This episode focuses on navigating holiday wellness, highlighting the importance of self-care amidst the seasonal hustle. Strategies include mindful eating, managing stress, and prioritizing healthcare, aiming to empower listeners to enjoy a balanced and joyful holiday season.
• Discussing the impact of holiday stress on mental and physical health
• Sharing strategies for healthy eating during the festive season
• Urging proactive healthcare management during busy times
• Emphasizing the necessity of self-care for educators and caregivers
• Encouraging community support and connection to combat isolation.
Unlock the secrets to a healthier, stress-free holiday season with insights from our esteemed panel, including Dr. Jewel Williams, Dr. April Ruffin, and Dr. Whitney Prude with moderator, Doreen Sampeur. Imagine navigating the festive chaos with ease, keeping your blood pressure in check and embracing the DASH diet's benefits for hypertension. Discover strategies to prioritize self-care and stay grounded amidst the holiday whirlwind, as we reveal survey stats highlighting the significant stress people face during this time.
Join us as we explore expert tips from Dr. Ruffin on reducing burnout with leadership strategies, and Dr. Prude's holistic advice tailored for women’s wellness. We'll guide you in taking control of your healthcare, stressing the importance of understanding your medical history and preparing effectively for doctor's visits. Learn how to harness the power of community health and educator wellness, and create a rejuvenating environment that fosters both personal and professional success. Our interactive wellness workbook and discussions promise to equip you with the tools needed for a joyful holiday experience.
Finally, we tackle the emotional and nutritional challenges of the season, offering mindful eating tips for those on weight loss journeys or with chronic conditions. We emphasize the importance of allergy awareness, planning meals, and supporting loved ones dealing with health challenges. Our conversation touches on the complexities of bariatric surgery and the psychological aspects of obesity, urging a compassionate approach to health management. Whether it's redesigning your holiday season or finding joy in simpler traditions, our episode is your guide to a balanced and fulfilling festive season.
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Links to Stay in Touch with Dr. Jewel W. Williams
Podcast: https://coldpressedconversations.com
Wellness Website: https://jwhitewilliams.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjwhitewilliams/
*Disclaimer: While our discussions aim to inform and educate, it's important to remember that the content provided here is for educational purposes only. We strongly advise consulting your healthcare professional before implementing any advice or recommendations from our guests.
Speaker 1: Ideally, you should be checking your blood pressure
00:00:02
daily, around the same time every day, and bringing those
00:00:06
logs with you to your primary care appointment and with your
00:00:10
nephrologist, and together you all can help solve that problem.
00:00:15
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you, and I'll just add to that, from a
00:00:19
nutrition standpoint, I mean, one of the things that you can
00:00:22
search online if you want, if you want um to help with blood
00:00:26
pressure and reducing your blood pressure, um is the dash diet.
00:00:29
So I mean, essentially, you know, so you're, uh, you're,
00:00:33
you're decreasing your sodium um , trying to stay under two, you
00:00:37
know, 2000 milligrams a day, um.
00:00:40
So that's, that's one of the big key factors that I see in it
00:00:43
is's specifically working with people dealing with weight loss
00:00:46
and that type of thing.
00:00:50
Speaker 3: You're listening to Cold Press Conversations with Dr
00:00:53
Jewel White-Williams, a lover of numbers, lists and a good
00:00:56
glass of cold press juice, who is sharing episodes each week to
00:01:01
help you explore the back end of healthcare and health
00:01:04
sciences, where a lot of that grit is done.
00:01:07
We'll dive into topics covering research, education and
00:01:11
clinical practices, as well as guest shows with other leaders
00:01:15
in the field.
00:01:16
Pull up a seat and let's dive into these amazing and
00:01:21
game-changing conversations.
00:01:23
Not medical advice.
00:01:25
During the course of this podcast or other materials put
00:01:28
forth in support of this podcast , a medical professional may
00:01:31
provide or disclose certain medical information to the
00:01:34
podcast for informational and educational purposes only.
00:01:36
This podcast does not constitute providing medical
00:01:39
advice or professional services.
00:01:41
The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or
00:01:45
treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking
00:01:48
personal medical advice should consult with a licensed
00:01:51
physician.
00:01:51
Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health
00:01:55
provider regarding a medical condition.
00:01:58
Neither Black Tie Legacy LLC, nor its employees, nor any
00:02:02
contributor to this podcast makes any representations,
00:02:06
expressed or implied, with respect to the information
00:02:09
provided herein or to its use.
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Hello, hello, hello.
00:02:14
This is Dr Jewel.
00:02:16
I want to welcome you to Gift Yourself Wellness this holiday
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season.
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I am delighted that you have chosen to invest this time and
00:02:23
yourself during this busy holiday season.
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Now, before we begin, I want to open up our chat and make sure
00:02:30
that you open your chat up as well, because this will be an
00:02:33
interactive opportunity for you to talk to everyone who will be
00:02:37
present on this podcast, and I want to make sure that you know
00:02:42
a couple of things before we get started.
00:02:44
That in the chat at this present moment is your free
00:02:52
session workbook, so that once you finish completing listening
00:02:54
to this episode or as you're listening to it right now you
00:02:56
can jot down some things that really and truly resonate with
00:03:00
you.
00:03:00
But before I begin, I'm just curious are you trying to find
00:03:05
out more about specific stress management techniques or are you
00:03:09
trying to create a more balanced holiday season overall?
00:03:12
And if you are, I want you to realize something the holidays
00:03:16
can be particularly challenging for our well-being.
00:03:19
According to the 2023 American Psychological Association survey
00:03:24
, 89% of United States citizens the adults specifically feel
00:03:30
stressed during the holidays, with 41% reporting higher stress
00:03:34
levels than other times in the year.
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The pressure to create a perfect moment, maintain
00:03:44
traditions and meet every single person's expectations can take
00:03:48
a significant toll on our mental and physical health.
00:03:50
Also, many find themselves sacrificing their sleep, they're
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skipping their meals, they're neglecting exercise routines
00:04:04
just to accommodate holiday preparations.
00:04:05
Something else that's even more concerning 79% of survey
00:04:06
respondents from the American Red Cross admitted to
00:04:09
overlooking their health needs during the holidays, finding
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this season more stressful than tax season.
00:04:13
Now, these statistics highlight why it's crucial to prioritize
00:04:18
self-care during this festive time.
00:04:20
Today's schedule and agenda is going to involve a
00:04:24
mini-presentation from all three of our guests, a panel
00:04:29
discussion, q&a session and valuable resources.
00:04:32
I'm especially excited to have Dr April Ruffin and Dr Whitney
00:04:37
Prude for joining us today, as well as Doreen Sempora.
00:04:41
All three of them have expertise in the medical field
00:04:45
and you will learn practical tools from Dr April Ruffin and
00:04:48
Dr Whitney Prude and myself so that you can maintain your
00:04:53
physical and emotional well-being during this time.
00:04:55
Please be sure to download your Complimentary Wellness Journey
00:04:59
workbook or your actual podcast workbook from the link that you
00:05:03
see from your confirmation email or you can see it right over
00:05:07
here in the chat.
00:05:08
In that chat area, I'm going to be putting so much information
00:05:12
in there.
00:05:13
Number one, the interactive workbook, is there to help you
00:05:16
capture some insights, some keys , create a personal action plan,
00:05:19
track your wellness goals throughout this podcast episode
00:05:23
and beyond.
00:05:23
Additionally, I encourage you to actively participate through
00:05:26
the chat area to share your thoughts, your experiences and
00:05:30
give questions, because we're going to answer them during the
00:05:32
Q&A portion.
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Additionally, the chat is also where you'll find valuable
00:05:36
resources, such as additional links during the entire episode.
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Now remember, taking care of yourself is not selfish.
00:05:43
It's essential.
00:05:45
When we prioritize our well-being, we're being
00:05:47
well-equipped to enjoy the season and share the joys with
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each other.
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So it's time to work together, make this holiday season one of
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balance, joy and mindful self-care.
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I want to say thank you so much for being here, and now it is
00:06:02
time to introduce all of our collaborators in this session.
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We will be beginning with Dr April Ruffin.
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Speaker 1: Hi everyone, good evening.
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I hope everyone's having a great evening and a good start
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off to your holiday season.
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So my name is Dr Ruffin.
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I'm a board certified internal medicine physician.
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My main practice is hospital medicine, but I also am the
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founder and CEO of Renee Health, in which I help empower
00:06:33
individuals to lead healthier lifestyles.
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I also help individuals and companies also use and
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capitalize on establishing healthy leadership styles that
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also help to actually decrease burnout within organizations.
00:06:51
So it's a pleasure to be here and to share healthy tips as you
00:06:57
move on to this wonderful holiday season.
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If you want to learn more about Renee Health, you can always
00:07:04
reach me at info at reneehealthorg.
00:07:06
I'm also on Instagram at reneehealth, and you can also
00:07:12
find me on LinkedIn under Dr April Renee Ruffin.
00:07:16
There's actually two April Ruffins, one's OBGYN.
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I'm the internist, so Dr April Renee Ruffin is how you will
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find me.
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Speaker 3: That's excellent.
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Thank you so much, Dr Ruffin.
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Yeah, that was one of my key things.
00:07:29
I was like hold a second.
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I think there are two of them out there and I was like, and
00:07:35
they both are in medicine.
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This is incredible.
00:07:37
So I am ready to introduce Dr Whitney Prude, Please come on.
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Speaker 2: Hello, thank you.
00:07:47
So I am Dr Whitney Prude.
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I'm a board certified clinical pharmacist.
00:07:49
I am currently employed at the Mayo Clinic.
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I've been there for about eight years, but I also have stepped
00:07:54
away a little bit from working in pharmacy to start my own
00:07:58
business that I've been doing for about five years now, called
00:08:02
Whole and Happy Living.
00:08:03
So within my business, I'm a certified health and wellness
00:08:06
coach and mostly I focus on really helping women to get the
00:08:13
health that they want and that they deserve.
00:08:15
So really helping women to not only, a lot of times, you know,
00:08:19
focus on weight loss, but what we like to do is to really get
00:08:23
to deeper, root cause.
00:08:24
What's really going on?
00:08:26
Why did we end up here in the first place?
00:08:27
What's keeping us stuck?
00:08:29
And so so we really dive much deeper than just changing our
00:08:32
food, changing, you know, changing our exercise and those
00:08:35
types of things.
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If you would like to find me, you can see my website.
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There it's my whole and happy lifecom, and my Instagram is the
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same.
00:08:43
So at my whole and happy life.
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Speaker 3: Thank you so much, dr Prude.
00:08:50
I am Dr Jewel Williams and I am the host of Cold Press
00:08:55
Conversations.
00:08:56
I also have Black Tie Legacy, which is a focus on health and
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wellness.
00:09:00
I do focus on community health as well as educator health, and
00:09:05
it is one of my passions as a principal and educator for 22
00:09:10
years and now I'm in higher education as an adjunct faculty
00:09:14
at University of Bridgeport I have noticed that as an educator
00:09:17
, we need to be very focused on our own health.
00:09:20
Sometimes we neglect it, sometimes we just totally forget
00:09:23
about it in a sense, or what we do is at minimum and it comes
00:09:28
from being in the classroom, walking the hard halls and not
00:09:31
wearing the appropriate shoes, not getting enough sleep and
00:09:34
just being on overtime at all times and within the community.
00:09:37
I realize also and that's one of my other focus is being in
00:09:41
the community, ensuring everyone is able to learn CPR.
00:09:44
That is one of my biggest passions and I want to make sure
00:09:47
that people know that that's one way we can share and help
00:09:50
save lives.
00:09:51
I am so elated that everyone has been able to share who they
00:09:55
are and what they can offer.
00:09:58
It is now time for everyone to share their presentation.
00:10:03
Everyone will be speaking just for about five to 10 minutes so
00:10:07
that we can learn more about what it is we can do during our
00:10:10
holiday time frame.
00:10:11
We will begin with Dr Whitney Prude.
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Speaker 2: Great.
00:10:15
Well, I didn't know that I was going first, so this is exciting
00:10:18
.
00:10:18
What I wanted to focus on really today, when we get into
00:10:22
the holiday season, there's a few things that really stand out
00:10:26
in terms of, you know, there's a lot going on.
00:10:29
There's tons of things going on .
00:10:31
We're trying to organize a lot of stuff and it's stressful.
00:10:34
So I want to talk a little bit about stress.
00:10:37
How do we manage stress during the holiday season?
00:10:41
But I also want to talk about food.
00:10:43
I want to talk about how you know there's goodies, there's
00:10:46
treats, there's desserts, there's you know, it's all over
00:10:50
the place.
00:10:50
During the entire holiday season.
00:10:52
There's lots of food.
00:10:54
There's tons of food, even if it's not sweets, right.
00:10:56
But you're sitting down for Christmas dinner.
00:10:57
You know there's all kinds of food on the table.
00:11:00
How do we actually?
00:11:01
How do we navigate that?
00:11:02
But not just those holiday meals.
00:11:04
It's having these celebrations, having all of this food around
00:11:08
all the time.
00:11:08
How do we navigate that right?
00:11:11
And then we have the new year and the new year, new me.
00:11:15
That's a big thing where people are like oh, this is my year, I
00:11:18
wanna lose weight, I wanna get healthy, and we're gonna talk a
00:11:22
little bit about how to step into the new year to try and
00:11:26
reach your health goals, if that's something that you're
00:11:28
wanting to do.
00:11:29
So first, I actually want to start with food, just to give
00:11:32
you some tips and things to get into the back of your mind as
00:11:35
these holidays are coming and you start with these festivities
00:11:38
.
00:11:38
You're showing up to parties, you're with family and those
00:11:42
types of things.
00:11:42
When I work with my clients, the first thing that I always tell
00:11:46
people during holidays and this kind of applies for vacations as
00:11:48
well is that you still want to enjoy life, right, and that food
00:11:52
that we're having for those celebrations it's still part of
00:11:56
the enjoyment, right.
00:11:57
We don't want food to be the focus and to be the main point
00:12:00
of the enjoyment, right, but it's still part of the fun.
00:12:04
So we don't want to completely restrict ourselves and say, oh,
00:12:08
I'm, you know, I'm trying to lose weight, I'm trying to stay
00:12:10
on a diet, I'm trying to.
00:12:12
You know it's like that, you can't have anything, but we want
00:12:15
to be able to be exposed to those things but also be in
00:12:18
control.
00:12:18
Okay, the first thing that I'll talk about is you know those
00:12:22
big meals.
00:12:23
You're going to Christmas dinner , you're going to a Christmas
00:12:26
party, whatever.
00:12:27
What do you put on your plate?
00:12:28
How many times do you go back for more food?
00:12:30
Right?
00:12:31
The one tip that I'll give you about your plate focus on
00:12:35
protein, focus on veggies.
00:12:36
If you fill your plate with protein and veggies at least
00:12:41
half of your plate, or about two-thirds of your plate, with
00:12:44
protein and veggies okay, you're going to have a much lower
00:12:49
calorie meal and be able to fit in some of the other things that
00:12:52
you want instead of you know, if you're filling your plate
00:12:55
with a bunch of carbs, with a bunch of sweets, by the time you
00:12:58
get to the end of the holiday season this is where everybody
00:13:00
gains weight during the holidays okay, so, on your plate, focus
00:13:04
on your protein, large portion of veggies.
00:13:07
And then, you know, get some of those yummy carb dishes and,
00:13:11
you know, get some bites and try each of those, but have it take
00:13:16
, you know, just a third of your plate.
00:13:17
Don't have your whole plate full of carbs, okay.
00:13:20
So that's the first step.
00:13:21
What are we putting on our plate?
00:13:23
And if it's a buffet or if there's lots of different
00:13:25
options, don't go back multiple times.
00:13:27
Get what you want on your plate , right, and then save a little
00:13:31
bit of room for dessert.
00:13:32
Now, when it comes to dessert, right, there's pies, there's
00:13:35
cakes, there's any number of things and a lot of candy around
00:13:39
and those sorts of things, especially during Christmas and
00:13:41
Christmas time.
00:13:42
You don't want to completely avoid these things as part of
00:13:45
the enjoyment, right, and there's nothing wrong with
00:13:47
having them.
00:13:47
You don't need to.
00:13:48
You know it's like, oh, I want it, so bad.
00:13:50
And then you eat it and then you feel guilty and you start
00:13:52
beating yourself up.
00:13:53
Okay, you can have the dessert, but we don't want to over
00:13:57
consume the dessert.
00:13:58
So something that I want you to , I want to challenge you to do
00:14:01
this holiday season, is you know , maybe you see that pumpkin pie
00:14:04
, or you know your favorite pie, your favorite dessert, whatever
00:14:11
.
00:14:11
Instead of taking that big piece or taking two pieces,
00:14:13
right, maybe, just get a half, or you have, you know, I have
00:14:14
smaller portions of a couple different desserts.
00:14:16
You just try a couple of different things, that candy,
00:14:19
you know, instead of taking a big handful, just take one piece
00:14:22
, just take a bite.
00:14:23
You can still eat it, have a taste, enjoy it.
00:14:25
We don't need to overindulge.
00:14:28
So be conscious of those things .
00:14:32
And then the final thing is your drinks.
00:14:33
We don't realize how many calories are in our beverages.
00:14:36
With your drinks, drink as much water as possible.
00:14:41
It's going to help you feel fuller.
00:14:42
So it's like, oh gosh, you know I've got, I've got to stop
00:14:45
eating.
00:14:45
I have so much.
00:14:46
But when you're drinking, you know you're drinking alcohol.
00:14:48
If you're drinking other, you know, like sweet, sugary type
00:14:51
beverages, that is a lot of calories that you're consuming.
00:14:54
So be careful with your, with your beverages.
00:14:57
Okay.
00:14:57
So those are kind of.
00:14:59
Those are kind of some tips in terms of healthy eating during
00:15:02
the holidays.
00:15:03
It's not that you can't have it .
00:15:04
You don't have to completely restrict yourself and you don't
00:15:07
need to feel guilty when you eat it.
00:15:08
Enjoy it, but enjoy small pieces.
00:15:11
Enjoy things in moderation.
00:15:13
Focus on your healthy.
00:15:14
You know, when you get your plate, focus on your protein,
00:15:16
your veggies, and don't go back for seconds.
00:15:18
Let's not gain weight through the holidays.
00:15:20
Keep yourself healthy, but also enjoy.
00:15:22
Okay.
00:15:26
Now, when it comes to the holidays, it's stressful.
00:15:27
There's a lot of things that are going on.
00:15:30
You're being pulled in a lot of different directions.
00:15:32
You want to show up for your kids.
00:15:33
You want to show up for your family.
00:15:34
You want to have all of your traditions in place and all of
00:15:37
those things, but at the end of the day, if something doesn't go
00:15:41
as planned or if you didn't get something done, if something
00:15:46
doesn't go as planned or if you didn't get something done and it
00:15:48
didn't happen the same way that it happens every year, is it
00:15:49
really that big of a deal?
00:15:51
Can we take a step back and say , hey, you know, it's like we'll
00:15:56
do what we can and the rest let's go with the flow, because
00:16:01
there's so much of the time of the holiday season that we get
00:16:04
so stuck in being busy that we forget to enjoy, we forget to
00:16:10
remember what it's all about.
00:16:12
Why are we here?
00:16:13
What is?
00:16:14
the meaning of Christmas for you .
00:16:15
Is it religious or is it more family-based?
00:16:19
What is that for you, and are you actually enjoying it?
00:16:23
Are you actually taking it in?
00:16:25
Okay, so that's the first thing .
00:16:28
Remember that.
00:16:29
You know.
00:16:29
If you thought, five years from now you look back on this
00:16:32
Christmas and something didn't happen, is it going to be that
00:16:35
big of a deal?
00:16:35
It's probably not.
00:16:37
It's not even going to matter.
00:16:38
You're not even going to remember it.
00:16:40
Okay, so don't stress yourself out about things that if they
00:16:43
don't happen, that it's just not that big of a deal, but
00:16:47
remember your priorities and your boundaries.
00:16:49
It's okay to say no to things.
00:16:51
If you can't show up, you can't show up.
00:16:52
If it's too much, say no.
00:16:55
You have to first take care of yourself and, like Dr Jewell
00:16:59
said, you've got to get your sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep.
00:17:03
If you can get your sleep right , it's going to affect
00:17:06
everything.
00:17:07
It's going to affect how you manage your stress.
00:17:10
It's going to affect how you approach your food and those
00:17:12
sweets.
00:17:12
You're going to have so much more control over what you're
00:17:15
doing and the decisions that you're making.
00:17:19
Now, as you come into the new year, I don't want anyone that
00:17:23
hears this to jump on board with this huge, massive health
00:17:27
program and go to the gym every single day and completely change
00:17:32
your eating and go on this massive diet.
00:17:34
I want you to start small and I want you to think long-term.
00:17:38
Choose one habit and do it for two weeks until you feel like
00:17:42
you've mastered it, and once you've mastered it, you add on
00:17:46
the next one.
00:17:47
And if you will stack your habits in this way and you keep
00:17:51
saying, hey, I want a healthy lifestyle, want a healthy
00:17:54
lifestyle, everything else will come, you're actually going to
00:17:57
be able to be successful for the long term.
00:17:59
Instead of starting something on New Year's Day, doing it for
00:18:04
two weeks and then being like everybody else that disappears.
00:18:07
Take it slow, step by step, stack your habits and remember
00:18:14
the long term.
00:18:15
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, dr Prude.
00:18:16
We appreciate it.
00:18:17
Those were some excellent, excellent strategies that we can
00:18:20
consider, and it gave us an insight, especially with the
00:18:24
food portion.
00:18:25
I think that's something that a lot of us tend to forget, like
00:18:29
when we're in a setting with so many people, we want to eat
00:18:32
anything and everything we have because it looks so good it
00:18:34
really does.
00:18:35
Now it's time to hear from Dr April Ruffin.
00:18:40
Speaker 1: Hi, good evening again.
00:18:41
So I'm just really here to talk about navigating healthcare for
00:18:45
you and your loved ones during this season, as I'm sure many of
00:18:49
you know, and especially with some recent events in the news,
00:18:53
there's a lot of talk now about healthcare and access to care,
00:18:57
but I'm here to really talk about how you can actually take
00:19:00
charge and how to effectively advocate for you and your family
00:19:03
.
00:19:03
So I have a couple of key points here, and the biggest
00:19:06
theme I want you to understand is to educate yourself about
00:19:10
yourself.
00:19:10
Okay, I'm going to say that again educate yourself about
00:19:14
yourself.
00:19:15
So what do I mean by that?
00:19:16
What I mean is number one in order to truly know yourself and
00:19:20
how you're doing health wise, you need a primary care
00:19:23
physician.
00:19:23
Okay, I don't care if you have your woman.
00:19:26
Oh, I have my OBGYN.
00:19:29
Obgyns are fantastic.
00:19:30
However, they're not primary care physicians.
00:19:33
Okay, the practice is different .
00:19:36
So, whether you're 18 or you're 80, make sure you have a
00:19:39
primary care physician, because an internal medicine physician
00:19:42
or a family medicine physician that does outpatient medicine
00:19:45
has different training and level of expertise than an OBGYN.
00:19:49
Okay, that's number one.
00:19:50
Your primary care doctor is basically like the captain of
00:19:54
your ship, and if you have to have any other doctors like
00:19:57
specialists dermatology surgeon, obgyn they're pretty much, you
00:20:02
know, the lieutenants, but your primary care doctor is the
00:20:05
captain and they help make sure that the ship is steered and
00:20:09
keep everyone on track.
00:20:10
Ok, so that's the biggest thing to educate yourself about
00:20:14
yourself everyone on track Okay, so that's the biggest thing to
00:20:16
educate yourself about yourself.
00:20:20
The second thing know your medical history, and what I mean
00:20:22
by that is know what your family medical history is
00:20:23
meaning mom, dad, brother, sister and even your children.
00:20:25
Okay, know the family history.
00:20:28
I have a lot of patients that say, well, I don't even know
00:20:32
what my sister has going on or what my mom or dad had going on.
00:20:36
Why?
00:20:36
Because no one ever talks about it.
00:20:37
It's important that we actually share and talk about what we
00:20:41
have going on, because our family history actually affects
00:20:46
our overall health.
00:20:47
Okay, genetics plays a huge role.
00:20:49
We can exercise every day, eat healthy, but that's still not
00:20:53
going to change our family history of breast cancer or
00:20:56
ovarian cancer or early diagnosed prostate cancers and
00:21:00
other lymphomas, all kinds of things, right, so it's important
00:21:03
that we have an understanding of our personal family medical
00:21:06
history.
00:21:07
Secondly, know your medical history.
00:21:09
Know what you have going on, know if you have high blood
00:21:12
pressure, right, and how do we know that you go back to that
00:21:15
primary care doctor.
00:21:16
That's going to be a way for us to understand what's going on
00:21:19
with our bodies.
00:21:20
What do I have going on?
00:21:21
Is this something that's going to be chronic, that I have to
00:21:24
work with my doctor with to figure out how I can manage this
00:21:27
or even reverse it?
00:21:28
Okay, so it's important that you know what's going on.
00:21:32
I always tell patients, ok, so it's important that you know
00:21:36
what's going on.
00:21:36
I always tell patients.
00:21:37
Write these things down, right.
00:21:38
I always recommend patients have a note card and put on your
00:21:39
note card your name, any allergies that you have, whether
00:21:44
it be food or medicines List with any kind of medical history
00:21:49
you have going on.
00:21:50
If you know you have high blood pressure, if you know that you
00:21:53
have been treated for breast cancer, write that down, okay.
00:21:58
Also, write down the medicines that you take.
00:22:01
Okay, and next to it you can even write why you take it.
00:22:05
Oh, this is my heart medicine.
00:22:07
This is my blood pressure medicine.
00:22:08
This is my diabetes medicine.
00:22:10
Okay, so those are the biggest things I always recommend people
00:22:14
to have.
00:22:15
I like old school note cards because everyone uses fancy apps
00:22:19
.
00:22:19
There are apps now, especially with some of the new Androids
00:22:22
and iPhones.
00:22:22
You can actually set up your emergency ID that can have all
00:22:25
that information on there, however you want to do it.
00:22:27
If you want to keep it in a note card piece of paper, keep
00:22:30
it in your wallet, or you can have it on your phone, you can
00:22:33
do that too.
00:22:33
I highly recommend that, as a person who started before I was
00:22:37
an internal medicine doctor.
00:22:38
I started off as a surgery resident and I can tell you how
00:22:41
many times, if you come in as a trauma, we are looking through
00:22:44
your stuff to figure out who you are Okay.
00:22:46
So if you actually have this note card in your wallet, it
00:22:51
actually helps save lives.
00:22:52
Okay, if you have an emergency ID on your phone, it's very
00:22:56
helpful, especially in trauma situations or a situation where
00:23:00
you don't have anyone who's there with you, or maybe the
00:23:02
person with you doesn't even know what you have going on.
00:23:05
Okay.
00:23:05
So I always recommend that.
00:23:08
The second thing is, when you do go to the doctors, have a plan,
00:23:11
know why you're going, and it's okay to take notes.
00:23:14
Okay, take notes if you're a person that's really nervous.
00:23:17
I have some family members that get really nervous when they go
00:23:19
to the doctor.
00:23:20
Take an advocate with you.
00:23:21
Take somebody with you that you trust that can be your eyes and
00:23:26
ears, so that you can process things and information and they
00:23:30
can be there to support you.
00:23:31
Okay, and when you do go to the doctors, it's okay to take
00:23:36
notes.
00:23:36
If you're a person that gets really nervous or you can't,
00:23:39
there's like it's too much to do , ask your doctor for a summary
00:23:43
at the end of your visit.
00:23:44
We do it all the time.
00:23:45
We have little summaries.
00:23:55
It has what your blood pressure was, all your vitals, and we
00:23:56
even write a little plan of like what's next, what's next to do?
00:23:58
Do we give you new medicines?
00:23:58
Do we want to follow up with you in two weeks or a month or
00:24:00
three months?
00:24:00
So you can always ask for a little summary and we're more
00:24:03
than happy to write a little summary of why you came, what we
00:24:07
discussed and what the next steps are.
00:24:09
So when I was a resident, we gave out those summary sheets
00:24:12
all the time, especially for my patients that you know that were
00:24:16
not note takers.
00:24:17
They got really nervous.
00:24:18
Always give them a little summary sheet.
00:24:20
It was beautiful, they could take it with them so it actually
00:24:23
kind of calmed down from the visit.
00:24:25
They could take a look at that like a little cheat sheet.
00:24:27
It's very, very helpful.
00:24:28
And also I say have a plan, have your questions written down for
00:24:32
the doctor.
00:24:32
And I always say bring your top three concerns, your top three
00:24:37
questions, okay.
00:24:37
Visits are usually only a few minutes long, so most times are
00:24:42
only going to be anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes.
00:24:45
So don't come with you know a whole notebook, okay?
00:24:49
Don't do that.
00:24:50
Okay, because I'm telling you your doctor's going to tell you
00:24:54
pick two of those things on the list, we'll talk about those and
00:24:57
we'll schedule you for the third or fourth thing.
00:24:58
Okay, but come prepared with your questions, okay, because it
00:25:03
helps you keep focused, especially if you get nervous.
00:25:06
It helps you stay on track and if you have questions, it helps
00:25:09
you to remember what you want to talk about so that you can keep
00:25:13
everything on track and having a plan.
00:25:14
And it also helps you remember what was talked about and
00:25:17
discussed.
00:25:17
And I'm telling you, as doctors , we love when you have like
00:25:20
concise questions because it really helps everything go
00:25:23
really smoothly and we love when patients actually take control
00:25:28
and are active parts and active partners in their healthcare.
00:25:32
Because we're a team.
00:25:34
We don't tell you what to do and put our fingers that you
00:25:36
should do this.
00:25:37
No, I love it when we get feedback.
00:25:40
You're telling us what's going on, we're explaining these are
00:25:43
the options and the pros and cons.
00:25:45
Actively engage we love it.
00:25:47
We love when you come prepared and engaged and if you're a
00:25:50
little nervous, that's okay, we can smooth that over.
00:25:53
But if you write down those questions, you can just hand us
00:25:55
the questions.
00:25:56
We know people get really nervous.
00:25:57
We're trained to deal with that .
00:25:58
We can read your questions.
00:26:00
We're very creative people.
00:26:01
We figure out innovative ways to communicate with you.
00:26:03
So if you have a piece of paper and you're so nervous and
00:26:05
shaking yes, I've had that happen it's okay.
00:26:08
We can take care of you.
00:26:09
But these are ways you could be engaged.
00:26:11
And, lastly, have that accountability partner.
00:26:14
Whether it's your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter,
00:26:17
your sister, when you have someone that's engaged in a part
00:26:21
of your unit, your doctor isn't the only person that can hold
00:26:25
you accountable.
00:26:26
And I say having an accountability partner because a
00:26:28
lot of times it's hard to make changes and a lot of times when
00:26:36
it comes to health care.
00:26:36
As Dr Prude mentioned, reestablishing or forming new
00:26:37
habits takes time and it's important that you have someone
00:26:39
that's going to help you be accountable.
00:26:40
So if you have newly diagnosed diabetes and you have to start
00:26:44
on insulin, it's nice to have someone that can hold you
00:26:48
accountable and say, hey, we're going to make sure we're
00:26:49
checking those blood sugars.
00:26:50
Hey, you know?
00:26:51
Hey, john, did you check that blood sugar today?
00:26:53
You know, the doctor said you have to check that blood sugar
00:26:56
before your meal or if you're feeling really lightheaded and
00:26:59
woozy, you have to take your insulin and make sure it's not
00:27:01
too low.
00:27:02
So it's good to have those people on board with you.
00:27:05
It doesn't have to be a whole bunch of people, but just maybe
00:27:07
one or two people that you can chat with, make and hold you
00:27:12
accountable and also to encourage you with making any of
00:27:17
those changes and to be a good support system.
00:27:19
So I always recommend every individual to have one of those
00:27:22
things, because I like to have people hold me accountable,
00:27:28
because we all know we have that accountability partner.
00:27:30
It makes a world of difference.
00:27:33
Okay, so decide who that person is going to be right outside of
00:27:38
your doctor.
00:27:38
Who is that going to be?
00:27:40
Okay?
00:27:41
So, again, these are different things that you can do to
00:27:43
educate yourself about yourself know your numbers.
00:27:47
Know what elevated creatinine means.
00:27:49
Know what the top number and bottom number is on when you're
00:27:53
reading your blood pressure.
00:27:53
Know what a good blood sugar is it.
00:27:56
It's important there's so many free resources out that you can
00:27:59
get to educate yourself.
00:28:01
Coming to podcasts like this is helpful.
00:28:03
You have people that offer webinars that are free, so I
00:28:07
highly encourage you to take advantage of those things,
00:28:09
because the biggest thing this year is to educate yourself
00:28:13
about yourself and also make sure, if you haven't done so
00:28:16
already, schedule that primary care doctor appointment you've
00:28:19
been avoiding.
00:28:19
So make sure you do that so you can lead into 2025 on a good
00:28:22
start.
00:28:23
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, dr Ruffin.
00:28:26
I'm telling you you gave all the nuggets.
00:28:29
I'm telling you you have to have it.
00:28:31
As a former caregiver, you have to have all the information and
00:28:36
if you walk in the door and you're dealing with a situation,
00:28:38
they're looking at you kind of like what in the world, and it
00:28:41
always tends around like a holiday season.
00:28:42
You need to know all the goods as to what's going on.
00:28:45
So I really and truly thank you so much.
00:28:48
I'm going to go ahead and begin my session and this is really
00:28:55
dealing with a reality check for educators.
00:28:56
Okay, even though I state it's for educators, as I look at it
00:28:57
it seems like it could be something that could be for
00:28:59
anyone out there.
00:29:00
And one thing that I do know is that oftentimes it's educators
00:29:05
or people who are helping people and I'm talking about those who
00:29:07
are in nursing, those who are at college level, those who are
00:29:11
EMT educators, instructors.
00:29:13
Oftentimes we find ourselves in a state of motion all the time.
00:29:16
I mean, you know you're lesson planning, you're looking at the
00:29:19
papers, you're trying to look at the best demands that they have
00:29:22
from the college, university or central office, and your time
00:29:26
and energy are just all over the place Like you just give all in
00:29:30
all, and what happens is during this holiday break, it offers
00:29:34
an opportunity for everyone to kind of pause and reflect and
00:29:39
rejuvenate, hopefully.
00:29:40
Okay, it's a time to step away.
00:29:42
Step away from that classroom that you're in and nurture your
00:29:46
own wellbeing.
00:29:47
I know for nursing instructors, I know for EMT instructors, I
00:29:52
know for the pre-K-12 and college level that the holiday
00:29:56
break should not just be an opportunity to catch up on
00:30:01
things.
00:30:02
And rest is not just a luxury.
00:30:04
It is a necessity that all educators need to have.
00:30:08
So when we rest our bodies, we give it a chance to repair,
00:30:12
recharge, strengthen our immune systems, and it also is crucial
00:30:17
for our mental health.
00:30:18
It allows us to distress, reduce the anxiety, improve our
00:30:22
cognitive function and we were well rested.
00:30:26
We're better equipped to handle the challenges of the classroom
00:30:29
Because, as you know, when you're teaching someone who's
00:30:33
going through the EMT or becoming a paramedic, or if
00:30:35
you're teaching someone who's going into nursing or PA or
00:30:38
physicians, you have so much that you're dealing with that
00:30:42
it's no longer just the book work, it is also the clinicals
00:30:48
that are involved as well.
00:30:50
And for our pre-K-12 and college ones, we have the little
00:30:53
ones that we're dealing with and we use so much of ourselves,
00:30:56
our bodies and so we have to deal with that emotional
00:30:59
resilience where we look at taking ourselves and we can
00:31:04
process our emotions, because so often we're in that fight or
00:31:08
flight response when we're in education.
00:31:11
We have to find a way that we need to reduce our stress.
00:31:14
We need to build a stronger foundation for our overall
00:31:18
well-being.
00:31:19
So I have three quick pillars that I would like to talk about,
00:31:22
and it's called recovery.
00:31:22
That's what I would call it recovery.
00:31:24
We talk about a self-care routine where you wake up in the
00:31:28
morning during your holiday break, I want you to either take
00:31:31
time in a quiet space and meditate, or you could take a
00:31:35
bath, or you could do a leisurely walk, and what happens
00:31:39
is, when we do this, we stay grounded, we stay centered,
00:31:42
because our bodies need that opportunity to pause just as
00:31:47
much as our minds.
00:31:48
That way, we can focus on quality rest.
00:31:51
Over the quantity of hours.
00:31:53
We're talking about quality rest, we allow our bodies to
00:31:57
physically renew itself.
00:31:59
Then we have our mental clarity .
00:32:01
So, instead of rushing into the new year and focusing on these
00:32:06
resolutions, let's be more mindful as our approach.
00:32:10
Let's create a calm, let's have an organized environment where
00:32:14
we support our well-being, where we create techniques to reduce
00:32:18
the stress.
00:32:19
You know, oftentimes when we leave the classroom we have
00:32:23
stacks of papers that we need to finalize, or you're thinking
00:32:26
about the next year.
00:32:27
But when you're in that pre-K-12 setting, you look at
00:32:31
your classroom and you see all the things that you did.
00:32:34
When you come back in January, I don't want you to do that.
00:32:38
I want you to kind of look at your classroom.
00:32:40
We have one more day before it happens.
00:32:41
Look at that classroom, decide how you want to create that calm
00:32:45
classroom when you return.
00:32:47
And the third pillar that I want to talk about is being mindful
00:32:50
of the news, social media and any form of digital distractions
00:32:56
.
00:32:56
Let's reduce our screen time during that time, because
00:33:00
oftentimes when we have that time, we want to process all the
00:33:04
stuff that we so-called miss, but that time can be stolen by
00:33:08
social media, by being in the realm of scrolling.
00:33:12
I want you to take that away.
00:33:14
I want you to build that resistance where you're allowing
00:33:16
your body to rest, where you're allowing yourself to balance
00:33:19
yourself, and when you do that, it benefits our students.
00:33:22
So I have a quick plan for you.
00:33:24
I want you to take at least one hour to reset your space.
00:33:27
And when you go into your room, I want you to create a template
00:33:31
for your mental wellbeing, how you plan to rest, how you plan
00:33:36
to relax, and then think of it just as a five-minute thing that
00:33:40
you do every morning.
00:33:41
If it's not meditation, prayer or anything of that nature.
00:33:44
Find that five-minute thing that you plan to do before you
00:33:47
intentionally go straight into school and then, when you leave,
00:33:51
I want you to consider your home transition.
00:33:54
So just create something that is realistic and being in the
00:33:59
space of resting is not selfish.
00:34:01
I want you to know it's necessary.
00:34:04
I want you to know that it's a form of being committed to your
00:34:08
well-being.
00:34:09
This way, you are the best for you are the best for your
00:34:15
students.
00:34:16
I am elated that I've had this opportunity to speak, and I know
00:34:20
that Dr Ruffin and Dr Prude are elated that they actually had
00:34:24
that time to talk as well.
00:34:26
Now we're going to go and get prepared for the conversation.
00:34:31
This is a conversation where we're going to have someone come
00:34:37
on board.
00:34:38
Her name is Doreen Sempur and she's going to come on board and
00:34:41
just introduce herself and just talk to us.
00:34:44
And it's now time for the conversation where we have a
00:34:48
panel discussion.
00:34:49
Speaker 4: Hey, thank you so much, dr Jewell.
00:34:51
As she said, my name is Doreen, I'm a registered nurse and I'm
00:34:57
working as a research specialist with the Black Tie Legacy Dr
00:35:00
Jewell's company.
00:35:00
I will be facilitating the collaborative discussion on
00:35:05
tonight's podcast episode, and so during this time I'm going to
00:35:10
help guide the discussion with some stimulating questions that
00:35:14
might be helpful to our podcast listeners.
00:35:16
And so the first question that I have for our wonderful
00:35:20
panelists is how do you strategically plan your
00:35:24
healthcare and wellness checkups around the holiday season to
00:35:29
ensure that you're taking proactive care of yourselves and
00:35:32
anyone can?
00:35:32
Speaker 1: start.
00:35:33
I guess I'll go ahead and start .
00:35:35
So I think one of the best things to do is just kind of
00:35:40
reevaluate where you are when you get to November December.
00:35:43
It's a very busy time of year, primarily because of the way
00:35:48
insurance company works here in this country.
00:35:50
So a lot of people's deductibles they've met their
00:35:53
deductibles this time of year.
00:35:55
So because of that, November December tends to be extremely
00:35:59
busy.
00:36:00
So I usually recommend individuals that if you haven't
00:36:04
already done so because wait times in particular get quite
00:36:07
busy they're busy in general but they get even busier this time
00:36:10
of year is don't wait.
00:36:12
It's never too early really to go ahead and make that
00:36:14
appointment.
00:36:14
So I always just recommend to just, you know, get those
00:36:19
appointments in now.
00:36:20
If it's something that is, you know, urgent or more pressing,
00:36:25
then you can express that.
00:36:26
However, it's always good to go ahead and just make that
00:36:29
appointment.
00:36:30
Don't wait, and that's even if you have to see a specialist, a
00:36:33
primary care physician.
00:36:35
Don't wait, go ahead and make the appointment.
00:36:37
A lot of wait times can range anywhere between three months to
00:36:43
almost a year, depending on the specialist that you have to see
00:36:46
.
00:36:46
I know personally some neurologists where they're
00:36:49
booking people out almost a year in advance, booking people out
00:36:56
almost a year in advance, and as someone who helps my parents
00:36:58
navigate the system, there's certain privileges that I have
00:37:00
as a physician that the rest of the society does not, and that
00:37:05
is a real thing.
00:37:06
But even sometimes we struggle navigating the system ourselves
00:37:11
and getting things for ourselves .
00:37:13
I myself had to wait about three months before I could get
00:37:18
in with a new primary care doctor when I had to get one
00:37:21
about a year ago because mine initially retired.
00:37:23
So if you know your primary care doctor is going to be
00:37:27
retiring, or your ortho doctor, whatever doctor you see, if you
00:37:29
know that they say, hey, I'm going to be retiring, and some
00:37:32
of them will give you a list of doctors that they recommend
00:37:36
establishing care with, Start getting those recommendations
00:37:39
now and start making those appointments now.
00:37:42
Don't wait until your doctor has been retired, because then
00:37:44
you're going to be stuck in a limbo.
00:37:46
So the biggest piece of advice is get started and start making
00:37:51
those phone calls and start getting those appointments now,
00:37:54
and you can always ask to be put on a wait list to get seen
00:37:57
earlier as well.
00:37:59
And if something more urgent or emergent comes up, you can
00:38:03
always call the office and see if they may be able to get you
00:38:06
seen sooner.
00:38:08
But typically now is the best time, more than ever.
00:38:12
But I also like to inform people of realistic expectations
00:38:16
.
00:38:16
Don't be surprised if the wait time will be three to six months
00:38:20
and lastly, sometimes if you are stuck in between doctors
00:38:25
because you're making that change, because, say, your
00:38:27
doctor is retiring or they're going on maternity or paternity
00:38:31
leave or taking any type of sabbatical or break from
00:38:34
medicine for any particular personal or professional reason
00:38:38
and you're trying to find somebody new and it's taking a
00:38:41
little bit of extra time, there are minute clinics that you can
00:38:46
take advantage of, like CVS has them, where they will help
00:38:50
prescribe you maybe for like 30 days or something to try to
00:38:55
overlap until you get back in with that doctor.
00:38:58
It happens sometimes.
00:38:59
I have a friend in Louisiana where that happened because she
00:39:04
moved and there was a gap and so there are types of clinics that
00:39:10
can subsidize and kind of fill that gap in between Not urgent
00:39:12
care.
00:39:12
There are actually specific clinics that can subsidize and
00:39:14
kind of fill that gap in between Not urgent care.
00:39:15
There are actually specific clinics that can help fill that
00:39:18
gap for you.
00:39:19
But I know, like CVS Minute Clinic, they do it sometimes and
00:39:21
I know this from experience, having to have looked this up
00:39:24
for friends and family who've been caught in that limbo.
00:39:27
So it's very challenging but the sooner you can get
00:39:31
established the better.
00:39:32
So that would be my biggest recommendation.
00:39:35
Great, thank you.
00:39:36
Speaker 2: I was going to say.
00:39:37
I don't even need to add anything to that.
00:39:39
Dr Revin was really was very thorough with that, and so I'm
00:39:42
going to leave it right there where she said it.
00:39:45
Speaker 3: The only thing I would add is that, for teachers,
00:39:48
we have a tendency to try to schedule everything we can
00:39:51
during this time frame.
00:39:52
Try to schedule everything we can during this timeframe and
00:39:56
then sometimes those appointments tend to lead us to
00:39:57
another appointment because we've already waited too long to
00:39:59
schedule our appointments.
00:40:00
So don't schedule every single appointment during your break,
00:40:04
your PTO, so try to spread it out and knowing that dentists as
00:40:08
well sometimes are six months out or more, remember, don't
00:40:13
have it all in one day.
00:40:15
You want to give yourself a little break as well, because
00:40:18
you never know what will be found during that appointment if
00:40:20
they send you for extra labs or for some testing.
00:40:24
So keep that in mind if you are a teacher or an educator.
00:40:28
Speaker 4: Great.
00:40:29
Thank you so much.
00:40:30
So basically, this next question kind of has to do a lot
00:40:32
with Dr Prude's domain, but what are your go to strategies
00:40:41
for maintaining nutritional balance when faced with abundant
00:40:42
holiday treats?
00:40:44
Speaker 2: and family gatherings .
00:40:44
Yes, so I mean I, when I did my presentation, I think I covered
00:40:49
this pretty pretty well.
00:40:50
But again, I'm just, I'm very passionate about you.
00:40:55
Know, you can still enjoy, you can still have treats, and you
00:40:59
don't need to feel guilty about it, you don't need to beat
00:41:01
yourself up about it.
00:41:02
But really and truly you've got to be careful not to
00:41:05
overindulge, right?
00:41:07
That's where we get carried away, because there's so much
00:41:10
there's.
00:41:11
You know, it's like people are delivering treats or you show up
00:41:14
to the party it's like, oh, take some leftovers home and you
00:41:18
know you end up with all of this junk food, all of these
00:41:21
desserts and all this stuff just sitting all over your counter,
00:41:24
all over your kitchen, and so you just eat it because it's
00:41:27
there.
00:41:27
Don't be afraid to throw stuff away.
00:41:30
You know, if you do bring home a little bit of leftovers, then
00:41:33
you know, the next day, throw stuff away.
00:41:34
You know, if you do bring home a little bit of leftovers, then
00:41:36
you know, the next day, maybe you have a piece, maybe you have
00:41:37
one, but don't be afraid to throw it away.
00:41:39
A lot of people was like, oh gosh, I just can't, like, I just
00:41:43
can't throw food away.
00:41:44
But the reality is is that you throwing that food away, it does
00:41:48
absolutely nothing to anybody else about you throwing that
00:41:52
away.
00:41:52
The only thing that it does to not throw it away is impact your
00:41:56
health by over consuming it.
00:41:58
So that's another thing is just , you know, it was like try some
00:42:02
, try some of the goodies and then throw it away, get it out
00:42:07
of your face.
00:42:07
So that's another, just another tip to add with with all the
00:42:13
all the goodies and treats all around during the holidays.
00:42:16
Speaker 4: Thank, you for that.
00:42:17
Does anyone else have any thoughts?
00:42:20
Speaker 1: I usually tell my patients because I trained in
00:42:22
Alabama so and my family is from the Southern part of the United
00:42:27
States, so this is this is a really tough time of year, but
00:42:31
I'm taking care of a lot of patients that have heart disease
00:42:35
, have heart failure, that are on dialysis.
00:42:39
I would always tell my patients you know, plan ahead before you
00:42:45
go to the dinner.
00:42:46
You know it's going to be served.
00:42:47
Culturally there are certain foods you know that are going to
00:42:50
be served.
00:42:50
You have to pick your poison so you can't have.
00:42:54
You know you can't have the sweet potato pie and the candy
00:42:58
yams and the baked macaroni and cheese and the cornbread
00:43:01
dressing.
00:43:02
all on the same plate.
00:43:02
So I would always tell them pick, you know your one kind of
00:43:07
thing that you're like, I just gotta have it.
00:43:09
You know that one thing that I just have to have on the plate
00:43:12
and let's keep the rest of the things on the plate with our
00:43:16
protein and our vegetables.
00:43:17
And then, if you know, if you know hey, my wife makes a mean
00:43:23
you know big macaroni and cheese , but you also like cream bread
00:43:26
dressing choose which one you're going to have that day and then
00:43:30
stow away the other, and then I would I always love to freeze.
00:43:35
You know, take it, freeze it and the following week then have
00:43:39
it, because if you have certain medical conditions, if you
00:43:43
overindulge, you can end up in the hospital the next day or two
00:43:48
and you're going to have to get diuresis and dialyze extra
00:43:53
because you're just filled up so much fluid.
00:43:56
So those are things I just keep in, you know, for people to just
00:43:59
understand, especially for those individuals that have
00:44:04
diabetes that are insulin dependent, because I've taken
00:44:08
care of people that have ended up in BKA because of that or HHS
00:44:13
.
00:44:13
You know, if you have heart failure or insage renal disease
00:44:16
on dialysis, please, please, please.
00:44:17
You know if you have heart failure or insage renal disease
00:44:17
on dialysis, please, please, please.
00:44:18
You know, make sure that you're being cautious about your salt
00:44:21
intake, but pick your, pick your one poison, pick your one thing
00:44:24
you're going to indulge in and any others.
00:44:26
Try to save those and freeze those, if it's freezable for the
00:44:29
next week, or at least space it out every other day or so,
00:44:33
because when you have those conditions you have to pay
00:44:36
special attention because of the salt content.
00:44:38
So I wouldn't want anybody to end up in the hospital because
00:44:40
this time of year, at least in Alabama, between now and Mardi
00:44:43
Gras, we have a lot of patients coming in.
00:44:46
So just be mindful of how you can still enjoy the things that
00:44:50
you like to eat.
00:44:51
But you have to do it a little bit differently and it's
00:44:53
actually worked very well for patients I took care of in the
00:44:58
clinic when we did it.
00:44:59
That way, they were actually able to still enjoy it, but stay
00:45:01
out the hospital, which is what we want.
00:45:03
Speaker 3: I do want to add one thing, because I am on the truck
00:45:05
as an EMT, one of the things that I want to preface and I'm
00:45:09
so glad you brought up the CHF, the COPD, because a lot of
00:45:11
people tend to like to smoke around that timeframe too
00:45:14
because they're sitting there, eating and all that good stuff,
00:45:17
and then they're like, oh, I don't feel like using my oxygen
00:45:19
today.
00:45:19
No, you need to use it all the time and we encounter that a lot
00:45:23
.
00:45:23
But when it comes to food, there are a lot of food
00:45:27
allergies as well.
00:45:27
So I want people to really and truly be careful during this
00:45:32
time.
00:45:32
If you need your EpiPen, carry EpiPen.
00:45:34
If you know that Benadryl is what you normally take, then
00:45:36
take it.
00:45:36
But whatever it is, make sure that you are cautious about
00:45:39
whatever you eat.
00:45:41
A lot of people are experimenting with food, because
00:45:43
a lot of people are using nuts in everything, and nut allergy
00:45:46
is one of the biggest things that I do see.
00:45:48
We do have alpha-gal, where people are allergic to beef
00:45:52
byproducts.
00:45:53
Be careful of that.
00:45:54
So if you know that you have allergies one of the key things
00:45:57
that I usually do, especially since I did have someone in my
00:46:01
household who does have and I also have an allergy, and I know
00:46:04
it sounds horrible, but I eat what I can eat at home first and
00:46:08
then when I go to that event.
00:46:11
I am very careful when I am with my family members because that
00:46:14
way I'm still social but I'm able to still communicate with
00:46:18
everybody.
00:46:18
But I know that my tummy has had what it needs.
00:46:21
And then I know, and then I can ask that family member what
00:46:24
does that have?
00:46:25
Okay, good, it doesn't have, you know, nuts on it, because
00:46:29
some people put nuts in their sweet potato, a casserole, and
00:46:31
you just don't even know it because they make it minced.
00:46:34
So keep those things in mind.
00:46:36
So consider the allergies parts , consider whether it's food nut
00:46:41
or anything of that nature.
00:46:42
Just keep that in mind and if you are traveling, be sure to
00:46:45
have something just in case you do have an allergy reaction, and
00:46:48
don't wait, go ahead and call 911.
00:46:50
Great, thank you.
00:46:50
Speaker 4: Those were such amazing pieces of advice, so I
00:46:54
would say the next question that I have is in what ways can we
00:46:58
support each other's wellness during a season that can often
00:47:02
feel really isolating or overwhelming for a?
00:47:04
Speaker 3: lot of folks, being that I do have someone in the
00:47:08
household who is on a mission to reduce their weight, sometimes
00:47:15
fixing the plate for them.
00:47:16
It's not being like, oh, I'm the best wife, no, it's, yeah, I am
00:47:21
trying to be, but I do fix the plate first for them, for the
00:47:25
portions in which they need, based off the ounces or how many
00:47:28
vegetables they need.
00:47:29
So that is one key thing you can do.
00:47:31
Keep that in mind.
00:47:33
Like if you only can have a certain amount of food, because
00:47:36
some people also have the gastric bypass surgery or a
00:47:39
sleeve or the band, if you have any of that, don't overeat
00:47:44
because automatically you know exactly what's going to happen.
00:47:47
It's going not to go to the same direction it went down.
00:47:51
So keep that in mind and also, with what you eat, ensure that
00:47:59
if you can't do that, then bring your portions.
00:48:01
I do have some people that I do know who have to bring their
00:48:04
own portions with them where they go in order to maintain
00:48:09
their homeostasis, to make sure that they're not going to put
00:48:13
themselves in danger with their health with their eating.
00:48:17
Speaker 2: I would say in terms of you know answering the
00:48:19
question from the perspective of you know addressing kind of
00:48:23
like the loneliness and isolation and that type of
00:48:27
aspect that you can kind of have during the holidays.
00:48:29
It's interesting when we have, when we have family all around,
00:48:32
when we have good relationships, when we're in a relationship,
00:48:37
it's easy to just realize, you know, to just go through the
00:48:39
holidays and be happy and have family around.
00:48:41
But for those people that are going through challenges, you
00:48:45
know it's like if you do have family challenges or if you're,
00:48:48
if you are struggling with a chronic illness and you can't do
00:48:51
a lot of the things that other people can do or you can't, you
00:48:54
know you can't show up to certain events and and those
00:48:56
types of things.
00:48:57
I mean, on the one hand, you know those of us that are
00:49:01
physically capable, you know this.
00:49:03
The the holiday season is a time that we can reach out, that
00:49:06
we can lend a hand, that we can , you know, show up and visit
00:49:10
those people that that might be lonely.
00:49:12
My family and I we used to.
00:49:14
We had a family tradition where we would go on Christmas Eve.
00:49:18
We would go and we would visit individuals that were in a like
00:49:24
assisted living center or, you know, a nursing home or things
00:49:29
like that.
00:49:30
And so, you know, getting out and visiting those types of
00:49:35
people, finding, you know, if you know that we had a, we kind
00:49:40
of adopted a grandma you know she didn't have anybody, you
00:49:44
know, bring her over for our holidays.
00:49:47
So helping those people that are lonely, but also remembering
00:49:51
for those who are alone and who are feeling isolated during the
00:49:55
holiday season.
00:49:56
Remembering to show up for yourself.
00:49:58
I mean, yes, it can be lonely, it absolutely can be lonely, but
00:50:04
remember, the number one person that can show up for you is you
00:50:08
.
00:50:08
And so, you know, make sure that you are doing the things
00:50:14
that you can to take care of yourself.
00:50:15
You're not beating yourself up.
00:50:17
Find some hobbies, do the things that you enjoy.
00:50:21
And I know that the holiday season can be really, really
00:50:24
challenging in those types of situations.
00:50:27
So my heart goes out to you.
00:50:30
I've been there, I've been through, you know, lonely and
00:50:33
sad holidays, especially when you know, as my parents were
00:50:37
going through a divorce and there were a lot of challenging
00:50:40
years.
00:50:40
There's just a lot of challenge .
00:50:41
So it's a time where you're either really excited to get
00:50:44
together with everybody that you love or it's really sad because
00:50:48
you're feeling alone, you feel like you don't have it.
00:50:50
So, yeah, just some words of comfort and make sure that you
00:50:55
show up for yourself and things will get better.
00:50:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's also important for people
00:51:00
to understand that, while this tends to be a very joyous
00:51:04
occasion for many between the months of November and January,
00:51:08
because there's lots of holidays that occur between those two
00:51:12
seasons it's also a very somber time for a lot of people.
00:51:15
So I just like to just remind anyone who may be listening that
00:51:19
there are crisis lines available.
00:51:21
988, in particular, is a number of crisis line that you can
00:51:26
reach out to if you need someone to talk to.
00:51:31
If you're having feelings of, you know, very major depressive
00:51:35
feelings and feelings of wanting to maybe even harm yourself or
00:51:39
just feeling just overwhelmed with sadness, that you really
00:51:43
need some additional support, it's okay.
00:51:46
Like I said, the crisis line is 988.
00:51:49
And if anyone is ever feeling severely depressed and thinking
00:51:54
of wanting to harm themselves, it is completely appropriate to
00:51:59
seek emergent medical attention.
00:52:01
That is what we train for, that is what we are here for and we
00:52:06
are here to support you 24-7.
00:52:08
So I just wanted to put that out for anyone who may be
00:52:12
listening or see this recording in the future, that there are
00:52:16
resources available for you if you're really feeling extremely
00:52:23
down.
00:52:23
So this is particularly difficult time of year, so I
00:52:27
just wanted to lend support and resources for those in danger.
00:52:30
Speaker 4: Great.
00:52:30
Thank you so much.
00:52:31
So this is going to be our last question, but if you could
00:52:35
redesign the holiday season to be more supportive of personal
00:52:39
wellness, what two or three fundamental changes would you
00:52:43
implement to better yourself, your house or your community?
00:52:46
Speaker 3: Oh boy, Okay, all right, I got it, I got it.
00:52:53
I think I got it For redesigning.
00:52:56
We kind of did that in our household the pressure of always
00:53:00
buying a gift for somebody.
00:53:01
We kind of took that away.
00:53:04
We're trying to make it more all-inclusive.
00:53:06
Where I may purchase something for an angel tree, that's where
00:53:11
that money will go.
00:53:12
Or there's someone for the CSB, the Community Services Board a
00:53:17
family or an elderly person I normally go for the geriatric
00:53:20
population or a family that's in need.
00:53:22
I give that to them and our family has decided that is a
00:53:27
little bit better as opposed to giving the stress of, well, what
00:53:29
do they want?
00:53:30
Am I going to spend this on them?
00:53:31
That took that away.
00:53:34
And the other thing that we implemented was for Christmas
00:53:38
Day and it's different because some of us have larger families
00:53:42
and when we had a larger family event we ended up all pitching
00:53:47
and putting money in and had it catered, because we were like
00:53:51
that was just too stressful Everybody trying to bring
00:53:54
something and then you're traveling.
00:53:56
That was just too stressful, everybody trying to bring
00:53:58
something and then you're traveling.
00:53:59
So, as a big family thing, we decided we're going to go ahead
00:54:04
and give money.
00:54:04
They found someone to cater, they got all the food there they
00:54:06
had.
00:54:06
They had got a place that had a kitchen, warmed it all up and
00:54:08
put it on the table and that way we had the DJ and we just
00:54:11
enjoyed the rest of the night and then took pictures and
00:54:14
laughed and played games and that was approximately.
00:54:17
Believe it or not, they did a phenomenal job organizing it and
00:54:20
it was approximately 50 to 70 people that were there and they
00:54:24
organized it so everyone could still enjoy it.
00:54:26
Those are just a couple of things that we have decided to
00:54:30
make a change so we wouldn't feel the stress.
00:54:33
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a tough question to think about the
00:54:36
holidays in that way, because we know them one way, right, it's
00:54:41
always been.
00:54:41
It's always been that way.
00:54:42
The one, the one thing that I would probably pull out if, if I
00:54:46
could just change the holidays and kind of have the season be a
00:54:50
little bit different in terms of helping us to be healthier, I
00:54:53
think that you know we could probably make some adjustments
00:54:56
around food, right, that the holidays don't have to be all
00:55:01
consuming in terms of food.
00:55:02
We don't have to be giving all sorts of, you know, sweet treats
00:55:06
and junk food and candy.
00:55:09
And then when we have our you know, christmas dinner or
00:55:13
Christmas Eve or whatever, you know that we we have I don't
00:55:21
know seven different pies to choose from, right, it's just
00:55:23
like.
00:55:23
I mean, sometimes it really is outrageous, and not only, you
00:55:24
know, it's like there's so much food that it's like nobody, you
00:55:27
know there's a couple pieces that came out of every pie, and
00:55:31
then we have all of the leftovers that we're eating
00:55:33
after that and it's just, it's, it's unnecessary.
00:55:36
So that that would probably be the one thing that I would
00:55:42
restructure is having, you know, changing the focus a little bit
00:55:45
of like we don't have to go so overboard with food, but we can,
00:55:50
you know, we can still enjoy the holidays and we can enjoy
00:55:52
the moments and we can enjoy one another's companies and the
00:55:55
games and the fun and all of those things, and try to be a
00:55:59
little bit healthier with the food aspect.
00:56:01
Speaker 1: And I guess I'm last.
00:56:02
So for me, I guess one thing because the holidays are
00:56:09
interesting because as a person who works, holidays don't really
00:56:14
mean much because I could be working on holidays but I would
00:56:19
say, especially for those individuals who are caregivers
00:56:22
that includes my fellow colleagues who are physicians,
00:56:25
or anyone who works in health care or first responders, or
00:56:30
maybe you're because they're caregivers as well.
00:56:32
Believe it or not, you care for everyone and complete strangers
00:56:37
.
00:56:37
But I would just recommend scheduling personal time for
00:56:42
just yourself.
00:56:43
For me, it's easy to go months without giving any self-care to
00:56:52
myself.
00:56:53
So one of the biggest things that actually helped me to be
00:56:56
accountable and to make sure that I am resting and doing
00:57:00
something that relaxes me or that I find that rejuvenates me,
00:57:04
and I would actually just put it in my calendar and schedule
00:57:08
it.
00:57:08
So, the same way that I would schedule my dentist appointment,
00:57:11
I put in my calendar this is April's time, because April is
00:57:14
going to the spa, she's going to go to OJIS, she's going to do
00:57:18
the healing water, she's going to get her massage.
00:57:20
At this time her facial, at this time her mani-pedi.
00:57:23
I put it in my schedule because if I can schedule everything
00:57:27
else that's busy, I schedule my personal time.
00:57:30
I would encourage anyone, particularly those who are in a
00:57:35
caregiving service, to actually schedule and block in that
00:57:40
personal time to give to yourself and you determine what
00:57:44
that is for you Only you know that.
00:57:46
And the second thing, that kind of leads to betterment of not
00:57:51
just individual but for our community as a whole, because,
00:57:54
as a person with a lot of mentorship and I have a desire
00:58:04
and passion to help my community is for everyone to really
00:58:06
display acts of kindness, and not just during the holidays,
00:58:09
but I would challenge individuals to display acts of
00:58:11
kindness every day.
00:58:13
Doing unto others, as you have been doing to you, goes a long
00:58:16
way, and it costs nothing to be kind.
00:58:19
So I would challenge everyone, for the betterment of yourself
00:58:24
and for your community is to be kind and to carry that spirit of
00:58:29
kindness, not just during this time, but for all the 12 months,
00:58:33
because the world needs kindness.
00:58:35
Speaker 4: Hey, well, great.
00:58:36
Thank you so much to our amazing panelists.
00:58:38
This was an amazing conversation, and so now we're
00:58:42
going to move on to the Q&A portion of tonight's podcast,
00:58:47
and so if any of our listeners have any questions, please put
00:58:50
them in the chat and we'll be able to answer them now.
00:58:53
Speaker 3: Not medical advice.
00:58:54
During the course of this podcast or other materials put
00:58:57
forth in support of this podcast , a medical professional may
00:59:00
provide or disclose certain medical information to the
00:59:03
podcast for informational and educational purposes only.
00:59:06
This podcast does not constitute providing medical
00:59:09
advice or professional services.
00:59:11
The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or
00:59:14
treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking
00:59:18
personal medical advice should consult with a licensed
00:59:20
physician.
00:59:20
Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health
00:59:24
provider regarding a medical condition.
00:59:27
Neither Black Tie Legacy LLC, nor its employees, nor any
00:59:32
contributor to this podcast makes any representations
00:59:36
expressed or implied with respect to the information
00:59:39
provided herein or to its use.
00:59:41
Speaker 1: I always recommend individuals to actually make
00:59:44
sure they link up with registered dietitians.
00:59:46
I think they're a very underutilized resource because
00:59:50
they can actually teach you things about food and nutrition
00:59:54
that you would never have known about.
00:59:57
I actually have a registered dietitian for myself and I have
01:00:00
both of my kidneys and I have actually learned a lot about
01:00:04
nutrition and food labels and how that all works out.
01:00:09
So I always recommend for I really think everybody should
01:00:12
really have a nutritionist at some point to understand how
01:00:16
nutrition works to achieve your goals.
01:00:18
But I always recommend individuals get other
01:00:21
professionals on board, and registered dietitians are an
01:00:24
excellent resource and then you can also bring in health coaches
01:00:27
that can also be utilized to help hold you accountable and to
01:00:30
get some of the deeper things behind why you may be struggling
01:00:33
with achieving some nutritional goals.
01:00:35
To take care of that kidney, my blood pressure fluctuates a lot
01:00:40
.
01:00:40
Speaker 4: What's some of the things I can do to?
01:00:42
Speaker 1: keep that under control.
01:00:43
That could be a lot of different reasons.
01:00:46
It depends on your past medical history as well so many
01:00:49
different things that regulate our blood pressures.
01:00:51
So the best recommendation again , I will just put it like caveat
01:00:54
this is not medical advice, this is just kind of general
01:00:56
information, but I do highly recommend that.
01:00:59
I recommend for everyone, especially those that have high
01:01:03
blood pressure keep a log of your blood pressures and bring
01:01:07
those logs to your appointments with your nephrologist and your
01:01:11
primary care doctor.
01:01:12
A lot of nephrologists, especially because you only have
01:01:13
one kidney, manage high blood pressure as well, and so between
01:01:18
your primary care doctor, your nephrologist and yourself
01:01:21
bringing in those logs, they can better be able to assist you on
01:01:26
different things that may be causing the fluctuations,
01:01:29
because it could be medications, it could be diet, so it could
01:01:35
be a myriad of things.
01:01:36
So I just recommend keeping your blood pressure logs that
01:01:41
you're taking your blood pressure.
01:01:43
Ideally you should be checking your blood pressure daily,
01:01:46
around the same time every day, and bringing those logs with you
01:01:50
to your primary care appointment and with your
01:01:54
nephrologist, and together you all can help solve that problem.
01:01:59
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you, and I'll just add to that from a
01:02:03
nutrition standpoint, I mean, one of the things that you can
01:02:06
search online if you want to help with blood pressure and
01:02:10
reducing your blood pressure is the DASH diet.
01:02:13
So I mean, essentially, you know , so you're, uh, you're, you're
01:02:17
decreasing your sodium, um, trying to stay under two, you
01:02:20
know, 2000 milligrams a day, um, so that's, that's one of the
01:02:25
big key factors that I see in specifically, you know, working
01:02:28
with people, um, dealing with weight loss and that type of
01:02:31
thing, but, um, it's, you know, when you, when your sodium is
01:02:38
high, you retain fluid, you know , and so your weight goes up,
01:02:40
but when your sodium is high, it also can, it also impacts your
01:02:42
blood pressure.
01:02:43
Your blood pressure goes up.
01:02:44
So if you're you know you're eating really high sodium foods
01:02:48
and then you know you kind of switch your diet and you're
01:02:50
eating, you're not eating as much sodium, that can certainly
01:02:53
impact your blood pressure as well.
01:02:55
So that's something to keep in mind.
01:02:56
I don't know, there's definitely comments in the chat
01:02:59
or questions in the chat that I would love to answer.
01:03:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we do have some other questions in the chat
01:03:04
.
01:03:04
I do want to say one other thing only because I am familiar
01:03:07
with the nephrologist, being that I've helped people in the
01:03:10
family.
01:03:10
Contact your nephrologist.
01:03:12
They will give you an actual diet that meets your needs.
01:03:15
They actually have different levels and stages that meet your
01:03:19
needs, based off of what's actually going on with your
01:03:22
health, and they have a special diet dealing with intake,
01:03:27
dealing with liquid as well as solid foods.
01:03:30
Do you have access to alternative healthy recipes for
01:03:36
common holiday foods?
01:03:37
Speaker 2: I do actually have a recipe guide for alternative,
01:03:40
like healthy options for holiday recipes.
01:03:43
So if that's something I mean I can send it over to Dr Jewell
01:03:46
and she can send it out.
01:03:47
If that's something that that everybody's interested in All
01:03:50
right, we also have another one.
01:03:54
Speaker 3: Do you recommend surgery to lose weight?
01:03:55
That's interesting.
01:03:57
Speaker 1: So it really depends on your situation.
01:03:59
Surgery and that kind of yields , the ozymic, because I have
01:04:03
lots of thoughts about that as well.
01:04:04
But to the first question, though it really depends on what
01:04:10
you have going on.
01:04:11
There are very strict criteria to be met to even qualify for
01:04:16
any type of bariatric surgery or weight loss surgery, and
01:04:20
there's different types and it's changed over the years.
01:04:23
It really depends.
01:04:24
I mean, a lot of times you have to follow extremely strict diet
01:04:28
and you usually have to fail other weight loss methods before
01:04:32
that'll even be considered.
01:04:34
So it's not like oh, I'm 300 pounds, I want to get a gastric
01:04:37
sleeve.
01:04:38
It doesn't quite work that way.
01:04:39
You have to actually attempt to do other things and there's a
01:04:45
whole team that comes on board when you link up with a
01:04:47
bariatric surgeon.
01:04:48
So it's not for everyone, but it is definitely for some people
01:04:56
.
01:04:56
So that's something that I would always recommend and talk
01:04:59
with your primary care doctor because, depending upon what you
01:05:01
have going on and things that you tried and have maybe failed
01:05:04
in the past would dictate that, and there's certain criteria
01:05:07
that we use to refer people to bariatric surgeons as well.
01:05:11
Speaker 2: I want to add to that I have a developed opinion
01:05:15
about surgery just because I have spent the last five someone
01:05:19
, but from a weight loss standpoint of like really
01:05:41
working in depth one-on-one with people to lose weight.
01:05:44
What happens is after you get bariatric surgery, a lot of
01:05:50
people will lose the weight.
01:05:52
They'll lose 50 to 100 pounds and then it's very, very hard to
01:05:58
continue eating in the same way that you were eating to be able
01:06:03
to lose that amount of weight.
01:06:04
Your stomach is small.
01:06:05
You get full very quickly, but then you have to realize that
01:06:10
you're on a very strict diet for the rest of your life and the
01:06:13
average human can't actually maintain that.
01:06:15
So what happens is that people start to gain that weight back
01:06:18
again, and the problem is is that when you gain the weight
01:06:22
back after bariatric surgery, it is nearly impossible to lose it
01:06:27
again and there are not guidelines for how you approach
01:06:31
this and how you address it, because your body no longer
01:06:35
follows weight loss science.
01:06:36
We have altered it, so it no longer follows weight loss
01:06:41
science and so really and truly like.
01:06:43
If you look at medical guidelines, typically what they
01:06:46
say is we'll go back and have the surgery again, which nobody
01:06:50
wants to go back and have the surgery again.
01:06:51
Right?
01:06:51
A lot of fitness people won't even take you into their
01:06:54
programs because they don't know how to get you to lose weight
01:06:57
again.
01:06:57
So the reality is is that there's a lot of negative
01:07:01
repercussions that come from bariatric surgery.
01:07:04
Now there are select individuals where it is
01:07:06
necessary and is very useful and it will very much, you know,
01:07:09
decrease their health issues and their health risk and get them
01:07:13
to a better place when nothing else works.
01:07:16
But the final caveat that I'll kind of add to that is the
01:07:21
majority of the time, from what I see, is when people are obese
01:07:27
and very overweight and are not finding a solution to any other
01:07:31
diet or nothing's really working , we really have to start to
01:07:35
look at the mental and emotional aspect, the psychological
01:07:37
aspect, of why we're here and why we're doing the things that
01:07:40
we're doing Because, quite honestly, that's at the root of
01:07:43
all of it.
01:07:44
Right, we have to look at what's driving our behavior and
01:07:47
why have we allowed ourselves to gain this weight.
01:07:50
Because, no matter what, even if you get the surgery, if you
01:07:53
don't change what's driving your behavior, you will end up back
01:07:55
in the same place, and so that's something you know that I
01:07:59
really focus heavily on.
01:08:00
Why are we here?
01:08:01
How do we overcome it and make sure that you don't?
01:08:04
you know, that you don't end up right back where you started
01:08:07
from.
01:08:09
Speaker 3: I'm glad you mentioned that.
01:08:10
This is an excellent topic and it would be great to have us
01:08:13
come back to it.
01:08:14
For those persons who've had the weight loss surgery, this
01:08:18
season is very difficult for them and that's when
01:08:22
complications can occur.
01:08:23
If they do not watch what happens and what they put in
01:08:26
their mouth, they can end up being in the hospital and I do
01:08:30
want people to know that and it can become extremely serious
01:08:36
because your stomach is not ready for those types of foods,
01:08:39
because your body begins to dump .
01:08:42
So you have to keep that in mind.
01:08:44
Not only that portion, there's integrative medicine, which a
01:08:48
lot of people are going towards.
01:08:51
You can do it.
01:08:51
I always advise someone who, if they go toward the integrative
01:08:55
medicine to lose weight during that timeframe, make sure that
01:08:59
you find someone who has the MD or DC, np or PA and see exactly
01:09:05
what they offer.
01:09:06
Make sure it's not a lot of pills or anything like that,
01:09:09
because most of the integrative medicine, those are NDs,
01:09:12
neuropathic physicians.
01:09:14
They have been trained specifically in order to help
01:09:16
you with that process.
01:09:18
And another thing that I do want to say and then I'll let Doreen
01:09:21
go ahead and lead us forward when they do have the weight
01:09:24
loss surgery because of the possibility of dumping.
01:09:27
You lose a large amount of nutrients that you cannot get
01:09:32
from eating, so that's why taking those supplements is
01:09:36
necessary, but I'll leave it like that.
01:09:39
But the holiday season is probably one of the toughest
01:09:42
times for people who have any kind of metabolic disorder or
01:09:46
dissonance of some sort, whether it is dealing with obesity, chf
01:09:54
, chronic kidney disease, having had weight loss.
01:09:58
Those are critical times for them during the holidays and you
01:10:02
want to make sure that you mind that at the most and regardless
01:10:06
of whatever you have Dr Prude mentioned it it's all mental.
01:10:11
It's all mental.
01:10:12
Speaker 4: So thank you so much to everyone in our live audience
01:10:15
for your questions and our wonderful panelists for your
01:10:18
answers, and so now we're going to go ahead.
01:10:20
We're a little bit out of time, but if everyone can really just
01:10:24
go quickly, go through and explain your offers for our
01:10:28
audience.
01:10:28
Speaker 2: What I have to offer the audience today and I hope
01:10:31
that you'll use this.
01:10:32
You know, at the beginning of the year, in January, like I
01:10:34
talked about with habits, right?
01:10:35
So this is a 21 day habit challenge to really jumpstart
01:10:40
your health journey.
01:10:41
And the reason that I really like to focus on habits is
01:10:45
because the way that our human brains work is that we can't
01:10:52
manage to change a bunch of things all at once.
01:10:55
Our brains cannot, like we can't, comprehend, you know,
01:10:59
changing seven things and completely turning our diet
01:11:03
upside down and our exercise and changing everything in our life
01:11:06
all at once and expect us to continue to do it.
01:11:09
Our brains are going to get overwhelmed and they're going to
01:11:11
revert back to the path of least resistance, which is our
01:11:14
old habits and what we've always been doing.
01:11:16
So what I have for you today is this 21-day habit challenge
01:11:22
that you can opt into.
01:11:23
It'll come with a guide and then walks you step-by-step
01:11:27
through 21 days of really building, slowly building habits
01:11:33
that you can actually maintain.
01:11:34
And and you know, keep stacking , stack one by one, right, but
01:11:38
do it slowly so that you can actually maintain it.
01:11:41
Speaker 1: So what I'm offering here today.
01:11:43
So again, thanks everyone for joining.
01:11:45
So in addition to my clinical practice, I also do health
01:11:50
coaching.
01:11:51
So I have 50% off of my group, my group health coaching, fed,
01:11:55
fit and Fab program.
01:11:56
So if you are a busy, particularly busy woman
01:12:00
professional who wants to decrease stress, lose weight and
01:12:04
develop healthy habits for the long term, I am offering 50% off
01:12:10
of my services.
01:12:12
We start in February to get the jumpstart there, so taking
01:12:18
clients through January, and I also offer speaking services.
01:12:23
So I do everything from health education to leadership and
01:12:27
development.
01:12:28
So if at any point you need any of those types of services, you
01:12:33
can feel free to reach out to me directly for those services.
01:12:39
Speaker 3: I have an end of the year wellness checklist, and the
01:12:41
reason I have is because I find that when we get to the end of
01:12:44
the year, yes, we have our HSA that needs to be completed.
01:12:47
However, let's talk about prioritizing our wellbeing
01:12:50
before the new year comes in, so the checklist also provides you
01:12:53
multiple ways of seeing whether or not you have put various
01:12:57
things in place, which many of us have already talked about,
01:13:02
and it's in my wellness checklist to get you prepared
01:13:04
for your doctor's appointments, get you prepared for wellness in
01:13:07
general, to make sure that you're allowing yourself to be
01:13:10
balanced, and so you look at everything that happened during
01:13:13
the year and then I prepare you for the 2025 or the next year,
01:13:17
so that you can be revving and ready for wellness next year.
01:13:20
It is a free offer that is given to you and if you have
01:13:24
further questions, you can definitely come out, and I do
01:13:27
give you another offer for a one-on-one session to kind of
01:13:30
get you ready for your blueprint .
01:13:32
So if you have difficulty getting yourself started on this
01:13:34
, I'm there to help you.
01:13:35
All right.
01:13:36
Speaker 4: Okay, great.
01:13:37
Thank you so much for all of your amazing offers, and so that
01:13:41
is the last session that we had tonight on our podcast.
01:13:45
I would like to thank all of our panelists, everyone who
01:13:49
worked behind the scenes to make this happen and, of course, all
01:13:51
of our podcast listeners.
01:13:52
Of course, if any of you have any questions, there was a link
01:13:56
that was sent to you through Zoom.
01:13:58
I'm sure that you could reach out to any of our panelists, and
01:14:00
they would be more than happy to answer your questions, and so
01:14:03
I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.
01:14:06
Speaker 3: Yes, and thank you so much, everyone for joining.
01:14:08
I want to say thank you so much for being our moderator during
01:14:13
that time.
01:14:13
I think it went exceptionally well.
01:14:15
I would love to say thank you so much to Dr Ruffin for joining
01:14:19
us on this podcast a special podcast and Dr Whitney Prude.
01:14:23
Thank you very much for joining us, and to all the audience
01:14:27
members who are present today.
01:14:28
I thank you so much for joining us today.
01:14:31
I'm so glad that you asked questions.
01:14:33
Hopefully we were able to answer some of them.
01:14:35
If you were on the registration , I will be reaching out to you
01:14:39
again, just in case you still have questions or even want the
01:14:42
link when it's finalized so that you can see everything.
01:14:45
And, of course, I do offer a free workbook so that you can
01:14:50
work through this entire podcast .
01:14:52
So you have questions, you can still reach out to those who
01:14:56
actually have their offers.
01:14:57
Once again, thank you so much and may you have a wonderful
01:15:00
holiday season.
01:15:01
I hope you enjoyed this episode of Cold Press Conversations.
01:15:09
If you love this episode as much as I did, I need you to
01:15:12
head on over and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
01:15:16
This is Dr Jewel signing off to health and cognitive happiness.
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