Your Guide To Anti-Inflammatory Living With Sophie Richards (+ Egg Freezing & Endometriosis Chats)

Dallas, this one's for you. IONUS helps you get your business online without the tec headache. Take your food truck. You've wanted a real online menu for two years. Right now, it's a chalkboard that blows over every time the wind picks up. With IONUS, you just describe what you need and a real online menu goes live. The same day, no developer, no code. For 23 years, IONUS has been redefining what it costs to get your business online, starting with a.com domain for a dollar or free with the right plan. Learn more at IONUS.com/podcast What is up, I'm Grace Beverly and welcome back to Working Hard, the podcast-shake guidebook on how to improve your own life and achieve what you actually dreamed of doing. Because life's too short for boring podcasts and bad advice. What is up and welcome back to Working Hard. Today's guest is someone I have been so excited to talk to. Because in a way, I feel like I know her already based on the amount of her content I have consumed. Sophie Richards is a woman's health practitioner, endometriosis campaigner and anti-inflammatory researcher. If you listen to our mini-series in August, you will know that I have been on a real journey with my PCOS, Diet and Lifestyle this year, and actually for the past 15 years. And I mentioned in the bonus episode on what's changed the game for me, how interesting I found Sophie's research on inflammation in women's health, and it turned out that so many of you love her content too. So I thought, why don't we get on the podcast before the year ends and have a full, deep dive episode on anti-inflammatory living and endometriosis and all of these things. We covered a lot in this chat. So if you've ever wondered why you're always bloated, whether egg freezing is really worth considering, or what diets like the AIP actually do for your body, this is the episode for you. Before we get into the episode, a little trigger warning that we do discuss infertility in this episode. So if that's something that you don't want to hear about, you might want to skip the chapter in this episode on egg freezing. The timestamp is in the show notes so that you can still get the most out of the rest of the episode. And before we get into my chat with Sophie, just a quick reminder and request to follow the podcast wherever you are listening. Every Monday, I release a new episode to help you improve your life in some way, whether that's mindset-related, health-related, or work-related, and if you're not already, if you follow us on Instagram at working hard pod, I share extra clips, but so much more than that. So it's basically a community space for this podcast. There are giveaways, there are deeper dives into each episode topic. There are interesting articles that I learned a lot from and think everyone should read, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So if you're listening and you are not there, you are missing out. I hope you really enjoy this episode. I absolutely loved recording it and, despite the amount of Sophie's content I've already consumed, I learned a lot. And this type of thing is so important to talk about. So enjoy the episode and, as always, have a wonderful day. Sophie Richards, are you currently working hard or hardly working? I am definitely working hard, but I am so happy I wouldn't change a thing. And I think there's definitely been points where I've worked hard and hated it. And that is definitely not the case now. So definitely working hard, but it feels like I'm hardly working. And I know you kind of talking about work, you quit your job about two years ago. And that was quite a big moment in your life. Could you talk me through what led to that decision? And I guess what it's been like a little bit since then. Okay, so two years ago, very, very different me. And I think today's a really special day for me because I'm on my period, I'm on day two. I'm not inflamed, I'm not in pain. I'm excited to have this conversation with you, your listeners. Two years ago, I was in a job. I was stressed all the time, hated what I was doing. And it wasn't necessarily the job itself. I couldn't be my best self because I was in so much pain with my endometriosis. My symptoms were all over the place, my bloating, my fatigue. My weight fluctuations were so up and down and my confidence was just zero. So physically I was in so much pain. Emotionally, I was like dealing with my endo getting worse. And I'd always worked so, so hard. And this is what I mean by like I've worked hard before and it's not been fun. Because it wasn't what I was passionate about. I was in pain. So like try showing up to a meeting you've been preparing for for months. And you're having an endoflate. It's like the worst thing ever, isn't it? And I was just really struggling with it. And especially things like the stupid work policy where you had to be in the office every day. For someone who has painful periods, whether that's endometriosis, PCOS, Overean cysts, or maybe you haven't had your diagnosis. You're just struggling. You're bleeding through pads. And you're going, oh my god, I want to get up and go to the toilet and change my pad. But I'm scared that I've led through onto my seat. Like that was a daily thought every single day in the job I was at. And I kind of just got to this position in my life where I was like, I have no control. I have no control over my job. I have no control over my health. And something needs to change. And I was in like a traditional corporate office job. I was an account manager at two really big companies. And my experience was, if I had a good manager that understood it, they'd be like, oh don't worry, you can just work from home. Because I didn't need time off. I just needed to adapt to my work situation and things were great. But then your manager changes, which happens to everyone. And if they weren't understanding with the situation that I was in with my endometriosis, with the things that I needed, it caused so much friction. And I was like, I can't do this anymore. So I quit my job, like blew up my whole life, quit my job, which I was so proud to have. It was like my thing, I was the corporate girl. And I was like, I need to control my health. I need to understand women's health. And I was like, I'm going to train to become a women's health practitioner. And that is what I did. So I completely flipped my life upside down. And it was the best thing I ever did because it's what's brought me to you today. And I know obviously endometriosis has been a huge part of your journey. And obviously the symptoms come that come with it. And so much of the lack of research around what really does come with it, what doesn't come with it, what's causing these problems, all of that. Could you talk us through a little bit what at that time, like what your symptoms were and how long it took you to get a diagnosis? And just like painting a little bit of a picture about your experience with endometriosis? Yeah, so my experience with endometriosis, I think we need to go back to the start of my first period. Because for me, it was like my life changed when I got that period. So I used to be so jealous of my friends, okay? They'd come into school from like the age of like 11, 12 with their hats and their tampons and their deodorant and their bras. And I was there 17, flat chested, like completely flat chested, no period. Didn't even need deodorant because I wasn't sweating, like I hadn't hit PBT yet. And I was so jealous of them being like, can I borrow a tampon? I was like, when will my time come? Yes, when will I get this show on bras? Yeah, I was like, I want to be a woman. And then I got my period and I was like, what the fuck is going on? I was like, how are my friends going to school? How are they like living? And I just thought, okay, maybe it's the first one I'm getting used to it. Second period comes and I'm like, okay, like I don't go to school that day. I'm like bleeding through all of my clothes. And I'm like, this doesn't seem normal because my friends haven't done this. But this was kind of, this was 11 years ago, so I'm 28 now. This is 11 years ago. People didn't really talk about periods that much. So I was like, maybe my friends are bleeding through their clothes. They're just not telling me about it. I'm like, wow, worries. Yeah, I'm like, how are you doing this? Like, how are you showing up? Third period comes and I'm like, I feel like I'm going to die. Like, it feels like my organs were being screwed ripped. And we're trying to come out of me. I felt like I'd swallowed a cheese grater. It was literally as if my stomach was like, oh my god. And people would end up being chasis like, if you know, you know. It's like a cork screw is twisting. And then your period comes a couple of days later and it kind of goes away. And you're like, this is so weird. So I actually was super confident going to the doctors. Where a lot of people go, I couldn't talk about it for years. No, third period in. I'm straight to the doctor because I'm like, something is wrong. This is not okay. Because it's not just the physical pain. I was exhausted. And like, 17, you're spring check-in. You're going out with your friends. You're having a great time. Not me. I'm like, pale, drained, tired, missing school. And I go to the doctor. And it's the classic situation. And we'll get on to the fact that I do love doctors. I promise you. That particular doctor was at the lap of just like, mm-hmm. You've seen the tick-tock right. Yeah. And you're like, I feel like I'm dying on this. And like, mm-hmm. Okay, just the pill. And it's just painful periods you're fine. And what was really difficult is that because I felt so insignificant compared to this doctor's, you know, experience and work. I was like, okay, yes. What you've said is right. I am being dramatic. It is just painful periods. And I just need to take the pill. So that's what I did. But my symptoms just got worse. Really. The bloating got so bad that I had two wardrobes. One was a size A, one was a size 14. Because at different points in the month, I was genuinely changing that size. So when we talk about being confident in your body that age and boys and everything like that, it just felt so difficult. And it should have been a red flag, okay. And I always think if someone is there with two wardrobes, this is your sign. So I was having this issue. The pain was getting worse. And I was really confident going back to the doctor. Because I was like, something isn't wrong, like you haven't fixed me. And then a different doctor would say, oh, that's the wrong pill. That's why it's getting worse. That story for two years. And it was points where every single month I would go to the doctor. And I'd be like, please help me. Different pill. Please help me. It's painful periods. Please help me. Maybe it's IBS. Please help me. Okay, maybe it's celiacs disease. And we never got an answer. And it got to the point where it was so severe that I just stopped trusting anyone. I stopped telling anyone when things were wrong. And I was on the way to one of my A-level exams. And for two days, I had been bleeding out. Like I was ghostly white, soaked through with blood. And I was like, but my A-levels are the most important thing, right? Like you need to get to uni. Walking to my exam. Blacked out. Work up in the hospital. My mum was there. And I was an hour away from home. So I was like, why the hell is my mum here? And oh my god, I've missed my exam. Like why am I in this hospital? And they were like, you need to go to the hospital. go in for emergency surgery. So I had the surgery and they found a cyst, the size of an orange that had twisted around my fallopian tube and they said, this is probably why you've been in so much pain. It was probably the cyst. We've taken it out and a little piece of your ovary and you're gonna be fine. Like you're healed, you're cured, off you go. So I was kind of like, okay, like I'm fixed. This is me done. It's the summer before I go to university, I go to university and my symptoms get worse and worse and worse. And now knowing what I do about inflammation and bloating and endometriosis, it's so obvious. And I know that we will probably come onto those strategies but going to university, you're drinking more. You're under a lot of stress because of exams. You're socializing more, your food is probably more ultra-processed and my symptoms got worse and this is where the conversation totally changed with the doctors. Instead of talking about IBS and painful periods, it was, oh, you're young, you're at university. How many sexual partners have you had this month? They would ask that. I was like, my sex is so painful that I'm not getting any action right now. I was like, sex is the last thing I'm thinking of. I was like, I wish, I wish. And it was just getting worse. And again, the three years later is when one doctor said the words endometriosis to me. So this from start to finish five years of battling surgery as well. And it took five years to get my answer of endometriosis. And the only reason I had that answer is because that doctor, he was amazing. He was interested in women's health. He'd recently been to a conference about women's health. And so he had endometriosis on his brain. So when he was reading my history and my symptoms, it clicked into place that it could be that. So I had a diagnostic laparoscopy, which is basically like an investigation into your tummy. And that's when they found endometriosis. But five years sounds crazy, right? Like those symptoms sound crazy. I am lucky. Like I am lucky in the world of endometriosis that average time to diagnosis from symptoms starting is eight to 10 years. And that has to change. Yeah, I mean, it's fucking ridiculous. And at what's, I mean, that story and everything you went through is horrifying. And I don't know. I don't doubt that if that was a common male symptom that we would have different realities, what horrifies me the most is that when I hear horrifying stories, I'm not surprised. Any woman could probably tell anyone about like 10 of their close friends who've had like something similar. Or like just, you know, one of my friends, for example, had like an extreme issue with their coil. And it was like put in completely wrong. And it had been like absorbed by their uterus and was completely embedded and all of that. And no one was even looking at anything 'cause they were just like, oh, it's a uterus. So it's meant to actually be really painful in brewing your life, but like hope that's okay. And I don't know myself. For example, like I remember once having such bad pain that I went to A&E in the middle of the night 'cause I literally thought I was maybe like having a concealed pregnancy and like a giving birth. And I had like this giant cyst that had ruptured, but I only found out two months later 'cause in the hospital they said, oh, you've probably got a UTI and I said, am I testing for it, like isn't like, have you seen other tests? - Yeah. - Exactly. And they were like, no, but you know, you've got some pain in all of this. Like wouldn't even do a scan where like, you know, come back for a scan through the normal pathways, all of this. And then two months later, they were like, oh yeah. You got really bad internal bleeding. And I'm like, come on, come on. What are we meant to do? - Yeah, yeah. - But I guess for anyone listening to this, who's thinking, oh, do you know what I might have under retraces, what would you recommend to them in terms of being armed and going to the doctor? And I guess your best advice for a conversation with a doctor about it. So it kind of touches on your experience there first. Well, I'm sorry that that happened to you. That shouldn't be happening. And I think it touches on something that is happening all the time. And in the book that I'm writing right now, I talk about just because something is common, i.e. happening to lots of people, does not mean it is normal. We need to stop saying things are normal because that is the main problem that we're having right now. When it comes specifically to your question about endometriosis, and this is actually true for anyone who's struggling with any symptoms. So if you're just not sure, if it's endometriosis, if it's something else, you're just like, I'm struggling and I need help, track your symptoms. This is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself. Because we know what it's like, okay, when you've been dealing with pain and you just need help from the doctor, you go to the appointment and they're like, okay, so what's the problem today? And you're like, and then you leave that appointment and you go, oh my God, I forgot to say this, this, this. And you don't leave with the help that you came there for. So track your symptoms, write down your main symptoms. How often are they happening? How severe are they? Bonus points, if you can start tracking your cycle. Even if it's a regular, all of that information is so powerful your doctor to be able to make a really nice picture for you of what's going on. And either handle it there and then in the situation or to be able to pass that on to a specialist. If you have something like endometriosis and you are going down that diagnosis route, please, if you can go and see an endometriosis specialist or ask for a referral and you have the power to ask for a referral for an endometriosis specialist, I didn't know that they existed. So when I went for my endocardery, I had the wrong surgery. I had what is called ablation, which if you think of endometriosis like a weed, ablation is that going, I'm just going to top the weed like it looks nice for a little bit and then boom, pops back up. That is what ablation surgery does. Excision surgery is ripping that weed out of the root. Yes, unfortunately, you will still have the odd weed grow back endometriosis chronic. I will always live with endometriosis but I do not live with the symptoms anymore. And that is because A, I have had excision surgery, the right surgery with an endocardialist and all of the lifestyle stuff that I practice outside of it. So please go and see an endometriosis specialist. Please make sure you know what surgery you're having. That's such good advice and I think that the tracking your symptoms part is so, so, so important because they also think so much around this is rightfully so emotional that a lot of the time we spend it's so upsetting. Like I remember with all of my PCOS appointments, I would never come out of it like not then going to the bathroom to cry just because it was so emotional. Yeah, just there's a lot of obviously emotions tied to it. But I also think what's so impressive about that is you now saying that you don't live with the symptoms is like, I know for some people listening who have endometriosis, they will be like, how the fuck did you do that? And I want to come on to everything you've done around the lifestyle changes and everything because I, yeah, I mean it's obviously such a debilitating thing to have. And I know that a lot of people who have it like you went through just suffer so much with it all the time. And so much of it is uncontrollable. And so I'm really excited to come on to that. I want to first talk quickly about the fact that you've openly spoken about egg freezing as well. And I would love to hear kind of after you were encouraged to freeze your eggs. What really made you think now's the time. And you know what, this is a good thing for me to do. I should be doing this. So this is something I find very hard to talk about. Not because I don't think egg freezing should be spoken about, but the way that I personally got into it wasn't a nice scenario. And that's why I talk so openly about it because I don't want other people to have the same experience as me. So when I was 24, so to recap, 17 symptoms started. Five years later, I was diagnosed. I was told that having a baby or a hysterectomy would cure my endometriosis. And thankfully, before having a hysterectomy, I found the endospecialist who said, no, no, no, no, you just need the right surgery. So I had three surgeries by this point in my life. It was very full on. And every single surgery, they would take a little bit of my ovaries. And every surgery, I would say, like, I didn't have any of my practitioner training. I knew nothing about women's health at this point, but I had the common sense to know that you have ovaries. And if you take some of them, like surely that's going to affect my fertility. And the conversation was always, no, no, no, you've got plenty of eggs. Your young don't be silly. Like you don't need to think about this, you're fine. So at the age of 24 in my life, I was, I had moved to Yorkshire for, like, my dream, corporate job. It was still sort of COVID time. I didn't have any friends or family around me. And my flatmate was away this weekend. And I woke up and I was like, I'm having an ending flare, which wasn't uncommon because the food that I was eating was super processed. I was literally having, like, two dominoes a week to just get me through. It's like the only thing that gave me joy, because I hated my job. I hated my life. I was in so much pain that only thing that gave me joy was crap food. And so I was exhausted. I was having this endow flare, and at the time, my coping mechanism, which I do not recommend to anyone, it's a terrible idea, was sleeping tablets and eating rubbish food. That was it. I was like, I'm just going to sleep through this flare. And the flare was getting worse and worse and worse. And I knew it was a bad one. But you, yourself, have talked about you going to sit, like, going to the hospital and needing emergency help and kind of being told, oh, it's nothing. It's just a UTI. That was my life constantly. And I was too tired to go to the hospital. I was like, I'm not doing it. They're just going to tell me nothing's wrong with me. So I stopped trusting my symptoms. So my flare was getting worse. I was throwing up. I started losing consciousness. And I woke up on the floor of my bathroom with this bruise along my face heaps of throbbing. And I was like, I'm on my own. This is really scary. I have no one that I can call my family. It's like five hours away. And I was like, I'm going to have to call one, one, one, one. Which is the non-emergency help. And I was like, hey, I've been passing out. My symptoms are getting really bad. I think I need help. And thankfully, they asked me for my number, how to get into my flat. And they told me to jam my door open. And that decision saved my life. So I wake up on the bathroom floor. I'm like, oh my gosh, I've passed out. I call one, one, one. And they tell me, like, the most important information, which is to keep my door open so that they can come in. Really similar situations were what happened in my A-levels. Where are you? And it still feels like I'm in it. Like I still get this shake and it happens to people every day. So that's why I share it even though I find it hard. So I was on my own in the hospital. Oh my God, you know what you're like if I can just don't it, don't make that. I was on my own in the hospital and they were like you need surgery. Something's clearly wrong with your abdomen because it was so swollen. And I was fighting them. I was like, no, this happens all the time. I'm always this bloated. Like I don't have surgery and they were like something is wrong. You need to sign this form that says it's okay. We can take your ovaries. And like I've always wanted to be a mum. So at 24 I was single, which I was really conscious of because I knew my fertility wasn't going to be the best. Yeah, so tell me that they were going to take my ovaries away. I remember in that moment when I was just so in so much pain because of my stomach, but I was kicking myself because I was like I asked the doctors should I freeze my eggs and these that I was stupid, I was too young. I was young, fit healthy and I wasn't. So I ended up having the surgery and I woke up and I remember being an agony and the first thing I said I was like do I have my ovaries? I grabbed the nose. I was like do I have my ovaries and she was like I'm not authorized to talk to you about this appointment. And I was just like so I was screaming. I was hysterical and it took half an hour for the doctor to come around and go oh you had an endometrosis flare up which looks like it triggered appendicitis. We removed your appendix. And I was like okay I was like do I have my ovaries? And they were like yeah we didn't touch your ovaries. We just took some cysts away, but you have your ovaries. And it was the biggest relief ever. And it was like something a switch turned on in my brain where I was like my life is changing this is it I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. Sorry let me have. No, you're not. You're showing me. This is, you're doing great. You're doing great. You're so much better than me once I start crying. This is the only story that I get emotional about. And this is always like certain ones. And then you're like you can't touch it with the fucking nose. My partner is always, no partner's like, and this is what therapy's for. I'm like next chapter Dylan. Leave me be one thing at a time. So I wake up and I'm like okay I'm done. I put my resignation into my job because I was in Yorkshire. I was aged away. The only place that I really had help was London and guys in St. Thomas's hospital. They're amazing. The specialist they have, they have they are amazing. Now I'm going to quit my job. I'm going to move to London and I'm going to get my ex-frozen. And so that is why I ended up moving to London. I took a job because my friend worked in. She was like so if you go through my referral, you get a really good signing fee. And I was like great because I can't afford egg freezing. Egg freezing isn't free. So I took a job for the signing bonus, landed in London. And then that's when I went to get my ex-frozen. Wow, that is, I mean, first of all an incredibly traumatic way to get there. And I think that, I mean, I'm so angry for you that that was either way that you kind of ended up there, but be that like you've clearly been having these problems for so long and the fact that that wasn't a kind of decision, like that decision could have been taken away from you. I think it's, you know, completely horrendous. And I also just think that at that point, I don't know, like we obviously get so much on the NHS and the NHS is amazing. I also think when it comes to those types of things, like you having had emergency surgery a number of times, they're, and the risk having been removing your ovaries a number of times, like surely it should have been also suggested that you could get that covered, like that you could, okay, you're ending up in the hospital over and over again, they're taking different pieces of your ovaries, then, you know, doing all of this and there was an emergency situation where it nearly did XYZ. Like surely also be like, you know, we can cover oak freezing for you. And so you can do that because to be able to, it's thousands of thousands to be able to do it. And I think as well, you know, I mean, my experience has definitely never been nowhere near as bad as yours, but I remember, again, like I went from an ag freezing consultation when I was like 23, 24, like super young, just because as well, as you've said, like I knew that I'd always had these issues. So I was like, do you know what? I'm in a fortunate financial position. I was like, I just want to go and for peace of mind and all of this. And they was, I mean, they were very discouraging. And I'm, I don't know, it just felt like I wasn't there wasn't a full picture at any point. And it felt like at the one, at one point, you're dealing with like a business on one side, and the kind of ag freezing business and like all of these different things. And they were happy to recommend all of these different things. And at the same time, like you're not having your health as a whole looked at from like a doctor's point of view, I don't know. Yeah. Aionos helps you get your business online without the tec headache. With Aionos, you just describe what you need. And a real online menu goes live the same day, no developer, no code. For 23 years, Aionos has been redefining what it costs to get your business online, starting with a dot com domain for a dollar or free with the right plan. Learn more at Aionos.com/podcast. But if you're comfortable talking about it, I would love to know more about the process itself. And for anyone who's kind of listening to this and thinking, "Oh God, do you know what? I'm in a similar situation." Or I've been thinking about it and actually this is giving me the push I need to actually go and look into it further. Yeah. I would love to hear kind of more about your experience because I've heard lots of different things as well. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I'll try and give a rounded experience because I went through two rounds of egg freezing and they were both completely different. Okay. So there are three things that I tell everyone they need to consider when you're going down the egg freezing route. I'll tell you whether it was worth it for me and then something kind of unbelievable that happened in egg freezing, which is so fucking ironic. So first of all, financial. Okay. So like we've alluded to, it's not free. It's not on the NHS. If you were to have something like cancer and we're going through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, it would be offered to you because they know that doing that treatment can cause infertility for some people. It's not the case if you were born with something like endometriosis or PCOS or anything that can impact your fertility. And that is why when I say I have a fire in my belly, let you ask me at the start of this podcast, am I working hard or hardly working? This is why I'm working hard. This is why we're building not only like my page and sharing all of the awareness on my page, but we're building found because I'm determined to get egg freezing free on the NHS, not just for people with endometriosis, but anyone struggling with fertility when it's not their choice. So financially, you have to pay for it. They always tell you like, depending on if you're going to a private clinic or a hospital, I actually would say go to a hospital. Guy's in St. Homsons is amazing because my experience with private clinics is they try and milk you for all the money you can get, okay? Also with the hospital, if something goes wrong because there are risks like hyper ovarian syndrome, which I was very close to, hospitals are bigger, they have more access to resources. So don't get sort of gamified by the gorgeous waiting rooms of these private clinics and that experience, the hospital where she was amazing. Financially, it cost me 20 grand, 20,000 pounds. And I only needed two rounds, and that's because there's hidden costs. Oh my God, I did not know it was that expensive. 20,000, so it sounds like it's not going to be that much because they say one round is 4,000 pounds. So you go, "Okay, I have two rounds, eight. Okay, I'm so sorry, you're going to need a full body MRI just to check this. We're going to need another round of bloods. Oh, because you've got endometriosis, you need bloods every single day. It racks up, it racks up. Then there's the travel to these appointments. It's the supplements that you take around it. So when you look at egg freezing as a whole, everyone is different, but my experience, it was 20,000. Oh my God, that is really, that's really shocking. I was 24, 25 at this time. I've got penny to my name, okay. I'm like every 25 world, I'm unreasonable with money. I'm shopping in Zara, I've got anything, okay? Nothing. So my friend who calls me and it's like, if you use my referral thing, you'll get a signing bonus with this company. I was like, "Sick, that's 50% of my egg freezing." I'm like, "Girl, nothing my way through egg freezing." And I'm like, "Where am I finding 10,000?" And I did what every self-respecting child does. And I call my mom and dad, I'm like, "Mom, I need you." I'm like, "I don't normally ask for money unless it was like the odd emergency 50 credit unit, which we've all been at." It's like, "Mom and dad, I'm so sorry to ask this. Like, please do you have this money." And they said, "Yes." With that, I want to take this moment to recognize that as much as I want to tell everyone if you can explore egg freezing, do it. There is so much privilege, financial privilege, that comes into that. So much, I was able to live in London. I had a job that was giving me a salary, a signing bonus. I had parents that could support me. I want to recognize that because I don't want people to be like, "Oh, she can do it." I understand that. And that's why I'm trying to change things. I want it to be free. But 20 grand. So financial, that's the first thing. Second thing is emotional. Going to those appointments was one of the most harrowing things ever because you're going. I was single at the time. So when you're going to this fertility treatment clinic, couple, couple, couple, me 24-year-old on my own, going, fuck, I don't know if I can have kids like help me out. You then go through all of these forms going, by the way, with egg freezing, it's a 10% success rate. 10%. That means you get 10 eggs. One chance. You have one chance out of all of that. My ovaries were pretty botched because of all the surgeries. Anyways, they were like, your chances are really slim. Then I was borrowing all this money from my parents, which I felt so guilty about. And then they kept saying, "Are you sure there's no one you can freeze your eggs with?" These embryos are so much more successful when you freeze the egg and the sperm together. It's a 20 to 30% chance. And I was like, "You tell me." I don't know who I'm picking off the street. - You like, I mean, you guys? - Yeah, I was like, Hinge is doing me a disservice. I'm not getting anywhere right now. And like, imagine Thursday, oh, this is going so well. Can you put your sperm in a car? - Like, first one, like, don't ask questions, but can I just borrow it? You know this cup on the table, right? - Yeah. - Just if you could just-- - Go to the bathroom. - Yeah, just do me a favor. Just do me a favor. So it's like, I can't do this, but I found out I'm joking about it now. Everyone else, like-- - I'm so sick of all that. - And then physical. - So with egg freezing, you don't know what the process is. In the morning, you have to inject yourself at home, which to a lot of people is really scary. For me, I'm a farmer. I was raised, born and raised in a farm. I'm used to this stuff. So I was like, no problem. However, you have to stimulate your ovaries. So every month, you have one follicle that gets ready. When you're going through egg freezing, they want 20 to 30 follicles. So imagine your period on steroids, and so you're stimulating it. And then at night, you have to do this injection to, like, keep your ovaries to hold on to them, 'cause you don't want to let them loose. So throughout egg freezing, I felt like I was carrying around hockey balls in my stomach, which then was playing my endometriosis. So you've got the financial cost. You've got the emotional cost, and you've got the physical cost. I don't know whether it was the universe, God, whether it was all of the anti-inflammatory living stuff that I'd started to implement. I had 50 eggs from two rounds, which is like almost unheard of. Like, you want to get 10 to 15 eggs per round. I got 50 from two rounds, and they were like, no more. Like, you have enough in the freezer. So I was very lucky. I also look back, and I'm like, even if my egg freezing was unsuccessful, or even if now with all these eggs, if we try and use them later on, 'cause I can't have children, and it doesn't work, I am so grateful for every penny spent and every second that went into that, because it's the first time I felt like I had control of my body, because I always live with endome. I may occasionally have pain here or there, like, anti-inflammatory living is doing, doing bits, but you never know things can happen, but I had control for the first time over my fertility. I was doing what I could. And so when people tell me, do you think egg freezing is worth it? I'm like a thousand percent. If you can, do it. The thing that happened in egg freezing, which I never expected. And again, remember, I'm getting asked every single day, you sure you don't have anyone, I'm like, no. I go and hinge, 'cause my friend is like, come on, that's just, that's half of them. And this guy comes up with my hinge, and I'm like, he's really funny. He's bald, not my usual type. Okay, I'm just gonna put it out there. Dylan, if you're listening, I love you with all my heart. You are bald, you were not on the vision boards. Okay, I like floppy, long, glossy hair. All of my ex-partners were that. It's not the life that I thought, but it's the life that chose me. So my bald queen, Dylan, pops up on my hinge, and I'm like, he's a bit of me. We're messaging, and I'm like, this is insane. And at this point, I was posting on my page, and do awareness. It's all I had, I didn't have the tools yet, but I was just talking about it. And I'd started doing videos for the first time, and I was documenting every day of my egg-freezing. So if anybody wants to watch that, there's a whole documentation on my page. We're dating, we're just messaging, sorry. He follows me on Instagram on my personal Instagram, which has nothing to do with women's health. It's just like me trying to be an insta-girl. I posted about organic pads and tampons on the wrong Instagram. He sees this video and goes, what's this? And I was like, oh my God, no, this is it. Like, it's over. He's found out. We hadn't been on a first date yet. He finds my endo page, starts taking the piss out of all of my posts, okay? And he's like, look at your belly in this video, because it was blown out. I was injecting myself. This is what he saw. He sent me all these funny messages, and then he sent me this paragraph, and he said, on a serious note, I think this is unreal. Like, what you're doing is amazing, and I want to take you on a date. And I was just like, he's either a creep. Yeah, or he's a real one. Yeah. On our third day, he asked to come and see me in London, and I was like, aha, you can. I am in the middle of back freezing, so I'm going to have to inject in the morning. You're then going to need to come with me to my appointment, and then I'm going to have to inject before we go on our date tonight. And he's like, no problem. Doesn't phase him. I bring him to my doctor's appointment. And my fatalities, he's specialist. It's like, you found one. He says, he's there like him, and I'm like, they're there to date. They're there to date. Don't get in the car. I thought about it, but I did. And that was it. And I was like, oh my god, out of the most painful time in my life of egg freezing and worrying about finding a partner and whether these eggs are ever going to be able to be used. And then I meet my now. You'll see. Oh, that was gorgeous ring. Thank you very much. You're so cool. On that, if you were to sit down with like every woman in their 20s, 30s, 40s, young women who want to know about their fertility, what do you wish that they knew about their fertility options? OK, so there's three main things. One is stop thinking about fertility as something that will be for later. It impacts our health right now. It comes from our health. Today, fertility isn't something you think about later. Everything you do right now will be a part of your fertility journey. Number two, you are not silly. You are not stupid. And you are not too young to be thinking about your fertility. Those were the words that I kept being told. Oh, you're silly. Don't be stupid. You're too young. And we all know I almost lost my ovaries. So feel empowered to have that conversation with your doctor. And if they're not listening, get a second opinion. But you were never too young. And Jennifer Anderson has come out in the press. I think a couple of years ago now and said, the one thing I wish I'd have done was frozen my ex-sina. Because when she was on her fertility journey, it was too late for her. So you're never too silly. You're never too stupid. You're never too young. Then the final thing would be just because you were seeking answers or information and you're curious, doesn't mean you need to act now. It just means that you have the information that you need to make the informed decision when that time comes. It's like with you when you went to get your fertility treatment at your fertility appointment, sorry. It's just nice having that information locked in. And you go, OK, I know where I'm at. I don't need to act, but I know where I'm at. Those would be the three key things. I love that. And I think that you're so right on our control is removed so much when we're dealing with a lot of these various different issues and the lack of research and the lack of support from various different areas. And I think anything that can gain back that control for yourself is very important, both mentally but also in terms of actually dealing with the issues. And I think feeling like you have that control and the ability to have some say in your future, I think, goes a very, very long way. I'm really interested as well in how having your eggs frozen. I was about to say having squeezed your eggs, which doesn't feel quite right. Having had your eggs frozen, I don't know, how has it changed the way that you think about your fertility and the way that you think about your future and there's so much rush on us as women, especially when it comes to being in your late 20s, early 30s, like finding a partner, settling down, all of that. There's so much anxiety around that. And I know we've spoken on this podcast before about people ending up settling, 'cause they just wanna be with someone so that they can actually get to that next stage of their life because there's so much pressure around you know, having kids and everything. How did that change your mentality, if at all? Just I'm interested on personal level. - Yeah, it changed everything. - Really? - Because I felt suffocated by my own thoughts because I was like, I wanna be a mom, what if I don't find anyone? Okay, I've got my eggs frozen, but if I could get my eggs frozen, maybe that would give me hope. But I don't know, I was in this state of like not knowing worrying panicking and what will come onto about inflammation is that stress and then think between the gut brain axes. Half of my endosimtums were coming from the fact that I was so stressed about fertility. So going through the process after recovering from all of those hormones, 'cause it was a wild ride, I'm not gonna lie, it was a wild ride. But all of a sudden I was seeing life, it was like I took off negative glasses and I put on positive roasted ones because I was like, okay, that's done. I've done everything I can with fertility. If it happens or not, I've done everything that I can. And I started going, okay, how do I bring my dreams to life? So I wanna change the way that we look at women's health. I wanna build a women's health brand. We've already started it called FAND, and it will be the home of women's health. It's where you come for resources. It's where you come for help. It's where you come from advice. And I had this energy and fire and passion to do that because my thoughts weren't so consumed and swallowed by my fear of fertility. With my relationship, I don't have this clock of women's health kids, women's health kids. I'm like, no, we're enjoying our life. I'm enjoying our relationship as it is. And I don't wanna change what we are as a couple and we are as individuals and what I'm growing in my business because I feel like I need to shoe horn a baby in before I'm 30, it's not happening. The time will come and the time is why and that is why I went through egg freezing so that I had that security deposit. And I'm gonna be clear, this is not guaranteed. I have 50 eggs, I have five chances from that to 10%, but I'm willing to take that. And life is about living. You do not have to have children to make your life be special for you to find your purpose. I truly believe that my purpose is women's health and helping other women on their journey. That is my baby. One day I hope to have my own baby, but I'm not forcing a life into this world because of this city timeline that we're told about. So it changed everything for me. - Yeah, I really love that. And I do think mental load is one of the biggest parts of this and being able to remove that in any way is so important. It's funny 'cause obviously you were, you'd then met the person that you are now with and it's now, if you aren't saying all of that, but I'd be so interested as well to hear from people who have gone back into the like dating worlds in a more, - I don't know. - Dating more people, capacity, 'cause I'd be so interested as well to hear like how their mindset changes in terms of like, do you settle for less? Or do you not settle for less? All of these different things when it comes to like, - Yeah. - Because we feel like we're in such a rush. - Yeah, well thing. - This is the thing, before egg freezing, I was dating to meet my baby daddy. - Right. - After that, I was just like, this guy's great. Like, you're having a fun time. So I would also be curious, but I would suspect that they would feel a lot more confident about it. All people can be looking up at the mic. - Yes, be like, feed him, give us answers. - Give us answers. - Give us your experience. - And I want to get on to bloating. - Yeah. - Because obviously we talked about inflammation, a lot of different senses. And I personally, not just with bloating, but I can bloat for fucking English. Let me tell you that for you. So many of my problems with hormones were also linked to inflammation and a huge amount of inflammation in my body and all of that. But I feel like a lot of women have issues with bloating and spend a lot of time feeling upset about it, but also don't necessarily know how to deal with it or why they have bloating. Why is bloating so common, especially for women? And why does so many of us just kind of put up with it and just assume it's normal? - Yeah, great question. And this is why bloating and inflammation is such a hot topic right now. Because people are starting to go, oh wait, it's not just me, like you're struggling with it too. So love the differentiation between common and normal. First of all, let's start with what is actually normal because I do feel like there's this social media trend now where it's like, I have a super flat stomach and if I have any bloating, it's really bad. - Or like if my stomach is full at all, like this is bloating, it's like you ate a meal. - You ate a meal. - So that's gotta go somewhere. - It's fine, it's exactly, it's exactly. - It's exactly that. And there's also things like tight pants syndrome. Like if your jeans are literally too tight, that can make you bloated, it's a thing. So it's insane, isn't it? I'm crazy. - Me and now overthinking my leg, jeez. - Me being like jeez, don't do it. - Exactly, go for it. So your podcast can do what you want. So normal bloating, things like when we eat fiber, so think that big salad. We don't digest fiber, our bodies can't, but our lovely bacteria can. So when our bacteria is digesting this fiber or fermenting it, part of the process with fermentation is gas being let off. And so if you've had like a fat salad, and it might be like your first salad at summer, for example, it happens all the time, we're like, ooh, I feel a little bit bloated. And what I mean by that is like, your stomach is slightly brushing out. It's not painful, it's not persisting, it's not stopping you from doing anything. You're just noticing it. That is your gut working, and that's why we have something called the fart walk, which is you go for a walk after foot. We've all seen it and take some, and it works. Okay, after lunch, go out for your fart walk, and you'll be like, shit, that was amazing. - Good for your blood sugar too. - Good for your blood sugar too, exactly. - And good for keeping friends in the office. - When you're not just sat there for a while. - Not friends in public when you're fighting next to them, but it's fine, you'll never see them again. - Never see them again, it's the best part of the life. - London's smelly anyway. - London, yeah. - So that is normal. Also as women, we have this gorgeous menstrual cycle with these fluctuating hormones that we tend to demonize. They're amazing, they do so much for us. Every part of our cycle can be wonderful in its own way, even your period, even just for your period. But with fluctuating hormones, you have digestion that slows down, you have water retention that can fluctuate. And that's why if you step on the scales every day in your cycle, you will see it says something different. Some of that is normal. So there's this home called progesterone, it's like your cool calm chill out hormone. I say she, she comes in before your periods, and she's like chill out, chill out. To the point where your digestion is like, no problem. I'm a bye, I'm not gonna do anything. And that's why sometimes we can struggle with bowel movements. However, yes, some of that is normal, but throw in the life that we live right now. Ultra-process foods, if you don't know what ultra-process foods are because it sounds like a stupidly complicated term, think like meat, fish, fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes. One ingredient, you pick up a sweet potato, it doesn't have a label on it, it's a sweet potato. When you transform foods, especially adding loads of chemicals, stabilizers, sweeteners, sugars, and then all of a sudden, you spit out faster, biscuits, sweets, donuts. They are ultra-process foods. As soon as that food becomes very, very complicated, that in itself can be a stress on your body, because your body's like, what is this? What is this chemical I've never seen this before? And your body's trying to find out how to digest it. So throw into the equation, ultra-process foods, stress, your manager calls you and is like, you need to get into the office today, your guest is two hours early and you're like, ah! Stress. Then you've got environmental toxins. All of these things are going on in our life right now, where we are operating at levels that we were never made to operate at. We are trying to keep up. And that is when we are now dealing with this epidemic of inflammation. Bloating is through the roof. And I don't just mean bloating in your stomach. I mean, the classic you see all the time, cortisol face, where you have this moon face, your face blows out. For me. My arms, for me is the back of my arms. I'm like, best of luck seeing a try. Like a try set. No, I see my arms and I see it in my legs. Like, I physically can see the difference. And I'm like, I know it's not insane because I see the different air. Like, I know it is there. And I'm like, why? It's why. Not to my legs. Yes, that's what I'm going to be. Exactly. Okay, so one, we have something for this. I'm going to take you through my lymphatic drainage. I'm going to teach you how to do it. I've actually already done that. Yeah. You don't even need to talk. Please, take it right up. You'll take bye-bye. But we have all of that going on. And then all of a sudden, we are dealing with, our body is just literally under fire. It's like hitting the panic back at night work, hitting the panic button with food, hitting the panic button with our relationships, sleep thing at the past, screens all the time. And then we're struggling with all of this information. We're going, why is this happening? And then everyone is normalizing it because a, women typically struggle with it more because of that gorgeous fluctuating cycle. Those stresses can really mess with our hormones and mess with our cycle. And also because we have such limited information resources when it comes to women's health, it's normal because everyone has it. But it's not, it's common. It's not normal. And we need to stop like putting up and shutting up when it comes to our symptoms. So if someone feels permanently bloated, what would you recommend they do? Like what steps should they take? Anti-inflammatory living. All the way. You're like, I thought you'd never know. All the way. Oh my god, this is like my bread and butter. This is like sex to me. I'm like, God, anti-inflammatory living. There's six pillars, okay. And I think when you think about anti-inflammatory living, it feels like this huge thing. Food, gut, detoxification, sleep, stress, and movement. Because we think of inflammation as only coming from fruit. And that is one of the problems. Food is a huge part of it. You eat all day every day. If you're eating inflammatory foods. Yeah, same. I'm an eater. But if you also have other things that are stressful in your life and causing inflammation, you can't fix the piece of the puzzle. You need to think of your body as a whole. And so anti-inflammatory living absolutely is the way forward. Now, in Kroger, your points go even further. Use them to hide your edible ends in the box or to decorate it in a container. The same points, more options. And below all the company, digital and personalized, you'll have more ways to decorate each trip. Kroger, fresh for everyone. Now, in big size, when you buy five or more of your favorites, you just buy five or more artichoke recipes and you only have one dollar each with your card. But so let's talk about that. And I want to particularly talk about both the AIP diet and also 30-day reset. Yeah. Because personally, if anyone's listened to my. If anyone's listened to my PCI's episode, no listens. And if anyone. The PCS girls are listening. The girls that need it are listening. Thank you. But for anyone who did listen to that, I obviously mentioned in that that when I originally started my journey of kind of realizing the inflammation was causing a lot of the issues, whereas I thought they were like root cause hormone issues. And actually, it was inflammation, making all my hormones go crazy. I was doing a lot of research and that's when I came across your page and that's when you were the person who taught me about the AIP diet. And I never properly did the AIP diet. But what I did was I got. It helps really educate me on what was potentially inflammatory and then to be. I was able to kind of eliminate and stop it and kind of notice certain things like for me, Paprika, for example, I never would have thought that that would have breached havoc and then I would have Paprika once and I'd be like, "Oh, whoa, okay." Yeah. And so, yeah, I'd love for you to give us a little bit of an intro on what the AIP diet is, but also, yeah, how can someone listening to this go about, you know, if they wanted to do the 30-day reset and they wanted to just start this anti-inflammatory living, how would they go about it? Sorry, I had ten questions at one. No, I love it. Throw them at me. So, first of all, let's talk about the difference between the reset and the AIP. So, the AIP is short for autoimmune protocol. And in, like, when you go to speech your doctor or a women's health practitioner, there are kind of three key anti-inflammatory diets, so we're only talking about food here, where you can try depending on your needs. So, you have the AIP, you have low fud map and you have low histamine. Low fud map is the one that has the biggest noise about it 'cause it's the most researched. I did the low fud map and it didn't do anything for me for some people they love it. Histamine, I don't really struggle with histamine issues and so I knew that diet wasn't for me. What would histamine issues be? So, it can be things like one symptom I do experience is itchy skin, for example. But if you think, even as basic as, like, summer, when you're like sneezing, you've got fluy or coughy or coldly, that kind of thing, that often comes down to histamine intolerances and it can come from food. However, there are limitations to the histamine diet. Genetically, you can be wired differently, and histamines can be an issue. So it's not just the foods that you eat, and that is why, again, there isn't much research on the histamine. The AIP, however, is something that, for anyone struggling with autoimmune conditions or conditions similar, I urge to look at it. Definitely speak to a doctor, a dietitian, or a women's health practitioner before taking it on. But the AIP is an extreme anti-inflammatory diet. It's split into three phases. First of all, you've got elimination. Second, you've got reintroduction. Third is maintenance. So the first part of it, the elimination, you eliminate anything that could be causing inflammation. I have an entire guide on the AIP because it can feel so complicated. But essentially, you are eating meat, fish, fruit, and veg. But even within these intricacies, you said paprika is yours. Chili is mine. They are things that are eliminated. Nightshades are eliminated. And why you reduce all of these out of your diet is so that your inflammation, if it is food triggered, goes from 100 to zero. So your symptoms theoretically should go away if it is triggered by food. Then you move into reintroduction phase. So for me, it took me 30 days for that to happen, which was insane. Because remember, it took 10 years of painful symptoms, endometriosis fliers, painful periods, heavy periods, four surgeries. Nothing was taken by symptoms away. And I do a 30 day AIP diet. And I'm like, this doesn't make sense. And I'm so glad I documented it on my socials every single day. Because people saw me transform, like with me, my face dropped. I lost over a stone in weight that I thought was fat. And it was water weight, it was inflammation. And I was like, no, where did my dress size was changing all the time? So then you go into reintroduction phase, which is phase two. And you reintroduce, it's painfully slow, but it's worth it. You reintroduce one ingredient, see how your body feels. So I was like, okay, black pepper, reintroduce that, no issues, rice, no issues. There's no issues, coffee, no issues, thankfully. And then I reintroduce chili, chili flakes, a tiniest amount on cucumber. And I was like, that's going to be fine. I did my documentation. It's day 44 of the most extreme anti-inflammatory diet. I'm reintroducing chili flakes, ETA, two hours later, migraine. Really? Brain fog, bloating. And then I come on an early period. And it is heavy, like awful. And I was like, I can't think straight, I can't see straight, I can't work. I can't do this, I'm uncomfortable. And I was like, oh my god, no, no, no, all my symptoms are coming back. And I was like, it was chili. It was just the chili flakes. It was just the chili. Yeah. So you go through this process of reintroductions to find what your triggers are. And then this is what is really important. And this is a misconception about the AIP. And I still to this day, a year and a half later, get this question, be like, but wait eggs aren't AIP. And I'm like, no, no, you eliminate things. And then you reintroduction. So AIP is not to keep all of them out. No, of course not, because that would be completely unrealistic. That would be insane. So then you've got the maintenance, which is where you eat all of those foods. And you either eliminate the ones that are short triggers for you. Like chili for me, I can live without chili. And then anything that can cause some issue. So for me, I realized ultra-process foods and certain grains don't agree with my body. And these are all healthy things. Like people think gluten is the devil. Gluten is not the devil. For me and my body, it doesn't agree with me. So I limit those as much as possible. Now, the AIP is extreme. It should be done with some sort of resources. We've made the guide. But I always recommend people do it with a practitioner or a doctor to have that extra guidance. And it's also a short-term protocol where you take your learnings and then you live your life. People often get mixed up with AIP being the extreme. No, that's phase one. There's phase two, phase three maintenance. Something, when I finished the AIP, I was like, there was something missing. And during this entire process, I was trained in to become a women's health practitioner with a certification in menstrual health. Because I have a new uterosis and a lot of women's health conditions are dictated by their cycles. And what I was learning was about all of these causes of inflammation. So those six pillars, food, gut, detoxification, sleep, stress and movement. The AIP only talks about food and I was like, what about all these other pillars? But also, what about the 99.9% of the population who maybe don't need to do the AIP? What is there for them? What about the busy person? What about the mum? What about the older person? What about the person who just needs help right now and can't commit to something like the AIP? And that is where we brought the 30-day reset, anti-inflammatory living. Very much inspired by the learnings of the AIP in terms of reducing ultra-process foods. But with my knowledge of, okay, let's look at protein fats and carbs. Fiber, how important that is, looking at our hormones. And then again, looking at all those other pillars. Because what is the point of changing just your food, for example, if you are stressed at work, if you are not sleeping right. And that kind of brings us to the anti-inflammatory reset, which is the accessible way of living, which is for everyone's lifestyle. We can all the retips throughout this is the book that I'm writing right now. It comes out on the face of January. It's so exciting. But it's available to pre-order now. So I'll give you the link if you can put it in the show. But in the book, we, not only, because I think there's this running thing where we see these challenges in these themes. And they tell you to do it, but they don't teach you the why. And I'm like, people aren't stupid. They want the information. They want to understand their health. So in the book, we go through the six pillars, why they're important, understanding inflammation, balancing blood sugar, finally understanding your hormones, how the six pillars come into it, and then there's a guided 30-day reset to take you through it. And what you will find on the last day is that you're like, "Oh, these are things I can do every day. This isn't just for 30 days." And I think a lot of people tell me if this is you too, where you are like, "Okay, but what do I eat?" And that's why I was hell-bent on having over 80 anti-inflammatory recipes in the book, so that you have everything you need in this one little guide. Yeah, of course, because I remember first going throughason-free after already being dairy-free, and just being like, "What the fuck do I eat?" Like genuinely, "What can I eat?" Like everything in restaurants, it was just very confusing. And for anyone listening to this who knows that they may be a dealing with some inflammation, and they want to make smaller changes, is that what would you suggest? Just like little switches, little changes that they can make in their everyday to be able to actually decrease that inflammation. Yeah, so I, the reset, gives you a really good kind of balance of what you should do throughout the day. But for the listener that is like, "I want answers right now, do my mini reset in the morning." It's just a morning routine, but it sets you up for success. First of all, you start with your lymphatic drainage. It takes five minutes, and you will be so surprised at what you see in the mirror. There's a reason, there's just always go viral, because people try it, and they're like, "Oh my god, I can't believe this works." Number two is a morning walk. Even if it is ten minutes outside, the, the walk can help stimulate digestion, and having a morning bowel movement, a morning poo can be one of the best things you can have for you, for your hormones, for your health. But also that time outside, with natural sunlight coming into your eyes, it's so good, because it helps wake you up. It gets your mana tonin down, so you actually start to feel awake, and then a high protein breakfast, ultra-processed free. If possible, or as close to that as possible, because people say high protein breakfast. Perfect, let's get a protein bar, let's do a protein shake, let's do the refined sugar-free blah, blah, blah, blah. No, I'm talking about real food. Eggs, smoked salmon, sweet potato. If you can tolerate dairy, Greek yogurt, with some nice gut loving granola, not the sugary one, the nice one, with some berries, amazing. Everyone tells me I'm weird over doing this, but once you start, you won't be able to stop. I just cook too much for dinner, and I have it for breakfast. I do dinner for breakfast, too. I don't do breakfast foods, especially when you go gluten and dairy free. It's like there's very little, and you're wanting to get over 30 grams of protein. I eat breakfast like any other meal. How much better do you feel eating that way? So much better, and when I was on my honeymoon, I was not doing that, because breakfast buffets deserve to be eaten. I took it too far, and every single day I felt like actual shit at the point where I was like, "Okay." So usually, if I'll eat something that will make me feel bad, I'm like, "Do you know what? It was worth it." Yeah. It got to the point where I was just like, "Do you know what? There is such a thing that's taking it too far." I was doing exactly that. But okay, when you're human, you're normal, you're on your honeymoon. Absolutely in choice. In choice, zero regrets. Also, I fucking love an almond croissant, and there is nothing in this world. There's nothing in this world that's taking that away from me. Am I having one every morning? No. Yeah. Do I have one every couple of weeks? Yes. But what is important, and you've kind of said it, and what you've just said there, is that when you go through a period of getting rid of your inflammation and managing that, you have control of your health of what you then experience. So if you want the breakfast buffet with the croissants, with this, with that, and you're not thinking about protein, no problem, eat it. If it's worth it, go for it. And then you start to get those symptoms back, and you go, "Okay, it's time to get back to it." It's time to have that research, which is exactly why we've called it the anti-inflammatory research. But you have control. The other thing is, when you live an anti-inflammatory life, your body is for the first time ever your immune system isn't firing at you all the time. The sirens aren't on. Your immune system is like, "We're cool." And then you have an almond croissant on your body's like, "Okay, this is fine. We're going to process." "Come down, but we're going to process." So now I have an almond croissant, and I have no food anxiety, because I'm like, "There's no information. I have one. Processes it done. Different story." And everyone responds to ultra-process foods to different degrees. I would say, "Please find me someone who can tolerate ultra-process foods every single day and doesn't feel shit about it." But I can now tolerate the tip here and there, because it's not ruining my life. And we need to also recognise that we live in a world where it's impossible. to go ultra-process free all the time. I would love to say no and have them ever again. Leave the house and try and buy something that isn't ultra-processed food. I challenge you today to go into any supermarket and pick up a pre-cooked chicken. Turn over the packet. It will have dextrose, mulsifiers, sugars, everything. The only thing you have that doesn't have like sweetness and stuff like that might be something like prosciutto and it'll be poor console. It's everywhere, but it's like what can we control and make the best of that? Yeah, and outside of that make the best decision you can. For me, it's the almond croissant. For you, it's on your honeymoon. Best believe I'll be doing the same on my honeymoon. But mine will not be restricted just to my honeymoon, just to the for legal reasons I must clarify. It will be continuing. At points. I think I did it yet. But I do think once you've made like the changes I made because I pretty much changed everything about my lifestyle for like, well, from like December January until now and very much fun to continue. But it's once you start doing that and I never would have believed myself saying this because I just wouldn't have. But like, when you do get to feeling so much better, yeah, it is quite hard to go back because when you start like ruining your day by eating something that your body doesn't agree with and it doesn't process well and it makes you crash and it makes you need an app and like all of that, you just it's hard to feel, yeah, it's hard to want to do it, which is crazy because anything with food I generally do want to do. But this is the thing. It becomes part of your lifestyle. The food that you're eating ends up being the food that you're craving. So people who are like, no, I could never live without that. Do the anti-inflammatory reset for 30 days and then come back to me because you find food that you love so you realize you're not missing out on anything. It becomes part of your lifestyle, so you realize that all the things are important to you. Stay. You do these anti-inflammatory things around them and tell me because my experience is I'm healthier. I am happier. I am more successful. My business is growing and my team is growing because I don't have brain fog. I don't have endosyptoms. I'm not permanently in hospital and I'm not saying that everyone is guaranteed to have these results. It's been my experience. But you tell me from yours, you've been through an anti-inflammatory way of living. How much better do you feel? Just like everything. You stop the baseline of what you think about can change, whereas so much of my baseline was like, am I going to feel good today, like having really, really heavy and really painful periods, like knowing that something's going to be on the first day of your period and you know, like I don't know, my grains or whatever it might be or like extreme pain and it's just you have so much to think about before you even get to your day. And it's just nice not having that. And that I think is something really important for people listening. There are a few flags that I talk about where if you're experiencing these, it's really important to listen to them. So number one, if something is persisting, it's painful and it's disruptive to your life, you shouldn't be living with that. You deserve better. And that can happen as a result of lifestyle factors. It can be the fact that we live in the world that we do, but we can find calm in the chaos and anti-inflammatory living can really help that. The reason I say it's important to listen to these symptoms and not ignore them is that there is a percentage of people, you and I, you've been open about your PCOS, I've been open about my endometriosis. There is a percentage of people that can have underlying conditions that can also drive this inflammation. Endometriosis, PCOS, Ovarian cysts, IBS. There are so many things that can be at play and it's really, really important to listen to your symptoms and if this inflammation is going on, to seek help, go to your doctor, go to a women's health practitioner and work through it because you shouldn't be living in pain, you deserve better and that's why it's so important to listen to your body. Yeah, I love that and I feel like that's the perfect way to wrap this up, but for I do, I would like to ask you what the best piece of advice is that you've ever been given. It would be so cliche, but nothing changes if nothing changes and that is true for your health. If you're getting the same answer from your doctor and you're being dismissed, change your doctor. If you are not happy with your workplace, change your workplace. If you are not happy with the way of eating, change the way that you were eating, but people keep expecting results when they are not changing anything and that was me. I was in the pits, I thought nothing would happen by some miracle my life was going to change. Nothing changed until I changed my job, changed my way of living, changed my partner and changed my way of like eating, the anti-inflammatory life, so yeah, nothing will change if nothing changes. I love that and that's very good advice. Well, thank you so much, you'd be absolutely incredible and I have no doubt that everyone will learn a lot from this episode, so thank you so much. Thank you. Aionus helps you get your business online without the tec headache. With Aionus, you just describe what you need and a real online menu goes live. For 23 years, Aionus has been redefining what it costs to get your business online, starting with a.com domain for a dollar or free with the right plan. Learn more at Aionus.com/podcast. With the Amix Gold Card, life can feel even more rewarding wherever it takes you. 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