[00:00:11] Speaker A: What's worthwhile? It's a question we all need to answer for ourselves. I'm Ramsay Zimmerman. As for me, it's building mind, body and spirit wellness. Let's ponder the big questions together as we seek peace of mind, vitality of body and joy of spirit.
[00:00:38] Speaker B: So many people think that what is common is normal. This is how they're supposed to feel. Crashing at 3pm and drinking five cups of coffee a day, you feel like this is normal, but that's not normal. You know, you can feel energetic throughout the entire day. That's how our bodies are made. There's so many things that are fantastic about ancestral living and they did these practices because it makes the foods more bioavailable for our bodies so we can absorb the nutrients better, whether that's slow fermenting, a sourdough for example. But I will say too, there's been so much advancement in the health and wellness world. We're living in the future. Like this is 3,000, you know.
[00:01:26] Speaker A: Hey there, it's Ramsay here. That was caroline fossil. For 10 years or more, Caroline has shared nutrition advice, recipes, life hacks and more through her website, podcast and social media presence called Olive, you whole. Caroline is a bundle of energy and amazing to speak with and listen to. I met her through the online 12 month NTP training program that we are both in the middle of these days at the Nutritional Therapy Association.
We spoke a bunch about how she got here, why she's adding more in depth skills to her portfolio and ways in which we both hope to help clients today and into the future. I had a blast. I think you will too. Let's jump in. Hey Caroline, how you doing today?
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Oh, I'm doing great. How are you, Ramsey?
[00:02:13] Speaker A: I am doing well and I am so excited to talk with you today because we are classmates in the nutritional therapy practitioner program. Yes, through the Nutritional Therapy Association.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:26] Speaker B: I'm so thrilled to be here.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Yeah, totally. We should totally talk about how that's going. But first I want to hear more about how you got here.
You know, you have a great online presence through all of you whole which includes a website and Instagram and health coaching and recipes and tons more. And not to mention a really cool podcast that you kind of put on hold about a year ago.
[00:02:54] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: So I mean, let me ask you, let's start here. Like why this, why now?
Why are you getting into this program and why did you push your podcasting mic aside and. And welcome back to podcast land, by the way.
[00:03:11] Speaker B: I know. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay, so it's been a long windy road, Ramsey. And it really goes back to, I was just such a sick child. I had GI issues from my very first memories are, are, you know, going up to my mom after dinner and telling her, mommy, my tummy hurts, like over and over to the point that I just stopped telling her, you know. And my fourth grade year, I barely went to school. I had a friend who would just bring me my work every single day after school. And I went to specialists at Vanderbilt. I, you know, we did everything that we knew at the time, you know, in the early 90s.
And so I had this feeling of feeling out of control of my health and my own body as a child. And I realized that, and that wasn't, you know, really obvious to me when I started my blog, but that, that has become obvious to me since, like I have now regained a control of my health that feels so empowering to me. And so now I just feel so. I just get so lit up helping other people heal. So I feel like the word healing is what is spoken over my life and that really is my purpose. Both, like I'm still on a healing journey myself and helping others heal. And so that's kind of the long and the short of it, but even, even more in depth. It really came down to I got married right after college and we were going to wait 10 years to have kids and we were going to be really wealthy and wise and just so ready for kids, you know. And six weeks, is that always pregnant? Yeah, for sure. So six weeks later we got pregnant. I was 22 and terrified.
And then our sweet Ella Ray was born at 30 weeks. So like legitimately, nine months after our wedding day, we had a baby and she was in the nicu.
And so yeah, we had a lot to deal with like in those first nine months of marriage. But when it came time to feed Ella Ray, I just had this nutritional crisis because we had previously been vegan or near vegan and it, it didn't feel like the right fit for Ella Ray, this sweet little five pound baby, you know, like she really needed nutrition. Nutritional density was really crucial for her growing body who was barely on growth curve. So we did a 30 day Paleo diet and it changed everything for us. And so that's when I started my blog.
So those are the origins. Both like me as a child and then my own child.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: So how was the sort of the near vegan and the paleo different? Like how did that, oh man. Feel. How did the, the vegetarian vegan feel? And then how did Paleo feel different from that? How did that change your life?
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah, so really I came at veganism from this desire to be just as healthy as I could be. Right. Like, that was my intention. Like, I want to be as healthy for myself and the planet as I. As I could be.
It didn't end up working out for me very well because for me, and granted, keep in mind, I'm like 19, 20, 21 at this point, so I'm pretty young.
It ended up being really been and grain heavy. So, like, I'm eating a lot of legumes, I'm eating a lot of grains and obviously a lot of vegetables and fruits and stuff. But that just for someone especially who had GI issues her whole life, it was not great. That combination was really, really, really not great for me. And so I feel like I was struggling with energy. My protein intake probably wasn't high enough. I'm struggling with energy. I'm having issues like bloating and like, not feeling great.
But I don't think I was super aware of it because I had this like, firmly held belief that, like, this is, this is ideal health, you know, Like, I, I thought I was doing the right things. So then when we switched to a paleo diet in 2013, it was like night and day different. Ramsey. I, like, I. I had like some of my first days without a stomach ache in my entire life. Like, I felt, I felt so much better and the amount of energy was off the chain. Like, I just felt like I felt like I could take over the world, you know, make all my dreams come true. So I. We definitely saw a huge difference in that. And then it's funny because someone was asking me yesterday about vegetarianism, and I really think it comes down to this concept of nutritional density because, you know, you have like one whole chicken breast or like four ounces of chicken breast is like 25 to 30 grams of protein. If you wanted to eat the equivalent amount of protein in quinoa, that's 4 cups of quinoa. And for. In this like ancestral Paleo movement, I mean, people tend to push towards higher protein, especially for women. And so we're looking at like 100, 120, 140, 150 grams of protein. And if you were eating that on a vegan diet, it's just so many more calories. Like, you can't eat four cups of quinoa four times a day. Like, I couldn't. That's.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: That sounds terrible that it sounds like you would need like a tie on a feed bag to get 100%.
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Exactly. And so of course there are beans, there are other things, but yeah. And so for us, the Paleo diet really, really changed our lives and helped us look at nutrition in a different way. And we are not fully Paleo anymore, but it's definitely kind of the backbone of our whole foods diet for sure.
[00:09:19] Speaker A: So. And then did that personal transformation and all that new energy that you had, did that inspire you to look at other areas of your life and health and wellness and you know what, what did you start to do with all that energy?
[00:09:36] Speaker B: Yeah, so almost immediately I started the blog legitimately. I think we did the 30 day Paleo diet in like June, and I started the blog in July. Like, I was like, everybody needs to know about this. I'm definitely like an enneagram7enthusiast. Like, I have found the all the answers, you know, let me tell you, let me tell you what I found. So immediately I started the blog and I. My background is in graphic design. So like I'm a branding designer. I just like whipped together a hand painted logo and threw up a website and that was that. And so I really started cataloging recipes almost just for myself. Like I'm, I'm kind of swapping my favorite recipes, maybe from childhood, to this Paleo framework. And I want to be able to access them again. Right. Instead of like on a sheet of paper, I want to have like an easy way to access them. So that's kind of how it started.
But yes, it totally did snowball and I think it always does.
I think the health and wellness world can feel very all or nothing, you know, like you have to do everything. But for us and for many people, it's kind of one step at a time and it feels so exciting to eat healthier and then you feel better and then you're like, oh, I wonder, I wonder how I could take this mentality and apply it to other things in my life. So then it became, oh, maybe we need to throw out the 409 and Windex and like, should we be using like water and vinegar and essential oils? You know, so it really does permeate a lot of things in your life once you kind of get started.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Yeah. So what are some of those things? Did you, did you throw out those cleaners and start using the vinegar? What other kinds of stuff did you do?
[00:11:19] Speaker B: Yeah, we did. I mean, honestly, this is how I think we're going to get to this. But this is how my book, A Simply Healthy Life came about because I really was like, I have this framework and this mindset of how can I be as healthy and intentional in my life as possible?
And so it really has permeated so many areas of our lives. Whether that's having a mindset of minimalism and, like, I don't need to buy every single thing someone on TikTok tells me to. I really can have, like, a pretty low.
I don't. I don't even know, like, low clutter kind of lifestyle. Just like, less is more. So whether it's minimalism or it's how, how and what you're eating, or it's even your faith. You. So we have.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: I love that title, by the way. So a simply. Yeah, a simply healthy life. Because it. It calls up so many multiple things to mind. Right. In terms of it being simple but, you know, exclusively healthy. So. Yeah, I didn't mean to cut you off. Tell us more about the book and what the book is about and.
And all that good stuff.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. No, you're good. So a simply healthy life is essentially 12 different areas of your life that you can live in a healthy and intentional way. And like we were just saying, Ramsey, it can. This whole world of health and wellness can feel so overwhelming that I feel like people are even scared to put, like a pinky toe in.
And so I like to say that even though there are so many recommendations in my book, it is all very invitational. So take what you want, try what you want, set some goals based on the things that you're excited about trying and see how they change your life. You know, be very introspective. Did this help me? Did it not? Because, like we talk about in our NTP program, everything is so bio individual, right? So something that might make me feel alive might not make you feel alive. Right. Like, I would love to go to a party and talk to 20 different people. And my husband's like, I'm gonna sit on the couch and read a book, you know, and that's what makes us feel alive. And so thinking about your own bio individuality is really important. But yes, there's 12 different areas of how to live healthy and intentionally. And we talk about so many things, but I really love food, obviously. So we really talk about how can you craft a whole foods, real foods, down to the earth diet. How will that make you feel? We also talk about detox your home. So, like, we were talking about our cleaning products. It's so much more than cleaning products and so many things that we allow in our home. We think the government is keeping us safe and unfortunately, they're not. So anything from endocrine disruptors in your perfume or your shampoo to your cleaning products, to what you're putting in your laundry. So all different kinds of things. We think of detoxifying kind of our own bodies, but we can also detoxify before they even come into our bodies or our homes. So we can detoxify the things in our homes. We also have a chapter all about detoxifying your own body. So how are. How can we help our body live as optimally as possible? But, Ramsey, there's so many things. I know you focus on whole body health. So we even talk about your relationships, your community, who are you putting around you, your mental health kind of how. How are you speaking to yourself and how are you feeling on a daily basis? And we wrap it all up with the spirit aspect. And I'm a Christian myself, and my husband and I have done so many ancient, like, it feels new, but it's not ancient spiritual formation practices that I did not grow up with, like, in the church. I did not grow up with these. And so those have been really transformational for us. So some examples are just silence, which, as you can tell, is really hard for me.
Solitude and even Sabbath. So taking an entire day to dedicate to not working, delighting in God, stopping all work and resting.
So, yeah, it really. Your question is, you know, what can this affect? And the answer is basically everything.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I completely agree. It's like that mind, body, spirit connection, I think is really essential. It's all three of those things. And for sure, you.
You mentioned and talked a little bit about your faith. What did.
Since you. You just said you didn't really grow up with that, Were there some, you know, things that you discovered or were you influenced or how did you discover that new stuff?
[00:16:15] Speaker B: Totally. So I grew up in a Christian home, and I have parents who are still, to this day, Presbyterian. So we. I grew up in the PCA side of the Presbyterian Church, which I love. I loved my upbringing. I still love Presbyterianism.
And. But it was very like, the menu, I feel like, of like, here's how you grow with God felt limited based on, like, what I know now. So, like, growing up, it felt like, read your Bible, pray and go to church Wednesday and Sunday. You know, like, those are. Those were the three things.
And so. And like, you worship at church and in youth group. So, yeah, I just felt like it was like a little limited. And the emphasis of the Holy Spirit wasn't. Wasn't really there. You know, we really Emphasize Father and son, not as much Holy Spirit. So it was really my husband got connected to John Mark Comer's work. So he's out of Portland, Oregon and I love everything that he does. So he first started reading the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Super fantastic book. Love it all about like slowing down and being with God and talked about Sabbath a lot. So that was our, that was our first touch point into his work.
And then he also has, it's now a book. It wasn't at the time Practicing the Way. So that's the way of Jesus. Right? The early Christians called themselves the Way. And so that is really a study one by one going really deep into each practice of spiritual formation. So we have done. He originally had all of those sermons at his church, Bridgetown Church. He's now currently exclusively with Practicing the Way, which is fun because they're really growing that. So that's all online for free. So it's reader funded.
Just really fantastic stuff. And here's what I like. Ramsey. So for your listeners who are familiar with this concept and who are used to kind of going to church regularly, you know, I feel like we hear a concept on Sunday. We're like, by the time we actually sit down and think about it, like really process what we heard, it's like Wednesday. And then you're like, I'm going to definitely put this into action. And guess what? You don't. So then it's Sunday again. And now you have like a new message and like a new, you know, a new project, a new thing to do. And so what I really, really appreciate, appreciated about Practicing the Way was you're talking about Sabbath for four to six weeks and you're practicing it every single week. So you really just have the space to both learn about that spiritual practice and practice that spiritual practice. Because it's not a spiritual perfect. It's a spiritual practice.
And so we just had so much space to like really dive in and just stay in these practices. And I feel like that is where the formation really happens.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Well, speaking about learning new things and practices, let's talk a bit about our program that we're in.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: Yeah, totally.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: We're, we are what, a month or two in now to our nutritional therapy practitioner training. And what do you think so far? Is it, is it what you expected, what you hoped for? What are you excited to get out of the program?
[00:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah, totally. So as you know and you mentioned. I did. I became a nationally board certified health and wellness coach last year. And I love health coaching.
But what I really want to be able to do is be able to see a patient and be able to do both like conventional and functional testing, get to the root cause of their symptoms and really help them both with, with food and like a supplement protocol. Feel so much better. And I feel so passionate about this because I have been through it myself. I have experienced healing in this way.
And so many people think that what is common is normal. This is how they're supposed to feel. So if you are in a neighborhood with a bunch of go getter type A moms and everyone's crashing at 3pm and is drinking five cups of coffee a day and XYZ, right, like not sleeping, you feel like this is normal, but that's not normal. You know, you can feel energetic throughout the entire day. That's how our bodies are made. And so I really just help, I love to help people facilitate healing.
So far so good. I feel. Yeah, we're two months in, right?
I'm, I think I, I definitely feel like these are my people, this is the right place. I have a ton of friends who are ntps and so beforehand I really, I really asked them like, was NTP the program that was for you? Like, are you glad that you did ntp? Are you regretting your choice and if you could do any of this differently, would you? And every single person I talked to said, I'm so glad I went through NTP school and I wouldn't change it for the world. So that was convincing enough for me. And yeah, I'm definitely excited to. Yeah, I feel like we're kind of like training wheels it and getting into the good stuff and so I'm excited to keep learning more. What about you?
[00:21:45] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I'm really impressed. I'm impressed with the quality of the materials that we're getting and we're the stuff that has been prepared and written by the instructors. It's clear that they've been refining it over many years. And the instructors are not just knowledgeable but also really engaging for sure. And we have these, you know, zoom classes with maybe 100 people or so and it's really fun to watch the comments that are going along the sidebar. It's really like distracting but also really fun at the same time. And people are saying, oh, I did this, I did that. And I'm just like, you know, putting in little snarky one liners into the chat because that's how I roll, you know, for sure.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: No, I'm definitely chatty in that chat. And also it is funny to see it's interesting to see how many people are coming to this space. Like, I think our pain becomes our purpose a lot of times.
[00:22:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:52] Speaker B: So just like me, there's so many people. She'll mention endometriosis and so many people. I have endometriosis, blah, blah, blah. She'll talk about mitochondria. Some. So many people are like, oh, I have ms, and this is how that affects me. And so it is cool that there's. It feels like a bunch of people who either have their own health issues or everybody is just so passionate about healing. It's so great. It's what the world needs, you know?
[00:23:20] Speaker A: Yeah. I feel exactly the same way. And then also, when people do that, they also tend to sort of match up with each other.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: You know, within the program, they're being really good about encouraging us to connect with one another and to, you know, for the sake of study groups or just to, you know, get to know each other or to potentially work together, you know, now or in the future. And I just. I really. I really like sort of the way that it's going, and, you know, I'm pretty new to kind of this whole wellness world and.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Does it feel overwhelming?
[00:23:52] Speaker A: I have a different background.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Does it feel overwhelming?
[00:23:57] Speaker A: In some ways overwhelming, but in other ways, it just feels so true, for sure. You know, it just rings so true with me. And, you know, I. We.
I do have a science background. I have an environmental science degree.
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: And I took a bunch of courses in biology, and I've been just really interested in my own health for the last five or 10 years.
So I'm happy to say that the things that I've been learning have been consistent with what I thought I was learning in the past five or ten years. Like, and I'm like, oh, that's why that's happening, for sure. So a lot of dots are connecting for me.
So it's great. And. But, you know, so. So you've been at this for a while. You've been in the wellness space for 10 years or so.
[00:24:45] Speaker B: Right.
[00:24:46] Speaker A: How has the.
How has it been? Like, has the vibe changed? Has it evolved? Is it different now? Is it the same? Like, what. What. What has that 10 years been like? And how are we different now?
[00:24:59] Speaker B: Yeah, that's such a good question. You know, in some ways, it feels like we're zooming into the future at such a fast pace, but in other ways, it feels like we are absolutely going back to our roots and getting back to what our great grandparents did and Ate.
So I think those. Those two lines are happening at the same. At the same time. And I do think that going forward in some ways is great, but also, I think this returning is really amazing, and I'm here for it.
Even Ramsey, in, like, one of our units, we all had to try an ancestral practice for ourselves. And so even the concept of, like.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: Oh, man, you do. Yeah. You do not want to eat the tomatoes that I tried to pickle, because they are terrible.
[00:25:50] Speaker B: Wait, so what was your practice? What did you end up doing?
[00:25:54] Speaker A: Well, so I'm in Western Washington, and it. It was really sunny for a while, and then the sun just went out.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: So you tried to grow tomatoes? Is that what it was?
[00:26:04] Speaker A: So, yeah. So I've. So we are growing tomatoes. We have been growing tomatoes, but our tomatoes didn't really turn red. So I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to pick these green tomatoes and pickle them like my grandmother used to, because my grandmother made wonderful pickled tomatoes.
[00:26:20] Speaker B: But were they green when she pickled them?
[00:26:22] Speaker A: Oh, yes.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: Okay. Well, this is actually great because I have a bunch of. I. We have had so many tomatoes this year, and I'm mostly making them into pasta sauce so that I can store them so they, you know, like, last through the winter. But I have so many green ones, and I'm thinking, in Colorado, we're gonna get cold soon. So this is a great thing if I end up having gre. Green tomatoes.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: Well, yeah. So be sure to figure out how much salt you should put in the brine, because I must have, I don't know, put three times as much salt in the brine, because, like, instead of pickling, they just started erupting salt. And there was just, like, salt solution, and it was, like, crawling out of jar, and it was salt on the counter, and it was crusting, and it was, like, terrifying. So then I.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: The Frankenstein tomatoes.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: Yes. After a week, I cut into one of the tomatoes and just. I thought I was going to, like, have. I don't know, like, all of the liquid in my body was going to immediately just rush your mouth.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: That is so funny. Oh, my gosh. I love it so much. So, yeah, there's so many Asian practices that end. Like, they. They did these practices because it makes the foods more bioavailable for our bodies so we can absorb the nutrients better. So that whether that's like, soaking and sprouting grain and beans, whether that's slow fermenting a sourdough, for example, there's so many things that are Fantastic about ancestral living. And so I love that. And I think. I think there's a group of us in the wellness world that are kind of heading that way. But I will say, too, there's been so much advancement in the health and wellness world.
Whether it's like the importance of certain nutrients that we're finding or like, NAD decreases as we age. So now we have ion layer where you can have a pack patch that, you know, puts NAD into your body. So there's just so many things that feel like we're living in the future. Like, this is 3,000, you know, and those things, I think kind of like in moderation without getting too crazy with it. I think those things can be really helpful. Like, I have used.
I have used a glucose monitor myself, and like, that kind of information is so helpful for your personal blood sugar regulation.
So, yeah, there's like all this scientific advancement that's really cool. And I. And I love that. And then I think we're getting back to our roots a bit as well.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Well, yeah, it's. It's a. It's a story of technology and the appropriate use of technology and using it for the right things instead of using it for the wrong things, for sure. And it's also, I think, has to do with humility.
You know, when humanity thinks that we can do better than nature does.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: Oh, man.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Then I think there's some arrogance there and we need to have some humility to go back and say, you know what? I don't understand why this works, but it does.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: It does.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: And so the less that I can change the things that that have, in fact, worked for thousands or millions of years, then that's what we should do. And so I feel that. I see that. I think that's a great way to put it, that we're simultaneously kind of reconnecting with ancient wisdom and at the same time using modern technology and the blood glucose monitor stuff.
That's just one example of diagnostics. Right? So there's tons of diagnostic technology, and that is fundamentally different. You know, talking about how you measure something versus how you try to engineer or change or trick your body into doing something that it was not designed to do. So, yeah, no, I really like that. I had never really thought about it that way, but I think that's great, that reconnection and that simultaneously going back and going forwards. And I think all the time that we're living in the future, like, oh, gosh, I can't even process do. You know, I'm. I'm. I'm getting old. So, you know, like, I mean, same.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: I don't know about you, I'm aging quick. Yeah. I do think there are lots of companies that are using technology. Well, and even one that I will use with my clients is Function Health, which is by Dr. Mark Hyman, who I love. He's an MD and now you can get something like 600 tests, I don't know, tons of tests, all for 4.99, 499 a year. And so it's stuff that, like, my husband is a physician. That is his job. And he, not surprisingly, because this is how physicians are typically, but he doesn't even have a physician. And so I'm like, baby, we need to get some baselines for you on all of this stuff. And so Function Health is a great way to do that. And they've used, they, you know, they partnered with Quest and they made it affordable to do. Okay, 100 plus plus lab tests is the first test. And then at six months you do 60 follow up tests and you can do that every year. So you're just staying on top of this lab work. Like, I am so passionate about thyroid health and the concept of like, I'm seeing a client later today who has endometriosis and they've never tested her thyroid hormones, like, what, ever? Or they'll test your TSH and not test the entire panel of things that you need for your labs. And so anyway, I just, I just feel like there's so many things that both women and men, there's you, if you're a man, you get certain tests. If you're a woman, you get certain tests. So stuff like that. It's like, let's use technology and then they use AI as well to analyze the results. So let's use, let's use AI. Let's use technology in a way that can really help us feel better and then be better humans.
[00:32:28] Speaker A: So for somebody who is listening and they are pretty conventional, you know, in terms of what they do, what they eat and, you know, how they, you know, go to the doctor or whatever, what are some of the kind of first things that you might recommend that they start thinking about looking at doing?
Because, you know, this theoretical person feels okay, but they don't feel great. Yeah, I think that you and I would both suggest that they could feel great potentially. What are some of the first things you could say to them?
[00:33:04] Speaker B: Man, you know, Ramsey, I used to be in such a narrow mindset of like the Paleo diet, and I've really expanded since then. So I feel like there's not much that that's like, for all people, all the time. One of those things would be sleep. So that's definitely one thing that I feel so passionate about because we tend to have this, like, girl boss vibe in the United States. And so we're just hustling, hustling, hustling, going, going, going, and we never stop. And that is a problem if we're not sleeping. Sleep does a million things, and we don't even know the half of it.
But if you are not. Not getting seven to nine hours a night, I would say let's start there. You know, it's not.
It's not necessarily a massive overhaul. So I would start with sleep. So let's sleep more.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: But, Caroline, there's, you know, lots of people who would like to sleep more, but they're busy and they're distracted and, yeah, they're running full sleep, for sure.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: For sure. I feel like my. My argument for more sleep is that your efficiency during the day is astronomically more if you've slept. So you're actually, like, regaining time if you can sleep. The data on, like, even getting six hours of sleep a night, like, they've compared it to having a blood alcohol concentration of.08, which is illegal to drive. And there are similarities. And so your cognition improves, your ability to do those tasks quicker and more thoroughly and better improves. So it really will help your life. And I do think. I do think people will see changes, not even just like, energy, but changes in productivity. I think your whole life gets better if you sleep.
[00:34:54] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I. I don't dispute that for a second, but. And in order to get a really good night's sleep, though, you sort of have to put that in as a. As a priority for yourself, and you sort of have to lean into it. You know, you have to say, okay, I'm gonna not have things like caffeine after, you know, kind of the middle of the afternoon, and I'm going to kind of adjust the. The lighting and so start turning down the lights and stop looking at the. The bright blue video screens on my phone or on computers. And, you know, even if you can get outdoors and watch the sunset.
[00:35:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:36] Speaker A: Your body's like, oh, it is time. Yeah. And then the sunrise the next morning. So being able to kind of set your body clocks, those are all really important things. But totally, you know, I think when. When we're in that phase of life where it's go, go, go, go, go, go as long as possible, and then it's like, okay, I'm going to sleep now.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: Crash.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: And then you're just laying awake. I'm exhausted, but, but I can't fall asleep.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: So true. Yeah. So there's definitely some like backtracking that happens with, with pushing your bedtime earlier for sure. I feel like that's one of the like universal things is sleep.
And then honestly my next step with people is usually like I have a wellness wheel that we used in health coaching school. And so to me it's like it comes down to when you want to change your health in some way. It really comes, comes down to either what feels most pertinent to do or what you feel most passionate about changing. So you know, maybe you were just diagnosed as, as pre diabetic and so you're like, well shoot, that's not good. I really need to start looking at my blood sugar. And maybe you're not thrilled about that, you're not most passionate about that, but that feels really necessary for you. So yeah, I would start with one of those things. Things. What feels most necessary or what do you feel most excited most passionate about?
That is going to be where you're going to see lasting change.
[00:37:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's all about sort of building momentum too. Right. Like trying one thing and, and having some success with it and then you feel kind of better and you're like, okay, well let's keep doing that.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: And let's try the next thing for sure.
[00:37:16] Speaker B: And it's great because we, I talk about in the book, book how to create a smart goal, which is very like health coach of me. And so we can first create a smart goal. And with a smart goal it is time bound. So it has an ending. But typically, let's say you want to swap your coffee with herbal tea. Okay. So you say, I'm going to do that for a month and I'm going to see how I feel. Well, what's great about the snowball effect that you're referring to is that goal actually becomes an ingrain habit and then that becomes part of your lifestyle. So whereas at the beginning there's so much effort when it comes to behavior change and making that change and forming that habit. It's, it's, it's lot, it's a lot of effort. But the concept of a habit is, it's ingrained and it's automatic. And, and that's because honestly, Ramsey, we are lazy. Humans are lazy. And we, and that's not a slight against humans. We literally our brains are always looking for how to make things Easier. And that's why we have habits.
And so once it has become a habit, that effort comes way down. And then you're right, we can stack another thing on top of that. So we can slowly but surely, one thing at a time, really change our lives. But yeah, it does not have to be a complete overhaul, especially for someone who's like, hmm, I'm interested about health and wellness. What can I do? It's one tiny change at a time.
[00:38:46] Speaker A: Yeah. And then do you find that your customers, your clients, your people, if you will, like what, what kinds of things do they struggle with kind of in the long term? And, you know, how do you, how do you help them through their struggles?
[00:39:04] Speaker B: Yes, it really runs the gamut.
I, I feel like the, the constant between all the people is I don't feel my best and I want to feel my best. So that can look in, that can look a million different ways, that can look like symptoms that aren't a diagnosis yet or that can look like I have Hashimoto's, I have endometriosis, I have Crohn's, I have, you know, you see ulcerative colitis, like all kinds of things, and I'm looking to feel better. Additionally, another constant is I am completely overwhelmed by all of the contrasting and, you know, contradicting information out there. And I just need some answers, you know, and so that's really where the book came in was like, I really do feel like one person saying you should do keto, one person saying you need to do no oil vegan. One person saying, so the nutrition world feels very cloudy and very confusing.
And so, yeah, I feel like a simply healthy life for me was like, hey guys, let me look at the science for you. Let me tell you what I've been doing the last 12 years. Here's kind of my synopsis. Because clients do want that, they want you to be able to give them some like, peer reviewed double blind studies that say X, Y and Z. We want some definitive information. And of course we can't always give that, but we can cut through the noise a little bit and say, no, that person has zero credentials and doesn't know what they're talking about. And maybe they got skinny because of diet pills with tons of caffeine and that's not good for them, you know.
So, yeah, I, the concept of I just want to feel better. That's kind of the constant.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: Yeah, no, and I think that is really important. There is a lot of information out there and there's a lot of different People saying a lot of different things.
And it is actually that's one of the reasons that I sort of created this podcast asking that question of what's worthwhile to focus on, because there are so many different, you know, so many different messages that are competing for our time and for our attention, and, you know, it's hard to even tell which ones are real and which ones are not. So, yeah, I think that, you know, having voices like yours with your, you know, recent 10 years of direct experience writing great books like this is really helpful.
You know, we've covered a bunch of ground and talked about a lot of stuff today. Is there anything else you'd like to add or some things that you'd like to emphasize kind of before we. Before we start moving on?
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think that I, you know, I tell every new client this, that our bodies want to heal. Like, that is how God made us, and that is the reality of our bodies. And so what's really cool is I think one of my favorite parts of my job working with clients is just being able to shed hope or shed light and give hope to clients who've maybe been told, you're going to suffer with this forever, and it's like, oh, gosh, no. What? That's not true. Like, we can likely help you feel a lot better. And so if. If any of your listeners are in a place of just kind of desperation or discouragement, like, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to feel better.
I feel like that message of most of the time, we can. We can offer healing and we can feel a lot better.
[00:43:01] Speaker A: That is great. So, Caroline, how can. How can. Can people learn more? How can they get a hold of you? Yeah, what's your. What's your. Your website, your social media handles all that good stuff.
[00:43:12] Speaker B: All the good stuff. So, yes, I am all of you whole everywhere. So that's like an olive that you eat. Y O U W H O L E so that's dot com, and that's on all social media channels.
[00:43:24] Speaker A: Awesome.
Well, I gotta say, thank you so much.
This has been really fun for me. I'm excited to get to know you. And while we're in our program at nta, and it's just really special for me because I'm on the front end of this journey and learning how to do podcasting and wellness and getting through that, it's just so fun to hear how your experience has been these past few years. And I'm just so.
I. I really enjoy your your positive energy and the fact that you're going out there every day and. And trying to make people feel better. So, you know, from. From the universe. Thank you. We appreciate that.
[00:44:15] Speaker B: Likewise.
[00:44:17] Speaker A: All right, well, see you in class.
[00:44:18] Speaker B: Yeah, see you soon.
[00:44:20] Speaker A: Thank you for asking. What what's worthwhile? Visit whatsworthwhile.net to learn more about me, Ramsey Zimmerman. And please provide your name and email. To become a supporter, I'm asking for prayer advice, feedback, and connections. The what's Worthwhile? Podcast is on Spotify, Apple, iHeart, and Amazon. You can also
[email protected] Thanks.
