Season 18 Recap: Midlife Changes, Holistic Health, Relationship Changes and More

Hey there, I'm Amy Connell. Welcome to Grace Health, the podcast for women who want simple and grace-filled ways to take care of themselves and enjoy a little chocolate. I'm a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who wants you to know your eating, movement and body don't have to be perfect, they just need to be able to do what you're called to do. Okay, I started this with season 16 and it seemed to be a hopeful episode, so I thought I would repeat again here at the end of season 18. Now you might be asking what happened to season 17. Season 17 is reserved for the Grace Health Plus subscription episodes, which anyone is welcome to join, and it is available to anyone who joins the Grace Health Plus community. There is a link in the show notes on how to do that. It's just $6 a month and you get the Amy Uncat episodes and special emails and a once a month community meetup. That is what season 17 is. I do not have a season 17 recap, but I do have a season 18 recap. Now, as you know and as I talk often about, the Grace Health Podcast is full of simple and grace-filled ways to take care of our physical, mental and spiritual health. I had a good time just going through and categorizing our episodes. This time, yes, they do kind of fall under the physical, mental and spiritual health, but it kind of spread out just a little bit today. So what I'm going to do is go through each category that I identified. Each season is a little different, so this season's categories may differ from next season and differ from the previous seasons, but this is just what we have had. When I tell you the episode number, they are all in season 18. So if I say episode 13, then you'll know that I mean season 18, episode 13. So let's go ahead and jump in and you can find all of this on the show notes. The episode or the link is in the episode description and you can go through and dig in or catch up on some that you haven't listened to. That maybe you're thinking, oh, this might be a good one for me to listen to. So here is a recap of our season 18. The first category is what I'm calling midlife changes. Now, this is our first guest that we had, or our first guest started us off with the midlife changes, and that was with Amanda Thieb. So that was episode two and that was entitled menopause, belly and body changes, what you need to know. You guys loved this one, and understandably so. Amanda brought such wisdom with not only what's going on with our bodies during menopause, but also the grace that we need and the perspective that I think that we need, especially as we are. Our bodies are changing and going through what Mandy Marseille called reverse puberty, and that is the second episode that goes into this midlife changes category. So, on episode 14, mandy Marseille, and that her spelling of her last name is M-A-R-Z-I-A-Z, and that was get your mojo back and I tell you what that is. One thing that I have heard a lot is I just don't feel like myself. The thing that I loved that Mandy brought is very tangible, applicable ways of dealing with our stress, addressing our cortisol and really trying to bring things down. I cannot tell you how many times I have quoted her when she said small hinges swing big doors. That's such a great reminder that I don't have to make huge changes in what I'm doing in my habits in order to make big changes in how I feel. So if you are dealing with midlife changes, if you are anywhere in the menopausal, perimenopausal, postmenopausal stages and dealing with that, I highly recommend both of those episodes I had several conversations surrounding food and nutrition. This is something I know you are interested in having. The first one is episode six with Leslie Schilling, registered dietitian, and that is a guide to reestablishing trust in our bodies. I enjoyed Leslie's book Feed Yourself so much that that was actually an inaugural book club selection that we had, and Leslie was wonderful and we actually came on. We compiled all kinds of questions. We got to maybe a quarter of them. There were so many good questions and I wish we would have had time to discuss more, but Leslie has taught me so much surrounding diet culture and understanding our diverse body. One thing that I quote from her in my new book for young women is body diversity is divine. God created our bodies to be different and he created our bodies to be good and wise. This is a very important conversation if you are trying to reestablish your relationship with food and your body. Leslie operates from an intuitive eating standpoint and particularly an anti-diet culture standpoint. I have learned so much from her and Leslie has been so gracious in helping me craft some of the language and words and messaging in your core strength this book for young women because I wanted to make sure that I did not have anything in there that could be problematic or that might lend itself to a young woman going down the road of disordered eating. Another episode we had in food and nutrition was with Dr Maria Colón-Gonzalez. Dr Maria came on to help us understand more about cholesterol, so this was episode 10 and the title was Understanding Cholesterol and Holistic Health Management. Dr Maria has so many certifications and education and, of course, she is a medical doctor on top of all of that, but we zoned in specifically on cholesterol. This is a topic that I have heard from you that you want to learn more about and, quite honestly, it's applicable in my own life as well as understanding about cholesterol. So if that's something that you are trying to understand a bit more about, go listen to episode 10 with Dr Maria Colón-Gonzalez. In episode three, I came on again with a very zoomed in lens, talking about calcium. As I learned more about our nutrition and changing bodies and how they are related, I realized that many, many, many of us are not getting enough calcium to support our bone health. So I took one of these smaller, shorter, essential episodes and explained what calcium does, why we need more, how our changing hormones impact the calcium that we need, and I just talk a little bit about that. We did have a challenge on our Facebook group and many of us, many of us said wow, I thought I got enough, but when I started paying attention to it, I realized I wasn't getting enough for the agent stage that I am in. So if you especially if you have osteopenia, osteoporosis, in your family history, or if it's something that is on your radar that your doctor told you to be, you know to be paying attention to, this is an episode you want to listen to. Then, finally, with regard to food and nutrition, episode 15 zoomed out and said okay, there's going to be some health trends in 2024. These are the four areas you need to examine. This is what I have done as I continue my life long journey of learning. There are there's so much information out there. I mean I don't need to tell you how much information there is. I mean, in fact, if you are ingesting this content, that means that you can also get other content elsewhere. You might be watching on YouTube, you might be doing searches there, perhaps you listen to other podcasts, perhaps you get stuff from Instagram or tick tock I'm not on tick tock, but you get the point like there's just so much information out there. So this is just kind of for particular areas that I want you to think about before you start to take in all of these plans or programs or books or whatever and applying those to your life. I'm not saying you can't, but I just want you to View that information, that knowledge, through this lens. I have nothing against learning I do so much of it, I read so much of it but I think it's important that we do Protect ourselves with a filter, and these four areas to examine offer a filter. Then, from a physiology standpoint, that's our next category. In episode eight I had Dr Danielle Peoples, who is a chiropractor, on and she talked to us about the connection between the spine so as and just general wellness. Dr Peoples has so many stories about how chiropractic care helped her patients in very unexpected ways and I think that you will appreciate the interconnectivity that she talks about, whether it's stress or whether it's physical trauma or just all kinds of different things. So that was a really helpful, beneficial conversation and I'm so grateful that she was able to come on. Also, under physiology, who gets Charlie Horses? Many of you do. I know this because you tell me, and so that was another Essentials episode that I offered is just Charlie Horses, just a very practical guide to prevention and treatment in menopause. That was episode 7, and I can tell by the download numbers that this is something that's interesting to you, because there have been a lot of downloads on this Charlie Horses episode. Moving on to the category of relationships, I loved my conversation with Kristen Williams, who's a registered dietitian, and we talked about have I messed up my kids relationship with food and body. I have learned a lot over the past 10 years, and particularly really since I've started this podcast on diet culture. I have learned a lot about the relationship that we have with food and our body, and I realized that many of you are right there with me and you're learning as well, and now, if you're like me, you're thinking, oh crap, there was a lot of things that I did that I really wish I would have changed. So Kristen brings such gentleness, particularly from her practice as a registered dietitian and as one who works a lot with people who are struggling with eating disorders, and so that was just a great conversation if you are looking back on some of the stories that you have with your children, and she gives some great advice and great wisdom on how to maybe how to go back and just navigate some difficult conversations that maybe we want to have with our kids, or maybe some apologies or anything like that. So Kristen is just wonderful. And that is episode four. Also on relationships, my friend Jill Howell joined us on episode 12. So Jill's episode was creating connections, the art and power of letters. I adore Jill and love her story of how she has taken her gift and when I say gift, this is truly something that God has given her of artistry. She now does a lot of digital art and she is helping people connect with others through note cards, which seems so simple. But who among us does not love to receive a handwritten note in the mail? I dare say all of us. I mean, I think, for everyone, even the most skeptical person in my life. When they get a handwritten note, they're like oh wow, that was really nice. So Jill just is a great conduit for that. She has such an amazing assortment of note cards, and the one in particular that we talked about was the open wins, and so she has some for them that are a little more feminine, some that are a little bit more masculine. You can get those for the kids in your life who maybe just need a bit of encouragement or are having a lot of different emotions and you want to recognize those, so you can go check that out in episode 12. And then also under the category of relationships, is a bonus episode I did with Dr Michelle Banksson. Dr Michelle is a board certified neuropsychologist and she brought her experience with having cancer and supporting her husband with cancer as well as other people who have battled cancer, and so that episode was a bonus episode. Between four and five called how to support a friend with cancer. So that is a great one to listen to. She offers so many very specific things you can do to support someone, so I loved that, and if you have someone in your life who is going through treatment or who is dealing with cancer, this is a must listen in order to support them as best as you can. Many of my episodes that I have been focusing on are really more from a holistic standpoint, because if you've been with me a while, you know I have learned and am learning that we can't just silo our health. It can't be mental health and nutrition and movement, because they're all interconnected and they all impact each other. So we had several episodes in that holistic health category. Episode one was one that I offered, which was 10 simple essentials for aging with grace and strength. So these are just simple things that you can do as you are getting older to support your health holistically. Another one I offered was episode five, which is feel and function well. What does that mean? The impetus of this was, I use, feel and function well, I think almost 20 times in your core strength for young women, and I thought it's probably a good idea to come over here on DeGrease Health and talk more about what does it mean to feel and function well? How do we define that? And so that is my bring in thinking about our health in a different way, rather than what size are we, how much do we weigh, and all of that kind of stuff that I'm really moving away from. In episode nine, my friend Lori Massacott came on and we called it a co-hosted episode. So we recorded one episode and then she played it on her podcast, which is 250 and beyond. That focuses a lot on, obviously, being 50 and beyond, but primarily on alcohol free lifestyle. Lori is sober. She is an advocate of that. I love the work that she's doing, I respect the work that she's doing. And then, of course, you all know about me and my just kind of health focused stuff. So this episode was tackling holiday stress and overwhelm tips to thrive this season with co-host Lori Massacott. That was a really fun one to do with Lori and I get to see her on a weekly basis as we work together, some just in our own ways, and you can hear more about it over on that episode. But that's episode nine. And then episode 13 is why now is the perfect time to integrate the blue zone lifestyle. Episode 13 dropped in the middle of December, when many people are like I don't want to deal with it, I'll think about it in January, like I'll take care of myself in January, I'll do the things in January. And episode 13 was my encouragement to you and to me to adopt some of these blue zone lifestyle principles, because this is the perfect time to do it and I know that this is coming out at the end of December. Write in between Christmas and new year and I still say now is the time whenever you're listening to this. Actually now is the time One of the things that I love about the blue zone lifestyle is the focus on community and relationships and purpose, over the Micro details of what we're eating and how we're exercising and all of that kind of stuff. The more I learn about it, the more I appreciate it, and I think that those are the types of things that we want to be incorporating into our day to day living and the types of things that God offers us through people, through community, that will really enhance our life almost so much more beyond the eating and the exercise and I say this as a personal trainer, but connection is just so important. Finally, I have two more episodes that I'm just going to call grace tell, because I couldn't figure out I can figure out another category to put it in. One of them was another bonus episode in between episodes 10 and 11, and that was the peak inside the Amy and cut episodes and the Grace tell plus community. So I talked about that just a second ago in this episode. If you are interested in joining and you want to know like what is this Amy and cut episode, you can go listen to that bonus episode between 10 and 11 and hear about that more. This is a wonderful time to join this community. Like I said, it's only $6 a month and you get these few, these extra episodes, and we are developing a community that you are invited to, you are welcome in, and I would love for you to join us. So, when we talk about community and connecting with others in these blue zone lifestyles, this is one way that you can do that and it also helps support the show. It helps support the several hundred dollars of back end expenses I have in this podcast and no, I do not make several hundred dollars worth in this podcast, so you can go listen more to that. And then, finally, in episode 11, I provided seven things that I was grateful for in the Grace tell space that came out right before Thanksgiving or the week of Thanksgiving, and I am so grateful for so much here. If you are new with me, or if you are a long time listener, and especially if you are part of the Grace tell plus community, I want you to know how grateful I am for you and for tuning in when you share episodes, either just sending a text to someone and saying, hey, I think you'll really dig this. That helps the show so much when you leave a rating and a review, particularly on Apple podcast that helps so much, and you know this is this is a really fun thing for me to do. It brings me joy and I hope that it brings you joy as well. I hope that it increases your knowledge some. I did a statement of values that I actually think I'm going to update here pretty soon. The values are still the same, but I would love to update some of the commentary around it. But I have six statement of values here on the Grace tell podcast. Those six values are knowledge, discernment, diversity, encouragement, faith and, of course, grace. You can go back to season 12, I believe it is, or just do a search for Grace tell statement of values if you want to learn more about that. But those are the things that I focus in on for every single episode that I do here. I aim to provide you with simple and grace filled ways of taking care of yourself so you can fulfill your purpose as a Jesus follower. I firmly believe that you have a purpose that is God ordained, and there are so many ways of defining that. But, and also PS, purpose is one of the blues own lifestyle principles. But that's the type of conversation that I'm trying to have here something that fits into one of those six statement of values, and I hope that they bring you as much wisdom and perspective and boy and empathy as they do for me. I'm so grateful to have this capability to learn from others and to pass that along to you. So with that, this is the last episode of the new year. I will be back in January and Happy new year. I hope that you have peace, that you have Shalom, that full piece that God gives us, and just a wonderful end to your 2023. That is all. Go out there and have a grace day.