Grace & Grit Podcast

Quitting is tempting. It is easy. It is liberating…for a moment. No one ever does it on a GOOD day. Nope. You do it on the days that struggle seeps into your flow, and insecurity whispers lies that you will never arrive at your destination. You start to question everything and, worst of all, you fail to remember why started traveling down this road to begin with. It is on those days that you would do anything for a little more GRIT to keep going, silence the fear, and reclaim your flow. IT is on the hard days that courage is called out of her lair and reigns supreme…IF you unleash her. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 3:00: Mature reasons for getting healthier are the linchpin to success. 8:00: How to get back on track once you have been derailed. 10:00: It takes courage to navigate problems along your health journey. 13:00: Practice dancing with resistance in order to improve your ability to take the lead. 17:00: Becoming action oriented rather than outcome oriented. 19:00: Acknowledge how far you have come. 21:00: Creating power statements to motivate yourself to do the work. 22:50: Question the obvious. Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

In part two of this interview with Irene Lyon, we dive deeper into WHY it is so important to heal the nervous system in order to optimize health. In this episode, Irene explains what the Vagus nerve is, and how our early childhood experiences can impact the proper development of that nerve. Irene also dishes out advice for those wondering what simple strategies they can start implementing to heal and better care for their nervous system. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 2:20: The Vagus nerve explained and how early childhood experiences impact its development. 8:00: The power trauma has to disrupt your nervous system and ultimately your health. 10:00: The brilliance of neuroplasticity. 16:00: Why meditation is an “advanced practice”, that many people may not be ready for. 20:00: The importance of understanding the biology of stress. 24:00: Trauma is being disconnected from the present moment. 26:00: Being engaged with our body and our environment is what breeds and sustains health. 30:50: Overeating is not a product of laziness, it is a product of disconnect. Find out more about Irene Lyon. More resources: Raising healthy babies and a little crash course in the vagus nerve. Why anger is essential. Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

I have been working with women to improve their health story now for nearly 20 years, and the longer I am at this, the more I believe that focusing on nutrient dense food and regular movement is actually the EASY part of getting healthy. When clients sign up to work with me, they are under the impression that I am going to have them do MORE to create the change they are seeking, so you can imagine their surprise when I ask them to do LESS. And why less…because most people are coming to work with me in stressed out state that is on hyper-drive. Stressing out their system MORE with less food and more exercise is not a great starting place to create positive and sustainable change. So the I am at this health coaching business, the more I have come to appreciate the incredible power of slowing down and HEALING before we ask more from our bodies. So…I am ridiculously excited about today’s guest. Her name is Irene Lyon and she helps people to heal and honor their nervous systems, so they can create real, sustainable change and, ultimately get the most out of every aspect of their life. Irene has loads of education to back-up her work, which includes: degrees in exercise physiology and biomedical science. She is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 4:00: Learn more about Irene, how she became so passionate about the nervous system and made it her life’s mission to educate others about the power their nervous system has to help them build and sustain health. 10:15: The Feldenkrais Method explained in Irene’s own words. 15:30: The nervous system explained, how it becomes dysfunctional and its role in our health story. 22:45: The power of PTSD and how far more people are suffering from this condition than we are lead to believe. 28:00: How to deal with resistance when starting to retrain the nervous system. 34:45: Why “expression” is so important to developing a healthy nervous system. Find out more about Irene Lyon. More resources: Raising healthy babies and a little crash course in the vagus nerve. Why anger is essential. Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

In this episode, we are talking with Chinese Medicine Practioner and Teacher, Brodie Welch, because when it comes to our optimizing and maintaining our health, western medicine isn't always the best route to take. I think western medicine can be hugely beneficial for so many health conditions but my perspective on western medicine is that it often fails to address the whole person and often provides a band-aid solution rather than dealing with the root cause of the problem. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it.   Notes: 3:30: Brodie’s personal journey to Chinese Medicine and why she is so passionate about being an educator of it. 6:15: Health is not something you can outsource. 12:00: The healing power of balancing your nervous system and how acupuncture acts as a reset mechanism. 15:00: How doing less can be the linchpin to big change. 20:25: What acupuncture is, how it works, and what it is used to treat. 28:00: Why Brodie is calling herself a self-care strategist. And her top 3 tips for helping women to slow down. 31:00: Brodie’s take on the characteristics of grace & grit. To find out more about Brodie visit: http://brodiewelch.com   Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

We are living in fast and furious times, making decisions without thinking about the long-term impact of those decisions, which is ultimately causing a lot of dis-ease and dysfunction not just within our bodies but within our environment. I often tell the women I work with that their health has everything to do with them AND yet it is SO much bigger than them. And what I mean by that is that YOU are the only person who can take responsibility for the choices that affect your health, and at the same time the choices you make in regards to your health will impact so much more than just you. Your choices affect the people around you, the environment you live in and ultimately the health of our planet. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 4:10: More about Laura’s story and how she ended up developing a company dedicated to helping educate people about living a more eco- friendly lifestyle. 12:15: Eco-ceptional living defined and how to create an eco-ceptional life with ease. 14:20: The power of toxins in the environment have to disrupt your health and how you can lessen their impact. 16:10: Laura’s top 3 tips for making your life more eco-friendly. 20:15: How to garden with simplicity. 23:40: How to lessen green guilt and prioritize what is MOST important. 27:00: Tips for raising environmentally responsible children. 29:00: How grace & grit has shaped Laura’s journey. To find out more about Laura’s signature Detox Program, the Home Detox Bootcamp go to: Home Detox Bootcamp To find more about Laura and her mission visit: www.lauratrotta.com Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

With all that science has taught us about the metabolic power of muscle, I still meet women daily who think the best route to a healthy lean body is doing copious amounts of cardio combined with extremely low-calorie dieting. These same women are often very reluctant to strength train for fear of becoming “too bulky”. The truth is, muscle mass isn’t all that easy to gain, ladies. To end the madness that the diet culture has perpetuated for far too many years and to improve our relationship with our body, we must change our perceptions of WHY we exercise. What if more women viewed exercise as a means to be more, rather than a never-ending struggle to be less? Strength training can help with that…and so much more. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 3:15: Using exercise as a means to be more, rather than a never-ending struggle to be less. 7:00: Why trying to improve your health with cardio and calorie cutting initially isn’t a great idea. 9:15: Why you should know your body composition numbers. 12:00: “Use it or lose it” a very valid statement when it comes to muscle. 17:45: Why I ask clients to step away from cardio in the initial stages of their process. 20:00: Steady state cardio vs. high interval training. 27:00: Fat loss is a bi-product of health. Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

Your body is listening to everything you say and really it should come as no surprise that your body is going to be less-than-compliant to the changes you are trying to make, if you are trying to bully it into submission (which…let’s face it, isn’t working, has never worked, and will never work). How about extending a bit of grace to yourself? You know…kindness and compassion? It’s probably been awhile since you have granted yourself any grace, so let me help you out. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 4:00: How to focus on all that the body is rather than what it isn’t. 6:00: The language you use to talk about your body has a lot to do with the health of your body. 9:00: Gratitude changes our relationship to our bodies and our life. 12:00: Gratitude exercise. 15:30: The one question to ask to dramatically shift your relationship with your body. Looking for more Grace & Grit and this week's freebie? Visit GraceandGrit.com

There is a lot of talk these days about the importance of sustainability in regards to how we live, but we all know… talk is cheap. Our actions speak volumes and are saying something else. As consumers, far too many of us are still buying into quick, fast and easy solutions that provide little to no long term success. Many people don’t want to pay the cost in terms of time, money and energy to build a solid foundation of great health. They want to commit for brief periods of time, often through extreme measures, to create massive change that disappears nearly as quickly as it was achieved. In this week’s podcast, we discuss the secret to not only achieving health goals, but being able to sustain them for years to come! Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 3:00: The “whip cream on shit” approach to health. 5:45: The three things that will help you achieve success and sustain results. 6:50: Building a meaty “why” 11:30: The problem with only having a weight goal. 13:30 How “joy” improves our chances of sustaining results. 20:45: Treating yourself like a friend, rather than an enemy. 22:40: One of the best ways to start building self-compassion. Click here to read the full Yoni Freedhoff article. Looking for more Grace & Grit? Visit GraceandGrit.com

If you are deeply committed to up-leveling yourself in any way…you will mess up, fall down and fail often and much. Sorry, my friend…it will not be a paved, leisurely track all the way to your goals. Does that mean all of your progress goes out the window and you should quit when you make a mistake? Absolutely NOT! And, yet…so many women do. Which just perpetuates the madness of our diet culture. In this week’s podcast, we talk about reframing failure so you can stay consistent with your efforts and crush your goals! Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 4:30: The two secret ingredients to ANY success. 6:30: Why you shouldn’t put so much stock in how you feel moment to moment. 10:30: How taking consistent action can change how you “feel” about things you don’t like doing. 13:45: Accepting that failure is inevitable if you are living life with an ounce of boldness. 19:20: The reality of when transformation really happens. 21:00: An exercise to help you reframe failure. Looking for more Grace & Grit and this week's freebie? Visit GraceandGrit.com

Summer is in full swing and with it comes loads of reasons you could loose footing with the progress you have made with your health goals, or rationalizations about why you won’t start taking responsibility for your health until the fall. In this episode of the Grace & Grit Podcast, Courtney talks about how to not just survive the summer months, but how to thrive through them despite the obstacles that will surely arrive. Loving this podcast? Head over to iTunes and leave a review so the Grace and Grit message can spread to more women who need to hear it. Notes: 2:00: Challenges that arise with summer. 4:00: The number one thing to focus on to ensure success. 6:00: The importance of a morning practice. 7:20: How to go out and get motivation. 9:00: The basics of summer self-care. 13:20: Dealing with company 16:45: How to attend parties without derailing from healthy habits. 19:45: A few notes about travel. Looking for more Grace & Grit and this week's freebie? Visit GraceandGrit.com