Why fuss about digestive health?

/4 Comments/in /by

I love talking about poop. (Excuse me – bowel movements.)

I know it’s kind of a taboo thing to state so matter-of-factly where hundreds of you could potentially read that statement, and, believe me, people frequently tease me about my unusual fascination with the subject, but I guarantee you this: if you spent as much time as I do researching how much of our health hinges on digestive wellness, you’d love talking about poop, too.

Keep reading this blog post to learn:

  1. exactly why I have such a deep reverence for digestive wellness
  2. what your bm’s might be saying about your overall health

(Also keep reading to experience two very short, ridiculous poems about gut health brainstormed by my brother and sister-in-law on a quiet day of fishing last summer.)

When I first began my health coaching career in 2005, my sole goal was to help people feel better and learn how to take great care of themselves. I didn’t give a second thought to whether I was going to “specialize” in any particular niche. I worked with clients around weight loss, cancer, autoimmune diseases, depression, etc. You get the picture. Guess what I noticed: Digestive distress was a common theme with a startling number of my clients, even if it wasn’t the primary reason they sought out my services.

That’s when I became keenly interested in the shape, size, frequency, and color of one’s do-do.

It’s important to remember there are no walls in the body. We love treating health concerns as if we have separate internal compartments, but we don’t. Each system in the body impacts the other systems, and the influence of the digestive tract is vast. I often refer to the digestive tract as our “river of life.” If that river is clean and flowing freely, it will be a source of nourishment and health for everything around it. If it’s dirty and sludgy, it’ll be a source of toxicity.

Simply put – good health begins with good health in the gut.

Every one of us has heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” Well, over the past few years that saying has morphed into a much nerdier (and less catchy) phrase, “You are what you absorb,” which many of us in the integrative/functional/holistic world embrace. What does that statement mean? It means you can eat the best food in the world, but if there’s a breakdown in the digestive process leading to poor nutrient absorption, there will be consequences. You’ll have to deal with the downfall somehow, sometime, somewhere in the body.

Come. Revel with me. Here are just a few astounding facts about your gut:

  • The surface area of the GI tract is the size of a tennis court – about 300 square meters.
  • Your gut quite literally functions as your second brain; it is formed from the same cells as the brain during development. When we “feel something in our gut,” that’s real information we should pay attention to.
  • 70-80% of the immune system is located in and around the digestive system.
  • More neurotransmitters are made in the gut than in the brain; we make 80-90% of our serotonin – the “feel-good hormone” – in the gut.
  • The human microbiome project has shown there are ten times more bacteria in the body than cells. In fact, some people say we are really only 10% human given this data! The project found that protein-coding genes in the bacteria in our intestinal terrain are 360 times more abundant than human genes in the body. This means that the genetic makeup of the microbiome (a fancy name for the intestinal ecosystem) has a greater influence on an individual’s health than the intracellular genetics of the individual.
  • Intestinal permeability, or leaky gut, in which the gut lining becomes weak and loose, is now thought to be one of the primary underlying reasons for the onset of autoimmune diseases and mental illnesses.

Now for some reflection on your own digestion and do-do. Here’s what your poop might be saying about you:

If your poop looks like rabbit pellets, you’re constipated. You might be dehydrated, your intestinal lining might be dry and not slippery enough, or perhaps you aren’t eating enough fiber overall. You may also have an imbalance in the good bacteria and bad bacteria living in your gut. This is called gut dysbiosis. If you poop fewer than 3 times a week, you’re officially constipated, but most experts agree having 1-3 bm’s DAILY is optimal. Yes, daily.

If your poop looks like a sausage or a brown banana, congrats! You’ve got a winner. (P.S. I’m sorry if this changes how you think about sausages or bananas.)

If you experience diarrhea or frequently have loose stools, your food is moving through you too quickly and you’re not absorbing adequate nutrition from it. Very, very often this is because you are eating something you are sensitive to like dairy, gluten, corn, or nuts, although it can also be a sign of a serious bacterial imbalance or a pathogenic infection.

If you burp or pass gas frequently after meals, it likely means you have low stomach acid and aren’t breaking down your food properly. That or you simply didn’t take enough time to chew your food until it was liquid. Remember – 30 chews per bite of food makes digestion smooth! Same thing if you experience heartburn or see undigested food in your stool.

If you consistently bloat after meals, it’s time to start sleuthing around for the underlying reasons because it’s not normal to bloat after eating. Perhaps you are eating foods your body doesn’t like, or you’re lacking the enzymes and stomach acid needed to break your food down properly, or you have a bacterial imbalance again. The reasons for bloating can be numerous; it can take some detective work to figure it out.

Conclusion:

It may sound dramatic, but life becomes way more enjoyable when you and digestive system aren’t at war with one another. Helping clients improve their digestion has been more satisfying than I ever imagined. I’ve seen clients start traveling again or attending yoga classes because they restored trust in their bodies.

Remember, imbalances in the intestinal terrain may lead to other, more complicated health concerns down the road. Resolve to deal with them now rather than waiting. And on that note, I’ll leave you with two short promotional poems my brother and sister-in-law brainstormed for me last summer while fishing on Lake Kabetogama:

 

“When your guts are in a bind

and relief is hard to find,

call Claudine!”

 

“If your bowels are smelling foul,

and you need the scoop on poop,

call Claudine!”

(Yes, it probably goes without saying, it was a very slow day fishing.)

Love,

Claudine

The Magic in the Rear View Mirror

/6 Comments/in /by

Wow, you guys. It’s so hard to believe we’re sitting at the close of 2016, ready to bust out our shiny 2017 calendars and launch headfirst into a brand new year. January 1 – a day oozing with possibility. We love the idea of a definitive fresh start, untainted and ripe with hopes, dreams, and goals.

What will 2017 hold for us? Maybe a few ambitious types have already jotted down a couple of resolutions, determined to harness the potential in the year ahead.

Don’t get me wrong – I think resolutions can be productive, but before we dive blindly into working out every day or saving a million bucks for retirement because these are things we think we SHOULD do to be a good human being, let’s push the pause button and back up a few steps.

I want to share a really simple process I have – consisting of three steps – that I use to reflect on the previous year and assess how on track I am (or not) with how I want to live my life.

One of my own greatest fears is that one day I’ll be lying on my deathbed and have the sinking feeling that I lived too much of my life accidentally, going along with whatever happened to me rather than co-creating it with rock solid intention.

I know I’m not alone with this fear; I hear my clients and friends talk about this, too.

For the most part, I’m on it. I really strive to be intentional and present and have clarity about who I am, yet there are certainly times when I notice I’ve been half-asleep and settling for things that are comfortable and easy rather than those that are going to nudge me into a satisfying life I’ll ultimately feel proud of.

So I’ve found great power and magic in pausing to look in the rear view mirror, scanning the last 365 days, and reflecting on what I accomplished and brought me joy, what was hard and forced me to grow, and what I want to feel more of in the coming year.

This gives me a better sense of what I want to keep inviting in or what I need to say goodbye to going forward. It guides me in creating meaningful intentions for the New Year that are ultra specific to me and don’t stink of any societal “shoulds.” “Shoulds” can be hard to get away from.

Sometime over the next few days I’d encourage y’all to get down with your bad selves, pen and paper in hand, and get real about what 2016 looked like for you. You can take five minutes to do this or five hours. It’s up to you.

Here goes (elaborate as much or as little as you’d like):

  1. REJOICE IN THE HIGHLIGHTS
  2. HONOR THE LOWLIGHTS
  3. FIND YOUR DESIRED FEELING/S

1. REJOICE IN THE HIGHLIGHTS

There can be a ton of questions you can use to drill down into the highlights of the year – those peak experiences that made you happy to be alive and grateful for all the goodness in your life. Some happened organically, some you created intentionally. This step is often fairly easy because we love remembering the good stuff. (Just make sure you don’t overlook the little good stuff that can get lost in the shuffle.)

Once you’ve identified the highlights, circle some of those you’d like to bring forward into the new year, if possible. Below are some questions to get you started.

Brainstorming questions:

  • What are the events, activities, or trips that made you smile from ear to ear?
  • What did you accomplish?
  • What do you feel proud of?
  • What new skills did you develop?
  • What’s something new you tried and liked?
  • Did you meed someone new who has become a bright light in your life?
  • Remember a time when you laughed so hard your belly hurt.
  • What’s your favorite story from this past year?

2. HONOR THE LOWLIGHTS

Let’s face it, every year has it’s low spots, those times when we feel devastated, hopeless, frustrated, rejected, exhausted, or lost. Sometimes we lose a loved one or have to say goodbye to a relationship that isn’t working anymore. People lose jobs, others deal with major health concerns. We all make mistakes and do things we feel badly about. Take some time to reflect on the lowlights from the year. These are the moments in life that typically stretch us the most and ultimately lead to personal transformation – if we choose to examine them.

Once you’ve listed your lowlights, take an extra minute or two to note what you learned and how you grew from those experiences. Then decide if there’s something you could do differently in the year ahead to eliminate or dim that lowlight. (Obviously this step doesn’t apply if the lowlight included something outside of our control, like the passing away of a loved one.)

Brainstorming questions:

  • What mistakes did you make?
  • Did you have to say goodbye to someone you loved or who was important to you?
  • What made you cry?
  • What disappointed you?
  • What made you bubble over with anger?
  • What didn’t go the way you had planned?
  • What sorts of things rocked your sense of safely in the world?

3. FIND YOUR DESIRED FEELING/S

Is is said that our choices are largely based on how we want to feel, that we are always trying to move towards pleasure and away from pain. Additionally, it’s fair to say we all want to feel loved and to feel love for others. Assuming that’s true for you, if you were to explore even more, what other desired feeling/s do you want more of in your life?

This might be the hardest piece of this whole process because, let’s face it, a lot of us are not very in tune with our feelings. You may actually want to refer to an online list of feelings to help brainstorm. Using a list can help us get away from generic words we grossly overuse like “happy,” “good,” “successful,” etc. and get to some meatier words that are more specific and meaningful.

Once you land on a word or two, then guess what? Your job in the coming year is to keep those words forefront in your decision-making processes. For instance, if you decide you wan to feel more “calm” in the year ahead, then you get to make more of your decisions based on that desired feeling. If a friend invites you to a concert and you get anxious just thinking about the crowds, then you will likely want to say no so you stay congruent with what you say your desired feeling is. If you consistently pack your schedule too tightly, causing stress and resentment, then some major shifts will needed to build more calm into your life.

Here are a few possible feelings to try on:

  • joy
  • resilient
  • peaceful
  • calm
  • thankful
  • strong
  • playful
  • optimistic
  • courageous
  • energetic

What do you think? Will you do this with me?

Claudine’s Answers:

In my newsletter I promised I’d post some excerpts of my answers here. If you’re curious how 2016 was for me, keep reading. Otherwise, go grab your pen and paper and get started, or leave me a note in the comments. :)

Claudine’s Highlights:

Overall, 2016 was a smooth year for this gal, especially when I compare it to previous years. I have a lot to be grateful for, and most of my highlights involve the beautiful people in my life – my incredible family, friends, and my hubby. I traveled more in 2016 than I had in a long time – both with friends and family – which brought me immense joy and fed my very real need for adventure. I saw some stellar stage productions and other live performances, and I began reading fiction again for the sole purpose of reading for pleasure, something this English major had been deeply missing in her life for YEARS.

After a tumultuous shift in my work environment the year before, I once again found myself with my feet on the ground and head held high in my business, which I feel quite proud of. I was reminded that I am more resilient than I sometimes remember myself to be. I created materials for my business that had been sitting on a to-do list for a long time, and I feel so ecstatic that I get to do work I love.

I have a new goddaughter who lights me up and reminds me of the pure love and potential inside all of us. I love baby snuggles.

I am so grateful to live in a neighborhood where we know our neighbors. Our neighborhood game nights, soup exchanges, and dance parties make me feel 20 again (except when I wake up with a charlie horse in the middle of the night from too much dancing. Ouch.) I have community. Real community.

Claudine’s Lowlights

While 2016 was fairly smooth sailing as far as my personal bubble is concerned, it certainly didn’t come without challenges and disappointments. Friends’ health concerns tore at my heart, the political climate in our country stressed me out and left me downright depressed, and the never-ending violence around the world leaves me feeling hopeless on days when my resilience cup is low. I’m also dealing with a health concern myself that will require surgery in the coming year, which bums me out big time. I still suffer from the mindset that as a health coach I should never have a health concern myself, which pretty much sets me up for failure. Sigh. Believe me, I’m working on shifting this.

What I’ve learned from the health concerns is a renewed appreciation for the very real mystery of life and a willingness to at least try to surrender to that mystery (some days, at least). I also feel even greater empathy for my clients and others dealing with health concerns.

As far as the bigotry, racism, and outright hatred that surfaced with a vengeance after our insane election, I felt embarrassed and grief-stricken and disappointed in myself. I had to admit that I’ve been naive, complacent, and lazy over the years, allowing way too many inappropriate comments, jokes, and behaviors to go unchecked in my presence. My inspiring godson is African American, my sweet goddaughter is African American/Native American/European American – I need to be fierce and protect them, which means I need to start speaking up and challenging beliefs that say they are somehow less valuable than other people.

And as far as the worldwide violence, I guess I’m going to keep this quote close by in the new year, which reminds me to keep working on myself, and trust I can somehow make a difference:

“You must purge yourself before finding faults in others.
When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake.
This is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement.
Do not look at others’ bodies with envy or with superiority.
All people are born with different constitutions.
Never compare with others.
Each one’s capacities are a function of his or her internal strength.
Know your capacities and continually improve upon them.”
― B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life

Claudine’s Desired Feeling/s

Last year I determined that I wanted to feel more playful and adventurous, and I succeeded! Travel, reading fiction just for FUN, game nights, dance parties with friends, karaoke bars, Zumba, paddle boarding, snorkeling, snowboarding, hang gliding, and on and on.

FYI, I really know how to have fun.

This year I want to feel brave and free. I have no idea yet why these words are resonating , but next year at this time I’m sure I’ll be able to tell you. (P.S. Play and adventure are staying close by in the new year!)

There you go. Way more than you wanted to know about me. Now what about you?

Love, Claudine

Fudgy Holiday Goodness

/4 Comments/in /by

Happy holidays, everyone! ‘Tis the season for all things festive and magical and cheery and sweet (interlaced with stress, fatigue, and nasty beefs with Old Man winter – but hey, we don’t have to talk about that right now).

I sure hope you’re finding ways to soak up the wonder and joy of the season and that you are spending time with the people in your life that light up your insides with holiday sparkle.

December is my slowest health coaching month out of the year. This may come as a shocker, but it turns out not many people are interested in talking about the warming, grounding properties of root veggies or how sugar sabotages your immune system or how to follow the Elimination/Provocation Diet in the last few weeks of the year. Hard to believe, right?

So rather than delude myself and pretend anyone is interested in what I’d have to say about health right now, I thought I’d add to the merriment by sharing a recipe for fudgy goodness that makes me salivate like a puppy.

A client passed this along a few years back, and it falls in line beautifully with one of the guidelines I use in my work: Upgrade your food whenever possible.

Food is a touchy subject. Nobody likes to have his or her food messed with, let alone taken away, so I do my best to help my clients find “upgrades” for the dishes, snacks, and sweet treats they can’t imagine living without. Usually by swapping out an ingredient here or there or buying a higher quality version of something they enjoy (dark chocolate vs. crappy chocolate), we can uncover a win-win for one’s taste buds AND one’s health.

I love when that happens.

This recipe is a great example of a fudge upgrade. (Confession: I’ve never actually made real fudge so I’m not 100% sure what goes into it, but given the way my mouth feels fuzzy and my taste buds go manic after I eat a piece, I think it’s a safe bet there’s enough sugar in it for a neighborhood.)

THIS recipe may not taste like traditional fudge, but it’s so satisfying. I’ve been making it pretty much every week in December, and as a result, it’s been easy to pass up traditional sugary sweets. Enjoy!

 

Fudgy Goodness

Yield: 15 small servings

1/2 cup almond butter

1/4 cup coconut butter (manna)

2 Tablespoons coconut oil

2 mashed Medjool dates

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1-2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons hemp seeds

1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt

 

Combine ingredients in small pan and melt together over low heat. Stir together while heating, working to mash the dates more while stirring.

When mixture becomes liquid, pour into a small 5 x 7 glass dish or pan lined with parchment paper (you can also simply grease a pan if you don’t have parchment paper). Place in fridge and cool until it begins to harden – about 1/2 hour.

Cut into individual pieces and store in the fridge or freezer – they will melt if left out at room temperature. And you might be tempted to eat them all at once!

If you decide to make some fudgy goodness, please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Hearing from you makes my heart sing.

Love, Claudine

A Digestive Superhero

/1 Comment/in /by

This week I’m excited to introduce you to a digestive superhero I know and love, a veritable Wonder Woman of digestive health: psyllium husk.

Most of you know I love teaching people how to support their digestive health. Talking about poop is as normal to me as talking about the weather, and I feel confident this little seed could help you have such brag-worthy b.m.’s that you’ll start enjoying poop conversations as much as I do.

It’s one of those tools I like to keep in my back pocket, especially when I’m working with folks with constipation. It rarely lets me down.

Psyllium, or psyllium husk powder, comes from a shrub-like plant and is chock full of fiber, both soluble and insoluble. Think of psyllium less as food for you and more as food for the millions of bacteria that live in your gut. It’s vitally important we pay attention to and support these bacterial friends since they profoundly influence so many aspects of our health: immune function, mood, weight, digestive well-being, and much more.

In other words, psyllium can help build a healthy and robust bacterial ecosystem, which is critical to overall health.

When the bacteria in our gut feast on all the great fiber in psyllium, they produce a short chain fatty acid called butyrate, which is shown to increase insulin sensitivity and have anti-inflammatory effects, in addition to improving digestion. Furthermore, as this little husk makes its way down the intestinal tract, it absorbs water and forms a spongy gel, which adds bulk to stool, scrubs the intestinal tract clean, and binds to toxins, ushering them out of the body through well-formed stool.

Think of it as an “intestinal soft scrub.”

And yes, while I especially love using psyllium to jumpstart a stalled digestive system, it can also be helpful for those folks on the other end of the digestive spectrum – those who struggle with diarrhea. Because psyllium absorbs water and bulks up, it can help slow down or stop diarrhea.

It can speed things up, slow things down, bulk things out – it’s a digestive superhero!

In addition to enjoying bulkier, more robust stools (yes, these are enjoyable), side benefits of psyllium husk can also include:

  • more stable blood sugar: in general, fiber helps slow down the absorption of sugars into one’s blood stream, which is pretty much always a good thing. Stable blood sugar is a key building block of health.
  • lowering LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol numbers by inhibiting its absorption in your intestines
  • feeling fuller longer, thereby curbing the urge to overeat
  • weight loss, which is inevitable when you start clearing out toxins and built-up stool
  • clearer skin: psyllium husk can help move yeast and fungus out of your body, helping to clear rashes or other skin issues that have been exacerbated by these conditions

So, are you going to give it a try? What do you have to lose? Probably just some old, impacted fecal matter if you ask me, and that will certainly put an extra bounce in your step.

Keep in Mind

For those ready to experiment with this digestive superhero right away, keep the following tips in mind:

  1. Psyllium should not be treated as a replacement for the beneficial fiber you get when eating fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. It’s a SUPPLEMENT. Make sure you’re consuming plenty of whole foods daily. (FYI: 10-12 servings is considered the gold standard these days.)
  2. Drink plenty of water when you take psyllium – at least a full 8-ounce glass. Because psyllium bulks up, it does have the potential to cause an obstruction if someone is chronically dehydrated. Obviously that’s the last thing we want! Staying hydrated is simply a foundational building block of health, so aim for 50-70 ounces of water daily.
  3. Gradually build up the amount you take, starting with just a 1/2 teaspoon a day and increasing to no more than 2 Tablespoons daily. If the intestinal tract has become lazy, it can take some time to get it moving again. Be gentle with your body.
  4. Finally, if you take medications or other vitamin/mineral supplements, consume psyllium either an hour before or two hours after you take your medications, vitamins, or minerals. It can interfere with absorption if taken to close together.

How to Get Your Psylly On

Like any new food or supplement, psyllium can feel a bit mysterious, but it’s actually pretty easy to get into your body.

Most of the time I simply add it to an 8-ounce glass of water and drink it down. That’s likely the easiest method, and it ensures you’re taking it with enough water, which I mentioned is very important.

Other options include adding it to yogurt or smoothies, but you’ll want to make sure to send it down the hatch quickly if you add it to a smoothie. It starts gelling up within minutes and will make your smoothie pretty darn thick. Some people don’t like that texture.

Are you somebody who likes to make protein bars or power balls? You can often sneak in a couple tablespoons of psyllium powder to your recipe, and chances are you won’t even notice it’s in there. Psyllium acts as a binder, too, so it can even help hold gluten-free products together, which is a bonus.

If you have other ideas, please share in the comments section! I always love ideas and feedback!

So what do you say? Are you ready to get your psylly on? If you do, make sure to let me know how it goes.

Love, Claudine

I’ve got the beet! (a recipe you’ll love)

/in /by

I’ve got the beet! Do you have the beet? If not, I’m sharing a to-die for recipe this week that is far too good to ignore – EVEN IF you haven’t been a beet fan in the past.

Food just doesn’t get any better than the rich, earthy, naturally sweet flavors of fall. This is hands-down my favorite season for playing in the kitchen, and beets top my list of delights.

These robust little buggers make my taste buds do happy gymnastics and make me bust out in song with the Go-Go’s hit, “We’ve Got the Beat!” (MUCH to my husband’s disdain, I must add. Poor guy, but too bad for him; when this girl cooks, she SINGS.)

Some of you know I’m working on a cookbook for the Aslan Institute, the integrative clinic where I have my office. It’s going to be a collection of recipes from all of the amazing practitioners there. Well, this beet recipe is definitely going in that cookbook. It’s tasty and so, so beautiful – it looks like little pieces of crimson stained glass.

One note: while beets taste super sweet to me, every once in a while I run across someone who says beets taste just like dirt. If that’s you, try adding more orange slices and upping the ginger in the recipe. You can even add a teaspoon of allspice to help mask the earthiness and highlight more sweetness.

Beets with Orange Raspberry Vinaigrette

Yield: 6-8 servings

While this dish tastes delicious right away, it actually improves the longer it sits. Don’t hesitate to make this 2-3 days before you plan to serve it, allowing time for the beets to really soak up the orange, raspberry, and ginger flavors.

9-10 medium beets (about the size of golf balls)

2 Tbsp raspberry vinegar

4 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tsp maple syrup

2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger (or more if you want more zing)

1 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

1/3 cup red onion, diced small (about 1/2 onion)

zest of 2 large navel oranges

segments of 2 large navel oranges

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If using fresh beets with tops still attached, trim off beet greens and reserve for another dish.

Give beets a quick, gentle scrub to remove any remaining dirt, taking care not to break the skins, then wrap beets in a big bundle of aluminum foil. If you need to do a couple bundles, that’s okay. Place bundle/s in a baking dish and roast in the oven for about 60 minutes.

A quick note: in my experience, roasting beets is a super forgiving process. You can roast them alongside other dishes in the oven at temperatures varying from 325-425 and not really have to worry about them. Small beets may roast in as little as 30 minutes; very large beets may need 75 minutes.

Remove beets from oven when tender. Open aluminum foil and allow to cool for 5 minutes, or until you can easily handle them. Cut a small slice off the very top and bottom of each beet, then slip beet skins off by rubbing them with your fingers. You’ll be amazed at how quickly they come off!

Dice beets into 1/2-inch cubes and place in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve cold or at room temperature.

A note about making your orange segments: I’m fussy about oranges and really dislike having any of the white membrane when I’m using orange segments in salads or desserts. It ruins the texture for me and adds a bitterness I don’t care for. So rather than spending tons of time pulling the white membrane off, there’s a really easy technique you can employ that’s clearly explained in this You Tube video. You just need a really sharp knife to do it. Make sure you do this over a mixing bowl, as it will release a lot of wonderful juice you want to capture.

The benefits of beets are too numerous to disregard these jeweled beauties. Seriously. Beets are known as workhorse detoxifiers, they lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and fight against cancer. They also have a ton of fiber, helping us poop regularly. Enjoy!

Love, Claudine

Do you ever want a do-over?

/in /by

Ah, sweet September. It’s hard to believe school buses are back in action, Labor Day has passed, and summer is a memory already.

Can I ask, did you rock your summer as hard as I did? You did? Awesome.

And now are you as wiped-out and off-kilter as I am? You are? I’m glad I’m not alone. Perhaps we can find our way back to our best selves together.

As many of you know, I’m a proud Minnesotan – born and raised in this beautiful state – and if there’s one thing Minnesotans know how to do it’s how to play hard and soak up every minute of our precious summers. June, July, and August were spent enjoying some seriously awesome trips to the cabin, concerts that left me hoarse, the gluttonous Minnesota State Fair (twice!), vineyard/winery visits, long hours lost in my gardens, patio dinners with friends, mushroom foraging in the deep woods, kayaking, and on and on and on.

And of course much of this fun was accompanied by JUNK FOOD, alcohol, late nights, short nights, and little sense of routine many weeks. There was no holding back for this girl. Confession: BOTH of my state fair outings included cheese curds. After those babies I had a beer (or maybe two). Talk about walking on the wild side.

I sure hope you played as hard as me this summer, and if you did it’s probably safe to assume you’re just a bit more BLOATED, heavy, and TIRED than your best self right about now, just like me. If so, you may want to check out the cleanse I’m co-facilitating with my friend Suzy from Defining You Pilates and Fitness in October. Click on this link to explore the 30-Day Fall Cleanse: The Whole Life 360 Experience.)

I love summer, but its brevity often pushes us to go gangbusters and overdo it. If your overdo has left you needing a “do-over,” read on. Autumn is ripe with possibilities for renewal, reflection, and fresh starts, so let’s kickstart some self-love again and get back to the disciplines that help us be our best.

My Top 3 Tips for a Fresh Start

  1. Decide on a single small step missing from your routine and begin with that single small step.

Identify ONE thing you’ve let go of in your life/routine that makes you feel strong and robust, and bring it back. I’m the biggest believer ever that small tweaks are the ticket to long-lasting positive change. I sincerely wish I had a dollar for every time someone tried explaining to me in all earnestness, “But Claudine! I’m an all-or-nothing person! I can’t just change one thing!”

Yes, I know. We all want to wave a magic wand and have four dozen changes stick at once. Who doesn’t? But life, and your mind, and others around you don’t work that way.

Pick. One. Thing.

Do you need to get back to the gym and start moving your body again? Back-to-school means back-to-the-gym for a lot of us.

Are you eating a protein-rich breakfast within an hour of waking up? Routines tend to slip away in summer. It can be surprising to realize that something that was once automatic has vanished.

Are you going to bed later than your body likes? We might be able to scrape by on fewer hours of sleep and rely on solar power during the long days of summer, but it will catch up with us. Allow your body to rest.

So what is the fresh start your body/mind/spirit needs/misses right now? Trust your gut’s answer. No step is too small. Tiny changes will build confidence and energy and will yield surprising results if done consistently.

2. Change something in your environment. It sounds bizarre, but studies show that changes in one’s environment can promote fresh starts or new habits by up to 36%. Isn’t that astonishing?

I believe changing our environment is effective because it’s a pattern interrupt. It helps knock us out of auto-pilot and into a mind-space of being more intentional. Whether you decide to clean out the pantry, rearrange your office, declutter a closet, or display a new piece of art that lights you up, changing our environment clears out old energy and opens our eyes to possibility again.

I have a great story of how this worked for me.

For over a year I had the simple goal of meditating for 10 minutes each morning, which doesn’t seem like it should be that hard, but I just could not get into a rhythm with it. I was finally successful when I cleared a corner of the bedroom and designated that particular space for my sitting meditation. It sounds so simple it’s almost embarrassing to share, but I know I’m not alone. Simple solutions are often staring us in the face.

3. Remember Now is Now.

Humans are a complex breed. We love to believe past experiences and patterns or old beliefs of ourselves are the truth, when the truth is really that we are changing in every moment – as is everything around us.

It can be tempting to fall back into nasty old beliefs that we are perpetual failures and nothing is ever going to change for us every time we eat some sugar or skip the gym. We also like to think we can predict our future based on the chocolate croissant and two cups of coffee we just had. Heck, we could defeat ourselves by 7am each day if we’re not careful.

Every moment is a new moment. Now is now, and you are recreating yourself all the time. Become aware of the stories and beliefs that surface that tell you who you are or aren’t. Acknowledge these stories and beliefs, but don’t give them any power. Just say hello to them, then let them pass through you, like a cool breeze on its way to the next town. They are likely very old voices that got stuck and don’t know a doggone thing about what you are up to these days.

Learning to recognize these voices, like an old friend who’s not actually a very good friend anymore, will be an important step in building new habits. Now is now. Not the past. Not the future.

Let me end by saying that – without a doubt – filling our lives with things that bring us joy may quite possibly be the best thing we can do for our health – cheese curds, beer, short nights, and all – but there usually comes a time when we’ve overdone it and we need to turn over a new leaf. Autumn is that time. Keep me posted on how you find your way back home.

Love, Claudine

Is my face too huge on my new website?

/1 Comment/in /by

Man oh man, am I ever excited about my new website! After YEARS with a static web presence showing a dated, decade-old picture of me, I finally have a new dynamic site I’m excited to show off. It’s pretty, but more importantly, it’s functional and it’s going to help me run Wellness with Claudine MUCH more efficiently. I’m crazy-excited.

I love my new site, but I also have my insecurities about it too, like whether or not my face is too huge on the home page. If you would be kind enough to share your feedback, I’d be grateful. And please be honest.

Creating this site was an interesting and stressful process for me, and get this, I’m not even the one who built it! For crying out loud, I hired someone who did 90% of the work, which makes it a little hard to explain exactly why I found the process stressful. But I guess anyone who knows me knows that nutrition is my thing – technology isn’t. I love devouring nitty gritty details about digestion or hormones, but ask me to make decisions about my website or learn how to run its back office and I immediately feel blurry, overwhelmed, and irritated. It’s like a bad blood sugar crash, except I’m not crashing.

One day when I was feeling frustrated and tempted to abandon a pain-in-the-butt task I needed to do to get the thing launched, I had a profound realization that the frustration and irritation I was feeling was likely akin to how many of my clients might feel when they’re embarking on (or continuing) the journey to improve their health. They can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel – no matter how hard they try.

It was an important space for me to step into again because it put me squarely in the shoes of my clients. See, even though I find shopping and preparing healthy food for myself and others fun, many of my clients don’t (yet). The same could be said about exercise; I think it’s enjoyable, but I’m sure some of my clients would like to strangle me when I suggest that they, too, could learn to like it. The truth is that following through with new, foreign tasks that I knew were necessary but didn’t want to do took some healthy doses of positive self-talk and discipline.

So I wanted to offer some tips for staying on track for success when you really don’t want to. Don’t get me wrong, these tips aren’t about making something easy – they’re about getting ourselves to follow through when we don’t want to:

  • For crying out loud, hire a professional who knows what he/she is doing. I think my new site is pretty doggone cool, and I never, never, never could have built a site like this myself. And nobody would expect me to because technology is NOT my thing. I’ll admit that in the past I have “put up” websites myself using templates in order to save money, and you know what? They sucked. They didn’t look good and they didn’t generate website traffic, which added up to a whole lot of wasted time and energy. This time I was serious about making a positive change happen and hired a professional who could help me achieve my goals. I hope with all my heart that this is the role I play for my clients. This is what I strive to be every single day – your partner-in-crime in achieving the goals you have for your health.
  • Get clear about why the task/project at hand is important. What’s the ultimate result you’re going for? Clarity and purpose go hand-in-hand. In my case, this new website will ultimately mean my business will run more efficiently and make it possible for me to spend LESS time on tasks I don’t enjoy instead of thinking about them and having them sit on my to-do list in perpetuity. When trying to improve your health, I’d say most people are trying to avoid bigger health concerns down the road and improve their quality of life now. That’s super motivating provided we stay in touch with that greater vision and purpose.
  • I had to remind myself that almost everything takes longer than you anticipate when you’re learning. This reminder was then followed by a deep breath and some self-encouragement, “It’s okay, Claudine. It’ll get done, and you’re not stupid for not ‘getting it’ right away.” Just like when we’re learning to cook and care for ourselves in a new way, showing ourselves some compassion and patience during the growth process is critical. When we’re faced with a learning curve, why do we so often think we should already know how to do something?
  • Break tasks down into small steps to decrease overwhelm. This is super important. No step is too small, and any step taken in the direction you want to go is better than nothing.
  • Identify preconceived judgments you have about the situation or task at hand and ask yourself if they’re really true. It’s embarrassing to admit, but there were times when I’d already decided that a task on my to-do list was going to bite just because it was website related, and then it turned out to be no big deal. How often do we do this to ourselves?! I thought revising the content for my site was going to take me FOREVER, but it didn’t. Human beings have a knack for making things harder than necessary. Learn to check yourself.

I became an Integrative Nutrition Coach because I love to support and nurture people on their health journeys, not because I was super stoked to deal with technology and website stuff. But it’s a necessary “evil” of being an entrepreneur.

No matter how much we wish it weren’t so, sometimes we just have to buckle down and do the work we’ve been avoiding. It’s great spiritual practice. If there’s something you’ve been avoiding because you think it’s too hard or because you’re positively sure you won’t enjoy it, I hope a little piece of you feels more capable and inspired to tackle it now. Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Just take the first step.

Now tell me, what do you think of my new site and my big face?

Love, Claudine

Easing Anxiety Through Diet & Lifestyle

/2 Comments/in /by

Anxiety is typically defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Dr. Henry Emmons, an integrative psychiatrist in Minnesota and the author of both The Chemistry of Joy and The Chemistry of Calm has referred to anxiety as “stress accompanied by fear.” I’m pretty sure everybody experiences anxiety at various points in his or her lifetime, and while unpleasant even in small amounts, anxiety from time to time is likely part of the “normal” human experience.

When anxiety becomes a regular part of one’s life, however, it can cause much pain and suffering and can seriously disrupt one’s best efforts to show up in the world and consistently be one’s best self. It then becomes critical to address it from as many angles as possible – nutritionally, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. While none of the suggestions below is likely a magic bullet to end all anxiety, approaching anxiety from a holistic perspective can significantly reduce the frequency with which one experiences it and help dissolve anxiety’s hold on one’s life over time.

20 Tips for Easing Anxiety Through Diet & Lifestyle

  1. Eliminate all caffeine, even if it’s just a temporary experiment. Everyone metabolizes caffeine a little bit differently; some people seem to be able to handle it just fine while others experience a blood sugar rush, irritability, hyperactivity, and/or anxiousness. Eliminate all caffeine (coffee, black tea, soda, chocolate, perhaps even green tea) for several weeks and track your mood and anxiety. Note: if you are addicted to caffeine, you will undoubtedly feel worse before you feel better when you begin to cut it out. Give yourself at least 5 days to get over the headaches, fatigue, and crabbiness before you begin making any assumptions about the need for caffeine in your life.
  2. Learn how to balance your blood sugar. When we consume too many sugars, refined carbohydrates, and caffeine, or when we feed ourselves irregularly, we can send our blood sugar on what I call “the blood sugar roller coaster,” which is a very stressful experience on the body and can both create and exacerbate anxiety. Balancing blood sugar begins with a balanced breakfast eaten within an hour of waking up and a steady diet of whole foods throughout the day. (This is a big topic. See my Balancing Blood Sugar handout for a full list of tips.)
  3. Make sure your vitamin D level is adequate. Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to a long laundry list of health concerns, with anxiety being one common byproduct. Your doctor can order a simple blood test to see whether or not your levels are sufficient. Make sure your vitamin D is somewhere between 50-80 ng/ml, which is considered the healthy range by functional medicine physicians. (Some doctors still consider anything over 35 ng/ml to be sufficient. I disagree.)
  4. Experiment with magnesium-rich foods and/or a magnesium supplement. Magnesium is a calming mineral responsible for the proper functioning of 325 different enzymes in the body. It’s the fourth most abundant mineral in the body, yet it is estimated that 80% of the nation is deficient in magnesium given our preference for processed foods and the depleted state of our soils. Supplementing with magnesium is safe and often yields positive results quickly. Magnesium-rich foods include halibut, most nuts and seeds, leafy green vegetables, beans, and more. My favorite magnesium supplement is Ancient Minerals Magnesium spray. Please google “Claudine Arndt, magnesium, Experience Life” to read my full magnesium article about the importance of this mineral.
  5. Consume more foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids, and consider trying a fish oil supplement. Omega 3 fatty acids feed the brain, calm the nervous system, cool chronic inflammation, and help heal the intestinal tract. By supporting all of these areas of health, omega 3’s can also calm one’s anxiety. Omega 3 rich foods include salmon, sardines, anchovies, flaxseed, chia seeds, sea vegetables, walnuts, and omega 3-enriched eggs. Green Pastures Fermented Cod Liver Oil is a great fish oil supplement.
  6. Mind your microbiome. You might be asking, what the heck is a microbiome? Your microbiome is the ecosystem that lives in your gut, consisting of trillions of bacteria, yeasts, and protozoa that are meant to live harmoniously with one another. Science is now busting at the seams with data proving that when the balance is off in that ecosystem, your neurotransmitter balance will likely be off and symptoms of depression, anxiety, OCD, ADD, and more may surface. There are many steps to take when working to balance one’s microbiome; a solid first step is to get probiotics – or good bacteria – into your body. I often recommend Florastor as a great brand with which to start.
  7. Breathe deeply. Every day. As much as you possibly can. When we breathe deeply into the diaphragm rather than into the chest, we trigger “relaxation lobes” at the bottom of our lungs that activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is sometimes referred to as the “rest and digest” nervous system and is only activated when we are in a non-emergency state. When we breathe deeply we also slow our heart rate and lower our blood pressure, both of which have a calming effect on the body. (Please see your Breathing Exercises handout.)
  8. Get plenty of sleep. Though many people feel they only need 5-6 hours of sleep a night, very few people can thrive on less that 7-8 (or more!) hours per night. When we are sleep deprived, we force ourselves into a stress response, making episodes of anxiety much more likely.
  9. Practice meditation daily. Even if it’s only 10 minutes. The benefits to a regular meditation practice are infinite, including reduced anxiety. If you don’t know where to start, search for a beginning meditation class in your town or hire a private meditation coach to help. Meditation is becoming more mainstream every year; you may even be able to find a class through your community education program or online. And remember – the goal of meditation isn’t to eliminate all thoughts; the goal of meditation is to get in touch with the calm place in the center of your being, giving yourself a break from the constant noise of our busy world.
  10. Experiment with adaptogenic herbs like Ashwaganda, Rhodiola, Holy Basil, ginsengs, and more. Adaptogens are herbs shown to enhance one’s ability to resist stress, anxiety, trauma, and fatigue, and they work! You will likely find a wide selection of adaptogens to choose from at your health food store; some will be blends, and others will be include just a single herb. I like the tinctures available from Herb Pharm and usually recommend people start with about 1/4 of the amount recommended on the bottle and see if they notice a difference. If not, then they can gradually increase the dosage.
  11. Spend 15 minutes a day acknowledging your worries in a tangible way. Creating a list of your top ten worries or stressful events allows you to “capture” those worries on paper (or on your computer), which often helps one to relax. This “brain dump” also allows you to strategize and deal with each problem directly, if you so choose, so they don’t balloon to an unmanageable size.
  12. Oz cites lemon balm as one of his favorite remedies for anxiety. He suggests taking 400 milligrams twice daily, which he says will both help heal your GI tract, thus preventing your stomach from reacting to your worried thoughts, and calm the cycle of worried thinking itself.
  13. Laugh it off. Cultivate a good sense of humor and practice laughing as often as possible. Studies prove that even if you “fake laugh,” you get an instant hit of dopamine, the brain chemical that controls feeling of pleasure and reward. Laughing and “fake laughing” also help reduce levels of cortisol, the chemical associated with stressful events and situations.
  14. Regularly schedule relaxation into your life. If you struggle with anxiety, make sure you schedule 30 minutes every day to do something that you consider relaxing, whether that something is yoga, tai chi, sitting with a cup of tea, reading a book, petting your cat, staring at the sunset, looking at photos, art, listening to a podcast, or going for a walk. By building relaxation into your life, you may be able to preempt some anxiety.
  15. Exercise. Find forms of movement you enjoy and do something every day to keep your body moving. Exercise relieves tension and stress and facilitates the production of a whole host of beneficial stress-releasing hormones.
  16. Become aware of what triggers your anxiety. Is it work, family, illness, or something else you can identify? Take some time to sleuth out your triggers, then journal about these triggers or talk with a therapist or someone else you trust to develop strategies for coping.
  17. Become okay with “good enough” rather than striving for perfection. Perfection is impossible. Aim to do your best every day and practice being proud of your best efforts.
  18. Limit alcohol. Many people turn to alcohol to help them relax, but alcohol can actually induce and exacerbate the symptoms of anxiety – and it can even trigger panic attacks. For many people, alcohol is a toxin that can cause havoc to proper physical and mental functioning.
  19. Evaluate your medications with your physician. Certain medications have some ugly side effects — they can cause anxiety symptoms or even trigger an anxiety attack. Prescription medications to watch out for include thyroid drugs and asthma drugs, while over-the counter decongestants and combination cold remedies could also put you at risk for increased anxiety. And if you suddenly stop taking medication used to treat anxiety (benzodiazepines), this may cause anxiety symptoms, too.
  20. Get your thyroid checked. Your thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck that produces thyroid hormones. These hormones are important for regulating metabolism, energy levels, body temperature, and more. But if your thyroid is overproducing thyroid hormones, it can cause anxiety symptoms such as nervousness, irritability, heart palpitations, and sleeplessness. If you have anxiety symptoms along with swelling in your neck, weight loss, weakness, fatigue, or heat intolerance, ask your doctor to check your thyroid gland.