Leslie Duffy 00:00:04 You’re listening to the Hormone Shift Show, the podcast where we stop pretending that everything’s fine and we start getting real about midlife health. My name is Leslie Duffy, and I am a registered nurse, life coach, and certified functional hormone expert. I am so glad that you are here. And just as a reminder, the content in this podcast is not a substitute for medical advice from your health care practitioner or your medical team. While I am a licensed healthcare professional, I am not giving you any medical advice. This is purely for educational purposes. Please consult your provider for medical guidance specific to you. This is your window of health. Your comeback starts here. Let’s go. As I record this, it is October and we are entering what I call the holiday trifecta. We have Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year all rolled up into 112 week stretch. Already we have a lot of stress in our lives, but now you’re going to get to do all the planning, shopping, cooking, and the dishes Your day off really means cramming five days of work into two days.

Leslie Duffy 00:01:05 You’re probably feeling overstimulated, underappreciated, and overscheduled, and you’re telling yourself it’s fine. It’s just the season when you know it’s not. Here’s what goes first. Your coping skills, your boundaries, and real meals. Now, yes, most days it is skip meals, rushing, multitasking, maybe a breakfast bar in the car before a zoom call. But now suddenly we’re having coffee for breakfast, crackers at 2 p.m. and wine at 8 p.m. just to shut your brain off. It is the perfect storm for all sorts of gut issues, cravings, and let’s be honest, resentment. So here’s the kicker your January detox does not undo what happens in December. It is not going to undo the 5 to £10 that you put on during this holiday season. And the problem is not just what’s on your plate this holiday season. It’s the stress, it’s the speed and the way that you are eating this year. Let’s do the holidays a little bit differently. I’m going to teach you what I teach my clients inside the Mind Body Academy.

Leslie Duffy 00:02:08 Now, let me preface this with saying there are no prescriptions involved. There are no doctor’s visits. It’s not sexy. There are no peptides, no GLP ones involved. In fact, if you are on a GLP one, you absolutely need to hear this. It’s called the calm plate method, which comes from my mini course calm. The cravings. Calm is an acronym that I used in the course, which means clarify. Clarify what you’re wanting to do and identify what your goals are. You want to adjust your fuel, want to lower your stress, and map out some new habits. That’s what the Calm acronym stands for. But today we’re going to talk about the complaint. It’s not about restriction, it’s about timing. It’s about order, rhythm and ritual. When your body feels safe, digestion improves, your blood sugar steadies, and your energy will return. Now, by using this method, you may actually lose weight, but you will definitely start to digest your food better. Nutrition is not about what’s on your plate.

Leslie Duffy 00:03:08 It’s not about the foods you choose. It’s about whether or not your body can actually break it down and use it. So your vitamins A, D, E, and K are actually fat soluble vitamins, which means that they have to be taken with food in order to be absorbed. I have seen so many women come up deficient in B12, because they don’t have enough stomach acid to release it from food. Now, hydrochloric acid is an acid in your stomach that helps you break down protein and break down food. It’s needed in order to digest your food, but it’s also needed in order to allow B12 to be released from your food and to be absorbed into the small intestine. It’s not only about food absorption and digestion, but when you are digesting your food properly, you’re maximizing your nutrients at your meal, and you’re also able to use those nutrients to allow you to lose weight. Your body has many processes that require the right nutrients and the absorption needed in order to work out those processes. So I have seen many patients who are an acid blockers or PPIs, proton pump inhibitors for many years, who are not producing enough stomach acid to absorb their protein and their minerals properly.

Leslie Duffy 00:04:20 And over time, this lack of absorption can snowball into bigger issues. Maybe it will show up as weight gain, but it could also show up as osteoporosis, arthritis, depression, heart disease, and even diabetes. This is how vital it is. That’s why the complaint method is not just what you eat. It’s about creating safety in your body so that you can start to absorb the food that you give yourself. All right, here is how we’re going to do it. Step one is a three minute pre meal ritual. Now I’m hearing you on the other end and I know what you’re saying. Three minutes. We don’t have three minutes. Even like when I first started going on Instagram I was told get your videos done within like 15 seconds. It kept getting shorter and shorter and shorter. We’re down to seven seconds. People, please. So this is the problem. We’re all in such a rush. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to notice. Have you ever been walking past a bakery and you suddenly smell blueberry muffins or chocolate chips, and it stops you in your tracks? That is your cephalic phase of digestion kicking in.

Leslie Duffy 00:05:24 And that’s the part where your brain gets the signal we’re about to eat. So even the sight, the smell, the thought of food will start mobilizing saliva. Like suddenly you’re drooling. That’s like a real thing. And then you have stomach acids, so your body starts to mobilize, and that is so that your body can actually start to break down and absorb nutrients. Most of us skip the step entirely, and we’re wondering like, why are we feeling so sluggish? And why is our digestion so sluggish? So I’m going to teach you how you’re going to bring that back. You’re going to bring back the process of starting digestion, even with your eyeballs. So within three minutes we have to slow it down. There’s just like a process. There’s something called like slow medicine. Even the slow process. We want to start embracing slow. We want you to start to use this for your benefit, because rushing is going to make it much worse for your health. So here’s the process. Within three minutes, for simple steps, you’re going to breathe in for the count of four.

Leslie Duffy 00:06:30 So inhale 1234. And then you exhale for the count of four. Exhale 234. Okay I’m going to slow things down. That was actually very helpful even for me as I’m recording this podcast. The next thing you want to do is to express some sort of gratitude. Now, you don’t have to do it out loud. You might be by yourself. You can do it to yourself. But say one thing out loud that you are grateful for. And now you’re going to notice that your shoulders are going to start to drop. You’re going to start to feel suddenly very calm. Also, I want you to put down your screens. That’s number three of this process. I want to sit down without your screens, without your phone, and just notice your surroundings. Okay. Then you’re going to take your first three bites of your food, and you’re going to chew until it’s liquid. That might take between 20 and 30 bites. And this is actually telling your brain it’s safe to rest and it’s safe to digest.

Leslie Duffy 00:07:33 Now we’re going to do step two of this process the three R’s. This is the right time right order and the right rhythm. It is very beneficial for your body and your circadian rhythm to eat within a 60 to 90 minute time period of waking up. So if you wake up at eight, you want to eat by 930 the latest, if you it’s seven 830, you get it. Also in this step, as far as the right time, you have to block out your meals in your calendar. You have to give yourself the time to actually do these steps. It is going to take you a little bit longer. We’re not used to being so intentional about our food. So in order to do these steps, we have to be more intentional. We have to start to use this time frame for ourselves. It is such an invitation that we get to do it three times a day. What an invitation. Okay, so you’re going to block it out on your calendar so that you actually make time for this.

Leslie Duffy 00:08:31 And the second R is right order. You want to eat your food in a certain order because this will help you balance your blood sugar. So you’re going to start with your vegetables, your protein, your fats and then leave the starches for last. When you do that, you’re actually creating a better way for your body to start absorbing it. Think of your body as a kitchen sink. And so what you put down the sink first really does matter when you have a protein or a vegetable first. I actually for my clients, I tell them have a protein first because we’re so deficient in protein, when you have that first, it actually increases the thermogenic effect of your meal, so you’re going to burn more calories when you start to digest your protein. That’s number one. But number two is that when you have a vegetable or a protein first and you save your carbohydrate for last, your blood sugar is more stable. It’s got more work to do. So you don’t get such a high blood sugar spike.

Leslie Duffy 00:09:31 Okay. The third R in this process is rhythm. We want to make sure that we’re having those three meals and even an optional plan treat after your protein. You want to make sure that you are walking ten minutes after a meal which would be perfect. After dinner, you want to get in the habit of having the rhythm to eat and then even a gentle walk afterwards because it’s going to help stabilize your blood sugar. So that’s what I mean by rhythm. Make sure that you’re having your three meals and that you’re scheduling it in. That’s like the whole process and making sure that you are blocking out time for this opportunity to sit down and digest. And step three are the three P’s piece that would be place, pace and plate. Now place. We want to be sitting at a table that is going to be so important for your digestion and to signal to your brain. We are now resting. We are now eating, we are now going to digest. This is incredibly important and I’m very guilty of it too.

Leslie Duffy 00:10:32 Just the other day I was just pacing around my my kitchen eating. So it is a practice. You do have to be mindful of it. You even want to do it for snacks. Okay, pace. Now pace does not mean the pace at which you walk. It means putting your fork down between your bites and noticing those first three bites. Like I said earlier, that in itself is going to slow down. In fact, what’s interesting is that the faster you eat, the more you eat, the slower you eat, the less you eat. You start to notice your hunger signals or your full signals. Even better, you need to slow down because you might be accidentally eating too much that actually won’t fit into your stomach, and forcing yourself to eat more than you actually can digest in one sitting because you’re going so fast. So when you slow down that process, you’re actually going to be able to feel hunger and fullness signals better than before. All right. Plate, which is kind of what I said earlier, but I recommend having your protein first.

Leslie Duffy 00:11:32 Now we’re going to build our plate. We’re going to have the protein I call it for protein fat and fiber. Make sure that you have your protein first, your veggies next. And you save your carbs for last. And you want to stop at 80% full. So that’s your plate. Now, if you are pacing yourself, you’re going to notice when you’re 80% full better than before. Okay, I just want to make a quick note for those who are on GLP one shots, because I recognize that there is a lot of my audience and absolutely fine. There is no shame in the game of the GLP one shots, but I want you to know that you’re probably using it and noticing that your appetite is much less, which is fine, which might be one of those things that if you use the Com plate, it slows you down. So you’re able to notice your body being full and you inherently actually eat less. So when you’re on a GLP one it’s going to change your appetite. It’s going to change your ability to trigger digestion.

Leslie Duffy 00:12:30 And that’s why the complaint is incredibly crucial for those who are on the shots right now. Now keep in mind, just like all of these things, it’s not going to help you change your boundaries. It’s not going to help you change your self-talk or how you handle the holiday chaos. You still need the skills and the support during this time frame. And that’s exactly why I created the Mind Body Academy. And that is a private coaching container where you get 12 weeks of support from me, and we start the week of October 6th, which is when this episode is going to come out, but it is not too late to join. I have selected a few spots specifically for anybody who is listening to the podcast who wants to join. There are three spots available for that and if you wanted to get started that this week, you can. It’s not too late to join. So inside you’re going to get weekly coaching, nervous system tools, a personalized strategy to carry you through the holiday season. Steady, well-fed and confident.

Leslie Duffy 00:13:30 Now, this isn’t about doing more. It’s about finally having a container that holds you while your life is full. And that is the real point of all of this. Now let’s start a reframe. Here’s what I want you to know. This is not the season where I’m going to tell you not to eat. That will never happen. You have to eat. You have to feed your brain. You have to feed your body. Your hormones need fuel. It is about the right food, at the right time, in the right rhythm, not a restriction. Now inside the Mind Body Academy, if you want a Christmas cookie, I’m going to show you how to have a Christmas cookie and still protect your blood sugar, your energy, and your mood. In fact, studies show that rigid food rules don’t heal your metabolism. In fact, they actually damage your metabolism by driving insulin resistance and rebound weight gain. So it’s incredibly important that we find that rhythm and that balance, especially during the holidays.

Leslie Duffy 00:14:24 In my program, we build a strategy that helps you show up well fed, steady, emotionally anchored, even when life feels chaotic. Now, if you are in a GLP one, this is still the container for you because the skills that you learn here are going to go beyond the shot. You’re going to know how to protect your muscle mass. You’re going to learn how to support your digestion and keep yourself nourished while losing weight so that your hormones do not take a hit. Okay, here’s what you’re going to notice. If you do this on a consistent basis, the results could be that you will lose weight because you’re going to slow down and actually be able to absorb your food and notice when your body is full. Most women who practice these habits consistently, they notice fewer blood sugar crashes and cravings. They have better digestion and regularity. They have more energy. They have clearer thinking. They have better sleep and moods. They have real food freedom. And I’m going to just give you a couple of snapshots from my own client database.

Leslie Duffy 00:15:25 One client named Jen. She finally learned to use these tools that I taught her to feel grounded, steady, even when life got messy. Tracy began enjoying food again without the guilt spiral. Cara said that by creating quantifiable, achievable milestones to support how she wanted to feel, she was able to quickly understand what she needed to do, and it was effortless. Jen also wrote to me and said, Leslie, help me reverse my pre-diabetes diagnosis, something I never dreamed possible. And Shelly said she learned how to push through psychological boundaries to make better choices. And it was a huge breakthrough. So if this feels like this is in alignment with what you want out of your life, and in this season, especially during the holiday season, grab the free guide with the routine step by step. Print it out. Old school. You got to print it out, put it on your fridge, or even keep it by your on your phone and your notes app. And if you’re ready to go deeper than a checklist, that’s exactly what we do inside the Mind Body Academy, where you’ll get weekly coaching, nervous system tools, and a personalized plan to help you finish the year feeling calm, clear, and confident.

Leslie Duffy 00:16:34 Grab the application in the show notes and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours. All right, so January does not undo December. Support does. So come on and get supported. All right my friends. That’s what I have for you this week. I will see you next week and have a wonderful day. Thank you for supporting the Hormone Shift show. Please like, comment and make sure that you rate it. I’ll see you next time. Thanks so much for joining me today for this episode of The Hormone Shift Show. If you enjoyed. The episode, be sure to hit subscribe and share it with a friend so that more women can feel supported. This is your window of health. Your comeback starts here. I’ll see you next time.