Ep 34 | Why I'm Angry And How To Start A Positive Ripple Effect To Fix Our Broken Systems and Society

I'm feeling particularly heartbroken and angry about our current "norm". The current systems in place set our society up to fail when it comes to physical and mental health. It makes me furious. 

In light of yesterday’s events, I’m releasing this podcast episode early on the systems that make me angry. It’s a snapshot of the hypocrisy and vicious cycle of the systems in place that are making our country sick, overweight, and unhappy. 

Ex: Our government is subsidizing the crops that make the food that severely impact physical and mental health. Yet healthcare is unaffordable for many. 

Dietary and lifestyle factors are major contributors to preventable chronic diseases (and mental health), yet doctors aren’t educated on these in medical school nor do they have the time to ask about them or give recommendations beyond “eat healthier” or “try to lose some weight”. 

Our healthcare system is so siloed and rushed that a pill is prescribed for everything instead of asking how all of the symptoms could be connected and WHY. 

Everyone is stressed and our society has normalized numbing that with drinks at the end of the day or comfort food instead of actually talking about it. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Change can start today, but it has to start one person at a time. We can’t keep hoping the people who are supposed to be taking care of us will do the right thing. 

We NEED to start being kind to ourselves so that we can have the energy and patience to be kind to each other. Our society and the misguided and confusing information around health makes that feel really hard even when you’re trying. Please listen to my podcast episode to understand why things feel hard and where to start.

Please share my podcast and this message with others. Please reach out to me. We can start a positive ripple effect starting today. We can’t waste any more time. ❤️

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn!
Learn more about how I can help you here!
I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

What You Need To Know About Dietary Fats

Music: “Play Thing” by Ketsa
From Free Music Archive

To learn more about my 6 month coaching program, the Aligned Success Reboot visit: https://www.lifeboost.today/aligned-success-reboot

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn! 

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

0:01

Hey life booster. This is Dr. Amelia health coach and veterinarian here to help you ditch yo-yo dieting people, pleasing and perfectionism by breaking the norm and living a life that energizes you from within today. I am going to share with you my angry side. So that's something that I get somewhat frequently. People who know me in real life are like, you ever get angry? You just seem like a very even keel kind of person. And while in general, I am a very positive, happy person. That is one thing that I have learned about myself, that there is a little bit of an angry side and I am not the type of person who just like screams and that type of thing. My anger tends to be most focused into one particular area. And that's when things don't things seem hypocritical and they don't seem morally. Like when people aren't being kind and when things just don't make sense in the world for overall goodness, that gets me a bit riled up. I am an Enneagram one. And if you don't know what your Enneagram is, I encourage you to take the quiz because it can really help you to take a step back and help to increase self-awareness. It may help you to start seeing some sides of you that you may not be very aware of when I did that., so I as an Enneagram, one they call them as the reformer. So we tend to have this deep sense of a mission to improve the world. I can very much relate to that. If you've listened to episode one, the authentic code, you know, that my authentic code is wellbeing. Influence connection and adventure. So that combination of wellbeing and influence really ties in with this sense of mission to improve the world. Now, when I was reading about the N my anti-glare gram, they also talked about how. we can sometimes be angry and that wasn't something that I identified with at all. I was kind of like, eh, that doesn't really apply to me, but as I started to think about it, I realized that actually there are some things that do kind of make my blood boil and that actually really has fueled me to be where I am now as a health coach, it has really led me down a whole path of doing. So much of my own research and just trying to understand things, because the information that is really readily available and the things that are not optimal for achieving health, happiness, and success. When we look around in this world, The norm is to be sick, overweight, and unhappy. And we have to be asking why that is, you know, just in life and as a veterinarian. And I'm sure you're feeling this too in general. It just seems like people don't have a lot of empathy anymore. It seems like people are very reactive and there's not enough kindness in this world. And it's because people don't feel. It's really hard to have patience and understanding and empathy when you don't feel good in your body, you're overwhelmed with stress and you're exhausted when your basic necessities aren't met. It's really hard to show up as your best self in the world. And I want to introduce to you just a little snapshot of some of the, the things about our society and our norm that frustrate me. And this is why I am going to continue to show up and share this information with you, because I want to help you to see the kind of. Peel back the curtain and help you to see what's truly going on in the world or you're living. I want to help you to understand why sometimes things feel so hard, why you feel out of control in your body. And I want to help you to feel empowered because the frustrating thing is that it's unlikely that things are going to change at the top. It's unlikely that any time soon what's normal in our society is going to really set you up for success. And we're going to talk a little bit about why that is, but the good news is when you know, the more you understand about why you haven't been set up for success, why you're not feeling great and what you can do, what you have absolute control over in order To live a life that energizes you, the more you learn, the more you'll be able to achieve that. Now I talk about the level three life boost that. With their wellness journey. The norm is to be stuck in either a level one that I'll do it tomorrow. You know, you want to make healthy changes, but today's do overwhelming. You'll do it tomorrow or level two, the bandwagon that's where you're making all these changes, but it feels really hard. It's fragile. You have to rely on a lot of discipline and willpower, and you're always worried about falling off the bandwagon. If there's temptations or you feel like you're missing. What most of our society doesn't know is that there's the level three. And that's the life boost level. That's where you are living a life that energizes you, you are doing health, you have all these healthy habits. You're eating really nourishing food. Not because you have to it's because you want to, you love this life and you're not afraid of falling off the bandwagon because there is no bandwagon anymore. This is what I am on a mission. To help you achieve and our world to achieve. I see. What's possible. I see why it's so hard for so many people. And I knowed, it takes in order for you to achieve that. I want to start the life boost revolution, and that starts one person at a time. So I'm going to give you a glimpse of some of the things that make me frustrated, but I'm also going to help you to see how. That has not been setting you up for success, but how it's absolutely in your control to overcome these things. Okay, here we go. So if you have listened to any of my podcasts or you have worked with me, or you look at my box, you know, one thing I'm really big on is sugar, right? Sugar is an, every. If you go into a grocery store and you pick up a product, the chances that that has added sugar in it are extremely high. There is no reason that salsa and tomato sauce and meat and anything that you pick up that is savory should have sugar. And. That's not setting you up for success. If you feel like you've struggled with a sweet tooth your entire life, or you tend to do not feel in control around food. This is a big reason because unless you are taking the time to look at every single food label and looking at the ingredients or the added sugar, you're going to be consuming way more sugar than you intend to. And that's not setting you up for. Now our government recommends eating more fruits and veggies, right? At the same time, they are subsidizing the food that is making us sick, overweight, and unhappy. The majority of the crops that are subsidized are the food that is being turned into extremely processed food. We're talking corn, soy and wheat. If you look now again, go into a grocery store, play this game, play it with your family. go into like the cereal aisle and pick up a product. You are absolutely going to find that there is likely a corn product in there, maybe high fructose corn syrup. You see that everywhere. Or you're going to see some kind of soy product, whether that's soybean oil, soy protein, isolate so much soy, and you're going to find out it's sugar and that's because. Our government is making it. So that, that is affordable for companies. If you wonder why an apple is more expensive than a bag of fruit snacks, or why water is more expensive than soda it's because our money is going to make corn and soy super afford. It's not going to the farmers who are making the produce, the fruits and the vegetables. So while our government may be having these dietary recommendations, seeing eat more fruits and veggies. They are creating an environment That makes that really challenging. Especially if you don't have a big budget for food, the affordable food is in general, highly processed. And so it's going to be really hard. Now I do want to take a moment to note that even if you have a really low food budget, if you're pretty limited financially, it is absolutely possible for you to be making nourishing decisions. But you have to know what options are available to you. Turning to some canned or frozen options or partnering with a CSA. Now there are some government assistance programs like snap, where farmer's markets except that, and that can be a great way to be getting fruits and vegetables. At the same time, we need to acknowledge that there are food deserts and that that is absolutely not always possible. So that's a little bit of a side note. I never want you to feel like you are in a position where a healthy lifestyle is not possible for you, because it absolutely is. Can always schedule a walk and talk if you're feeling that way, schedule it with me. And we can talk about that. But in general, where most of our money is going is not setting us up for success. So our money is going to the terrible food that is highly processed and void of all the nutrients that your body actually needs. And yet our healthcare is unaffordable for most people. Great. Now, if you have health insurance and you are going to your doctor, those visits are super quick. That's not a fault of the doctors. They have an crazy amount of appointments that they have to see. That's so much stress for them, the amount of paperwork that they're having to do and hoops that they have to jump through. That's exhausted. The other thing is that in medical school, doctors don't have a lot of nutrition training. There's maybe one nutrition class. They're not learning about lifestyle factors. These doctors are having lifestyles that are insanely stressful and impacting their health. And they're often also turning to the really convenient. They are not learning about nutrition. They're learning about how to treat diseases. So, not only do they not have the time to talk to you and to get an extensive history on, like what kind of food you're eating, what your lifestyle factors are like, like how much sleep are you getting? How is your stress? Like, how is your job? How is your happiness? Even if they did have that time, they don't necessarily have the training to help. The other thing that happens with our current healthcare system is that it's a very siloed approach, right? Like if you may go to your physician, but if you're having GI signs, then you're referred to the gastroenterologist. If you are having skin issues, you go to see your dermatologist. Every different body system has a different doctor who specializes just in that. So you may have a lot of signs, like skin issues. She eyes signs, trouble focusing, trouble, losing weight, but you're getting referred to different people instead of looking and asking how could all of these be related. So then you're missing the big point. You're kind of trying to put out little fires, but you're not finding what's actually starting the fire in the first place. The majority of chronic diseases are caused by nutrition and lifestyle factors. And yet our healthcare system is ignoring that largely if you go to see your doctor and you're overweight, or your LDL is elevated, or they see signs of pre-diabetes, you're probably told to exercise and to eat. What does that even mean? You likely to get very little support and you leave feeling confused because not only did you get bad news, it's probably not making you feel great about yourself. You also don't even know where to start. And even if your blood work looks normal, you may not be feeling great. Even if you are a healthy weight and your blood work looks beautiful. You may not feel great. I've been there, everything. They were like, oh, you're perfectly healthy. I felt like crap. I was having severe stomach pains. I was exhausted. I had brain fog. I didn't feel good that they were like, oh, everything looks great. The important thing to be aware of is that blood work, you're only able to see what you're testing. It was a veterinarian. I know this, like a dog can have cancer and our nurse typically expect that that should show up on blood work. That's it? As long as a lot of the organs are still functioning well enough to be having results that are within the normal limit. We won't know to be going on a cancer. So if you don't feel good, even though your weight and your blood work looks okay, it's not, you, it's not in your brain. It means that you need to keep asking what's going on. Now, the other thing is that the normal range is. Determined based on the average within the population oh, 70% of Americans are overweight. The majority of Americans are sick, overweight and unhappy. And so over time, these normal ranges have been changing. And so it's also important to know that normal doesn't mean optimal. We also, aren't always looking at what truly matters. Cholesterol is a great example. When you're looking at cholesterol, you're looking at your total cholesterol, you're looking at the HDL, which is like quote-unquote the healthy cholesterol and the LDL, which is thought to be the unhealthy cholesterol. A lot of people go on medications like statins when their LDL is creeping up. But the thing is, we now know that there are different types of LDS. And not all of them are very harmful. There are the larger LDL and they're are the small dense LDL and the small dense LDL are the ones that we really need to be concerned about. You can think of those like little bullets in your vessels. They are really causing harm versus the large LDL. They're just like bouncy little beach. Yeah. They bounce on your blood vessel walls. But when you're just testing LDL, you don't know whether it's the harmful LDL or the, the less harmful LDL yet. When that happens, the automatic. Response is to put you on a medication to lower the LDL. So we go on statins. The thing that we're finding is that unless you have had a heart attack, unless there are very specific situations, a lot of the times being on those medications actually doesn't influence your risk. It doesn't improve it much at all. It's like much less than a percent. So, this is an example of why we can't just be treating numbers. When you just put someone on a medication that's not achieving optimal health, we need to ask why is the LDL elevated and what type? Because what we're finding with the Statens is it's not impacting the detrimental LDS. If you're on a medication we need to be asking, what are the side effects? And is this actually helping? Or are we just making ourselves feel better? Because the numbers of people. Now there are ways of, of getting a better sense of what type of LDL you can look at, your triglyceride lads compared to your HDL. I really invite you to have a conversation with your physician to understand your numbers or to do some research yourself. Now I absolutely am not here to be saying, if you're on a stat and or if you've been prescribed medications that you should not be on them medications. There are situations when that's extremely important and you should always be having in conversations with your doctor so that you understand what's happening, what your blood work means. And so that you're making the right decision for you. But in general, our health care system frustrates me as a veterinarian. I. I do look at the whole pet in a much more holistic way. Right? We do have specialists and there are absolutely times when I refer, but a history is really important. I need to take the time to understand what's going on at home, what the diet is like. And I look at all the body systems together. And so that training has helped me in my own approach to health and in looking at the human healthcare system. And. To see some areas where there's a whole lot of room for improvement. Now say you or your doctor told you you needed to get healthy or are you decided on your own to make healthy changes? Here's another thing that makes me frustrated. Our diet culture and the health and nutrition industries and the fitness industries in general have made healthy, seemed really unappealing and hard, right? Like there's these messages like you have to rely on discipline and willpower. Eating healthy food is not merely as desirable as unhealthy food. You're in a society where the messages are always Like pizza is for party is like alcohol's for celebrating cake is for celebrating, not broccoli, right? That's like what your mom forces you to eat before you can have to start. So you're even before making healthy changes, you are already in this mindset where it's probably going to be hard and it's not going to be that enjoyable. And then you make changes and you experienced proof that it actually, it really is hard and not fun at all. Why is that? Because the majority of the food that is available to you. Has been engineered to make you feel out of control and to make you not want to stop eating it food. There's actually this thing called the bliss point. So they engine your food so that it just checks all the boxes and your brain and your taste beds, and it makes it so you don't want to stop eating. And I want you to think about a processed food that you eat and anything with sugar, like when you're eating sweets or chips, do you ever actually feel satisfied? Is there ever a time when you're like, okay, I've had enough, I feel so good. And now I am completely satisfied. No. Right. You either stopped because you were probably starting to feel sick. It was just had too much sugar too many times. Or you are restricting yourself. There's that feeling of like, oh, okay. I can't have any more, but you're never actually having that wonderful feeling of satiety because your body is confused. It is really loving this. Like the taste is so good and you're getting calories, but you're not getting any of the nutrients that your body needs. Your blood sugar is going on a roller coaster ride and your gut health sucks. So you have to white knuckle it and force yourself to stop eating. And then you probably don't feel really great about what you ate either you're feeling deprived or you, you do not like the way that you're feeling, you're feeling bloated and exhausted, and you're having tons of guilt and shame about what you ate 'cause you couldn't stop eating it because that food was designed to accomplish exactly that exactly the way that you're. We're also in a society that puts a massive focus on that calories in calories out equation. Right? If you just keep track of your calories, it'll all balance out. Just eat the amount of calories that your body needs. If you're eating more calories than your body needs, burn it off. And then you do that and you feel exhausted. You're hungry and you're deprived because our society. Doesn't focus on. What's actually in those calories. And if you're eating what's normal, those calories are not setting you up for success. They're messing with your brain or making it impossible to feel in control. They're making your blood sugar go on a roller coaster ride throughout the day, so that you're hungry. Your body is in fat storage mode. You keep needing more and more because it's not satisfying you and you have no energy. And you're feeling really out of control. The other thing that happens is that you are living in a society that is go, go, go, right. Everybody is stressed. it's rare that you talk to somebody and they aren't really busy or stressed. We that's just the. We're also in a society where we don't really talk about it. So sure. You say like, yeah, I'm busy or yeah. Things are stressful. You're not really taking the time to share how we're really feeling to really actually acknowledge where that stress is coming up, how that's affecting our body. Stress impacts absolutely everything in your body. And we are just accepting that stress level as. So instead of dealing with our stress, we numb it. That's the norm, right? If you have a stressful day, turn to that bottle of wine, turn to that comfort food or stress during the day, have a sweet treat. That's that little blissful escape. That's. When, if you can just have a drink, you can just forget about it for a little while. This is why you feel out of country. Because we are living in a world that is not setting you up for success at all. These are the things that frustrate me, because I really want you to know that it's not your fault. You have not been set up for success in any way. This is really frustrating that you have grown up in an environment. That is making it feel impossible to feel good in your body. It's making it impossible to feel in control. And it seems like being healthy feels really hard. And you're exhausted. You don't have time to take on more, to add more to your plate, to have to rely on discipline and willpower. Like you're trying. I know you're trying so hard and yet it's not working. It is not your fault. This is what makes me angry, but that's why I am showing up and creating this podcast right now, because I want you to know it's not your fault and you do have the power to make changes. Now, the frustrating thing is that money has a lot of influence, right? And the big food companies, they have so much influence and our world in terms of they're able to put so much money into lobbying. They're able to make it virtually impossible to be passing bills that could have a really positive impact. You know, there are things like a sugar tax that would be incredible, that would help to incentivize companies, you know, if something had a lot of added sugar or the idea with that is that it would be taxed more. So it would be more expensive. And that would pressure companies to start cutting back on the amount of added sugar, which would be amazing. The big food companies don't want that because they want you to be eating their food. They don't want you to feel satisfied. They want you to keep eating it. They want you to be feeling addicted to it. You don't want you to feel in control. The HIG food companies are even having influence into the dietary guidelines. It's really frustrating. If you want a little glimpse of that, I highly recommend checking out my blog posts on everything you need to know about dietary fat. If you're interested on reading more, learning more about like last straw and LDL, if you tend to avoid fat, or you're confused about that. If you want a little glimpse of how big food companies are influencing the dietary guidelines, I highly recommend checking that out. That's why even the amount of added sugar right now that is like, you know, there's a maximum limit. We should note that you do not need any added sugar in your day. Those calories are not helping your body. There is just a maximum limit. That limit is too high, but. It's because of the influence that big food companies have on these recommendations, that it hasn't changed now while it's unlikely that they're going to be changes at the top. Anytime soon, the good news is that you have a power today to start making changes and little changes, make a huge difference in the way that you are feeling. You can start it today. One of the biggest things that you can do is to start spreading the word and your own life. One of the most powerful things you can start to do is to look at food labels and educate yourself and find better swaps. Look for added sugar. Look for ingredient lists that have food that you recognize, would you be able to make that in your kitchen or would you need a chemistry lab in order to create it, start paying attention to your body and the way that you feel, the food that you eat has an enormous impact on the way that you feel throughout the day. And even a few days later, Start paying attention, start a food journal and just write down don't care about calories, write down what you're eating, and then write down how you feel. How do you feel right after? Do you feel satisfied? Are you feeling really uncomfortably full? Are you still wanting to snack? What is your energy like? Make notes of brain fog, headaches, GI issues, bloating, constipation, diarrhea. Write it down and start looking for patterns. That's a huge thing that I help my clients with the food that you're eating is impacting everything. And you have the power to start making changes and to find your inner researcher start paying attention to the way that you feel and the things that you're doing in your life asleep, stress, food, and pay attention to how that's impacting the way that you're showing. The other thing that you can do is to help me to spread the word. Anytime you learn something on a podcast or anything I share on social media or other things that you're reading these help to educate those around you share this. The mission that fuels me is to heal the kindness deficient. I want to start the life boost revolution. I want everybody to live living a life that energizes you, that starts with being kind to your body. And that looks like starting to listen, not beating yourself up, embracing curiosity and letting go of judgment, paying attention to what boosts your energy in the day and what drinks. And making sure that you are doing enough of the things that give you energy so that you can show up as your best self, because remember, it's impossible to show up as your best self. If you don't feel good, if you're exhausted, if you're not getting those basic necessities like water, food, rest, and sunlight, you can't show up as your best self. And then of course you don't have the energy to help. And then it's really hard to have energy to help those around you or to have patience or to be crimed. So if you start being kind to your body, you're going to have so much more energy and you're going to be able to help others. Others are also going to notice the energy that you have, not from relying on caffeine, but the energy that you have from within you. You are going to walk into a room differently. That's because you'll feel in control and you'll feel good and you'll feel energized. Others are going to want to know what you are doing to, to feel that way. Please share that this is a big reason. I really encourage you to listen to episode 30 if you're ever feeling like you're missing out when you're making healthy changes. No, this is a big reason because you're getting caught up in healthy changes. That don't feel good, or you're feeling like you're missing out because it's not the norm to be living a healthy lifestyle that feels energizing and that's actually enjoyable. But if you start to really prioritize the life boost approach, if you are balancing the three B's belly, blood sugar, If you are prioritizing the three owls love lifestyle, long term, you are going to feel amazing. And if you do this, then I'm not going to have to be so angry anymore. Right? I mean, I kid, because it's that I have learned to harness this anger in a productive. No, it's not that I fume, although sometimes when I do read things, um, Matt is usually the one who gets to be the receiver of like, I just need to share all this information that I've learned and I'm a little bit outreached. Then I take that and think, how can I share this information with everybody else? What can I do to make a difference? And this is another area where again, money. So much, and you do have the power to spend your dollars in a way that is consistent with the things that you want to support. If you have, if you are in a place where you can spend a little bit more money for a company that is helping to support our earth and helping to prioritize healthy products now, If you're not in a position, if that's hard, that's okay too. But just know that every single time you buy something, you are supporting a business and it's always helpful to be thinking, is this going towards what I want to support in this world right now, if you do want to start making healthy changes, if you're feeling kind of outraged that you have been studying. Whole cycle and situation, then I have lots of options for you. Let's get started. So you don't have to be stuck in that stupid vicious cycle anymore. Today as the day you're getting out of there. One thing that is available to you is a complimentary one hour walk and talk with me. Okay. That is where we talk on the phone while going for a walk and I can learn about you. I can learn about where you're feeling stuck all about your lifestyle, your unique challenges and goals. And we will talk together. I will help you gain clarity by the end of the call about what the next best step is for you. You will literally and figuratively be moving forward to the life that you want. My goal at the end of those calls is that you have this little boost of energy and hope. That's how we know that we've settled on the right decision for you. It makes you feel excited. If you are really busy and if you, aren't making time for those basic necessities, and if you've just been feeling like you're too busy to make healthy changes, then definitely my one month life whose challenge is available to you, it's free can sign up I'll leave the link in the captions note or reach out to me. You can reach me@ameliaatlifeboost.today. and I can help you get signed. That is a way that you're just going to get one simple thing to focus on each week that is going to have a massive impact on your energy. It's going to help you to start feeling more in control of your health, and you'll get a daily email so that you are getting supported. You're continuing to gain knowledge about what you can do to support your. And I am going to be there to support you every step of the way. And then of course, I also have group and one-on-one programs that are going to help you just finally have clarity over how to create a healthy lifestyle. That truly makes you feel good. How to assess. All of these things. This is just a glimpse of the things that are really not setting you up for success. And we're going to look at your unique body, your unique preferences, and I will be there to help you understand how to listen to your body, what your body needs. And I'm going to help you to create a lifestyle that energizes you and that you love, that you never worried about falling off the bandwagon, because you will never, ever want to go back to where you are. Okay. All of those are available to you. Good luck. Please share this podcast with others. Cheers to your inevitable health, happiness, and success.