I always say “rents due” when going to get a workout in. It’s not that I feel like it always, it’s a promise I’m keeping to my future self :)

TAKING ACTION: ✅New Clients: Skip straight to the bottom of this post and check out the ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO! The ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO at the bottom of each day’s post will be your go-to baseline! ✅NEW CLIENTS & Veteran VIP Clients: What questions do you have about cortisol rhythm? If you’re a social media user of any sort, and especially if you follow health & wellness influencers, you have likely heard them talking about the need to “lower your cortisol”. That’s not exactly right. The goal is to balance your cortisol levels. You have what’s called a cortisol rhythm, and the goal is always to have the rhythm balanced so that your cortisol works for you, and not against you. An ideal cortisol rhythm is when your cortisol is high in the mornings and low a few hours before bedtime. Though we call it the “stress” hormone, it is actually responsible for many things, with a primary role being to mobilize (move) glucose to tissues that need energy—for getting out of bed every morning, exercising, etc. That’s why higher cortisol in the morning is a good thing. As you approach bedtime, it makes sense that we don’t need as much energy; therefore, finding ways to naturally lower your cortisol in the evenings makes sense. Again, the goal this month (and long term!) is to have a balanced and optimal cortisol rhythm. In the days to come, we’re going to chat about ways to do just that! 🙌 ⬇️OPTIONAL READING⬇️ Cortisol (the "Stress Hormone") Explained ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ⬇️⭐️NEW CLIENT INFO and TO-DO’s⭐️⬇️ Happy Day One! I am honored you’re here, and I am looking forward to helping you learn the best and most effective way to reach your health and wellness goals! I simply want you to focus on these three things for the remainder of the week—whole foods, water, and workouts! We’ll dive in deeper in the days to come, but for now, utilize the tips below to get you started on our three W’s ⬇️:

The pics on the left are 6 years to the date of today This was not me at my heaviest. After covid in 2021 I developed long covid and spiraled both mentally and physically I literally could not walk and spent 90% of my days in a bed. Until the fall of 2022 and I decided to take back control of my life. I started small with giving up certain comfort sweets. Drinking less pop. Moving my body, 5 minute workouts is where I began. @Aleiah Barker believed in me before I started believing in myself and has always been there for me. Looking at these pics makes me cry, knowing I’ve kept this up for almost 4 years. And at the time of starting I just wanted to be able to play with my grandson, ( now I have 2) so find your deepest why and don’t give up I’ve made plenty of mistakes and learned so much in this journey. But I’m glad I stuck to it and never gave up. If I can do it, you can too :)

TAKING ACTION: ✅New Clients: Skip straight to the bottom of this post and check out the ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO! The ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO at the bottom of each day’s post will be your go-to this month! If you read yesterday’s article, you already know some of the signs that chronic high cortisol has on the body. Let’s review them below ⬇️ 📌Persistent fatigue, even when you feel you are getting enough sleep 📌Weight gain around your midsection, face, or back of the neck 📌High blood pressure 📌Thinning skin and easily bruising/slow healing 📌Mood changes, depression, and anxiety 📌Trouble sleeping and irregularities in menstrual cycle **Breathing to lower cortisol video in the comments** Obviously, these symptoms are classic symptoms for MANY things—not just for chronically high cortisol. Just because you experience one or more of these does not mean your cortisol is to blame. As we navigate this month, we’re going to stay in our lane and give you helpful cortisol-balancing tips, but it’s always important to talk with your doctor if you’re concerned about your cortisol. 👌 _________________________________________________________________________________________________ ⬇️⭐️NEW CLIENT INFO and TO-DO’s⭐️⬇️ We try to consume mostly whole food nutrition in our program. Most of your food needs to be unprocessed and unrefined foods (aka, whole foods). Whole foods are going to be your vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, fruits, legumes, starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and eggs. If the food comes from the ground or has a mother, it’s fair game. We are going to try to eliminate gluten and dairy, as well (more on that later). So, let’s get to the “why” behind whole-food nutrition, shall we? ⬇️ 🥑Reduce inflammation: Processed food is a main cause of inflammation. Conversely, whole-food nutrition helps reduce inflammation in the body. Many people do not even realize how much inflammation they have until they decide to start consuming whole foods. 🥑Hormone health: Processed foods with sugar or unhealthy fats can negatively affect your mood, sleep, and hunger hormones. Again, whole foods help keep your hormones happy and optimally functioning!

TAKING ACTION: ✅New Clients: Skip straight to the bottom of this post and check out the ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO! The ⭐️ NEW CLIENT INFO at the bottom of each day’s post will be your go-to this month! ✅Share your weekly wins today! If you decide to practice one or more of the morning cortisol strategies today, that’s also a WIN! 🎉 As we’ve discussed this week, the actual problem isn’t “high cortisol” per se. ***see comments for Somatic Lowering Cortisol in the evenings exercise**** It’s an imbalanced cortisol rhythm—or chronically high cortisol. Again, we want our cortisol to be higher in the mornings because it’s responsible for transporting glucose to our tissues for energy. I don’t know about you, but I need all the energy I can get in the mornings! We’ll discuss these tips more in depth as we continue throughout the month, but for today, here are a few scientifically proven strategies to help with your AM cortisol ⬇️ ☀️ 10-15 minutes of morning sunlight (no sunglasses) within the first hour of waking up ☀️ hydration (16-32 oz water) upon waking (and before coffee, ideally) ☀️ drink coffee/caffeine (after water, of course!) ☀️ exercise within the first 2-3 hours of waking ☀️ eat grapefruit or a small amount of black licorice in the morning (Hey, it’s science. 😉) I encourage you to write these tips down and put them in a place where you’re reminded to practice them throughout the month. Even if you can’t practice them all, I encourage you to take one or two and start implementing them to build better cortisol-balancing habits! ⚖️ 4 Things to Do When You Wake Up for Healthy Cortisol Levels _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ⬇️⭐️NEW CLIENT INFO and TO-DO’s⭐️⬇️ Happy Friday, friends! It’s one of our favorite days of the week because on Fridays, we set aside time to celebrate our wins. We don’t simply celebrate for the fun of it (though we love that part, too!)---we celebrate because it quite literally changes your brain and motivates you to keep going! 🙌