Brian (1s):
Coming up on the GET, LEAN Eat, Clean Podcast. There
Jessie (3s):
Are a variety of nutrients that play a role in our capacity, our ability to produce energy, also known as a TP, and also play a role in our production of thyroid hormones in our capacity to feel satiated. So things like, you know, B12, things like Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, selenium, iodine. These are all nutrients if they are not in the optimal level, which again, just like we talked about with insulin, there's a big difference between lab normal and optimal. They're gonna play a role in slowing down the metabolism.
Brian (40s):
This week I interviewed the founder of Well Empowered, Dr. Jesse Meyer. Dr. Jesse practices data-driven, heart centered Functional Medicine We discussed the importance of adding resistance training to your routine, along with Labs to get tested. Five Overlooked Root Causes of a Slow Metabolism, Dr. Jesse's principles of natural health. Is. there such a thing as Natural Ozempic and her one tip to get your body back to what it once was. Really enjoyed my Interview with Dr, Jesse, I know you will too. Thanks so much for listening and enjoy the show. Alright, Welcome to the Get Lean Eat Clean podcast. My name is Brian Gryn and I have Dr. Jesse Meyer on Welcome to the show.
Jessie (1m 19s):
Thanks so much, Brian. It's a pleasure to be here with you and your community.
Brian (1m 23s):
Yeah, great to meet you. We just found out we're from the same area, so very exciting. Small world.
Jessie (1m 29s):
Yes. North suburbs of Chicago. Let's give a shout out.
Brian (1m 33s):
Yeah, yeah. And you moved since away. You're in a remote area. I won't, I won't say where 'cause I know you're trying to stay low key.
Jessie (1m 41s):
No, that's okay. You can, you know, you, you might hear some yodeling in the background, you know, it's in inevitable here in Switzerland, people just randomly break out in yodel. It happens.
Brian (1m 50s):
Oh, really? Okay.
Jessie (1m 51s):
Yeah. No, not really, but
Brian (1m 52s):
That'd be cool. That'd
Jessie (1m 54s):
Be cool. It good.
Brian (1m 54s):
Yeah. And you're in functional medicine.
Jessie (1m 57s):
Exactly. I am in functional medicine. I also like to call it data-driven natural medicine. So some people might be familiar with the term functional medicine, but really that's, that's what it is. It's taking a data driven root cause approach to understanding what set the source of symptoms or health conundrums and facilitating healing through addressing that the root causes.
Brian (2m 20s):
And, what made you get into this area?
Jessie (2m 21s):
You know, to me it really lives like, you know, a, a law like gravity, right? Like trying argue with gravity. It's probably not gonna turn out well, But. it really lives like that kind of a truth that when we feel our best and we look our best, we're able to be our best. And at least that's how it has been in my experience. And so along the way, you know, I I, I have played different roles in the area of guiding people on their health journey. And when I, when I got queued into this type of work, it really just powerfully spoke to me for the difference it made for me and also for my desire to be able to, to contribute to people on their journey, right.
Jessie (3m 5s):
And to guide them in their own, their own path to, to, you know, resolving symptoms and really being able to have their health handled, fundamentally speaking.
Brian (3m 16s):
Okay. Yeah. And like, what's a typical client for you? Is there a certain avatar?
Jessie (3m 22s):
Yeah. Well, so definitely I work with a lot of people who at the very least have like a side of weight loss, right? It's like, okay, digestive distress with a side of weight loss. But for some people, that's their main commitment, right? They really get that they've inherited a broken paradigm in this area of life. And they know there's a way to solve the conundrum called, you know, arriving at a weight where I just feel my best, right? And being able to sustain it, but they don't know how. So weight loss is definitely a big, a big thing that I work with people on. But I also work with people on everything from digestive distress to hormones gone wackadoodle to skin challenges, whether that's acne or psoriasis and that digestive distress world that might be, you know, irritable bowel syndrome or it might be an autoimmune conditions such as Crohn's or ulcerative colitis.
Jessie (4m 16s):
So all these different things, you know, they just really respond well. When we can understand what the source of dysregulation or I is, then we can, we can support the body. we can, you know, move the move forward in a targeted way to allow for healing.
Brian (4m 34s):
And I also noticed you used to do super slow.
Jessie (4m 37s):
Exactly. Well, and that was, so in 2002, I was at 25, I was a co-owner of the first boutique strength training facility in Chicago. Okay. So with the husband and wife, they were my business partners. We open citywide super slow.
Brian (4m 52s):
I think I know them, I know who they are.
Jessie (4m 54s):
Keith and Denise. Yeah. we can say their names. Yeah.
Brian (4m 56s):
Oh yeah. Great. Keith. Yeah, Keith and Denise Morton. Is that right? Yes. Yeah,
Jessie (4m 59s):
Exactly. You got it. You got it. I actually just, funny enough, met up with their daughter last weekend. Coincidentally, she and her husband were in the same place as me and my husband, and we figured that out on Instagram, the wonders of social media. Right. But yes, So, we, we went into business together and in 2002, and then after about four years, I sold my half. And really that was my like, you know, I just, I love this. I love being able to make a difference in people's lives and the area of health and wellbeing. And I just, I saw that I wanted to expand my capacity to do so. So from there, I, I made my way back to back to school, to graduate school. And, but when I'm back in Chicago, I still go to Citywide super slow. So, you know, 22 years later, still there, still going strong.
Jessie (5m 43s):
And oftentimes I run into some of the same people who were there when, you know, in 2002, And, you know, some of the trainers are, two of the trainers in particular have been there probably since like 2003. So Amazing. It's, it's kind of like a home away from home.
Brian (5m 58s):
Yeah. I've done some of those workouts. They're not so easy.
Jessie (6m 2s):
No, exactly. People hear the word slow and they're like, oh, I could do that. It's like, yes, you can. And don't confuse slow with easy.
Brian (6m 9s):
Right. Yeah. And what's your routine like now? Like, obviously, are you still into resistance training and things like that?
Jessie (6m 16s):
Absolutely. Yeah. It's just like, it is such a foundation, right? And, you know, prior to being introduced to super Slow, I was, you know, like many people I know this is Keith's story, also a cardio addict, right? Wow. And, you know, had run a marathon a year after graduating from college. And I went to UCLA undergrad And, you know, I that I like, I engineered my class schedule around my workout schedule, which is not actually a joke. It's actually true. So, you know, I, I do love to move and movement is still a big part of my life, but strength training is absolutely, you know, like foundational here in the absence of, you know, going into super slow. I, I do still do slow strength training. I just do it with myself and typically get in there for that about two days a week.
Jessie (6m 59s):
And then, you know, hiking and walking a lot are, are big parts of my, my days and weeks.
Brian (7m 5s):
Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Resistance training should be the foundation of individual's workout routine, especially like as we're aging, it's that much more important.
Jessie (7m 16s):
Absolutely. I And, you know, like you Right. Movement and exercise has been super important to me for a long time and I'm still always amazed. It, like never ceases to amaze me what a difference it makes. And, and whether it's aches and pains or just overall, you know, my mood or the shape of my body or my resilience, you know, it, it's, it's just, I I I, I, I can't, I can't applaud strength training enough. Yeah,
Brian (7m 44s):
Totally agree. I mean, it's easy to get caught up on what it's, the scale says, but I think it's important to just start building in these routines and habits and then, you know, the scale can, can sort of be a, I think a false determinant of health, per se.
Jessie (8m 0s):
I totally agree. I, I really, I see, I think about the scale as a side effect, right? you know, like the scale is gonna say what it's gonna say. And if you're doing what you know to do to honor your health as sacred And, you know, like that's a journey, right? Perfection's a myth. Everybody's got their own journey. But if people are really doing that, engaging in that work in earnest, then the side effect is the scale's just gonna look how it looks. And your body's gonna find a place that it, it really is meant to be. I, I, you know, like you, I I don't get overly caught up on the number on the scale for myself or for others. I really wanna look at the whole picture.
Jessie (8m 42s):
I wanna, I wanna see the labs, I wanna see the, that the labs reflect vitality. you know, I've worked with people who plenty of times who they've lost a lot of weight and still categorically speaking, like BMI wise, they're still in the obese range, but they're metabolically healthy. And it's like, okay, well you are metabolically healthy, or every metric related to your heart health is fabulous. Every metric related to your insulin sensitivity is fabulous. Right? And, you know, this is just where your body's gonna be right now, so just keep doing what you're doing. Yeah,
Brian (9m 19s):
Totally agree. What type of lab markers do you sort of look at? I mean, obviously there's a lot to look at there, but are there certain ones that you sort of stand by? I,
Jessie (9m 29s):
Well, I will say, Brian, when I send someone to go do labs, I let them know. I'm like, you're gonna feel like you're donating blood because we're getting a lot of information and we really do. But certainly there are some mainstays, right? I I want to know, I wanna know inflammation, right? Inflammation, inflammatory markers, which is a knowable thing, right? Sometimes people suspect inflammation is elevated based on symptoms. They might say, oh, my joint's hurt, or my skin's red, or I'm bloated. And to them maybe they, they feel like that might be connected to inflammation. And oftentimes they're right. But, you know, way more often than not, inflammation is silently elevated. But we can, we can test that.
Jessie (10m 9s):
We don't have to wonder, right? Right. So things like H-S-C-R-P and homocysteine, those are kind of mainstays for me. I might look elsewhere if I have a, you know, whether it's in the gut, you know, ESR is another inflammatory marker. I don't use that as much 'cause it's kind of more about like an acute infection rather than long term. But, but those are some things that I always look at. Certainly insulin sensitivity via fasting insulin. And then there, there are some fancier assessments we can do on that. There are a variety of nutrients I'm always looking at, because these are all interrelated, right? If inflammation is elevated, yeah, we need to know that. But we also need to see if we can figure out why it's elevated.
Jessie (10m 52s):
And it's oftentimes, you know, multiple factors coming together, you know, and then we have regular things like a comprehensive thyroid assessment rather than just one number TSH. And yeah, I mean, I will assess heart health through a cholesterol panel, but I do much, much more than that. I'm looking at a OA and a OB and lipoprotein, a And, you know, just all, all kinds of other markers that that give us greater insight into, you know, what's the likely future. you know, we wanna be voting for health and vitality and what's known as compression of morbidity. And, you know, compression of morbid morbidity is fundamentally saying like, you know, what we would all wish for is to, you know, live a very long and very healthy life.
Jessie (11m 45s):
And, you know, like frolic in the ocean on one day at 120, and then like, wake up dead the next day. Right? That's compression of morbidity.
Brian (11m 52s):
Oh, I gotcha. I've like, I've never heard a term that way, but now Now. I, gotcha. Yeah. Okay. Yeah,
Jessie (11m 57s):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brian (11m 58s):
Regarding like metabolism. I wanted to ask you, this was on your, on your website as well, like five commonly overlooked Causes of a Slow Metabolism.
Jessie (12m 8s):
Yes, yes, yes, yes. Well, the number one is elevated inflammation. Okay. And I actually wrote my thesis paper on this for my masters. It, it's just super duper interesting. But, you know, like the long story short is inflammation is designed, we should be producing, we should have more inflammation if we're injured or if we're ill, it actually serves a purpose in the healing process. And if you, you know, go back hundreds and thousands of years, it would've been really important to our ancestors if they were injured or ill to be able to conserve the calories they had, right?
Jessie (12m 50s):
Because they couldn't go out and get more food if they were injured or ill. So same thing happens today, regardless of the source of inflammation, right? So when inflammation is chronically elevated, and again, we can measure that, then the body is going to do two things. It's gonna slow down the metabolism, it's gonna conserve fuel, it's also going to tap down our satiety hormone. So meaning you're simply put, you're gonna be hungrier, right? So you're gonna, your metabolism's gonna be slow and you're gonna be hungrier. So that's, that's one thing that elevating inflammation. Another thing that commonly is, you know, unrecognized con contributor to a slow metabolism is suboptimal insulin sensitivity, which is different than abnormal.
Jessie (13m 38s):
So a fasting insulin, which, you know, we mentioned briefly before, when we do a lab test, lab, normal is often up to 2023, you know, in that range. But to me, anything above seven is suboptimal. That's a huge gap, right? People are gonna be getting, you know, green light, everything's great, and their fasting insulin is 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. To me, it's like the sirens are already going there. And, and the reason that this is so, as it pertains to your metabolism is when insulin sensitivity is decreased, fundamentally what we're gonna do is our body's gonna produce more insulin.
Jessie (14m 20s):
Insulin's job is to help cells absorb glucose. One of its many jobs. And so when the cell doesn't hear the message of insulin, which is decreased insulin sensitivity, then our body's just gonna produce more insulin. But the other job of insulin is to tell the body to store fuel AKA conserve it, don't, you know, store fat, right? So, impaired insulin sensitivity, suboptimal insulin sensitivity. Again, I see that as anything above seven is going to affect our metabolism. Number three is, I like to say detox pathways gunked up. I know very technical term there, but simply put one, our detoxification pathways, which the word detox is like super chic these days, right?
Jessie (15m 3s):
But it's actually referring to, you know, kind of three foundational processes. We could say more, but at least three. And if those aren't working very well, you know, toxins will be elevated, which create more inflammation. But also, one of the things that's commonly just, you know, not, not known by a lot of people, is that our hormones go through those detox pathways also. So when our hormone metabolism is altered, so too is whether we're storing fat or born burning fat. So sex hormones in particular, and estrogen being the main player in that one. So, so detox pathways, gunked up is, is definitely gonna play a role there. Number four is nutrient insufficiencies.
Jessie (15m 46s):
There are a variety of nutrients that play a role in our capacity, our ability to produce energy, also known as a TP, and also play a role in our production of thyroid hormones in our capacity to feel satiated. So things like, you know, B12, things like Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, selenium, iodine, these are all nutrients. If they are not in the optimal level, which again, just like we talked about with insulin, there's a big difference between lab normal and optimal. They're, they're gonna play a role in slowing down the metabolism.
Jessie (16m 27s):
And then the fifth and final aspect that is commonly overlooked is stressors of all flavors, right? So oftentimes when we think about stress, we think about physi psychological stress, emotional and psychological stress. And that is a real stress, right? we can all re, you know, relate to that. But beyond the psychological stressors, we also have physiological stressors in physiological stressors. These could be things like chronic infections, they could be things like low nutrients. They could be things like blood sugar, rollercoaster, insufficient sleep, right? These are all different types of physiological stressors. And the punchline of all of 'em, whether it's psychological or psychological or physiological, is elevated cortisol.
Jessie (17m 14s):
And elevated cortisol is one of our body's favorite fat storage hormones, right? It's, it's just, it's gonna cue the body store, store fat. It's also going to, you know, decrease that satiety hormone message, so to speak. So it's gonna, it's gonna make us hungrier. It's also gonna promote cravings in other ways. But, you know, those, those are the five ways that it, five things that are commonly overlooked as sources of slow metabolism.
Brian (17m 41s):
And do you have, like, like what are some of your best outcomes with some of your patients that you've had through the years?
Jessie (17m 48s):
Yeah, I mean, it, it depends on, you know, best outcomes. Okay. Let's see. Like, I love talking.
Brian (17m 53s):
Yeah. You could just pick one or too Yeah,
Jessie (17m 54s):
I'll pick a few. Well, so one thing that comes to mind is there was, there was a woman who I worked with who, she came to see me after her second, her second babe. And she was exhausted. And she's like, listen, I know having kids makes you tired. This is like another level, right? She, it was, it was like not normal level of fatigue. She'd had some labs done before coming to see me. And her liver enzymes were elevated. She had done the appropriate follow up to make sure there was nothing, quote unquote scary going on. There was no pathology, there was no disease state So, they were kind of like, eh, don't know why. I'm like, well, yeah, there's a reason, right? So, we dug in and, and, and we poked around and we found a few different causes of the elevated liver enzymes.
Jessie (18m 36s):
But we also, you know, related, because again, nothing lives in isolation in our body, right? Even though, you know, a more traditional approach will, will put things in little buckets and send you to specialists, which has its place. I'm not anti that. In her case, she really just did need an integrated approach. So, we found that she had a variety of nutrients that were super low. Inflammation was elevated for her. We got to work and we did all these things. And of course, yes, within a couple of months, not only was energy absolutely, you know, had completely shifted for her. She felt like a new person. But one of the things that was really cool was about six months later in an appointment casually she mentioned, she said, oh, you know what?
Jessie (19m 21s):
I forgot to tell you, I stopped taking my anxiety medication. Now she'd been on anxiety meds for, you know, a year and a half or so. It wasn't a problem for her, it was working for her. There was, it was never a commitment of hers or of mine to get her off the meds. They were doing what they needed to do. But she found that through this process of healing, it not surprisingly altered her production of neurotransmitters, which changed her baseline. So she ne she no longer needed those meds anymore, incidentally. Yeah, she lost 15, 18 pounds and she's kept it off. So that's, that's one example that really just shows in a, in a holistic way, how many things show up in different manners and, and it's all interrelated.
Brian (20m 8s):
Do you do, other than blood tests, do you do any like saliva, saliva tests? Oh, yes. Okay.
Jessie (20m 13s):
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I test all the things, right? Yeah. Whether it's saliva or urine or stool, yes. There, okay. And, you know, we wanna do the right test for the right person, right? So there's, you know, almost an endless amount of tests we could do. But sure, when I meet with people, I'm listening for, okay, what's actionable, you know, to me it's all interesting. But we don't want something to just be interesting. We want something to be interesting and actionable. So, you know, we try and be as targeted as possible depth. But definitely we're doing, you know, the salivary assessments, the, you know, sometimes urinary assessments of sex hormones is a really important component. 'cause we can see how things are metabolized in a way that saliva doesn't show.
Jessie (20m 54s):
And then, you know, stool analysis, it gives us a really great look at the microbiome and where our points of leverage are there. So, yeah.
Brian (21m 2s):
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think the testing is great. I think you can probably over test
Jessie (21m 6s):
A hundred percent Yes. And
Brian (21m 7s):
You're like, and it's, first of all, it's not cheap. It's fairly expensive.
Jessie (21m 10s):
Oh my gosh, it's so expensive.
Brian (21m 12s):
Yes, I've done some of myself. And it's like, okay. Like, yeah, you just wanna sort of stick with the basics, I feel like, and go from there. Totally.
Jessie (21m 21s):
And also, you know, a few things, to your point, Brian, like it can be information overload, right? Which then it's like, okay, it's like diminishing returns because now you're so overwhelmed you don't even know where to start, even if I'm guiding you, right? It's still like, whoa. But even beyond that, it's like oftentimes simple is most powerful, right? If we can find three points of leverage and really maximize those, like the spiral of benefits, it's like, boom, it just makes a huge difference over time.
Brian (21m 50s):
What are like some of your main principles when it comes to just like, pillars of health? I know you've talked a little bit about that, but like, are there certain ones that you sort of go back to, you talk about the basics with your clients?
Jessie (22m 1s):
Yeah, I mean, I, I don't think there's anything like super novel I'll say here, but nutrition is, you know, nutrition just plays such a powerful role Yeah. In our health and wellbeing and our long-term, you know, prospects for vitality. So the other thing about that, that I'd say is I find that people navigating their relationship with food And, what it means to fuel their body in a way that's self-honoring across different environments and with different people and across different emotions. It may be one of the more challenging things they ever do, and it's also one of the most transformative things they ever do.
Jessie (22m 47s):
So it's worth every ounce of care and attention that people give to it, right? It really, you know, yes, we're bringing in data, but when I work with people, it really is a heart-centered approach in the sense that I think it's, you know, people need to be clear and connected to their why. And that is one of the things that we bring into the works, so into this work. So I would actually put that as one of my pillars is, I call it authoring your vision of vitality. And, you know, fundamentally when someone authors their vision of vitality, what they're bringing words to, because mostly I find it somewhere in there, they just haven't given words to it yet, is, you know, what they see is their experience of thriving and also what it would make available for them in their life.
Jessie (23m 38s):
And so when they're connected to that, the work itself changes, you know, so like,
Brian (23m 44s):
Like their reasonings why they're working with you. Yeah,
Jessie (23m 47s):
Absolutely. Absolutely. And it no longer occurs, you know, because in this, we, I mentioned a little bit about this inherited paradigm, and the inherited paradigm is really self one of self aggression, right? It's the all or nothing approach, it's deprivation or overindulgence as like the two options, which is, you know, bull right? But, it, it really is the pervasive paradigm. And when people step away from that and start to step into, okay, what would it look like to live aligned with my vision of vitality? It really is a journey born of self-love and, and choices that were challenging before suddenly, well, suddenly, but also slowly.
Jessie (24m 32s):
It's kind of a little bit of both become not so hard, just like not so big of a deal, right? And, and it's really, it's, it's such a joy to, to witness that shift.
Brian (24m 42s):
I am, I'm curious, you know, going from like north Chicago to Switzerland, like, do you find culturally and, and how they eat? Like, are you like, wow, no wonder people over here are not obese and, and healthy. Like what do you see culturally differently from
Jessie (24m 58s):
Yes. Okay. Well, the number one thing that I see is we Americans, and just because I live here, I'm no less American than I was 10 years ago, right? We're spas, I mean, we're total frenetic spas, like the pace we move at
Brian (25m 15s):
Oh, compared, yeah. Compared to, oh
Jessie (25m 16s):
Yeah. It's just, we laughable. Oh my gosh. It's, I, I have to like check myself when I'll go into the grocery store and I'm not even in a rush and I'm like, you know, I've got my like, sprinting arms going. I'm like, oh my God, cool it. What is the problem? Right? So, so first of all, just overall, their pace of life is totally different. How they eat, like in the time they give to eating is totally different. I mean, we live in Lucerne and the majority of the shops and stores now there's like the super touristy area where it's not gonna be true, but the majority of the shops and stores elsewhere are closed from anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours for lunch, which is like laughable, right?
Jessie (26m 0s):
Right. To us. I mean, to me, I'm like, I mean, can't you just like eat while you're working like a normal person, you know? But it's, I mean, wow, what a great thing to actually prioritize. Okay, now we step away from work, right? and we fuel our body and we probably do that while we're socializing, you know, which is great. Sure. So there's that aspect. And then, yeah, overall like the, the quality of the food is less processed. There's no salad, there's no like sweet green salad store kind of place here. Like people aren't eating loads and loads of salad. They're just eating less processed food and a whole lot less of it as a whole.
Brian (26m 38s):
Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting when you go to just different areas across the globe, like how culturally different they are than in the United States.
Jessie (26m 48s):
Yes.
Brian (26m 48s):
Yeah. That's interesting. You talk about like Is, there such a thing as Natural Ozempic. So I, I wanna, I was curious. I wanted to ask you about that.
Jessie (26m 57s):
Yeah. Well, to touch into that, we wanna look at like, okay, how does ozempic work, right? And Ozempic works in a few different reason, ways rather. One is it slows the emptying of food from your stomach. Two is it increases satiety hormones. Two, is it three is it decreases hunger hormones, and four is it stabilizes blood sugar. So if we take each of these, we can kind of tap into like, okay, what are the natural things that achieve the same physiological impact? Well, slowing emptying of stomach from your food fiber. Okay, great. Sure. Increasing satiety hormones, fiber, protein, healthy fats, anti-inflammatory fats, great.
Jessie (27m 46s):
Decreasing hunger hormones. If we're eating to keep our blood sugar levels stable, that will be a point of leverage there. Omega-3 fatty acids decrease hunger hormones, stabilizing blood sugar. That's really keeping sugars and simple carbohydrates to a minimum and making sure we're getting protein, fats, nutrient-dense carbs at every meal. Right? So collectively, yeah, we have some really great points of leverage for each of these. There are some supplements that can be helpful as well. Berberine and vitamin D, they each work in, in different ways. Omega-3 fatty acids, we could say.
Jessie (28m 27s):
Also they pull different levers along this, but, but we have lots of really fabulous ways to mimic the impact of,
Brian (28m 36s):
Too, the pandemic But,
Jessie (28m 37s):
It takes too long. Yeah. But, it takes too long. Right, right. Exactly. Right, right, right. And And, you know, again, therein lies our frenetic American ways. Right. So slowing down is, is maybe perhaps the most powerful way to begin one's journey. Yeah.
Brian (28m 52s):
I mean, you know, I know people who have been, who have gone on it and like, you know, to each their own, right? I, yeah. I'm not gonna judge them and yeah. 'cause you know, some of these individuals may have been struggling for a while, for decades, and they, they needed something to jumpstart them. And I will say though, the people that I see that on them, it looks, they, it looks like they're sick, like they're closed. I don't know, it just looks like, I feel like if you're gonna get on it, you should probably like resistance train alongside it so you don't like, just completely shrink and
Jessie (29m 25s):
A hundred percent, you know, a hundred percent. Yeah. And, you know, I will say one of the things that I found in I found interesting is there was an article I read a couple of weeks ago that was speaking to will these, you know, manufacturers of ultra processed foods start to shift, right? 'cause they're taking a hit from this Ozempic era because the people who ate the most of them most right, who were disproportionate amount of their customers are beginning ozempic and eating less. And so eating less of their food, right? Will they begin to shift what they're making and ultimately create more nutrient dense food? I guess that would be the best side effect of this moment.
Jessie (30m 7s):
Yeah. Oh, yeah. But yeah, I mean, the, the, because people are eating less and their absorptions shifted a little bit, right? It, it is more difficult for them to get their protein needs met as well as their nutrient needs.
Brian (30m 21s):
And like, let's just say someone's starting out, I think it's easy to feel overwhelmed. you know, we talked about all the tests and this and that. Where would you say a good place for people to start if they're, if they're just just getting going on their weight loss journey?
Jessie (30m 33s):
Yeah. My encouragement is to start, to start first with telling the story of what it would be you in five years, what it would be like to be you in five years thriving. So fast forward five years and tell the story in first person present tense of you thriving, and anything there is for you to say about that. you know, what your experiences of yourself, of your body, your ease in making choices around fueling your body, your energy levels, what that makes available for you, the confidence with which you move about the world.
Jessie (31m 14s):
you know, how you're able to be there for yourself and others, whatever's there, right? Right. So tell that story and that that's really like the first step to getting connected to your personal vision of vitality, the first step. So that's number one. And then the number two is, you know, in the way of taking action, my invitation is to begin practicing asking and answering a question, answering the question in your actions. But the question to ask is, what is my best game right now? What is my best game right now? And, you know, this could be around, you know, your nutritional shifts, and it could be as simple as having three pieces of pizza versus five.
Jessie (32m 1s):
If that's your best game right now. Wonderful. It could be around movement going for, I, I intended to work out for 30 minutes, but I got, you know, wrapped up in my work and Now I have 10 minutes, so I'm gonna go for a 10 minute walk, as opposed to nothing. Right? It could be around sleep, maybe you find yourself, you awaken from your social media haze and you go, holy cow, I've been, I've been scrolling for 45 minutes longer than I meant, meant to. Right. Okay, well then, okay, what's my best game right now? Putting it down right now. Right? Putting it down right now, shutting it off, going to bed. So, you know, just bringing that question with you and answering it in earnest in the moment with your actions.
Brian (32m 44s):
Yeah. Love that. Yeah. I mean, it's all about just like taking that first step in Yeah. In no matter what area you're, you're looking at, I'm all about like, what are like the, the, like the, the big mover, the small steps that can make like the biggest impact and start with those. Yes. Yeah, those like low hanging fruits, you know?
Jessie (33m 3s):
Yes. I totally agree, Brian. I totally agree. And to me, like in the way of nutrition, it's like, okay, can you start your day in a way that keeps your blood sugar level stable? That's like spiral up benefits, right? Sure. That means avoiding high sugar, simple carbs, you know, making sure you have sufficient protein, some, some anti-inflammatory fats in there.
Brian (33m 25s):
What is your routine like eating and working out routine? We, we talk a lot about that on this show.
Jessie (33m 29s):
Yeah. Well, most weekdays, I start my day with a smoothie. I've never found that intermittent. I know a lot of people are into intermittent fasting, and I, my commitment is people find what works for them. Sure. And if it works for you, it's sustainable and it produces the outcomes you care about. Right. So that's my metric for working. Right. And so I, Monday through Friday, I start my day with a smoothie on the weekends, my husband and I have avocado toast, you know, some eggs and avocado and locks, and I have a salad every day for lunch. I love salads. And I make mine really, really interesting, you know, leftover roasted veggies and some kind of protein and avocado, and I love my salads.
Jessie (34m 13s):
And then dinner is, you know, some kind of protein and lots of veggies really. And sometimes we'll do some black rice, sometimes we'll do some lentils or lentil pasta. But that, that's kind of from a high level what my, my nutritional days look like. And Okay. Because of the time schedule, I will often get out and get some movement in the morning before I sit down at my desk for work. And then whether that's going to the gym or going for a hike out back, you know, or, or going for a walk through town. I'll kind of mix and match that throughout the week. And yeah. And I mean, one of the nice things about being here is I do tend to be a bit more of a night owl.
Jessie (34m 53s):
And so I, it works for me to work later in the evening, and then I, I get my eight hour sleep. I wake up slowly and that is a, that is a nice thing about it.
Brian (35m 3s):
Does it stay light late or does it get dark early there, or does it it's,
Jessie (35m 7s):
It's about, it's not too different than Chicago Leon. Okay. Okay. We're a little, we're a little further north, so it'll state lighter later, but it's not like Sweden where it's like, you know, I don't know how in the summer I know it there, I think there are periods where it's like, like 18 or 20 hours Oh my god. Or something like that. But it's not like that here. Yeah. It's kind of more like Northern Michigan, I'd say.
Brian (35m 27s):
Okay. Not too different. Yeah.
Jessie (35m 28s):
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Brian (35m 29s):
What's what's one thing you've changed your mind about in the past 10 years?
Jessie (35m 33s):
One thing I've changed my mind about, oh, that's a really good question. Ooh. I mean, I'm sure there's lots, oh, let's see here. One thing I've changed my mind about, oh, I would say, you know, I, I don't know that this is really changing my sleep. Sleep would be the biggest thing, right? I, the joke my dad used to say about my mom's family, that my mom's the oldest of eight, and she used to say, the Hans don't get tired. They just run around until the feeling goes away. And so, like, I kind of inherited that tendency. And probably about five or six years ago, I was introduced to Matthew Walker who wrote the book, why We Sleep.
Jessie (36m 16s):
Sure. Right. And I mean, it's like a funny thing because like, okay, yeah, duh, we need sleep. Right. But I have always found for myself, when I really learn things on a deeper level, when I understand the physiological impact and, and, and see really like, look under the hood at the magic that happens on a physiological level, it helps me get myself on board in a way that, you know, just kind of knowing like, oh yeah, we should sleep. Right? Yeah. Does it never really did the trick. So for me, it, it really has been shifting how I prioritize sleep. It, I, I can't say I'm perfect, but I am so much better than I used to be. And it's, it's a game.
Jessie (36m 57s):
I'm always trying to, you know, I can see a future in like, you know, five years from now where it really is just like almost second nature that like eight hours happens almost period. No questions asked.
Brian (37m 7s):
Yeah. Yeah. I would think most people probably who in their younger years didn't value sleep much, you know, through college and beyond a little bit. And then as they've gotten older, they're like, wow, I really, I need to value sleep, or I'm not operating at a good level. Yeah,
Jessie (37m 22s):
Totally.
Brian (37m 23s):
That makes sense. Well, this was great, Dr. Jesse. Where's the best place for people to find you?
Jessie (37m 29s):
People can find me@wellempowered.com. And if you are interested in exploring, working together, you can schedule a complimentary consultation. Just make sure you let me know Brian sent you, because you'll be gifted 10% off if you choose to proceed in working together. And then on Instagram, I'm at Well Empowered.
Brian (37m 47s):
Awesome. Yeah. I'll put a link in the show notes for people to take action and book a consult with you. Great. Do they have to, do they, can they fly out to Switzerland?
Jessie (37m 57s):
Absolutely. If they wanna do it in person. Listen, I will take you hiking. I, I'm all for it. Yes.
Brian (38m 3s):
That sounds fun. Yeah. Excellent. Well, I appreciate you coming on, sharing all the knowledge and yeah, enjoy the rest of your day and thanks again.
Jessie (38m 11s):
Thanks so much, Brian. It's been a treat to, to connect with you today.
Brian (38m 15s):
Thanks for listening to the Get Lean Eat Clean Podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there, and you've chosen to listen to mine and I appreciate that. Check out the show notes at Brian Gryn dot com for everything that was mentioned in this episode. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member that's looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again, and have a great day.
