Your body will thank you.

Action: Limit (or eliminate) caffiene and alcohol leading up to and after the time-shift.

06: Don’t stop moving.

I truly believe many sleep problems could be solved if people just moved more. How do you expect to fall asleep if your body is raging with unspent energy? You might feel emotionally tired, but that doesn’t mean you physically are. Sometimes all you need is a little movement to burn off the extra energy so you can fall asleep.

All of that to say, keep moving. That doesn’t mean beating your body into submission. Moderate movement is all it takes to help you sleep more deeply. And deep sleep is key to regulating your body processes.

Action: Maintain daily movement in whatever capacity feels right.

07: Take the next few weeks slowly.

Again, it can seem silly, but the time change is a big deal to your body. Let the week leading up and after be taken a little more slowly.

Underschedule your life, create space to rest, and cut back on life stressors. This isn’t the week to push yourself hard.

For now, support your body with restorative practices so the shift feels like a gentle nudge instead of a jolt.

A little motivation for the new month ahead…

Let it be easy!

That doesn’t mean it will be, but at the same time, what if it doesn’t have to be hard? At the very least, don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

When life starts to feel overwhelming. When you start to feel confused, or you’re getting bogged down in the details, ask yourself, am I making this harder than it needs to be?

What would be the easier way to do this?

A good life isn’t about eliminating struggle or avoiding it. It’s not about forcing perfection. It’s about choosing better, more meaningful struggle sand letting go of the control that causes over-complifcation.

Viral recipes —> New Classics

I’ve been trying out some of the latest viral recipes, and they aren’t disappointing.

One of our absolute favorites this month was the viral Costco chicken-in-a-bag.

Now, in full disclosure, I didn’t actually make it in the bag. A bowl felt more manageable.

Here was our take on the viral chicken-in-a-bag that I made in less than 20 minutes:

**This fed my family of five.

• 3 cups Shredded chicken, chopped. (I slow-cooked a whole chicken and had plenty left for another meal)

• 3 cups pre-cooked and cooled rice (I often batch cook rice)

• Taylor Farms: Asian chopped salad kit (you could make your own)

• 1 cup diced cucumber

• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped

• 1 bunch green onions, sliced

• 4 tbsp sweet chili sauce

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

To make, chop all ingredients, then add them to a bowl, adjusting the amounts of the herbs and seasoning to your taste.

Added flare:

I chose to make crispy rice for this recipe. This added a bit of time, but if you have it, totally worth it.

To make crispy rice:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Dump 3 cups of rice on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with sesame oil, soy sauce, and sweet chili sauce (listed in the recipe above).

3. Mix together well and spread into a thin layer on the baking sheet.

4. Bake for 12-20 minutes, depending on crispiness preference.

5. Toss halfway.

I think this step was totally worth it, but also not needed if you’re short on time.

Make it your way:

What I love about a recipe like this is that there are literally a thousand variations based on your preferences. You could replace ingredients, or add new ones (like edamame), to make it into something you love.

Are you into viral recipes? And if so, what viral recipe have you been loving? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Cheers to a new month, more sunshine, and warmer days!

What if you stopped talking about weight loss?

That includes talking about…

• The weight you gained.

• How much weight do you want to lose?

• The weight your friend lost.

• The diet promises weight loss.

• Slimming down or dialing in.

I’m being serious. What if this were an irrelevant conversation to have?

Because truthfully, it is.

Talking about your problem has never helped anyone get rid of it. At the same time, that doesn’t mean you can’t and shouldn’t desire to be at a healthy weight. You do, regardless of whether you’re aware of it or not.

Humans are designed in health for health. The ultimate goal of the body is vitality, and that means living in a way that allows your body to provide the energy, support, structure, and capacity to live your life.

And that means… living out a healthy body weight.

Our obsession with thinness didn’t happen without reason.

Which is why a topic such as this is so common. We didn’t become obsessed with thinness for no reason. We did it out of a biological drive that was packaged in the wrong message, which led us to focus on the wrong thing.

And in the process, many people lost their health (and livelihood). Ironically, that loss only amplified this drive.

The more disconnected we feel from health, the louder the fixation on weight becomes, because we want health, but we’ve attached health to the wrong message, leading us to chase something that never brings what we desire.

Yes, it’s the cycle of insanity. And if you’ve ever attempted to lose weight or have been fixated on weight loss, you know, it very much leads to insanity.

Here’s the reality. It’s one of the both/and conversations I love so much.

You can want to be healthy and create it without obsessing over a number.

You can talk about health without mentioning what needs to be lost.

And truthfully… those are much better conversations to have.

In the latest podcast, I share the truth about body weight, why it matters, and what you should focus on instead of weight loss.

Listen to: Body Weight Matters (Just Not How You Think)

Below, we dive further into the conversation, making “weight loss” irrelevant. But that requires one key component: changing the meaning you give to body weight.

Become a member to get this episode of “After The Show,” including all of the others.

Read more

It may be the end of February, but your immune system still needs your support. In fact, it needs even more support, as we’re currently in one of the lowest-energy seasons of all. Between the darkness, the cold, the lack of movement, and all of the holiday sweets, I think everyone is feeling it.

Which is why I want to remind you that we’re not really in cold-and-flu season, but in a low-energy season, and that just happens to bring sickness.

This is a season when your body’s battery is working in low-power mode, downshifting your immune system and leaving you more vulnerable to illness. But the good news is, it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to surrender to illness or partake in “cold and flu” season.

You can (and should) give your immune system a boost, supercharging your body so you can live differently.

You have to think seasonally.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, living seasonally is one of the most important aspects of creating health. Understanding the seasons and living in alignment with them supports your body so it can thrive, not just survive.

And nature often provides exactly what we need, when we need it. Which is why shifting your routines, the foods you consume, and your wellness practices with the seasons is one of the simplest ways to recharge your energy and strengthen your immune system. The added bonus is that this also impacts your skin, hair, and nails.

In fact, the state of your skin, hair, and nails is a good reflection of your immune system. Your skin is literally your first line of defense for your immune system. How your skin looks and feels gives you a picture of how resourced your body is.

Now, I know, winter can be tough on your skin even when you’re doing everything you can to optimize your immune system. But here’s my approach: Don’t focus on avoiding dryness. Focus on how you recover from it. In my opinion, that’s what matters in all aspects of health.

Health isn’t about perfection or maintaining a constant state. Health is how your body responds and rebalances when it’s out of balance. Your job is to support that response.

My end-of-winter immune-boosting routine:

Here’s what I’m doing right now to support my immune system at the end of winter, so I can move into spring feeling strong and energized. It all goes back to the basics of charging my body battery:

1. Drinking mostly warm liquids (yes, I’m still enjoying my daily sugar-cookie matcha).

2. Getting my electrolytes regularly.

3. Going to bed earlier, aiming for 30 additional minutes of sleep each night.

4. Prioritizing slowness in my days. Slowing down helps energy recharge.

5. Eating seasonally (including a massive boost in vitamin C).

If you notice, many seasonal foods for winter and early spring, like citrus, are high in Vitamin C. That’s no coincidence. Vitamin C is an immune powerhouse, and most of us aren’t getting nearly enough of it.

Why Vitamin C matters (and why most people don’t get enough):

Vitamin C is a powerhouse nutrient for the immune system. It helps:

• Supports white blood cell function.

• Neutralizes free radicals and oxidative stress.

• Aids in tissue repair, collagen production, and cellular health.

Vitamin C is required for healthy cells. At the same time, you do not produce it, which is why you have to get it through food or supplements.

But here’s the catch: Not all supplements are created equal. In fact, many supplements aren’t absorbed well because they’re either a bad form or your body doesn’t have the energy to metabolize them. In either case, some supplements can be more of an energy drain than they are helpful.

That’s why I’m very selective about what I take, and why I support Piqué, using their immune boost as one of the few supplements I take to supercharge my body.

Pique’s Liposomal Vitamin C gets me through winter.

Pique’s Daily Immune Liposomal Vitamin C with Elderberry is an immune game-changer. Here’s why:

• It’s maximized for absorption™ – The Liposomal encapsulation protects the vitamin C, helping it actually get into your cells, bloodstream, and body where it’s needed

• It’s gentle on your stomach

• It contains elderberry superfood complex – helping combat free radical damage

• Contains antioxidants – helping smooth and brighten your skin from the inside out

• It supports healthy collagen production and a strong immune system

• Has only 7 clean ingredients – with zero preservatives, refined sugar, or junk additives

• It tastes delicious thanks to fresh fruit concentrates

• On-the-go friendly – It comes in individual packages, so you can take it anywhere

For me, Pique is more than immune support. It also helps me feel energized, supported, and prepared to move into spring with a fully charged body.

I like to think of it as a dose of sunshine during the long winter days.

My final tip for the season:

It doesn’t have to be complicated. My slogan of the year is “let it be easy.” And this fits.

By thinking seasonally, supporting your body with the right nutrients, and giving yourself space to rest and recharge, you can move through the last of winter with ease and enter spring feeling strong, vibrant, and ready for everything the season brings.

Remember: You don’t have to take part in cold and flu season. But that requires being diligent about charging your body up and fueling yourself with energy.

I highly recommend you try out the Daily Immune HERE. Support your body through the last of winter and enter spring strong.

Each box comes with 28 individual servings. Plus, when you subscribe, you can save up to 20%.

Use this link to try Daily Immune for yourself!

That’s the opening line in one of the more fascinating books I’ve read recently, by Todd Rose, called Collective Illusions.

It’s also the inspiration behind the new podcast series: Health Illusions.

I’ve long been passionate about exposing the illusions of health. Although for years I didn’t cal…

Read more

Is This Actually an Energy Issue?

This question came up during a morning live inside the Health Blueprint:

“If you have high insulin levels, what can you do? How is this an energy issue?

It’s a powerful question because it looks beyond the typical answer of “just fix your diet.”

It highlights that blood sugar and insulin responses are energy issues. And that’s most likely different than the way you’ve been taught.

To best understand, let’s start by defining energy…

When I say energy, I don’t just mean calories, which is where a lot of the conversation on energy lands. The energy I’m referring to is the kind your body produces. It’s your body's ability to produce fuel efficiently, respond to stress, regulate hormones, and shift between burning and storing.

The amount of energy your body has affects your capacity to move through life, and that, in turn, affects everything from your nervous system and mitochondrial function to your relationships and joy.

Insulin is just one thing that lives inside this energetic system.

Now, to be clear, this conversation isn’t limited to insulin or blood sugar. It’s the same concept for every function of the body, as energy lies at the very foundation of health. It’s also why most hormonal problems aren’t really hormone problems, but energy system problems that are triggered in your brain, shifting your hormonal patterns.

It’s all a function of energy.

Going back to insulin and blood sugar.

Insulin is often referred to as one of the body's master hormones. Its job is to help you move glucose out of the bloodstream and into cells so it can be used or stored. While food absolutely influences insulin (we’re not debating that), what is often overlooked is how much your stress physiology influences it, too.

When stress is high, cortisol rises. Cortisol then increases blood sugar, which in turn requires more insulin. If that pattern repeats often enough, cells become less responsive to insulin over time, leading to insulin resistance. And it doesn’t happen from food alone, but from energy signaling.

That’s why the same meal eaten in two different states can be metabolized differently. A meal eaten when you’re calm, rested, and grounded is metabolized differently than the same meal when you’re underslept, overwhelmed, and tense.

Your body responds differently depending on its energy level (you could also insert stress level).

As I always say, health outcomes are less about what you do and more about how your body responds to what you do.

Making health a metric of how your body responds.

Step One: Change How Your Body Responds

Your brain and nervous system are responsible for perceiving safety, which determines your body's biological responses. How safe your body feels depends on your body's capacity, which is a metric of energy.

In a low capacity state (or when living a low expression of health), your body can’t handle much, which is why it shifts to conservation mode, changing not only how insulin functions but also your blood sugar response.

I call this the scarcity problem.

When energy feels scarce, your body protects you. It lowers metabolic output, stores more readily, burns less efficiently, and increases your cravings and drive for quick energy from carbohydrates and fat.

This isn’t a character flaw. It’s protective biology. It’s also usually the moment when people jump on a diet.

I get it.

Your jeans start feeling tight. You get the lab work back. Or you’ve seen a similar but different social post about how blood sugar is ruining your health. Your immediate response is to change. It’s to find a solution to what is or could be your problem.

Action is wonderful, but as we’ve been talking about, and what I had to learn the hard way is that change without capacity rarely works.

Which is why your serious attempt at the all-or-nothing, cutting out the carbs, or cutting out entire meals while boosting your workout plan doesn’t pan out. It feels productive, even responsible. Like you’re finally doing something. Even more confusing is that it often works, at least in the short term.

The problem isn’t the change. Change is necessary to change.

The problem is that if your system is already in a low-energy, high-stress state, aggressively attempting to change only adds to the stress load. You move from over-eating to under-eating, all while still overthinking food and attempting to will yourself out of cravings, and then wind up in the same place you started.

Take a lesson from me: You cannot bully your body into safety.

You cannot restrict your way out of a stress state. And you cannot out-discipline a nervous system that feels threatened.

That doesn’t mean food doesn’t matter. It absolutely does. But food works inside a system. And if that system is out of balance and undercharged. Changing food alone won’t fix it.

Before you eat… focus on this.

Before you overhaul your diet, stabilize your energy. Build capacity. Because even healthy changes require energy.

I know it’s a mind twist, especially in a world that has set your food intake on the ultimate pedestal. But there’s a lot more to it.

For example, if you’ve ever lost a night of sleep or habitually lose sleep, that alone can make it almost impossible to eat healthier. Not because you lack willpower, but because at that point, your biological drive is to hoard energy.

Before you make any big changes to your diet, ensure your body has what it needs to use the food and make the changes you seek. There’s nothing worse than making a big life change and having it not work, which only drains you rather than fills you.

Again, you (and your body) are not the problem. It’s a biological protective barrier that you must learn to work with, not against.

Fueling your energy tank and charging your body battery are most important.

That means things like sleeping consistently. Getting morning sunlight exposure to regulate your circadian rhythm, daily movement and eating regular meals that signal predictability and safety. Eating in a calm state rather than while rushed, scrolling, or stressed matters. Connecting with life and practicing more ways to fill your body.

It also means being conscious about what you fill your mind and (perhaps, especially) your soul with.

These basics improve insulin sensitivity and help optimize blood glucose, not because they band-aid it, but because they improve the overall capacity and energy, and that changes your body’s signaling.

Food matters.

I sound like a broken record, but I want you to hear me. Food matters.

But food works inside a system. And if the system is in scarcity, changing food alone won’t fix it.

Health isn’t just about what you eat. Again, it’s about how your body responds to what you eat. It’s about how much energy your body has to use food or if it’s going to store it.

When energy improves, blood sugar often improves.

When capacity increases, regulation follows.

So before you go and make any big diet changes, ask yourself: Do I have the energy and capacity to support this?

If it’s a no, do something to change it!

That’s why inside the Health Blueprint, we focus on the basics first. Not because food doesn’t matter, but because food works better when the body has energy.

If you’re not part of the Health Blueprint course, it’s never too late to join. All you ned to do is become a paid subscriber. Once you join, you can watch the masterclass on building energy here.

Then, join us each morning live right here, where I continue to cover topics like this while encouraging you to take action on the basics.

Below you’ll find a morning live on hormones — and how your hormones are most often just an energy problem.

Read more

Did you watch Alex Honnold free-solo the 11th-tallest building in the world, Taipei 101?

He climbed without ropes, a harness, or a safety net. Just a wild amount of capacity and a remarkably neutral nervous system.

Honestly, I felt a stronger fear response watching him do it while sitting safely on the ground thousands of miles away than how he appeared 1500 feet in the air. My hands and feet were sweating. I also had to physically look away more than once.

My mind was focused on what could go wrong, rather than what could go right.

That’s fear.

I was scared because I hadn’t been there. I hadn’t experienced that environment or witnessed it enough to know whether it was possible or even safe.

Fear tends to live more in places we haven’t been than in places we have. Which is exactly why it can keep us from moving toward places we want to go, especially because most of them are unfamiliar.

It’s also why doing hard things and putting yourself in new situations can build the wisdom and capacity to keep venturing into new territory. We become stagnant when we stop pushing our limits.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I really want you to watch at least a clip before taking in what I’m about to say. The full special is on Netflix, but even this short replay shows how much his demeanor and attitude mattered just as much as his strength.

Here are five things I processed while watching, aside from his obvious physical ability:

01: He Believed He Could

You don’t climb one of the tallest buildings in the world without believing it is possible. And not only is it possible for someone, but it is possible for you. This signifies the importance of how his relationship with himself shaped his ability.

TAKEAWAY: Your self-talk is shaping your capacity. How you relate to yourself either expands or limits what you attempt.

02: He Set An Intention and Trained For It

The documentary stated that Alex had conceived the idea and set the goal more than a decade before he attempted it. This wasn’t impulsive. It was an intention. He set a vision and worked for it, training consistently, even when it was hard and when progress was slow.

TAKEAWAY: Starting may get attention, but staying in it is the power. Consistency is harder than quitting, but it’s also where the payoff lives.

03: He Went Slow

In a world that seems to rush everything, addicted to urgency and fast results, his movements proved the opposite. They were slow, deliberate, and intentional both in the training and the climb itself. When you watch him move, it’s slow and deliberate. So slow, you could get the feeling it was going to take hours, and yet it didn’t.

His slowness actually made the process more efficient.

TAKEAWAY: Slow doesn’t mean harder and slower. It’s often the very thing that allows it to happen faster. It comes with less panic and more ease, which is what actually made it fast.

04: He Stayed Neutral

This one is hard to explain unless you see it. He was relatively emotionless, outside of the occasional smile. There was a neutrality toward him that wasn’t detachment but discipline. Through training and repetition, he learned that internal balance was the safest place to operate from.

Even at the top, his response was understated. Yet, maybe that’s the point. Maybe joy isn’t always found in the emotional highs, but in grounded presence.

TAKEAWAY: Your nervous system is always seeking balance. Feeling emotions isn’t the problem. Losing regulation is. Safety and strength come from returning to neutral.

05: Safety is Learned, Not Given

If I stood on a ten-foot roof, I’d be nervous. I can’t fathom 1,600 feet in the air. But one professional climber co-hosting the event said something that stuck with me: “repeated exposure is what desensitizes fear.”

You don’t wait to feel safe before you act. You act, and safety is learned through repetition.

TAKEAWAY: Safety is conditioned through experience. The more you show yourself that you can survive something, the safer your body learns it is.

Honestly, this wasn’t just a daring stunt like I thought it was, but it was a great picture of what is humanly possible.

What scares you the most about the changes you want to make in your life?

When you pinpoint it, you can stop living for it.

Remember, fear isn’t a sign you’re incapable. It’s often a sign you’re standing at the edge of something unfamiliar.

Hard isn’t punishment. It’s a strategy.

We’re living in our “gentle” era. And while I don’t disagree with the concept of gentle (truthfully, we could all be a little more gentle with ourselves), I think that we’ve assumed gentle is easy. In reality, gentle can be just as difficult, if not more so, than hard, and not in the way most people assume.

Gentle can quickly become an avoidance strategy or a form of complacency. It often comes with a lack of structure, and structure is what builds strength. Lived too long without balance, gentle can make us weak.

Humans actually benefit from a bit of pain. As Mark Manson says, “Strength is developed by consciously choosing and enduring, rather than avoiding what’s hard.”

Hard serves a purpose:

• Hard rewires your brain and body.

• Hard builds confidence, momentum, and consistency.

• Hard turns knowledge into lived experience.

That doesn’t mean you need to stay in a perpetual state of hard, but approaching life strategically with hard challenges builds strength and capacity. Doing hard things is the very equation that makes hard things easier over time.

More things filling my week:

1. Morning Live’s inside the Health Blueprint. It’s always so good to chat with you and answer your questions. I’ve really enjoyed charging my body with you. You’re not too late to join. Become a member and join us each day next week.

   Subscribe now

2. Setting a new routine for February. January is not the best month to change, and the exact reason is that we don’t have the energy to change. That’s what February is for, and this month I’ve set a new routine to boost my energy so that I can catalyze change. Truthfully, I think every month could use a routine reset.

3. This baked seasoned chicken thigh recipe has been on repeat for the last month. It singlehandedly got us through January.

4. Red-light screen mode. This isn’t the perfect solution to blue light. Overall, it’s still best to cut back on screentime at night. But if you do look at your phone, you can reduce blue light by turning on red-light screen mode (here’s a video explaining how to do it). Using this not only reduces blue light exposure but also your usage. Screens are far less enticing without vivid colors.

   **Do you already do this?

What’s Filling Your Month?

We’re in the heart of winter, although I like to think February is beyond the climax of winter (regardless of what the grounhog said). Remember, it’s going to be harder to maintain your energy, which means you should be more intentional about filling your energy tank.

What has been filling you up lately?

Here’s to charging up this weekend!