We have all heard the phrase, "You are what you eat." After today's episode, those five words will resonate in a deeper way than ever before. If you are someone who has ever suffered from disordered eating, obsession with diet, or hyperfixation on your physical appearance...this conversation will radically shift the way you view food and help you heal your relationship to it to experience more energetic vitality and sustainable wellness in your life.

To better understand how our nutrition, or lack thereof, affects the body's internal stress levels, energy output, and mental health symptoms...we invited Kymber Maulden, a nutrition consultant and women's health coach, onto the pod.

From the age of 15, Kymber experienced both mental and physical symptoms that were signs of deeper, complex trauma and the flawed social ideals of what a woman is "supposed to" look like from the 90s. Like most people, she went the medical route and was given diagnosis after diagnosis and was prescribed medications to dissolve her symptoms, further disguising the rooted cause. This led her on a winding journey in and out of different diet camps, such as raw veganism, and eventually back to her own intuition.

By studying neuro-somatics, nutrition, Internal Family Systems (parts work) and complex developmental trauma, she realized that refining lifestyle choices for peak women's health often goes against the grain of many commonly accepted male-centric beliefs around food, fasting, exercise and energy. Through both her own personal healing work and the professional work she's done with hundreds of women over the past few years, she's come to view everything in health and behavior through the lens of nervous system functions.

Nutritionally, she works within the growing niche often referred to as "prometabolic or bioenergetic," which places great emphasis on the impact of stress, in all forms, on the function of our cells' ability to produce energy. Disruptions in the ability of our cells to produce adequate energy to meet the energy demands of our modern lives is at the root of all chronic symptoms and illnesses, making metabolism a central focus within this niche. Tying in the effect of nervous system dysregulation and trauma within this approach to nutrition has provided Kymber with an insatiable desire to explore the intersection of nutritional and somatic healing.

Highlights:

-The interconnected link between nutrition, somatic healing, trauma, and wellness with respect to women's health

-Physiological stress and how it hurts the body

-Complex trauma, which often stems from environmental failure during childhood, can impact nervous system regulation and contribute to chronic illness

-How under-eating can have negative effects on mental health and overall wellbeing

-The male-centric approach to health and fitness and how it often overlooks the unique needs of women's bodies

-Embracing the theme of moving slowly and creating a safe space to rest

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Personal Health Journey

04:29 The Impact of Medications and Dietary Choices

09:25 Understanding Stress and its Effects on the Body

13:30 The Difference Between Acute and Chronic Stress

18:21 Complex Trauma and its Impact on Nervous System Regulation

31:03 The Importance of Nutrition for Mental and Physical Health

33:15 The Impact of Food Intake on Wellbeing

37:11 The Role of Energy Production and Stress Hormones

41:57 Understanding Caloric Intake and Protein Consumption

44:21 The Negative Effects of Under Eating and Over Exercising

48:04 The Male-Centric Approach to Health and Fitness

01:05:17 Moving in a More Feminine Way

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