Lose Midlife Weight and Brain Fog & Feel Good

Sarah Milken (00:00:04) - Hey peeps, welcome to the Flexible Neurotic Podcast. I'm your host, doctor Sarah Milken. Yeah, you heard that right. I'm a real PhD doctor. Long, long ago, like last fucking year, I was sitting in the midlife funk wondering, was this it for me? That day, I realized I needed to get off my ass and start my midlife remix. I dusted off my PhD, wiped the menopause sweat off my forehead, grabbed my golden shit shovel, and started digging deep to all my midlife bitches. It's not just luck, coffee, and hormones that get you through your midlife remix. It's action steps. Let's do this.

Sarah Wragge (00:00:45) - Hello! Hi.

Sarah Milken (00:00:47) - I'm so excited we finally did this. This is like, been in the works forever. You came to L.A.? We had coffee. We actually even drink coffee. We drink bottled water. Water? Yeah. And then we forgot to pay, which was super awesome. But so fun to meet you. You say that your program, the Sww method, is not a diet, it's a lifestyle.

Sarah Milken (00:01:09) - Diets are not sustainable. Tell us what you mean. I think we know what you mean. But tell us why yours is different and how you're doing this.

Speaker 3 (00:01:17) - I think that so many people set out for, you know, I've got a goal. I've got to I want to make a big change. And it's this big like, ta da! And I'm going to go do this now. And it's always like a short sort of Band-Aid fix. It's not ever looking at the root cause of what's actually going on. It's never taking your lifestyle into account, which is one of the biggest factors that I take into account is who is Sarah Milkman? What is her routine from the moment she wakes up until she shuts her eyes at nighttime? And how am I going to take what she's currently doing, turn it on its head and improve her whole life, how she wakes up and how she feels throughout the day and her cravings. And how she indulges and how she exercises. I like to get into the minutia of all of that and figure it out for the long haul so that it's enjoyable.

Speaker 3 (00:02:09) - So, you know, I think the biggest difference between what we're doing and every other diet out there is that there's no suffering at WW. I don't want you to be hungry. I don't want you to suffer. I don't want you to put away the alcohol and the cookies if those are the things that make you happy. Um, and I really set out to create a program that was based on, uh, routines and regimens that create behavioral change.

Sarah Milken (00:02:36) - And we all know that behavioral change, it's like that's the like the key there because we all hear all these ideas and concept and research and all of these things. But it's like, how do you bridge the gap between knowing what the fuck you're supposed to do and actually doing it right? And that's what I love about what you're doing, is you're actually breaking it down into these like tiny, tiny micro steps and creating almost a daily routine. But it's not as you'll the listeners will hear, it's not a daily routine of like, oh my God, this is horrific.

Sarah Milken (00:03:11) - It's like little things like drink the bottle of water when you get out of bed before you get out of bed, you know. So it's all these little things that create all of these massive changes. And I will say that I had a lot of messages from women who have been on your program, from posting it on Instagram last night, and they're like, best thing I ever did. I've done it twice. I'm writing an article about it. It's like changed my whole life. And that's why I was so excited to share this with listeners because as you know and we all know, midlife weight gain, feeling like shit, being in a brain fog is such a big part of the midlife years.

Speaker 3 (00:03:51) - It is. And it happens like that. You know, a lot of the over half of the consultations that I'm doing are exactly what you just described. All of a sudden I woke up and it's not working anymore. All of a sudden I woke up and I have belly fat around my abdomen.

Speaker 3 (00:04:05) - I can't sleep through the night. I'm having crazy cravings for sugar and salt. And so what we do is we give you structure, regimen, routine that also makes you feel safe because it's just like kids, right? So I have a two year old right now and we're in the sleep training process. She decided she decided right after Thanksgiving to just jump the crib. Right now I'm I'm actually working with the sleep specialist. And she said to me this morning, she said, kids crave structure. Kids crave routine. When they don't have it, they actually feel a lack of safety. And I thought, isn't that so interesting that that's exactly how we as adults are? We need a routine. We need a wind down routine. We need to know our bodies ready to get set up for a deep, restful sleep. Um, we actually move from our nervous system that's sympathetic to our parasympathetic nervous system, and that's our rested digest. And we have to literally prompt our bodies to say, okay, it's time.

Speaker 3 (00:05:03) - To wind down and get ready for a deep, restful sleep. We can't go from Instagram and laptops to okay, it's time to go to sleep. Go. It doesn't happen. And that is really like a huge, huge piece of this is that recovery and that rest piece.

Sarah Milken (00:05:20) - Okay, so anyone listening to this podcast, unless they're just a husband or a teenager in the back seat or the teenager driving, is probably on the menopause ish spectrum between perimenopause, menopause, post menopause, we all have so many doctors, nutritionists, experts saying all of these different things. And I think that at the end of the day, your program isn't saying, don't listen to your doctor, don't do this. It's like, how can we bring all of these things together with these ten steps that you're that we're going to outline and change women's lives?

Speaker 3 (00:05:55) - Yeah. And make it easy and give you structure that doesn't make you feel like you're on some hardcore program. We got to count points and look at calories and log your food and all of that, that stuff.

Speaker 3 (00:06:07) - But it's really okay. We've created we've dumbed down my process to ten steps that you can always come back to one for a win. So you know the structure and the sort of safety around. Wake up, have your water, alkalis, your body hit your fasting numbers. Right. Like those are our first three steps. If you don't do the fasting okay, well then look at the next step and you can come back to this, that step and feel like you've got sort of your safety net, right. Like one of our, one of our steps is to save your carbohydrates for the end of the day, which is the opposite of anything you will ever hear from any dietitian, nutritionist or eating program we have. Like, oh, eat your carbs earlier in the day and burn all the fat. No, I actually want you to do the opposite. So here's an example. If you go to a fun brunch with your friends and everyone gets the fries and the salads and all the fun things to share, which is what we do at brunch like, let alone if you have a couple cocktails, well then guess what? You're going to reroute and have your carbs.

Speaker 3 (00:07:09) - That was your carbs for lunch. And for dinner, you're going to have proteins and veggies so you won't continue on the carb train. We're going to kind of swap one of the steps for the method, but give you that education. The education is a huge piece of this, Sarah, because if you understand what your body is doing in reaction to what you're consuming, then you can make a really empowered choice. Like, yeah, I'm going to the birthday party and I'm going to have a piece of pizza, but I know what that's going to do to my glucose. I know what that's going to do to my insulin response. I know that's what that's going to do two hours later in my body. So make a make a choice. I always say people like, oh, I took a cheat day. There's no cheating. It's an active choice. And that way you're coming at the situation from a place of empowerment. Like, I know, like we're going to bake Christmas cookies and I'm going to eat some of those.

Speaker 3 (00:07:59) - And that happened in my house on Sunday. Right. So that changed my dinner choice, you know. And that's kind of how we have to look at this is you're always sort of pivoting and rerouting, but from an educated standpoint where you feel the sense of empowerment and not like, oh, I did something bad. I ate those Christmas cookies, or I had brunch with my friends. Like, life should not be like that.

Sarah Milken (00:08:24) - It sounds to me like it's sort of like education, not deprivation.

Speaker 3 (00:08:29) - 100% education because the education is so empowering. When you go to the bagel store with your kids on a weekend after soccer practice and everyone's getting bagels, make that choice like, I'm going to have this. But I guarantee you, if you know what it's doing, you may make a better or a different choice. Or maybe you have part of the bagel, but you're going to first and foremost have those scrambled eggs on top of it to blunt the glucose curve or the glucose spike. That happens when you start your day with a starchy white carbohydrate on empty, you know, and we really, really educate our clients on what is happening throughout the day so they can make those empowered choices and they don't feel bad about it.

Sarah Milken (00:09:16) - And I also think another important sort of foundational piece that you lay out is this idea of like figuring out what your why is because it's like, are you just trying to get skinny for that one event? Are you trying to feel like less of a blob? Are you trying to get out of brain fog? Like what is your why? And how does that play in to your program? And how do you constantly remind clients to like, come back to that, come back to that because we all mess up. We all make choices of like eating the Christmas cookies as we should, right?

Speaker 3 (00:09:52) - Well, it's a it's the first thing that I ask someone when they do the Sww method or they're a private client. I even ask them on my initial consultation. Is what brought you to Sww. What are your goals and what's your reason for even getting me on a zoom call right now? And a lot of people will say, I want to lose some weight. Okay, but why do you feel bad? Do you feel sluggish? Do you want to be able to run laps with your kids? Do you want to be able to, um, you know, hang out and stay up a little bit later with your spouse after kids go to bed and you want more energy? What is the actual deeper reason for that? Because if you hang up, hang out later with your spouse because you have more energy, you make a connection that you didn't have for the last couple of weeks, you know, or I'm really encouraging my children to eat healthier.

Speaker 3 (00:10:42) - And I'm talking a lot about movement. And if I can get in there, you know, on the race track with them and do some laps, we're in it to win it together. And that feels really good. And I'm going to help them get to their health goals more. And I like to kind of get to that feeling of what, what do you want to feel like?

Sarah Milken (00:10:58) - And obviously there are going to be people who have 12 different whys.

Speaker 3 (00:11:02) - Right?

Sarah Milken (00:11:02) - Yes, absolutely. And that's okay.

Speaker 3 (00:11:05) - Absolutely, absolutely. But you know, most people come to us for weight loss. And I never like to focus on the weight loss. I like to focus on the feeling. So my theory after doing this for, you know, a little over ten years is that most people are walking around with their state of normal, right? You wake up and you feel like how Sarah wakes up every day feeling, and I wake up feeling how I wake up feeling every day. But most people don't know what it's like to feel freaking amazing when you wake up like guns blazing energy fire out of bed without coffee, ready to crush a workout.

Speaker 3 (00:11:44) - Stabilized moods. Most people don't wake up like that. They're always recovering from something too much sugar, overeating too much alcohol. You over caffeinated the day before. Maybe you didn't have like an emotional wind down and time to sort of reset your thoughts after everything that happened the day before. And so, you know, I think that my my goal is and why our sort of tagline is experience of transformation is because everyone's going to experience some form of a transformation. When you come through our program, you know, whether it is something emotional or I needed to lose weight. And that happened. But the feeling is what we really need to connect to.

Sarah Milken (00:12:23) - And do you find that women who kind of fall off the train and then they send you a text or their coach a text or come into the online class, like, do you find that you can quickly get them back on again? Like, because I know that feeling of like, fuck, I really screwed this up. Like I was in the Bahamas for a week.

Sarah Milken (00:12:44) - I gained £7 and just I just can't do this anymore 100%.

Speaker 3 (00:12:49) - And I love those moments because those are the moments that challenge us as coaches. And the answer is always like, we got you. There's no judgment zone, no judgment zone. I will never make somebody feel bad for gaining £7 on a vacation, and I will even compare it to something that I did that I felt like wasn't sort of on my plan, right? And and relate to them in a way that this is real freaking life, right? So we're and we're we all want to have fun and indulge ourselves and enjoy. And especially now around the time of the holidays. So I love to come up with, okay, great. What's your schedule for the next week? Let's get down a routine. I talked to a client this morning. She's got three holiday parties in the next week, so we picked out the holiday parties that she's going to really have fun and drink at. And the other two, we decided aren't worth indulging and drinking.

Speaker 3 (00:13:39) - She's going to have a great workout. She's going to go there, stay sober, have a great meal and go to bed early so she can get up and do her hot yoga class. So I kind of I kind of reasoned with her as opposed to her going in without a game plan. I'm going to drink it. Three holiday parties and by Sunday she's going to feel like garbage. So we sort of planned that out. I also like to data track. So one of the most fun things that we do with our private clients is you. Data doesn't lie. So when I put a whoop band or an or ring or a continuous glucose monitor on you and you mess up, quote unquote, um, we can look at that data and it is so motivating. It is so motivating when you see, oh, God, I thought tequila didn't have any sugar and that was the cleanest alcohol. But like my glucose goes to 150 when I drink that, you know, like we I like to have that data to really drive that conversation of, uh, what do I do next?

Sarah Milken (00:14:36) - No, I love that.

Sarah Milken (00:14:37) - I mean, for me, if I wore a wearable, I think I could potentially become obsessed with, first of all, I would not know how to do the technology of it. My husband would become even more of a NASA tutor than he already is, and he would probably divorce me because I'd be like, oh my God, this isn't working. But I do think it's important information. And it's like that fine line of like over obsessing, but also having data like I like. See, I mean, this is horrific and goes against everything you say. And I'm really trying to like, rewind my brain, but like, I have oatmeal with a scoop of Kelly axe, protein powder, chia seeds, walnuts, cinnamon. Great. And I'm like, this is like. Got to be still so bad, glycemic like, why can't I switch my brain to eat those fucking eggs in the morning? Like I'm going to get off with you and have eggs for lunch, but I do not want them for breakfast.

Speaker 3 (00:15:36) - So I would just do like I would make, um, an alt, like an almond meal sort of porridge with her protein powder, because I love that protein powder. And you don't necessarily need the oats. You could add some berries as your simple carbohydrate. That's not a grain. It won't spike your glucose. And I guarantee you'll feel fuller longer and you'll coast right to that. Those eggs for lunch.

Sarah Milken (00:16:00) - So what is it? Almond meal?

Speaker 3 (00:16:02) - It's like an almond meal. Porridge. I actually have a recipe on my website, but you would just replace the oats with almond meal. Um, you could also add in like a little collagen into there.

Sarah Milken (00:16:13) - I do have that too.

Speaker 3 (00:16:14) - Yeah. Everything you just said is great, minus the oats.

Sarah Milken (00:16:18) - I know, but it's like in my mind, it's like I'm a real protein person, but at breakfast, it's like it makes me, like, nauseous to think about eggs.

Speaker 3 (00:16:27) - You. So I'm with you. Actually, I'm personally, like, not an egg person for breakfast.

Speaker 3 (00:16:32) - I actually always eat my eggs for lunch. And so I love a smoothie. But sometimes when I'm sick of that, I will do sort of like a porridge kind of thing. We also have this awesome recipe called a protein mug. And you actually use egg whites and protein powder and you heat it in the microwave in a coffee cup. Sounds kind of weird, but it's really delicious. And you're going to get in that same amount of protein. So everything you're doing is perfect. I would just mix the oats because it's going to be spiking and probably create a little bit of that once. What we see mostly with data is when you spike your glucose in the morning, it's really hard to rebound from that throughout the day, and you will probably feel hungrier later because of those oats. You're super active and you exercise. I've been seeing your crazy workouts on Instagram like, yeah, lifting. You need protein and you need carbs, but I would recommend berries. And if you need more of a carb, do half a banana and get your carbs from fruits and veggies as opposed to grains.

Sarah Milken (00:17:33) - Okay, I'm going to try that for sure. Oh, and I also make it with almond milk. So there is kind of like that. Like creamy.

Speaker 3 (00:17:39) - Yeah. That creamy like.

Sarah Milken (00:17:41) - No, I'm also a weirdo because smoothies for me. This is so weird Sarah. But like smoothies don't register okay in my body. So people are like that. Oh really? Because I'm like, my husband can have a smoothie. Yeah, my husband can have a smoothie and be fine. I drink a smoothie and like, I could eat a cheeseburger after. It doesn't process.

Speaker 3 (00:18:01) - A lot of people. My mother's one of them. Every time she's like, I want to get on board with these shakes. And she's like, I'm starving.

Sarah Milken (00:18:06) - Starving.

Speaker 3 (00:18:07) - Yeah. So so, you know, you find this. That's the thing is, like, you tell me what your sort of rhythm of the day looks like, and I want to help you sort of just optimize it and prove that.

Sarah Milken (00:18:20) - Now let's start with the first step.

Sarah Milken (00:18:22) - It sounds really simple. And people are going to be like, what? Step one.

Speaker 3 (00:18:28) - Yep. Step one is hydrate hydrate hydrate hydrate, blah blah blah.

Sarah Milken (00:18:32) - Tell us why. Tell us why your way is different.

Speaker 3 (00:18:37) - So we're okay. So humans are made up of 60% water. And we lose about half a liter of water through breath sweating urination throughout the day. So we need to replenish. Um, a lot of us are really chronically dehydrated because they aren't drinking enough water. And that masks this hunger. And a lot of other like, bad things happen. Your lymphatic system is not hydrated and it doesn't get to detox properly. You have constant cravings, you feel hungry and you get sick because your immune system isn't really up to par. So it really is like the base, base, base. And my little secret trick for drinking water, okay is to drink it. I joke like how I used to drink alcohol in college. Like you would just take it to the face, you know, college, you'd be like, just take it like, right? Like I'm like, I like to think of water, like college.

Speaker 3 (00:19:34) - Do you want to just get it down? And so if this thing sat on my desk all day long, I probably wouldn't finish a liter. But what I do is I utilize those times between meals to get in a bunch of water. So when you are starting to get hungry, train your brain to go, wait, let me assess how actually hunger I am. I'm going to drink a bunch of water. And then this acts almost as your your gauge for how much food you need to consume. Because there have been times at 4:00 in the afternoon when I'm like, I'm freaking starving, I'm going to rip somebody's head off. And then I just drink some water and I'm like, actually not hungry. Now, you.

Sarah Milken (00:20:10) - Don't always have just clean, simple water. You have stuff in your water sometimes. Let's talk about the stuff.

Speaker 3 (00:20:15) - Well, so, um, sometimes I will actually salt my water with like a pink Himalayan. Sea salt. If it's post-workout, I add lemon. And then obviously one of our new products is a mineral supplement called restore, which I love.

Sarah Milken (00:20:31) - I got it yesterday. It's blueberry and I own every single, every single one of those on the market in every flavor. But I like yours because it doesn't have a weird aftertaste and it doesn't taste salty, right?

Speaker 3 (00:20:47) - Yeah. I have to tell you. Thank you for saying that. It took us two years to do the formula because what we're having you drink is actually salt because that's what electrolytes.

Sarah Milken (00:20:56) - No.

Speaker 3 (00:20:56) - Are. And that's actually what we lose when we actually sweat or drink too much water. You can actually lose your electrolytes. So it was really hard to nail that flavor profile between salt and being sweet enough that people would really like it and think it was delicious. It's funny, some people are like, it's not sweet enough. I personally think it's very sweet because I don't need a ton of sugar. Right? But I think we kind of nailed like for the for most of the customers that are consuming it, like the perfect sweetness profile.

Sarah Milken (00:21:26) - I agree because I know some people will drink like element and they'll split, which is a different brand, and they'll split it into like two different bottles, one packet.

Sarah Milken (00:21:35) - It's just like too much. It's like too much of like a flavor all the time for me.

Speaker 3 (00:21:40) - Right? And it's very salty and it's a very different purpose. Element. Element is you just killed a workout, you're pouring sweat, or you did a hot yoga class at 113 degrees and you are depleted and now you need salt. Got it is really much more focused on we want you to replenish your mineral stores and get a ton of magnesium in. That calms the nervous system. And there's also sodium bicarbonate. That alkaline eases the body and sets you up for a really deep, restful sleep. And then there's B-12 in it, which is what most of us are deficient in. And it helps give you a little bit of energy that comes with that depletion of being mineral deficient.

Sarah Milken (00:22:20) - And you also didn't mention like what this one of the other secrets is what you do, right when you wake up.

Speaker 3 (00:22:28) - What do you mean drink water?

Sarah Milken (00:22:30) - Yes. That you like. You're like, don't get out of your fucking bed.

Speaker 3 (00:22:33) - Don't let your feet hit the floor until you have your leader. I know I'm nuts. And I have all these videos of me like half a wig drinking the water. But I really, truly this. The other thing that happens is when you wake up, you're already dehydrated. And so a lot of times this is TMI, but a lot of people don't go to the bathroom regularly. I would say like half of my clients have.

Sarah Milken (00:22:55) - I'm guilty of that all the time.

Speaker 3 (00:22:57) - Yeah, like half of my clients go to the bathroom every day, like wake up like.

Sarah Milken (00:23:00) - My husband shits like poops twice a day and like, I'm like, sometimes I'm like, I haven't gone to the bathroom in, like, two days. Like, that's not fair. I think a.

Speaker 3 (00:23:09) - Lot of men, like, really just go to the bathroom a lot.

Sarah Milken (00:23:12) - And I know.

Speaker 3 (00:23:13) - If you think about, like, dogs and babies, when their systems are really clean, they eat, they poop, they don't do that.

Speaker 3 (00:23:20) - Right. And so sometimes in my like experimentation of cleansing and detox and all those things, when I'm really on my A-game and I'm drinking my greens and I'm properly food combining and I'm doing, I will eliminate more than once, twice, sometimes three times a day. But like, I got to be really on the ball for that.

Sarah Milken (00:23:41) - And I heard you also say that after you do the infrared sauna, sometimes you're like, oh, gotta go to the bathroom again.

Speaker 3 (00:23:47) - It's wild. I'm in the back. Like my infrared sauna is like my own. I have a secret relationship with that thing. I go in at the end of the day, after everyone's asleep, I do my dry brushing. I get in the sauna, and then, because you're burning calories and my actually, my husband registers like a light exercise. You're burning anywhere between 3 and 600 calories. Wow. I'm like, ready for more hydration. And sometimes it prompts like me to have to go to the bathroom.

Sarah Milken (00:24:14) - And how do you how long are you in it for?

Speaker 3 (00:24:16) - I'm in there for between 30 and 45.

Sarah Milken (00:24:19) - Minutes every night.

Speaker 3 (00:24:20) - No, I would say like 3 to 4 nights.

Sarah Milken (00:24:23) - Okay. Wow. We're gonna have to, like, talk like.

Speaker 3 (00:24:25) - I mean, what you're revealing is I don't really have a like.

Sarah Milken (00:24:28) - Yeah. I was like, okay. Yeah, really? Like, well, that's a way to, like, your kids are in bed. You got to ignore your husband. You don't have to have sex like you've ignored, like so many things.

Speaker 3 (00:24:37) - Sleep. My husband's asleep.

Sarah Milken (00:24:38) - Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:24:40) - He's a news anchor, so.

Sarah Milken (00:24:41) - Yeah. So he gets up really early.

Speaker 3 (00:24:43) - I'm off. I forgot I'm off the hook for nighttime. Actually. Been talking because he's asleep.

Sarah Milken (00:24:48) - Now when I know, like for me, that, like, with the peeing situation, I'm like, fuck you, Sarah. You're gonna make me pee, like, all the time. But you you say that once you get through whatever it is, the first week or two, you're actually peeing less.

Speaker 3 (00:25:03) - Yes. And also, the minerals are going to hydrate your body on a cellular level, and you're not going to have to go to the bathroom as much. So that's another like really big piece of this is when you're drinking water, water, water all day long without any salt to help it absorb. Yeah, of course you're going to go to the bathroom, but when you incorporate. Great minerals. You won't believe that you don't have to get up and go to the bathroom all the time.

Sarah Milken (00:25:25) - I could you put a pinch of pink Himalayan salt in every bottle you drank? Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (00:25:30) - Okay, absolutely. You? Absolutely. And that wouldn't, you know, for you, after a workout, great. Or you could do a sachet of restore after a sweaty workout and then 30 minutes before bed.

Sarah Milken (00:25:42) - Yeah. Because it says on the sachet to not eat within 30 minutes of drinking the restore. And that you can see how nerdy I am, right?

Speaker 3 (00:25:50) - I know you're like really well researched, so I'm so impressed.

Speaker 3 (00:25:54) - So I love it. No, it's because, um, because there's sodium bicarbonate in it, which is basically baking soda. And what that does is it it disrupts your digestive enzymes. So from the moment you even smell food, we have digestive enzymes that start sort of helping to break down food that might even enter our mouth. So digestive enzymes in your saliva and then obviously in our digestion. So you start to eat, you start to break down food. And if you throw baking soda in there, which basically alkalis the body, think about like an Alka-Seltzer. It disrupts those digestive enzymes. So sometimes if you have the restore too close to food, it could create sort of a girly tummy situation.

Sarah Milken (00:26:35) - Got it. Now step two in your ten step method is the alkaline situation. Yes. Where does that fit in? So you drink the bottle of water before you get out of bed. Then you run to the toilet because you still have to pee from the night before, right? Right. But then you meditate, stand on your head, journal, do all the things you're supposed to do.

Sarah Milken (00:27:00) - Oh, and get sunlight on your eyes. Because. Yeah, because you follow Andrew Huberman. Whatever. Then you can drink greens, powder, lemon water or the restore. That's another bottle of water before coffee and breakfast.

Speaker 3 (00:27:14) - I don't know the greens. So the green Sww alkalis comes out in two weeks.

Sarah Milken (00:27:19) - I know I pre-ordered.

Speaker 3 (00:27:21) - That is our greens powder. It's delicious. It's super creamy. It's basically supposed to alkalis your body and get rid of like think about it like your anti bloat powder, right? You wake up, you're a little puffy. It it also is six servings of vegetables. So it gets a lot of veggies into your system to start your day. I literally Sarah, when I tell you I shoot that shit before I drink my coffee, I'm like, boom, I got it in. And now do you.

Sarah Milken (00:27:46) - Do it as a shot? Because honestly, Sarah, if I have to drink a liter when I before I get out of bed, that I have to drink another leader with the green.

Speaker 3 (00:27:55) - No no no. Do do 3 to 4oz. Or take the remainder of your leader and pour it into the cup with the greens.

Sarah Milken (00:28:01) - Got it. Okay. Because you'd be like exploding.

Speaker 3 (00:28:04) - Yeah. No, no, you don't need to drink that much water. Get your leader in guys. And and then my by the way, my greens powder lives in front of my coffee maker so that I like I.

Sarah Milken (00:28:14) - Have all these habit stacking things to. It's like, you know, you're supposed to take the NMN and supplement at the beginning of the day. It's like with my oatmeal, with the walnuts, it all has to be together. Or if you have to do a fucking scavenger hunt, it's never happening.

Speaker 3 (00:28:29) - No bingo. I've been trying to take D for three days, and I just haven't pulled it out to put it where, and I. I'm not taking it.

Sarah Milken (00:28:36) - I know, yeah, I know, but you know what I do? I cheat a little bit with d when I'm really bad.

Sarah Milken (00:28:41) - I'll take the 50,000.

Speaker 3 (00:28:44) - Okay.

Sarah Milken (00:28:45) - The one pill of 50, you take one pill of 50,000 a week. I'm telling you, I did it for four weeks. It got my vitamin D level back to where it was supposed to be. Now I can move back down. It's so good.

Speaker 3 (00:28:57) - Did you feel like what did you feel after taking 50,000 of nothing.

Sarah Milken (00:29:01) - And I'm the most sensitive person in the world. I'm not a doctor, but my doctor did give it to me. You can get it on Amazon or you can get it from the doctor. Obviously, everyone should consult their doctor, but the problem is, if you have low vitamin D, you are. The way he explained it to me is you're if you're taking 2000 5000 a day, you'll never hit that minimum threshold. But it interesting. So so I did 50,000 once a week for a month, got to where I needed to be, and now I can do the 2 to 5000.

Speaker 3 (00:29:32) - Yeah, yeah, it makes sense.

Speaker 3 (00:29:34) - And almost every single person is deficient. Every single.

Sarah Milken (00:29:37) - Person. And my son, who's in college right now on the East Coast, I'm like Mr. Sunshine from LA, you need to take your vitamin D pills. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:29:45) - Amen. Yep, 100%.

Sarah Milken (00:29:47) - I mean, I'll be torturing him when he comes home for the break, so whatever. So basically. Okay, so now we've alkalis, but we can't. But you can't eat within a half an hour of that powder.

Speaker 3 (00:30:00) - No you can.

Sarah Milken (00:30:02) - Oh, no, no, no, I'm saying the restore powder. Oh, but you're not doing restore in the morning. You're doing the greens in the morning. Got it, got it, got it. Some people prefer.

Speaker 3 (00:30:10) - A fresh green juice, Sarah. Some people prefer hot water with lemon. Just a step to alkalis. The body before you put coffee in, which is like one of the most acidic things you can put in.

Sarah Milken (00:30:20) - But the green juice can't have fruit as I read.

Speaker 3 (00:30:23) - Ideally, I don't want you to spike your blood sugar in the morning.

Speaker 3 (00:30:26) - Now, will. A fresh green juice will take you out of a fasted state? Exactly. Our greens powder is dehydrated vegetables, right? Veggies are simple carbs, so when they break down in your system, they break down a sugar. But because ours are already, um, dehydrated, they won't. They won't spike your glucose and break your fast. So there's so many greens powders on the market like welco. Um, alkaline ag1 Ag1 is probably the most prevailing brand out there, but there's 75 ingredients and it takes you straight out of a fasted state. So I talk to people all the time like, oh, I'm taking Ag1. And I'm like, I'm intermittent faster. And I'm like, but you're not because it has soy, it has soy lectin, it has protein, it has some proteins in it. Um, it's got a lot of different fillers and gums and it's not organic and it takes you out of a fasted state. So I think like label reading is a big thing people need to do.

Sarah Milken (00:31:20) - Okay. Step three is the I mean this is this next one. We can I mean fasting like that's a five hour episode unto itself. And we've talked about this a million times, but like what's your bottom line on it. Not most. The average woman does not want to fast for 16 to 18 hours.

Speaker 3 (00:31:36) - Yeah 12 hours.

Sarah Milken (00:31:38) - Okay.

Speaker 3 (00:31:39) - 12 hours. So I think what that does is it gives you a little bit of a sense of control. Right. Like don't hit the pantry at 10 p.m. because you're starting over. It motivates you to finish your meal earlier and to start your, your day earlier. So, you know, kitchen clothes a couple nights a week by 7:00 and then 7 a.m. game on. Right. But if you are looking to lose weight, it's one of the easiest tools. It's free. It's you can take it anywhere. Um, to try to maybe hit that 14 hour mark and see how you do the hydration and the alkaline thing should probably get you there to that 13 14 hour mark.

Speaker 3 (00:32:19) - Um, but my, my whole thing with fasting is it's an incredible tool, but it also shouldn't stress you out. And if you're pushing through to try to be like, oh, I'm a 16 eight kind of girl then, and that's not naturally where your body wants to go. Your body will feel scared. It will prioritize managing cortisol like as a stress response and then turn. You will probably store fat. So you need to be a little bit intuitive with the timing of it. Maybe some days are 16, some days are 12.

Sarah Milken (00:32:51) - And like it also depends like are you having a really anxious week or like if you're still getting your period, maybe you're like PMS out of your mind and you want to eat the kitchen table like I think it's and I think that's what I like about your program too, is like, not everything is the same all the time.

Speaker 3 (00:33:09) - No. In fact, I prefer you to throw it. I call it throwing in a curveball, you know? And so, like, if I have a client, like you said to me, someone calls me and says, oh, I'm off the rails.

Speaker 3 (00:33:18) - And I'm like, great. We threw we had a curveball. So what are we? And it's kind of good sometimes to jigger things up. But I throw in a burger, throw in a ten hour fast and then like, let's see what happens, right. And yourself that freedom.

Sarah Milken (00:33:33) - Well yeah. And it's also like trial. It's like an experience. It's sort of like letting your kids fuck up. You're like, I could tell my son a million times not to do X, Y, and Z, but until he does it and learns from experience. And I think that's kind of what you're saying to like, unless you go to three holiday parties and feel like ass, you may not know what it's going to feel like.

Speaker 3 (00:33:54) - Bingo. And oftentimes throughout a program, a client will say to me like, wow, I pulled dairy out of my diet, and God, it doesn't serve me anymore. And I suffered all weekend. But like, now I kind of know I'm not going to do that anymore.

Sarah Milken (00:34:09) - Yeah. Learning from experience. Okay. Step four you call feast or famine.

Speaker 3 (00:34:14) - Yeah. This is probably one of my favorite steps. So, you know, we snack as a culture all day long. And you know this as mom life. My kids are always like kind of snack. Can I have a snack? Can I have a bar? Can I have a snack? They don't do that in other parts of the world. My sister lives in Italy. She laughs at like the pouches that we have and the like, you know, to go goldfish.

Sarah Milken (00:34:39) - Snacks for the park. You're like.

Speaker 3 (00:34:41) - What? We are so afraid to be hungry, you know? And this is where I think the fasting is a good lesson is like, it's actually okay to be a little bit hungry. And instead of reaching for something every two hours, every hour there's almonds sitting on my desk, I'm going to grab them. There's the leftover French toast bites for my kids. I'm going to pop them in as I'm washing the plate, like be conscious of that.

Speaker 3 (00:35:07) - And I say feast, famine. So when you're eating, eat, make a purposeful meal, you know, and make a choice of like what you do for your beautiful breakfast, right? That is your meal. And I want you to coast on that meal protein, fiber and healthy fats till your eggs at lunch. And then I want those eggs at lunch to have, like a beautiful salad or some cut up veggies, or maybe a little bit of an avocado so you can coast to your mini meal and then coast to dinner. Or maybe you go straight to dinner. But you need to make these purposeful choices as opposed to being a reactive eater of like, I haven't thought through my plan. There's nothing in the fridge now I'm going to be eating Siete tortilla chips until dinner because I didn't meal prep and plan. So it's really good for you to feast your body and then give your body a break for digestion, for cellular turnover, and also to allow those insulin levels to drop so you can get back into a fasted state.

Speaker 3 (00:36:07) - But before you engage those insulin levels again, and this was one of the, uh, one of the tricks that I, one of the steps, the method that I really established during Covid when, um, during Covid, like my business kind of went to the next level because everyone was at home with a kitchen this far away, and they started snacking. And I experimented with a couple of clients, like having them coast 3 to 5 hours and like £4 and seven days, £3 and five. Like, I was like, this is wild. Just not snacking is almost automatic weight loss and inflammation loss.

Sarah Milken (00:36:45) - But how do you have that willpower? Not you, but like so.

Speaker 3 (00:36:49) - I'll tell you the secret you aren't hungry, so hunger will because you're.

Sarah Milken (00:36:54) - Doing all the other steps. You're drinking the water, you're alphabetizing God, you're not.

Speaker 3 (00:36:59) - Starting with your day with starchy carbs, and you're not starting your day with syrup in your coffee, like a pump of this or whatever. Like when you stabilize your blood sugar.

Speaker 3 (00:37:09) - It is the secret sauce to everything that you want less hunger, more energy, better sleep, leniency, crushing your workouts and getting through a fasted workout on empty because your body now knows. Okay, I'm gonna tap into my glycogen stores, burn through that for energy, and then I'm going to tap into fat. And it's really like it's really very simple when you understand the science of it all. Um, and that we, we nourish you. So you're not constantly hungry.

Sarah Milken (00:37:40) - I have the funniest story about this concept. So you you were gracious enough to send me your online course, which is the digital version. And so of course, I'm like the nerd, like watching all the segments, whatever. But I'm playing it allowed. My husband can hear and I'm talking to him and he and I said, do you know the average person eats something 16 to 17 times a day? And he stops and he looks at me and he goes, oh my God, that's probably me. And I go, oh! And he goes, yeah, because he's like, if I don't go to work and I work from home, it's like I go to the pantry, I pour mini bowl of cereal, then 20 minutes later I'm have 12 knots.

Sarah Milken (00:38:21) - And he's like, I probably do that. So we have this like running joke in my house the last three days because they knew I was interviewing you. So like, I'm like, how many times did you put something in your mouth today?

Speaker 3 (00:38:33) - Oh, but it's so good to be aware of.

Sarah Milken (00:38:35) - No, totally. And it's just and he's like, no, it's just the structure of it. It's the idea of it. Like, I don't need to be putting something in my mouth 16 times a day.

Speaker 3 (00:38:45) - Yeah, yeah. And most and most people don't even realize they're doing it. Yeah, sometimes food journals as a frustrating and annoying as they are. But boy, you're like, wow, it is when you.

Sarah Milken (00:38:57) - Don't eat something because you don't want it to be in the fucking journal, right?

Speaker 3 (00:39:01) - Exactly. Like I can't write down. I don't want to write it down. I'm not gonna eat that. Yeah, I don't.

Sarah Milken (00:39:07) - Want Sarah to know that I ate for. Times in my famine, my four hours between breakfast and lunch.

Sarah Milken (00:39:15) - Um, okay, so we don't have to go into big on this because it's a whole episode unto itself, which I've done. But there obviously there is a there are a lot of women who are taking the GLP and the semi-gloss tides and all of that. Number one, how does that fit into your system if women are taking that? And then the second piece of that is you say, that's all great and dandy. If that is what your doctor wants you to do, and it works for your life. But at the same time, you're not necessarily learning to adopt an eating lifestyle for the rest of your life. And you could be eating, be getting skinny on eating a half a chick fil A sandwich. So those are my like two parts. How does it fit into like the women who are on them? And then the second part is, is that why a lot of women are failing when they come off of these drugs? Because they haven't adopted those routines?

Speaker 3 (00:40:12) - I think there's a time and a place for the medication.

Speaker 3 (00:40:15) - I think the diet will always override the medication and learning to eat healthily for your body, um, and really nourish yourself and balance your blood sugar is critical to come off of these medications. Um, I think some people suffer from metabolic syndrome, and they are just not going to make a dent in their weight and body mass index. All of that without the help of the, um, of the medication. That being said, when you pair it with lifestyle changes, it really is kind of like that magic bullet that you're looking for. You will inevitably gain the weight back if you come completely off of those medications. What a lot of people are doing now is they're using it as a weight loss drug, titrating up through the different dosages, back down, and then they're using it as a microdosing technique. So, you know, maybe doing a shot every month or a shot every other month and using it just to kind of help them stabilize those blood sugar levels. Because, by the way, the medications are doing medically, what I am trying to do with you behaviorally, um, so it's very interesting that my passion became blood sugar balance about 3 or 4 years ago.

Speaker 3 (00:41:32) - And now these medications are just basically proving that blood sugar is everything. Your body sort of thinks. It's in a fasted and exercise state all the time on a semaglutide. So I think that I've seen really, really great results from people that take this on with a lifestyle change. The people that choose to go on these medications that are like just because they don't want to go to the gym and they do want to eat a quarter of a chick fil A sandwich, are going to inevitably be in for a rude awakening if and when they ever come off of those medications. So they're signing up for a lifetime medication, or they're signing up for a massive weight gain back when they do go off of them.

Sarah Milken (00:42:17) - And what about metformin? I know there's you know, metformin has been going for a long time, obviously. How does that fit in. And or a lot of your clients taking that because a lot of midlife women do struggle with insulin sensitivity. I have a prescription for metformin in my kitchen that's just staring at me, and I'm like, oh no.

Speaker 3 (00:42:37) - You know, it's it's I call it like baby Ozempic. It is a blood sugar stabilizer. It is going to allow your body to be more efficient with glucose when it's in your system, your body basically, you know, food is put in there and it's got two choices. It burns it or stores it. And what happens as you're hitting that menopause phase is that our estrogen levels are declining. Body's ability to manage glucose just declines. So what ends up happening is we store, you know, an apple that you would have burned even a year ago gets stored as fat. And so specifically insulin resistance kicks in. And then that visceral fat, which is why everyone says the same thing. My belly fat, my belly fat, my belly fat. And that's because it's visceral fat that's happening around the organs. So I think metformin will absolutely help. I think if you're choosing to go on any of these medications, one of the most important things to do is to work with a doctor and to get regular blood work, like to the tune of every two months, blood work.

Speaker 3 (00:43:41) - And it would be beneficial to get a Dexa scan, or a steak scan, or an in-body scan to make sure that your bone density is okay, that your muscle loss is not too great because the medication does tend to favor pulling muscle off. Once it's sort of burned through fat, it goes into muscle wasting. And so if you are going on these drugs, you must make a commitment to weights, strength training, and eating a ton of. Protein, right? So those will keep you safe if you're on these GLP one peptides.

Sarah Milken (00:44:14) - Got it. Okay. Now tell us about the Sww plate I know that's like a favorite thing for you.

Speaker 3 (00:44:22) - That's Kylie's favorite thing. Knockout beauty Kylie. She loves that thing because it really is like I think the way that you can kind of have it all when you go out with your friends, when you're cooking at home, when a holiday hits. So what you want to do is you want to you have your plate and you want to do half of your plate with veggies, and then you want to eat in the right order.

Speaker 3 (00:44:45) - So veggies. Then you go to your protein and you save your carbohydrates for last, whether they're, you know, the healthier carbohydrates like a sweet potato or something that's more fiber rich and slow burning chickpeas or lentils, something with more fiber. Or you're like, I'm going to have some pasta, or I'm having steak free for dinner. So you have the steak first with maybe a salad, and then you have the fries last. And what that does is it acts almost as a blood sugar blanket, and it throws a blood sugar blanket over your whole meal so it won't spike your glucose as much as if you have that veggies and protein first. And then, by the way, you're also kind of full from that meal. And then you might have like five fries as opposed to 15 fries or a couple twirls of the pasta as opposed to half of the bowl. And that way I love the plate because I don't know about you, Sarah, but when I go out with my friends, I don't like the rules.

Speaker 3 (00:45:38) - Like I when I go out, I want to really have fun. And so I don't want to tell myself, no, you can't have the fries today or no, you can have a couple bites of the pasta. So eating in that order will stabilize blood sugar. It will allow you to make sure you get enough protein and veggies, and you can still have your carbs. You just have them last.

Sarah Milken (00:45:58) - I know, but what do you do if you eat a stir fry? Do you pick out the vegetables and eat them first? Then you eat the chicken pieces.

Speaker 3 (00:46:05) - I mean, it could be kind of psychotic like that, but I would say in that case is I would make sure that before you go out to any dinner like 2 or 3 hours before you do some, this is where kind of my mini meal comes in. So you do like I personally will make a smoothie. So on Saturday nights, that's kind of our night to go out with our friends and indulge again. I don't have much of a life.

Speaker 3 (00:46:29) - I'm building this business and I have two children, so like one night a week is really when we're going out. And so we will. I'll make a smoothie, I'll make the sweet smoothie for Chris, and I will have that around 4 or 5. We'll go out at 8:00 and we'll kind of like eat whatever we want on those nights. Um, what's.

Sarah Milken (00:46:45) - In? Tell everyone what's in that smoothie.

Speaker 3 (00:46:48) - That smoothie. Okay. So your base, which would be, you know, water or some flavor, some some nut milk, like almond.

Sarah Milken (00:46:55) - So you do the water when you don't feel like you need the super calories or you're not starving. And then you would do the almond milk when you're like, I want to eat my left foot.

Speaker 3 (00:47:05) - Correct. Bingo. And then you can use your protein powder so proteins the base. So my favorite is yours. It's be well by Kelly I only.

Sarah Milken (00:47:14) - Know that because of you.

Speaker 3 (00:47:16) - Oh really. Yeah. It's clean. It's it was it's.

Speaker 3 (00:47:19) - No there's no hexane used to derive the protein out of the protein source. There's no added gums or fillers. There's organic monk fruit. It's the cleanest protein powder animal based protein powder on the market. So I will do a scoop of that. And then I will do a scoop of plant based protein, which I love proven. So I'll do B1 by Kelly and Shivani and that gets me 45g of protein. And that's for me because I have a big appetite. I'm usually doing a lot of strength training and running around. And also I know that when I have a meal, it needs to probably last me 4 to 5 hours because I'm on calls and running around to meetings. So I'll do that. I'll do a tablespoon or two of flax meal. Sometimes I will do acacia fiber, which is a fun fact. It doesn't have any fat in it, whereas flax has fat. So I'm trying to cut a little bit of the fat out of the shake. And then depending on if I lifted that morning or had my trainer, I'll add half a banana or I'll do blueberries, or I'll just add cinnamon and do no fruit, um, and a little bit of ice.

Speaker 3 (00:48:22) - And then that usually will take me the bulk of.

Sarah Milken (00:48:24) - Like, do you even think about how many calories that is? Because if you think about the Trouvent scoop and the Kelly scoop and the.

Speaker 3 (00:48:31) - 450 calories, okay, it's a lot of calories, but like, it's also a meal.

Sarah Milken (00:48:36) - And you're also really tall.

Speaker 3 (00:48:39) - I'm really tall, five foot ten, right?

Sarah Milken (00:48:41) - And remember when you saw me or like Sarah, you're five foot two. You're such a small person.

Speaker 3 (00:48:46) - Right? So right again, maybe I'm only.

Sarah Milken (00:48:49) - Making that point because you said to me, like, maybe just one scoop of one of them, or a half a scoop of each versus 50g. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:48:58) - And so for you, I would probably modify your shake. I would have you do, um, especially because like after you're lifting and all the stuff you're doing that I'm seeing you on Instagram, I would do. A ball by Kelly, and then I would do a sachet of collagen. And that collagen will get you another nine grams of protein.

Sarah Milken (00:49:15) - Does it matter that collagen is not a complete protein?

Speaker 3 (00:49:19) - No, because Kelly's got it.

Sarah Milken (00:49:22) - So you do you would do a scoop of Kelly. Yeah. You would do water scoop of Kelly. A sachet of the green compass. Collagen. Right. Got it. And then what else am I doing?

Speaker 3 (00:49:35) - And then for you, I would do, like, a little bit of ice and maybe some blueberries and cinnamon. And you could add some spinach. Okay. And then I would add in a fiber. So I would add flax or acacia fiber.

Sarah Milken (00:49:47) - Okay I'll have to look into the acacia fiber thing.

Speaker 3 (00:49:49) - Yeah. It's kind of a new um, thing I'm doing because I'm like, I, I'm looking at all the fat that I eat and I love nut butter. And I'm like, oh, I could eat more nut butter if I have less fat in my shake.

Sarah Milken (00:49:59) - Oh, that's so interesting. Yeah. Because my when I was, my husband was like, what's my mini meal going to be right now? This is hilarious.

Sarah Milken (00:50:05) - What's going on? Oh my God, I love him. Oh my God. Because he's like, oh because he's like the structure master. Like you give him a plan. He follows it. You give me a plan. I'm like, fuck the plan.

Speaker 3 (00:50:15) - MIT men love structure.

Sarah Milken (00:50:18) - Oh my God. I was like, shut up. Okay, so I know, I know, we're like winding up on time here, but like and supplements are obviously key to lifestyle. But like if you were going to a desert island and you could only take five supplements with you, like what would be Sarah, what would they be?

Speaker 3 (00:50:35) - My supplements would be, um, my two powders, my greens and my and my magnesium powder.

Sarah Milken (00:50:41) - I really need that greens powder to come out.

Speaker 3 (00:50:43) - You're going to get it. I actually already sent it to you. It's just shipping on the 18th of December, so you'll get it in a week or two. And then um, and then I would like I live for digestive enzymes.

Speaker 3 (00:50:55) - I live for them. I take them every single day.

Sarah Milken (00:50:57) - So do you do do you do the pure encapsulation? I do, I do. And how do you take them.

Speaker 3 (00:51:03) - With my dinner. So again, they live like in my little pantry right behind where our family has dinner every night. And I just popped two right after dinner.

Sarah Milken (00:51:12) - Oh, so you do them after dinner. Okay. I've never taken those before.

Speaker 3 (00:51:15) - And and truth be told, like, if I go out to dinner, they're in every clutch that I take out to eat. Yeah.

Sarah Milken (00:51:21) - You're like, oh, these are those from like last Christmas.

Speaker 3 (00:51:25) - Right? I'm like, what are you popping a dinner? I'm like, here we go. And had some pasta. Like I'm like, I gotta take these enzymes.

Sarah Milken (00:51:32) - Okay, so but what about would you do ashwagandha fish oil? Would they be in your tops?

Speaker 3 (00:51:37) - I love ashwagandha, um, I absolutely would put that in the top of my list. It's basically known as nature's Xanax.

Speaker 3 (00:51:45) - It helps you manage stress. It helps you manage a cortisol response from all the crazy things that are happening. I love fish oil. It's good for brain health. I really think it's awesome for hair. I started taking a ton of it when I was pregnant with when, um, who's now almost three and I just never really stopped. I also really love black seed oil as it squashes inflammation, and I'm all about anything that's just going to like, suck, bloat out of my body.

Sarah Milken (00:52:12) - So flaxseed oil, how do you is that just a supplement?

Speaker 3 (00:52:16) - It's a supplement. Yeah. Okay.

Sarah Milken (00:52:18) - And it's a pill. It's not like it's okay because it's oil. Sounds liquidy.

Speaker 3 (00:52:22) - Yeah. The fish oil is also a pill. I'll take those fish oil and black seed oil and enzymes with dinner adrenal nourish. I'll pop sort of as needed with my stress going on. And then yeah, the two powders those would be makes the.

Sarah Milken (00:52:35) - Adrenal nourish.

Speaker 3 (00:52:37) - A company called Banyan Botanicals. Oh, I've seen that.

Speaker 3 (00:52:41) - Okay, you can also buy straight up ashwagandha from Pure Encapsulation. And it's really I take.

Sarah Milken (00:52:47) - I take that too. Yeah. But I saw in your video that you take it in the morning and the evening.

Speaker 3 (00:52:53) - Again, like, I think people wake up really stressed out and I think it helps just kind of like chill you out a little bit. It's not going to it's not like you're smoking pot or something.

Sarah Milken (00:53:01) - Oh yeah. My, my husband would like me to probably be on an IV of that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:53:06) - But don't you feel good? Like, don't you feel.

Sarah Milken (00:53:09) - Yeah. You know what? I'm not one of those people who could, like, write a supplement review because I'm not one of those people who could be, like, I can pinpoint this exact thing, and when I skip it, I feel this, so I don't know, but it's definitely a staple.

Speaker 3 (00:53:23) - Yeah, it's a staple for me. It helps me sleep. It helps you. It helps activate that parasympathetic nervous system that we talk about, like that system that is in charge of getting your body into that restful state.

Speaker 3 (00:53:34) - It helps you make that transition in an easier way.

Sarah Milken (00:53:38) - Okay. I know we have like we I have so much more to talk to you about. And I know, I know, I needed another episode. How much more time do you have?

Speaker 3 (00:53:45) - Um, I think I have about ten more minutes.

Sarah Milken (00:53:47) - Okay. Because then I'm going to like, pick and choose what we're going to do. So if we switch gears for a second, what would you say are the biggest challenges for your midlife women? Like where they're like Foxboro like this, this and this. Like, what are they?

Speaker 3 (00:54:03) - I think honestly, alcohol is a big one. People have a really hard time with the fact that they just can't throw back bottles of wine anymore without repercussion. Um, I think that's like one of the biggest things that I hear is I just don't want to put my drinks away. And so I try to, like, bargain with. I'm like, all right, listen, let's talk about maybe we're going to consume 3 to 4 drinks, maybe six drinks max in a week.

Speaker 3 (00:54:34) - And we're going to squish it all together, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. But Sunday through Wednesday you do not need alcohol.

Sarah Milken (00:54:42) - But if you drink alcohol, can you eat sugar?

Speaker 3 (00:54:45) - So here's another reason why I put your carbs at dinner. Because that's when we all want to indulge and feel good and feel full and have, you know, have all the things that we want to have and sort of celebrate the day. People also want to sling back some drinks. So those are carbs. And I say to put them all together like, have your carbs in that feast moment of like, all right, I'm going to have the pasta. I'm going to have a little bit of wine. Maybe I won't have the bread and I won't have the dessert. I try to negotiate, like how many sort of carb glucose spiking things I might have at one meal, but yeah, it's a it's really like that's a big one.

Sarah Milken (00:55:24) - Mhm. It's funny because when I was listening to Kylie she doesn't drink and neither do I.

Sarah Milken (00:55:29) - Yeah. So I was like well the drinking thing is not an issue for me. But the sugar thing is like if you told me like you can't have a brownie or you can't have a cookie or have some kind of sweet something every day, I'd be like, Sarah, we're not friends anymore.

Speaker 3 (00:55:43) - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, I think also I would want to look at like, how are you replenishing your body with minerals? Because a lot of times when those voices are really loud for sweets, it's because you're mineral deficient. And so especially around cycles, why we crave chocolate is because it's super high in magnesium. Right. Um, and we are like 30% of the population is completely deficient in magnesium. So I would say like if you like Sarah, let's do a program. And this is one of my things, I need sweet stuff or I crave salty. I would, I would think adding in to, um, sachets of those minerals a day would really help those cravings.

Sarah Milken (00:56:27) - Got it. Okay. No, that makes sense. I'm definitely like the sugar crazy person now with your mini meal snack at 4:00 so that you don't eat your left and right foot by the time dinner comes. Yeah, you're basically saying it has to have a fat, a fiber and a protein. Yeah. So can you give me like four examples of that? Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:56:48) - So I love a chia seed pudding. Um, maybe with a protein powder added to that. Like if you were to whisk in Cindy. Well, by Kelly or proven into a chia seed pudding with a nut milk and you maybe add, you know, some coconut or blueberries on top, that is a great filling, very low carbohydrate. Well, what is.

Sarah Milken (00:57:10) - The chia pudding made out of? Because you're yogurt.

Speaker 3 (00:57:14) - It's literally um, it's nut milk. Or you could do a yogurt and chia seeds with some cinnamon, um, some vanilla extract. And then if you wanted to sweeten it, you could add maple syrup, or you could add, like a monk, fruit syrup for no sugar.

Speaker 3 (00:57:30) - Whisk it together and then you can top it with the protein powder and then blueberries.

Sarah Milken (00:57:35) - So you would have to kind of pre-plan that. Like maybe you make four of them and they live in your fridge. So you're not having what you and Kylie call like a pantry party when you're starving. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:57:46) - Yeah. No, I think I am huge into meal prep. Okay. I know, I think meal prep like having stuff to just open the fridge. I will make chia seed pudding with win every Sunday. She loves it. It's her breakfast a lot of the times. So what do.

Sarah Milken (00:58:00) - You use as the base? For example, I.

Speaker 3 (00:58:02) - Use Elmhurst cashew milk.

Sarah Milken (00:58:04) - Okay.

Speaker 3 (00:58:05) - Um, um, and then I'll use a little bit of full fat coconut milk, and then I'll do cinnamon. And I don't even sweeten it. She just does it with berries on top. And sometimes I'll put in like goji berries or like raw coconut. That's a really good mini meal. Sometimes a mini meal I joke could be like, I always joke that I carry, like chicken breasts around in my purse.

Sarah Milken (00:58:28) - And I sound like my mom. My mom will eat a burger, and then she takes half of it and puts it in a napkin in her purse, and we're looking at her like, can you not do that, please?

Speaker 3 (00:58:39) - Right. Like, I might have been homeless or like a scavenger, like something in another lifetime because I'm like, what am I going to I'm going to make sure I got something here for my mini meal.

Sarah Milken (00:58:48) - Yeah. Mine is. Mine is like Sour Patch Kids. It's not.

Speaker 3 (00:58:51) - It's definitely not really something. That's definitely going to spike those, those sugar levels. Uh, but like okay so chia seed pudding. Um I love like literally sliced chicken breasts. Dip it in some hummus I love. Deviled eggs. I think deviled eggs are great. Or like eggs mashed up with some avocado and some hot sauce. A protein bar that is like sww approved. There's not many of them out there.

Sarah Milken (00:59:18) - Yeah, what are a couple of them that are approved?

Speaker 3 (00:59:20) - Um, so I really like the Sakara Metabolism bar.

Speaker 3 (00:59:23) - Um, I'll give them a shout out because I think that they have really figured out the macros of that bar. There's not too much fat for the amount of protein. There's a ton of fiber and not very many carbs, and it has inulin in it and it makes very full. It's got a fiber in it that creates this fullness that really it does nail. When I look at a bar, I'm like, does this nail my hunger or not? Or is this bar going to just make me want to eat?

Sarah Milken (00:59:50) - Yeah, that's usually me where I'm like, do I need to eat three of these?

Speaker 3 (00:59:53) - Correct. So same with the smoothie effect, right? Like you might not be making your smoothie correctly if you're so hungry afterwards. So the metabolism bar is great sometimes for the right person. Red bars, red, but they're super carby. So you might want to eat half of them and you might want to like have a hard boiled egg and then half a red bar. So those are some good ideas, like an.

Sarah Milken (01:00:16) - Apple with nut butter like that. Meet the bill?

Speaker 3 (01:00:19) - Sure, but I just don't typically find that to be super filling.

Sarah Milken (01:00:23) - Got it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24) - That's where I think the nut butter can get kind of out of control. And you're just scooping nut butter to get full because it really does have that much protein. You need to think about nut butter like fat.

Sarah Milken (01:00:33) - Now what kind of yogurt do I have? Like a yogurt struggle. Like I go in the market and I'm like, okay, Kaleena has a lot of fat, but not a lot of protein like this one. Soy. That one tastes weird. Like from your perspective, is there one that you found that's like not I don't have an issue with dairy, but I know I probably shouldn't be eating dairy if I don't have to be.

Speaker 3 (01:00:56) - Yeah, the the the perfect yogurt doesn't exist yet because Kaleena and Coco, um, June would be my preferred, but they have no protein. It's just that. And it tastes amazing. So you must add protein into that so.

Sarah Milken (01:01:12) - It never mixes, right? How do you get Kelly's powder to mix properly?

Speaker 3 (01:01:16) - So I'll tell you a sachet of green collagen in there. I will whisk it and then add more whisk it. And then sometimes I will even add a little like dollop of almond milk to kind of give it a little bit more of that like wetness that it needs. And then I will add blueberries on top of that and cinnamon. And usually with that nine grams of protein and the fat, that keeps me actually pretty satisfied. I might put some chia seeds in there as well, or some flax.

Sarah Milken (01:01:45) - So again, it doesn't matter that the collagen protein is not a complete protein.

Speaker 3 (01:01:51) - So at that point I just want you to get in some protein because I'm sure that your dinner is probably going to be fish or animal protein, um, or something like that. And this is really the goal of the mini meal is so that you don't overeat at dinner or you're starving after dinner. Like the goal is really to like, mitigate that, like crazy stuff that happens after dinner.

Sarah Milken (01:02:12) - Okay, I know that like, you're you have to go, but I don't want to not mention like the rebounder. I see you jumping and jumping and jumping. I mean, obviously you're not far, far enough into the midlife zone to be peeing in your pants while you're jumping. I have a rebounder, too. But like, from your estimation, if somebody were to, like, incorporate a rebounder as part of their day, maybe they change their underwear after, like, like, what's the least amount of time you can jump and what kind of benefits are you getting from it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44) - When you rebound? The goal is really to drain your lymphatic to help promote lymphatic drainage, and you're actually not really supposed to lift your toes off of it. Right? So you're actually that's it's a leap up in the air. Now, I when I'm leaping up in the air because I'm between zooms and I'm just out there to kind of get some energy out. Yeah. Um, but actual like lymphatic drainage piece of this is to rebound and keep your what is this called, not your toes but your, like, plantar.

Sarah Milken (01:03:14) - Thing, like the ball of your foot, the ball of your ball.

Speaker 3 (01:03:17) - But that's the word. Yeah. The ball of your foot engaged with the with the trampoline while you're jumping and like ten, 15 minutes.

Sarah Milken (01:03:25) - You make it sound like that's so easy. That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:03:29) - Yeah. It's just jump.

Sarah Milken (01:03:30) - Just jump for ten minutes, you guys. Come on. It's not a big deal.

Speaker 3 (01:03:34) - Podcast and jump.

Sarah Milken (01:03:35) - Hahahahahahaha okay you guys, there's like five more steps. But like I said, I'm not going to share all the steps because you have to take Sarah's course.

Speaker 3 (01:03:44) - There you go.

Sarah Milken (01:03:45) - Now do you find like, I know that there are women who have taken the course more than once? Why is that? Or have they, quote, failed? Do they like the community? Do they like the accountability? Like what's the deal there?

Speaker 3 (01:03:58) - So we're constantly changing the content. We're constantly changing the guest speakers. I would say the community is fantastic. The community that we've created over the last couple of years is amazing.

Speaker 3 (01:04:10) - But also you learn something new every single time, and sometimes you're just not ready to hear it yet. You know, I went to a yoga class last week and I was laying there in the Shavasana pose, and she said something that I'm sure she has said a thousand times, but I finally heard it and I was like, whoa! It wasn't some groundbreaking information. I just was open to that information at that moment. And that's how I think the method is. Like. You may hear blood sugar balancing lesson in an entirely different way from January to October. And I think it's really like when you are ready to hear that information and take it in, we're there to support you and engage with you and push you. I think the program is not for the faint of heart. It's not for people that are going to come in and mail it in. We are going to drive you to the goal. Um, we are a results driven brand that is like, we're going to give you a hug, but I'm also going to kick your butt a little and let's go.

Speaker 3 (01:05:08) - Um, and I think that's what brings people back is that sense of, okay, like, I know I'm going to be held fricking accountable. Now, I take it really seriously, as do our coaches. We have an entire coaching and training program now. We have ten nutritionists. I make 11. And it's just it's an awesome community and you'll feel supported. It's got a little bit of a book club vibe, a little bit of a Tuesday night. It's 7:00, you know. So do the.

Sarah Milken (01:05:32) - Women become friends or it's more of a lecture kind of a day, too.

Speaker 3 (01:05:36) - Because we have a platform where they could all connect with each other online. So there's this online component where people are sharing recipes and twists on recipes and results. And look at this picture of me. And I went to this dance. You know, it was.

Sarah Milken (01:05:48) - Like Facebook group ish. It is.

Speaker 3 (01:05:50) - It's totally Facebook vibes.

Sarah Milken (01:05:53) - Okay, that makes sense. Yes. Now you I heard you say in your online video course that you sent me, you said, you guys, this is not all ponies and rainbows.

Sarah Milken (01:06:04) - Yeah. Tell me what you mean.

Speaker 3 (01:06:07) - Um, it's hard work. Yeah. No, it's hard work, and we don't take it lightly. This isn't some online program where you mail in a picture of the scale, and you sent us your food journal. This is like hardcore education professional speakers that will literally change your life with the messaging that they're going to give you. I do a lot of guest expert interviews that I'm poking and prodding at what they do professionally to help our team. I'm letting everyone into my own Swat team. Right. My colonic Hydra therapist, um, my like guy.

Sarah Milken (01:06:41) - That's Cindy, right? I listened to all about Cindy and the push. Push? Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:06:47) - Right. I mean, I'm I'm trying to be, like, really, um, honest and open with this community about what I'm doing that works for me and share that, because I think it helps inspire people.

Sarah Milken (01:06:59) - Yeah. Okay. I know we have to wrap up. So tell me the different programs you have and where everyone can find you.

Speaker 3 (01:07:07) - Yes. All right. So SWH method is sort of our our biggest bang for your buck. It launches again January 23rd. Um, we do January, we do April and October. So you can find that online. It's literally right when you go to our website. I could even give you the, the, um, link. And then you can do private lifestyle programs, one on one coaching with myself or our team of ten. That's a 12 week program. We have six week programs as well. And we're also does that.

Sarah Milken (01:07:37) - Mean I can text you from the pantry?

Speaker 3 (01:07:39) - Pretty much.

Sarah Milken (01:07:40) - You kidding?

Speaker 3 (01:07:42) - Yeah. Can you hire me? You got me in your pocket. You got me in your pocket. Okay. So.

Sarah Milken (01:07:49) - Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:07:50) - Um, so. And then there's. Then there's memberships. So when you come out of a lifestyle program, you move to monthly membership. And that's just like a subscription sort of service.

Sarah Milken (01:07:59) - Okay. And then you have the digital course.

Speaker 3 (01:08:02) - We have a digital online course that's $450.

Speaker 3 (01:08:05) - And that is our celebrated suite method on recordings where you will learn a lot. And that might be a good tip before the method.

Sarah Milken (01:08:13) - Got it. Okay. And where can we find you.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17) - Find me at Sarah Wellness on Instagram or Sarah raggi.com.

Sarah Milken (01:08:22) - You have to spell raggy. That's not like sorry.

Speaker 3 (01:08:24) - Sara w Craig that whole job.

Sarah Milken (01:08:30) - I love it you guys you have to try this out. So many of the things seem easy, but they're not. And they make sense. And you don't have everyone do everything at once. Like, I was even listening to Kylie and she's like, when I started working with Sarah, it wasn't like Rome was built in the day. Like Sarah was like, we're just starting with water. Like that's what we're doing for the next two weeks. We're just talking about water. And you just went step by step and you create these amazing transformations for people.

Speaker 3 (01:08:58) - It's so fun. I feel literally like I'm cheating every day that I get to do this. It's the best job in the world.

Sarah Milken (01:09:04) - And you get to like, look good and feel good all at the same time.

Speaker 3 (01:09:08) - I mean, I'm trying right here.

Sarah Milken (01:09:09) - We all are. I want everyone to think about what we can start doing today. One small step to transforming our lifestyles, losing weight, feeling more energetic and belonging to our own best versions of ourselves. I want to thank Sarah Raggi and thank you for being a guest on the Flexible Neurotic Podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:09:28) - Thank you Sarah. So fun.

Sarah Milken (01:09:30) - Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (01:09:31) - Thank you. Take care.

Sarah Milken (01:09:38) - Hey peeps, it's me again. I listened to this episode with Sarah Raggi, the founder and chief nutritionist of Sww Sarah Raggi Wellness. So I could summarize the golden nuggets for you to have actionable items to start using today. I know that when I listen to a long episode, I'm like, oh my God, I love that. But then I can't even fucking remember the specifics. This is why I come back and do a golden nugget. Summary. In this episode, we dig deep with our golden shovels in a conversation about the importance of nutrition and lifestyle in midlife.

Sarah Milken (01:10:10) - Golden nugget number one. It's all about behavioral change. The Sww method, created by Sarah sets out to take a comprehensive look at your daily routines route issues, likes, cravings, dislikes, favorite ways to work out. I mean, the list really goes on. She takes a look at the entirety of who you are and what method will work for your long term goals. And as Sarah reiterates, it's a lifestyle, not a diet. And there is no suffering in Sww because it's all about creating a program that will promote positive behavioral change. Yep, you heard that right. Behavior change is the key element to bridging the gap between what you're doing now and what you should or need to be doing. When you get all the things you need to be doing to fit into your daily routine in a way that feel enjoyable for you, you've created safety and structure for yourself. Golden nugget number two Sarah's ten steps that you can always come back to. We've all been there. You go on vacation, you eat the cake, you take an extra cheat day over the weekend, and you're having a hard time getting back into your healthy routine.

Sarah Milken (01:11:14) - Sww knows the cycle happens, and Sarah has created the ten steps you can always come back to, and just choosing one of them is a win, she says. These steps are always accessible to you and you always have the choice to utilize one of them. We'll be talking about making choices next. In this episode, we get into the first four steps, which are number one water when you wake up. Yup. Water. Number two alkalis. The body number three hit your fasting numbers. Number four feast or famine? Golden nugget. Number three making choices. Although there are ten easy steps to come back to, Sarah reiterates that there is no cheating and you always have the power to make a different choice. This one is all about education. When you know that your body will react a certain way to fries at brunch, you will be more likely to make a choice on how to order something else or accommodate for that food in other ways throughout the day. For example, if you have your carbs early, you would balance the day out with fruits and veggies and protein.

Sarah Milken (01:12:17) - Sww is all about educating so that you can make an empowered choice and not feel badly later. Making empowered choices goes alongside remembering your why. Why are you committing to behavior change? Because it stabilizes your mood. Because you feel good in your body. This will fuel your decision making. So make sure to understand what's motivating you. Golden nugget number four Sweeting tricks to stay aligned with your lifestyle. First is the SWH plate. This system is something that you can use almost anywhere a restaurant, holiday party, brunch, you name it. The first step is filling out your plate with half veggies and then eating in the correct order. This means veggies first, protein, second carbs last. This acts as a blood sugar blanket and will make it so that the meal doesn't spike your glucose. It also helps you fill up more on the veggies and protein and have less room for carbs. The second trick is to have a mini meal before you go out, like the 4 p.m. meal. This is a similar concept, but you're filling up mostly at home with a smoothie with protein, or a healthy mini meal of your choice.

Sarah Milken (01:13:25) - And when you get to dinner, you don't feel like you're starving and you want to eat the whole table and you will have less room for carbs. You can still enjoy them, but you will have less. The gold is dripping off these nuggets. Grab it. Use it. There are three things you can do. First, fucking subscribe to the podcast. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is when you subscribe. The podcast library knows and it ranks it second. Share it with some friends who like midlife shit. And third, write an Apple review. Writing reviews is kind of annoying and extra step, but guess what? It really helps the podcast grow. You think your little review won't matter, but it does. If you went to a show and everyone said my clap doesn't matter, then there would be no clapping. You all matter. DM me. You know, I always respond. I'm the only one in my Instagram. And of course follow me on Instagram at the flexible, neurotic duh.

Sarah Milken (01:14:18) - Love you talk soon.