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In this episode, Cheryl sits down with Brad Pitzele to unpack a long and complicated health journey that began with early autoimmune symptoms and escalated into psoriatic arthritis, debilitating fatigue, and eventually melanoma linked to immunosuppressive treatment. Frustrated by a system that offered only escalating medications and limited answers, Brad began an intense period of self-experimentation and research. His turning point came after a Lyme disease diagnosis, one that helped connect years of seemingly unrelated symptoms. This ultimately pushed him deeper into understanding the root causes of chronic illness, especially the role of mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation. From there, the conversation shifts into the tools that helped Brad reclaim his health, including exercise with oxygen therapy (EWOT) and red and near-infrared light therapy. He explains how both approaches work at a cellular level to improve oxygen delivery, support mitochondrial function, and reduce inflammation. Thseare are all mechanisms that have implications for conditions like chronic fatigue, autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis and even cardiovascular health. This episode is a deep dive into resilience, curiosity, and the power of continuing to search for answers when conventional paths fall short, offering both practical insight and hope for anyone navigating complex or unexplained health challenges. Connect with Brad at One Thousand Roads. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Takeaways Chronic symptoms do not always have clear answers and standard care often focuses on managing symptoms rather than addressing root causes Mitochondrial health plays a central role in energy, recovery, and overall resilience and when it is compromised nearly every system in the body is affected Inflammation and low oxygen levels go hand in hand, creating a cycle that can worsen chronic illness over time Exercise with oxygen therapy works by increasing oxygen delivery to tissues and may support energy production and reduce inflammation Red and near infrared light therapy may enhance mitochondrial function by increasing cellular demand for oxygen and boosting energy output Combining oxygen therapy with red light can create a complementary supply and demand effect at the cellular level Healing from complex or chronic conditions is rarely quick and consistent cumulative inputs over time matter more than short term fixes Self advocacy and curiosity are critical when navigating unexplained health issues or when conventional approaches fall short Small improvements over time can rebuild momentum and hope even before full recovery is achieved Simple inputs like oxygen, light, and movement can have powerful effects when applied consistently and strategically Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan and today I am joined by Brad Pitzley and we are going to talk about some of his health history. He has a really interesting background with some challenging diseases and scenarios that he went through. And you know, like many of the guests on the HealNursery podcast, he just has a health journey that he wants to share with people and kind of what ended up actually helping him. Because so often people go down these roads with different conditions and they just have a lot of trouble finding out number one what it is, number two if there’s anything that can help them feel better or how to treat it. And so I think Brad’s going to have a lot of really interesting things to share with us today. So Brad, if you could just maybe start by, I don’t know how far in the way back machine you want to go, but kind of just, you know, give us a little bit about your health journey. And as we go along, I’m sure I’ll have some kind of questions to fill in for everyone. Brad Pitzele (00:50) Yeah, I had weird health things going on since grade school. I was diagnosed with psoriasis, but then I had other weird things that just kind of came and went. We’d go to the doctor, they’d give it a label. It would last for a while. There was no treatment for said label and then it would kind of just disappear and then I’d move on with life and then a year or six months or whatever, something else might pop up. But it really kind of started to come to a head. Um, probably around 2010 or 11, I started to develop autoimmune arthritis, what was considered psoriatic arthritis, which is, it’s basically like rheumatoid arthritis, but it’s what you get with psoriasis. Um, and they started to test all sorts of different drugs on me. The first sets didn’t work. Then they put me on, um, some immune suppressive drugs. They gave me relief for like maybe six months and they’d start wearing off and they would double the dose and they’re. I was kind of worse off when it wore off and then it would kind of bring me up a little bit. And then was kind of like I was taking a stair step into, you know, into a worse and worse place. And I was on those drugs for probably about two years. And then I developed melanoma. And that’s one of the side effects of the drugs is it’s got a high risk of cancer and specifically melanoma. So that was kind of a, a jumping off point for me. I, during that period, I also started to develop weird other symptoms. Like I started to get stiffness in the back of my legs. had tremendous brain fog and energy issues. had pain in my feet and I would take this back to the rheumatologist and I’d be like, this is, is this part of the, this disease? assume. he was...

In this episode, Cheryl interviews Dr. Christo Frangopoulos about how certain lifestyle factors related to cancer. Most people overlook one of the most powerful tools in preventing cancer: movement. Dr. Christo Frangopoulos reveals surprising facts about how simple lifestyle shifts, like breaking up sedentary time, can drastically cut your risk of cancer and boost your body’s ability to fight it. If you’re tired of just hearing “eat healthy and exercise,” this episode uncovers actionable strategies backed by the latest science to enhance your health span. Discover why sitting is just as dangerous as smoking when it comes to cancer risk, and learn the practical tips to make movement a seamless part of your day. From how often to get up during work hours to the science of muscle-derived anti-cancer proteins called myokines, Dr. Christo shares insights that can change your approach to health. We break down the true impact of sedentary behavior, the science behind autophagy and muscle contraction, and the critical role sleep plays in cellular repair and cancer prevention.You’ll also uncover: the truth about alcohol’s relationship with cancer, the importance of inflammation markers like CRP, and why maintaining consistent sleep and circadian rhythms is crucial for lowering risk. This episode is perfect for anyone looking to take control, whether you’re battling family history or just want to live longer healthier lives.Dr. Christo Frangopoulos is an anesthesiologist, lifestyle medicine expert, and personal trainer known for integrating science-backed strategies to improve health outcomes across the U.S. His insights on cancer prevention through lifestyle modifications are revolutionary yet accessible, making this a must-listen for health-conscious individuals and medical professionals alike. Don’t miss this opportunity to turn simple daily habits into potent cancer-fighting tools. Your health journey starts with the right knowledge and this episode delivers it. Hit play now and learn how to reframe your lifestyle for longevity and resilience. Visit Dr. Frangopoulos at AltasMD360.com Takeaways How sedentary behavior independently increases cancer risk, even with regular exercise The importance of muscle contraction and myokines in fighting cancer Lifestyle changes that can lower the risk of developing common cancers, especially colorectal cancer in young adults The critical role of sleep in DNA repair and cancer prevention The impact of inflammation markers like CRP on cancer risk Rethinking alcohol consumption and its nuanced effects on health Practical habit formation techniques, including the ‘two days’ rule for sustainability Resources for health professionals and individuals via AtlasMD360.com Book: The Telomere Effect by Elizabeth Blackburn & Elissa Epel A scientific approach to aging and health Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Watch on YouTube: Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode transcript: Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNurshGrow and today I’m really excited to be joined by Dr. Christo Frangopoulos and he is kindly letting me shorten his name to Dr. Chris or Chris, but he will introduce himself here in a moment. And why I really wanted to have Dr. Frangopoulos on today is because he is a board certified anesthesiologist. He’s also a lifestyle medicine doctor and he’s a personal trainer. So, you know, those are all things if you’re a listener to this podcast that I am super excited about and that I love to chat about. take it from here and just introduce yourself and share with people what you’re all about and what you’re here to talk about today. Christo (00:35) Wonderful. Well, I just wanna say thank you so much for having me. This is an honor and I really hope we can reach at least a few people out there to make a difference with the information I’m going to be sharing with Cheryl. As Cheryl said, my name is Christof Rangaples. It’s much easier just to say Chris. I am an anesthesiologist for about a decade now. I have also got board certified in lifestyle medicine and a certified personal trainer and a lot of what I do is share information that’s evidence-based and science-backed that can optimize people’s lifestyle. As a physician, I travel the country, I’m certified in about 10 different states, and the problem of healthcare is it’s everywhere. And the state of our nation can really utilize a change in how we attack our health. And I think lifestyle medicine offers so many great tools and it’s super helpful. It’s not overly complicated and can make a huge difference. Cheryl McColgan (01:39) It’s so nice to have a doctor on that really appreciates that because I think so often, you we have more of a sick care system than health care system. And I’m sure that we’ll get into that a little bit more. But the fact that you are trained in lifestyle medicine, that you recognize the significance and the importance of it, I think is a huge step in the right direction for the medical field. So I’m so glad that you’re kind of promoting that and you have all that information on your website, all your good programs and continuing education. So I think that will be a huge benefit to the medical community. But one of the things that you’re Christo (01:49) Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Cheryl McColgan (02:09) particularly interested when your team reached out is around cancer. And some people that know me personally or know some of my work and some of my writing will know that I have a lot of cancer in my family. And it’s a big reason that I do a lot of the things that I do in my health and my life. So what what have you how did you become interested in cancer specifically? And then...

In this conversation, Kiara Loucks shares her profound experiences during a health crisis that taught her the significance of community and support. She reflects on a moment of vulnerability when she had to rely on her husband for help and the intimate experience they shared before her surgery. Kiara emphasizes the importance of allowing others to be there for us in times of need and how such situations can strengthen relationships and foster personal growth. Outdoor retreats: heroutdorjourney.com Kiara on Instagram @kiara.loucks Takeaways Other people need to be in our lives sometimes. Facing health crises can reveal the strength of our relationships. Intimacy can be found in shared vulnerable moments. It’s okay to lean on others during tough times. Support from loved ones can be a source of strength. Crisis situations can deepen our connections with others. Prayer and faith can provide comfort in uncertainty. Allowing help can be a sign of strength, not weakness. People often want to step up and help when we need it. Vulnerability can lead to personal growth and understanding. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. Watch on YouTube Show Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Carol Nourish Grow, and today I’m joined by Kiara Lux. Kiara and I met this year when I competed in the fit model competition in Kentucky and she had the same coach that I did and ended up doing the same show. And I just immediately loved this woman. So what I learned. about her journey and her health stuff I had to have her on. anyway, Kiara, welcome. If you could ⁓ just tell everyone a little bit about who you are and then we’ll get into some of your health journey. Because I think it’s really interesting and I think there’s a lot of things there that will help a lot of people. Kiara Loucks (00:35) Absolutely. First off, thank you so much for having me. I’m so honored to be here. My take on our meeting is very similar. I just fell in love with you from the second you texted me asking if I wanted sourdough. We had never met. You brought me sourdough. I was like, I don’t know her, but I love her. So yeah, I’ve had quite a wild journey. Health and fitness have been at the center of my journey. Cheryl McColgan (00:43) you Kiara Loucks (00:57) Really since I was young, I’ve been an athlete my whole life in different sports that have taken me all over the world and brought wonderful people like yourself into my life. Outside of professional athletics, I work in tech on my, like my nine to five, I work on Wall Street in paid media. And then I actually am now running an organization on the other side of that. with all of the spare time called her outdoor journey, which is really focused on bridging the gap for women and families in the back country. So whether it’s survival, holistic wellness, it’s really this concept of community and education to get women and families outside, which is now actually evolving into co-ed opportunities. So in a very, very high level nutshell, that is me. My fitness journey was, I’m sure we’ll dive into it, but. I don’t think you knew this, but I’m actually over 100 pounds down from my heaviest, so that was 11 years ago. Just, think, like most people, kind of gave up and had always wanted to compete, but it was a pipe dream that never had any real legs to it until it did. So really excited to dive in with you, and I’m just excited to be able to chat with you. You’re one of my favorite people. Cheryl McColgan (02:04) I know it’s been I wanted to catch up for so long. And we just like you’ve been traveling so much and doing really exciting work with the project that you mentioned, and we’ll get into that. But before we go into all that, and we go into the weight loss thing, because that is definitely a subject that people are on this podcast are interested in. But I have to have you tell people, you to kind of just glossed over that whole professional athlete thing, tell people what you what your sport is, because I think it’s so wild. Kiara Loucks (02:07) I know. Yeah, so I’m kind of in this purgatory season right now, so not actually professionally competing in anything, but I’ve been a professional rower. I’ve been a professional bobsledder for the US and Canada. I’ve been a bodybuilder, Olympic weightlifter. We’ve been all over the map. Yeah, and I’m kind of getting back into the endurance side of things right now. I’m not done with bodybuilding or Cheryl McColgan (02:43) That’s the one. Kiara Loucks (02:54) Bodybuilding isn’t done with me yet, but we’re on a little hiatus. As you know, it kind of takes over your whole life. And I’ve lived a season for the last decade where sports is my whole life. So I’m kind of just turning my brain on for a little bit and creating and doing other things. Cheryl McColgan (03:08) Yeah, and I think that’s, it’s an interesting mindset being an athlete for most of your whole life. So you said though, at some point you kind of gave up, can you share a little bit more about that? Was there an injury? Was there something that happened in your life where things just shifted for you? And how did that go? And then how did you get back to where you are now? Kiara Loucks (03:19) Thank you. Yeah, great question. You seem like the type that’s okay to go kind of deep and heavy off the rip because that’s just life. So I had actually signed a scholarship agreement with UC Santa Barbara to play softball ⁓ once I graduated high school. And my senior year in high school, I both broke my back quite literally to vertebrae on my back in a terrible sledding accident. And then I also endured a sexual assault. So I was raped my senior year in high school. And those two, I think combined, just put me in a place I didn’t know how to cope. And so I learned growing up that food is comfort. And when we hurt, we self-soothe. And I didn’t have the tools in my toolkit to do that in a healthy way. So I started partying a lot, started eating a lot. And honestly, by the grace of God, I walked onto campus to try to rush for a sorority. I missed. I missed rush, but I had walked by the rowing recruiter tent. And some young gal shouted at me. She was like, Hey, you have really big legs. Would you want to row? And I was like, simultaneously so offended and so flattered. I was like, let’s try it. And that opened this new avenue we’ve been on for the last decade. But prior to that, I just like, like I said, I had given up and food was really my reprieve. from life. Cheryl McColgan (04:47) And I think a lot of people will be able to relate to that. And I’m so sorry that you had to go through that experience. Although often some of the great tragedies in our life really end up shaping who we are. And I think that that is definitely one of the reasons that’s contributed to you, you know, being so successful and being able to overcome all that. So, but anyway, definitely a heavy subject and thank you for being willing to share that with people. So after all that happened, you wrote in college and then let’s fast forward to like just Kiara Loucks (04:59) Delicious. Agreed. Mm-hmm. Cheryl McColgan (05:16) before we met because you had some pretty crazy health things and things happening in your life right before you decided to compete. So I’d love it if you’d kind of share that journey. Kiara Loucks (05:27) Yeah, so like I alluded to bodybuilding was a dream of mine for the last 12 years like I saw someone do it and thought it was the coolest thing and Never thought it was a realistic opportunity for me and then fast-forward lots of things changed and Decided actually a year ago that I was gonna get into bodybuilding and got into it locally it went swimmingly like I just Found a lot of success very quickly But in an extremely unhealthy way working with a coach which bodybuilding is wrought with coaches who went pro and then think that they have the license to dictate someone else’s health. So went down that rabbit hole came out of we did four shows back to back to back to back. We blitzed last fall

In this episode, Cheryl McColgan shares actionable insights on establishing sustainable habits, building strong foundational practices for health and wellness, and overcoming common challenges like overwhelm and inconsistency. Whether you’re starting out or looking to refine your routine, this conversation offers clear steps backed by research and personal experience. Takeaways The importance of small, consistent habits over quick resolutions How to implement a 30-day healthy habits challenge Transitioning from habit trials to long-term integration (90-day focus) Introducing the Foundation Series: organizing habits into manageable categories The role of protein, balanced nutrition, and strength training in health Simplified strength training: two full-body workouts per week Overcoming gym intimidation and creating an accessible strength routine The value of coaching for accountability and skill-building Moving toward mastery and self-sufficiency in health management Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow. And today I wanted to chat with you about a new program that I just started. And it’s actually a whole little system called the Foundations series. So a lot of this came about because over the years, as you know, if you’ve watched some of my content before, I’m very focused on habits. My background is in psychology and I’ve been basically interested in health and wellness my entire adult life and have had many different kind of jobs and coaching in this kind of area. And so it’s something that I’ve worked on for myself for a long time. It’s something I’ve worked with other people on for a long time. And it is the content that you see every day on Heal Nourish Grow all has something to do with these sorts of things. So when I thought about it more like how can I put this all these learnings and all the information that I have learned for myself over the last years and practice for so long, how can I put it into a foundational system that will actually help other people without being overwhelming, being organized and get you to a place where you actually do these things. Cause I feel like a lot of people will say to me sometimes, well, I know what to do. I just don’t actually do it. And so part of that, I think is the overwhelm of it. Part of it’s just that life is so busy, you know, so many factors, but this really breaks it down into little buckets that you can focus on for a small period of time. And just again, As I always talk about with habits, just starting really slow and building on them. And so that’s why I called it the foundation series, because it literally is the whole foundation, find foundational practices, foundational ideas that will really help you just build your life to meet your goals from there. So these very small things that you start with and creating this very strong foundation will really allow you then to create whatever it is that you want for your life, for your health, all of that. So I feel like most people, again, they just don’t fail because they’re not trying or they don’t want to. It’s just they’re not really clear yet about their own priorities. Like they think that they know what’s important, but you know, quite often the choices that we make every day don’t match what we think are our priorities. So really identifying them and making them clear in your mind is a really big part of that. So the first thing I started with, with the health of the situation because once you get your health in order, once you are able to sleep well, eat well, feel good in your body every single day, that also just helps everything with your mental health as well. focusing on these foundational principles that relate to your health that are small things you can do every day, I think really make it a lot less overwhelming than it might be otherwise. And so these are all just daily consistency. low friction routines, creating things that are easy to repeat every single day. Cheryl McColgan (02:45) The very first part of the program is something that’s really in alignment with this time of year, which it happens to be January, 2026 when I’m recording this. And that is working on healthy habits as kind of a challenge for the new year, because people often make New Year’s resolutions. And usually by about this time, by about the end of January, a lot of those have already gone by the wayside, because quite often people just take on too much at once, rather than doing small things over time and consistently building. really think that’s a much more sustainable way to approach habit change and to incorporating new healthy habits into your life. So the first thing is the free healthy habits challenge. It doesn’t have to be the beginning of the new year. Whenever you find this video, you can always start the healthy habits challenge. You just put in your email and then it’ll start a series of things that you do every single day. It will send you some worksheets. There are links to research that backs up these small practices like why they’re good for you and what kinds of things it helps. And so you just try a new simple habit every day for 30 days. None of them take any more than 15 minutes. And you can always dive deeper into any of the subjects if you want. Like I said, there’s research links you can read, there’s journal prompts, but the minimum is just doing the habit that day, trying it out and then noticing if that’s something that you think would work well for you in your life that could really help you feel better, look better, perform better, all of those things. And then ideally after the 30 days is finished, you identify some of those things that you tried that you really want to incorporate going forward for the next...

In this final session of the 30-day healthy habit challenge, Cheryl McColgan encourages participants to reflect on their journey and choose three habits to continue for the next 90 days. She emphasizes the importance of building consistency through small, manageable changes and aligning these habits with long-term goals. Cheryl also discusses the significance of flexibility in habit formation and encourages participants to map out their habits for greater success. Takeaways Choose three habits to continue for the next 90 days. Set specific, achievable minimums for each habit. Focus on sustainability rather than perfection. Building habits starts with small, consistent actions. Align your habits with your long-term goals. Flexibility is important in maintaining habits. Mapping out habits can enhance success. Reflect on your journey and celebrate wins. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of FeelNourishGrow and welcome to day 30 of the 30 day healthy habit challenge. You made it to the end and I’m so excited to be here with you for this last day and to hopefully hear all about some of your challenges, some of your wins. I would love it if you would respond to the email after the challenge is finished and just let me know how it went for you. I am always rooting for you. But anyway, for the final day, it’s another kind of reflection thing. but it’s more future focused. I want you to choose three habits to continue for the next 90 days. So if you discovered there was a particular habit during this challenge, you did a lot of the reflection and reset throughout the challenge, and there were probably ones that you noticed that worked really well for you or that you thought, okay, this is a good habit. I can see this really helping me in my everyday life. Go back to those and commit to doing it every day for the next 90 days. So ideally, I’d love for you to keep moving for 10 minutes every single day. Maybe it turns into 15, maybe it turns into 20, maybe it turns into going to the gym. These are the way that habits build. We keep doing these small little wins over time, and that’s how you create really big change. So choose those three habits for the next 90 days and set tiny minimums for each one. So you want it to be really specific with yourself what it is that you’re intending to do for those three habits. So again, if I mentioned movement is the one that you want to continue, you could keep it at 10 minutes. Or you can say for the next 90 days, I’m going to do for the first 30 days, I’m going to do 10 minutes a day. For the second 30 days, I’m going to do 15 minutes a day. And for the third 30 days, I’m going to do 20 minutes a day, whatever it is for you. But making it specific, making it something that you meant to and making it something that’s still relatively small so that you’re going to maintain it. Because at the end of this next 90 days, I want you to set you up for another really big win where you prove to yourself that you can trust yourself. and that you can make changes and you can create new habits that actually stick. So again, create the minimum, but let’s do three. Over the next 30 days, hopefully some of these habits have turned into a lifestyle. The focus involved with doing little challenges like this just builds like confidence in yourself and it beats perfection. We’re not looking, we can’t all be perfect all the time. We’ve got to just go for sustainability. And that is really how I’ve been able to like. create these habits for myself that people always talk about me being so disciplined, that kind of thing. It really all started like this, just small little things. Whenever I get onto a new thing that I want to try, I’ve taught myself that if I go big in the beginning, I might be able to stick with it for a little while, but quite often I crash and burn or I just get burned out on whatever it is. But if I start adding it in a little bit of a time, that really creates more of a habit. A great example of this for me, I’ve had many of exercise things over the years. think I mentioned previously in this challenge, I was a runner for 17 years. Obviously, I just didn’t go out the door one day and run a marathon. It took small changes over time and building consistency. The same thing now where I’ve really been on my streak with strength training is that when I initially started, I told myself, okay, I’m only going to go three days a week, half an hour max. I’m just going to get in the gym, mess around with the machines. That’s going to be a good enough start. Created that consistency mark for myself. and that kept building and building over time to where now it’s almost like I can’t, in a way, don’t, I mean, I know it’s not that I don’t want to, sometimes your body needs a break and I build in rest days and all that, but I actually feel guilty now if I think about one day where I’m not feeling like going to the gym, it’s like, it’s a habit now, I have to do it. That’s basically how it’s turned out. these. Consistency things over time is really where you create this thing where you almost feel like it’s just automatic and it doesn’t feel like you need to back out of it or should back out of it. It just becomes purely a habit. So that’s just one example, but it could also be food or sleep. You know, the same thing when I started keto, I didn’t just one day decide to start eating no carbs. I cut it back over time. I didn’t necessarily go cold turkey. ...

In today’s episode, Cheryl guides you through one of the most important parts of building lasting habits: reflection. As the challenge nears the end, this is a chance to look back on the entire experience and notice what actually shifted for you. Cheryl explains how reflection helps reinforce progress, identify what worked, and spot what did not work without judgment. Today’s habit is simple and quick, but powerful. You are going to write a few notes about what changed, what you learned, and what you want to carry forward. The goal is not perfection. It is awareness, progress, and building a sustainable approach to healthy habits that fits into real life. Takeaways Reflection reinforces progress and helps you recognize what is working Noticing change helps your brain see the challenge mattered and created results Small changes and small increments are the most sustainable way to build habits Looking back helps you identify which habits you enjoyed and which felt harder The tracker can help you spot patterns in consistency without judgment Awareness is the first step to improving what comes next Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 29 of the 30 Days of Healthy Habits Challenge. So we’re getting here towards the end and it is time to reflect again. So this will be similar to some of the reflect and resets that we did throughout the challenge on each seventh day. But today we want to reflect on what has changed this whole. So what is it that you’ve learned from this challenge? What things changed for you? Did you enjoy moving every day? Did you discover a form of movement that brings you some joy while you’re doing it? I want you to write three quick notes about what changed today. So just the minimum, two or three things. Reflection helps you reinforce the progress that you’ve made and helps you notice what is actually working and also maybe what is not working. So as you’re reflecting, can write down really any thoughts that you have around this, but at least three bullet points is what I’d like for you to come up with that changed. And we also see that there’s some evidence that your brain can see there was a change, that this wasn’t all for nothing, that it wasn’t just another exercise in futility, but things actually did change or shift. And so even if you weren’t perfect every single day, even if you missed some of the days, this was never meant to be about. Perfect, right? Like when I said from the outset, I don’t want this to be something like a challenge that’s like 75 hardware, you miss something, you have to start all over, it’s really punitive. And I think there are obviously some advantages to those kinds of challenges as well, but this is just something to ease you in to making changes and to learn how the best way to make sustainable habits is to make small changes, small increments. note your progress, really create it in a way that works, that can fit into a busy schedule, but that you’re still actually making changes and making progress along the way. Notice, maybe look at your tracker, if you need help thinking about things that worked or didn’t work, notice how consistent you were or lack of consistency if that’s the case. Again, we’re not judging here, we’re just noticing and hopefully thinking about some things that would carry well into your future. As always, the links for the research are in your tracker and in today’s email. And if you haven’t signed up, if you’re just finding this and you’re like, what is this whole challenge all about? Just go to heelnourishgrow.com slash habits, and you can join anytime. So that is it for today 29. And I will be back with you one last time tomorrow for the habits and the final day. So get ready.

In today’s episode, Cheryl returns to one of the most impactful habits for long-term wellbeing: connection. In a world where so much communication happens through texts and social media, it is easy to feel socially connected without actually getting the benefits of real support and real interaction. Cheryl explains why true connection is closely tied to both mental and physical health, and why it is worth repeating this habit later in the challenge. Today’s focus is about moving beyond good intentions and turning connection into an actual plan by putting something social or supportive on the calendar. Takeaways Real connection supports mental health, physical health, and overall wellbeing Texting and social media can make you feel connected without providing real support Scheduling time with people turns a good intention into a real plan Community and support groups can be just as valuable as time with close friends Making a specific time and date matters more than saying “sometime” Social plans can be simple and still create meaningful connection The sooner you schedule it, the more likely it is to actually happen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BnlCHBdhGc[k/embedyt] Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey, everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 28 of the 30 Days Healthy Habits Challenge. Today, we’re going back to connection. We did this earlier in the challenge, but I think it’s important to hit on it again because in this day and age where everything has become text and social media and learning things about your friends and people in that way sometimes, reaching out and making true connections is becoming more more valuable. And it is so related to good health, good mental health, good physical health. Thank you. Bro. community a strong support group. people finding new people to connect with. And so today’s habit is make it happen. So it’s going to be a social or supportive thing on the calendar. I would say that this could be, you know, an event, a social meeting with a person that you already know, or if we’re calling it a supportive thing, it could be more like seeking out a book club or a support group or a way to meet new people. So either one that you choose and one may be easier the other depending on if you’re introverted or extroverted, but you’re going to do one thing. like that. So it’ll be to schedule this social time, you’re gonna get real support in real time, hopefully boost some happiness, get a few laughs. And putting it on the calendar turns this intention into an actual plan. The planning part is key because we all have intentions, right? How many times does somebody say to you, we should get together, but they don’t actually make a date or make a plan for doing to you. and mental health and physical health. So one of the things that you can choose to do if you want to be mental health and physical health is to do something like make a walking date. Just take a walk with a friend, go for a walk in nature, go for a walk on the treadmill next to each other, but somewhere that you can talk and interact and actually have real connection. You can go for a coffee. It could even be a phone call if you can’t get together in person, but set aside time that you’re actually going to do it. And both people have availability. Yeah. So time and date. leave it as, some time is not okay. It’s gotta be a plan, it’s gotta be on the calendar, it’s gotta be like, map. If it’s something that you can’t accomplish this week, I just want you to get on the calendar. It can be something in the future, but I really want you to intend to treat it as part of the calendar, actually do it. But if you can’t, this first day or tomorrow, actually have that interaction, have that schedule time with somebody, the sooner the better. There’s no time like the present, right? As always, the reason links will be in your tracker and in today’s email. And if you’re finding this in the future on YouTube or on the podcast, you can sign up at any time. doesn’t matter when you find this. It’s heelnourishgrow.com slash habits. And that is it for today. As always, I will see you again tomorrow. We’re getting closer towards the end.

In today’s episode, Cheryl shares a simple but powerful habit that can completely change how you handle stress, conflict, and emotional triggers. The focus is on building a short pause between what happens and how you respond, even if it is something small like a frustrating comment, an anxiety spike, or an email that instantly sets you off. Cheryl explains how taking just 10 seconds can reduce rumination, support more consistent decision-making, and help you respond in a way that aligns with the person you want to be, not just your first impulse. She also offers an easy cue phrase you can use in the moment, plus a beginner-friendly option if 10 seconds feels too hard. Takeaways A short pause helps create space between the stimulus and your response Reacting immediately often leads to choices you would not make once you calm down This practice can reduce rumination, meaning you replay the moment over and over later Pausing works in social situations and in private moments when you feel triggered internally Deep breathing during the pause helps settle your body before you respond If 10 seconds feels too long, start with 5 seconds and build from there Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nurse Grow and welcome to day 20. I call it a practice because this one is tough sometimes. It’s something that I have been practicing for a long time in my own life. And that is to today, your habit is to pause before reacting for 10 seconds. So a great example of this is usually better word triggers you or makes you anxious or makes you frustrated. And you may want to just react in that moment. And quite often what you’ll find is if you just take a pause, a couple deep breaths are useful here as well, but take a pause, give yourself a moment to think, give yourself a moment to feel where that comment or conflict or whatever it was, where it landed in your body, where you’re feeling it and just take a deep breath and then respond. And so why this is good. And it’s going to reduce rumination, which is that idea that you just keep playing something over and over in your head. All of this is going to support consistency and create a space between the stimulus and the response. And this usually leads to better choices or better interactions. Another thing, you know, I’m talking about reacting with someone else, but it could also be that you’re alone. It’s a personal thing that you’re just reacting to in the moment. So that’s a time to again, take some time, take a deep breath and just let it settle and figure out what you’re really thinking about it rather than just your initial knee jerk response. Because it could come in the form of an email or something that just happens to you and you’re just anxious and caught up in the moment. Just give yourself a beat....

In today’s episode, Cheryl revisits one of the most important stress-related topics in the challenge: money. Since financial strain is a major source of anxiety for many people, today’s habit focuses on taking one small action that supports your future financial wellbeing. Cheryl explains why progress on financial goals is linked to better overall health and stability, and she shares simple, realistic examples you can complete in 10 minutes or less. The goal is not to build a full budget or overhaul your finances. It is to make a quick “future you” move that reduces stress, creates more control, and supports your ability to stay consistent with other healthy habits. Takeaways Money is a common source of stress, and reducing financial strain can improve overall wellbeing Small progress toward financial goals can help you feel calmer, more stable, and more in control The habit is about long-term support, not daily spending perfection Financial stability can make other healthy habits easier to maintain because stress is lower Automation is one of the easiest ways to reduce mental load and improve consistency Even small savings can matter, especially over time with compounding interest If money habits feel overwhelming, the best approach is a tiny step and then pause Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow, and welcome to day 26 of the 30 Days Healthy Habits Challenge. Today we’re back to money. We did this one habit earlier in the challenge and we’re coming back to it again because as we learned from the previous one, if you read any of the research or just listened to the podcast from before, that money is ⁓ quite a source of stress for a lot of people and this is no surprise, right? But it does show in the literature that making progress, making financial goals and taking some of your financial stress away actually creates greater wellbeing. It just helps you feel more settled, less anxious, less stressed. So addressing money things now and again is a good idea. Cheryl McColgan (00:45) obviously I think we should be considering what we’re consuming, what we’re spending money on, that sort of thing every single day. But when you’re doing these future plans or kind of more extended timeframe things for savings, that’s maybe not something that you’re thinking every single day. So I didn’t mean to say that, obviously you shouldn’t be focusing on spending on a daily basis, but these kind of larger goals might be something that’s more a once a week, once a month sort of thing. So back to today’s habit is to make one future you money move today. And so this is going to be something that lowers financial strain and just gives you stronger financial capability in the future. And that’s all associated with better health and wellbeing. It reduces stress, as I said before, creates stability and having stability and having control of your finances supports other healthy habits as well. It gives you the finances and the ability to invest. in other areas of your health if you need to. And it also having less stress in your life makes all the behaviors easier to repeat when you don’t have stress cropping up. So to give you some examples to make this easier, do something like set up an auto-save program at your bank or on an app. So taking $10, $20, $1,000, whatever works in your particular financial situation to automatically save each month. Automated bill. have a bill or two or all of them that are scheduled to pay every single month so that it takes the stress off of you remembering to send a check or to submit your payment online. Maybe increase your retirement contribution by 1%. This is an area that I’m really interested in because I have always been involved in some degree and both my partners have been in finance and I actually ended up doing a speech about it in college. But the compounding Interest is such a huge thing the earlier you start saving even if it’s a small amount and then I say earlier I’m like the younger that you start saying your that money just has more time to double and double and double again over time With the you know compounding interest and if you start saving much later in life It doesn’t have as much time to grow now That’s not to say you still can’t start because like every all of this you can start any time But the younger that you start saving the better it’ll just set you up much more in the future for having some again, gains without having to do anything else. The once in the money is in there and it’s growing with interest, it just keeps building on itself. If the automation seems too much, maybe it’s something like setting yourself a calendar reminder or writing a small financial plan, maybe for the next week or the next month. So we’re doing it in 10 minutes or less. We’re not making a spreadsheet here or creating an empire of things. Of course, if you want to do that at some point, I think that’s awesome. But this is just meant to be, again, a small, doable habit that doesn’t turn you off from it. So setting up an automation, something quick like that, or setting aside more money to save is a good choice here. So if it’s triggering too much stress, just do a small step, something in relation to it, and then stop. And you can always come back to this at a later date or give it some further thought when it comes for the weekly reset and reflect. As always, the studies are linked. in the email that you received and in your tracker. And if you haven’t joined yet, that link to join is...

In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan emphasizes the importance of strength training for overall health, particularly as we age. She discusses how even short sessions can be effective and encourages listeners to incorporate strength and stability exercises into their routines. Cheryl highlights the benefits of consistency and the need to challenge oneself with appropriate weights to stimulate muscle growth. She also addresses common misconceptions about strength training and reassures listeners that it’s never too late to start. Takeaways Strength training is crucial for functional health and aging. Short sessions of strength training can be effective. Two days a week of strength training can yield significant results. Lifting heavy means finding the right weight for you. Body weight exercises can be a great starting point for beginners. Balance and stability exercises are important for overall fitness. Osteoporosis and muscle loss can be reversed with strength training. It’s never too late to start strength training, regardless of age. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:01.902) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to a day 25 of your 30 day healthy habits challenge. This is one I’ve been waiting for to send to the very end here the last few days and that is to challenge you to do a short strength or stability session. So this is not going to require any equipment. It’s not going to require going to the gym or anything like that. But I just want you to try it if this is something that you don’t do on a regular basis. because strength training has just so related to so many aspects of health. There’s more and more stuff coming about all the time. It is maybe more important than strict cardio for a lot of reasons, but it supports again, functional health, just moving around on a day-to-day basis. And it’s a lot of longer term, less health risks when you strength train. So strength and stability, it all supports healthy aging, it supports confidence and just again, your function in daily life. I always say, you I’m training to be able to get off the toilet by myself when I get older because these are the kind of things that people lose the ability to do because they lose the strength in their legs. And that is just crazy scary. Also short short sessions are easier to maintain and it builds this consistency, which is an awesome thing for habit building. I’ve actually been following along with this other podcast recently called mind pump. I’m pretty sure that’s right. Like 99.9 % sure. But anyway, these guys have been training people for years and years and years and just a great collective wealth of knowledge. And they have programs that are just 15 minutes a day. Now people do them six days a week for strength training, but that 15 minutes a day, it supports the habit, keeps the habit going. And it’s enough time if you do for 15 minutes, you probably do two to three sets of some strength training exercise, kind of a full body. idea and they’re doing all the big lifts like deadlifts, squats, lunges, that sorts of thing. I don’t have their program unfortunately, but that’s the idea behind it is supporting this daily habit, doing it an amount of time that doesn’t scare people off and that people can fit into their schedule. And that’s all it takes to build strength. You can build strength with that little of strength training a day. And actually if you didn’t want to do it 15 minutes a day, like if you would have to go to a gym to do this and that seems like, oh, that’s a lot of Cheryl McColgan (02:26.766) driving time to go to the gym for just 15 minutes of work, even just two days a week of a longer strength training session that hits all parts of your body is enough to get 80 % of the 80 to 90 % of the strength that you’re going to get anyway. It comes from just two days a week. You’re hitting your muscles two days a week. You’re waking up the muscles two days a week. You’re stimulating the muscles to grow by lifting heavy enough that it puts a signal in your body to grow. If you’re just doing something little and repetitive, that’s not a signal for the body to grow. That’s why you got to lift heavy for you. People get scared when they hear lift heavy because they think it means, you know, for example, that I would go pick up a 200 pound, you know, barbell off the floor. No, that is not. That’s too heavy for me. Right. I’ve got to do what’s heavy for me. And that means something that I can pick up and do maybe six, eight, 10, 12 reps. That’s the kind of range that’s really good for strength building and growing muscle. And so you want to just do something that’s heavy enough for you doing these little two pound weights. If you’re, you know, even the average woman that might that even if it’s heavy for her, like for a week or two, that’s very quickly going to be too little of weight to cause any real change. So sorry for the little that was a bit tangential, but I just to get the idea of you definitely want to do it. If you’re going to go ahead and do it, like at least give yourself enough. of a challenge that it makes some difference. Now, all that being said, I said you don’t need any equipment for this one and you don’t because especially if this is completely new to you doing body weight exercises and things at home are going to be plenty of new stimulus for you to try. If you already lift, you already have access to a gym, then I would just maybe challenge you to try a couple...

For Day 24 of the 30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge, Cheryl shares a habit that makes healthy living feel way easier: planning ahead. Today’s goal is simple, plan tomorrow’s movement and one healthy meal. This helps reduce friction, decision fatigue and makes following through with healthy choices easier. This habit is all about keeping it realistic. Your healthy meal doesn’t need to be fancy or time-consuming, it just needs a plan. If tomorrow feels too tight, you can plan for a healthy meal sometime in the next three days instead. Takeaways Planning reduces friction and helps you follow through without relying on motivation. Deciding ahead of time reduces decision fatigue, especially at the end of a busy day. Meal planning supports variety, helping you include more ingredients and avoid repeating the same meals. Aim for at least 30g of protein in your planned meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner your choice). Try adding one produce item you don’t normally buy to increase variety and support gut health. Planning your movement mean choosing what you’ll do and when you’ll do it so it actually happens. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.014) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 24 of the 30 days healthy habits challenge. So today is one that I am particularly fond of and I think it’s fun. Some people will not think this is a fun habit to have, but that is to plan tomorrow’s movement and one healthy meal. ideally we’re going to plan one healthy meal for tomorrow, but I will say that if you have a particularly challenging work schedule or this is something that you don’t do on a regular basis, you can really plan for that healthy meal just sometime in the next three days. But the idea is to plan ahead to figure out what it is, how you’re gonna make it, what ingredients you need for it, if you need to find a recipe, all that kind of good stuff. And everybody’s definition of a healthy meal will vary slightly, obviously, depending on your goals and depending on. you know, what that looks like for you. There’s, you know, there’s all kinds of different dietary practices that anybody might be following. So I’m not prescribing a specific one. Of course, you know, I’m going to say that I would challenge you to, for whatever it is to have at least 30 grams of protein in it. And this one healthy meal you can plan, can do it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever that means for you. It’s going to be, you know, if you’re not used to cooking, I don’t want you to plan like a big elaborate thing, unless that sounds fun to you, then yes, you could do something like that. But it would mean just a nourishing healthy meal. It doesn’t have to be necessarily anything fancy or anything that requires a lot of cooking. It just has to have a plan. So planning reduces friction, reduces decision fatigue later. It might be decision in the moment that you have to make, but once that is done and once you’ve already planned for it and gotten the ingredients, you already know what you’re having for dinner tomorrow. So that should make everything really easy through. throughout that next day, not having to worry about that one part of your day, that’s already decided. And then it also, in the literature, the research for today, it says that it supports food variety, which is really also great for your diet, great for your gut microbiome. People that plan meals tend to include more different ingredients rather than if you just, if you don’t do much planning, you just might grab whatever’s available, grab what you typically tend to buy anyway. And so it gets… Cheryl McColgan (02:18.71) you know, can get pretty repetitive. So this planning ahead to try a new recipe or to make something slightly different can also just introduce variety into your meals as well. And then as far as picking your movement, that can be whatever you’ve stuck with for the whole challenge for your 10 minutes, but you’re going to plan like when in the day you’re going to do it, what time, what’s going to work for you tomorrow. So this, this idea of this habit is just the idea of planning ahead just helps make everything run more smoothly. And it can be, again, the minimum. It doesn’t have to be a ton of cooking. Just make it a healthy nourishing meal, whatever that means to you. I will challenge you, like I said, get your 30 grams of protein in that meal and maybe a piece of produce that you don’t typically pick out. Maybe try something different. Maybe just go to the grocery store and be like, this looks interesting. I’ll try making this and then look up a recipe that goes along with that ingredient that you happen to find in the produce aisle. So hopefully that gives you some ideas about how to approach this one. Again, optional journal prompt for you. The links to the research are in your tracker and in the email that you received for the day. And that is it. I will see you again tomorrow.

In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of creating a stress release ritual as part of the healthy habits challenge. She emphasizes the benefits of consistent practice in managing stress, including physiological and mental health improvements. Cheryl shares various breathing techniques and practical applications for stress relief, encouraging listeners to find what works best for them and to incorporate these practices into their daily routines. Takeaways Create a stress release ritual to manage stress. Consistency in practice helps build resistance to stress. Breathing techniques can significantly reduce stress levels. Box breathing and movement can aid in stress relief. Anxiety during breathing practices may indicate shallow breathing habits. Research supports the benefits of meditation and breathing exercises. Incorporate stress release practices into daily life for better mental health. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.494) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McCogan, founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to a day 23 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. Today’s challenge is to create a stress release ritual. This is either going to be movement or breath. And this is just going to be something simple. It’s something easy and that you can repeat and that’s about 60 seconds of breath if you’re choosing breath or two minutes of movement. And we’ve had some… of this in the challenge already, you’ve tried different types of movement, you challenge yourself to move in a different way on some of the days. And so maybe if there was something that you tried and you notice like, hey, that’s really good for me. And it does relieve stress. Maybe it’s that maybe it’s if you try to need a mobility exercises we talked about or stretching or something like that to release stress or if it’s 60 seconds of a breath practice, one of the previous days we mentioned the three just three deep breaths, something that simple 60 seconds is going to take longer. So it might be like five deep breaths, 10 deep breaths, but you’re just doing something that’s more extended amount of time. was like a quick stress release in the moment. This is something that is more focused on bringing your heart rate down, just, you know, bringing your stress in your body, your heart, your blood pressure, that kind of things like reducing all of those are really getting the parasympathetic system nervous system to come into play on this so that it relieves your body and your mind of stress. So we’re just doing the minimum, the minimum, the minimum today. We’re just doing the minimum today on this. And this short stress ritual is good for a couple of reasons. It can reduce physiological stress, so your body stress and build resistance over time. And then can also reduce mental stress. So if you do this consistently as a reset, it’ll help you to respond rather than react in the moment. It’s going to make, you know, that makes for better discipline, better decision making. If you’re not just flying off the handle at a moment’s notice, it also helps with your interactions with people. If you happen to notice when you get stressed that you snap people little more often or respond in a way that is not professional or calm. Having this little ritual will give you a way to kind of downshift. And the more that you train yourself on this, you know, you might notice anytime that you take some deep breaths, it helps. But when you train this every single day as a habit, Cheryl McColgan (02:17.43) It is a response that trains your brain to automatically go into that more relaxed state just by the act of you starting to do it. So it’ll become more effective and act more quickly every single time. So here’s some examples. If you’re having trouble thinking of one to do, we can go back to that three breath rate set, but you might do it for longer. Just set your timer for one minute and inhale, exhale, slightly longer exhale to really bring in that parasympathetic nervous system response. You could try box breathing. You could do a quick walk. You could do wall pushups or you could do the stretching routine. Those are all good ones. And if you have something else outside of that that you think of to do, I would love to hear about it in the comments so that we can share that with others. And then, you know, one of the times you want to try it is any time during the day where you’re feeling a trigger or something that’s making you nervous or anxious, angry or anxious. And so maybe it’s like you got an email from your boss and it’s automatically creating stress in your body. That’s a great time to do this stress release routine. Or if you are getting ready to sit down for a meal and you’ve been running around all day before you try to start eating, maybe calm your body. It’s just gonna promote better digestion and better, you know, mindfulness of your chewing and experiencing your food. So again, it’s just to be repeatable. It doesn’t need to be really complex or… long or drawn out, like I said, just 60 minutes for breath practice, two minutes for a movement practice. Some people might notice, and I did notice this when I was teaching yoga a lot, is that for some people, a breathing practice can kind of create anxiety. And usually if that’s the case, it might be that you have, your body is kind of trained to take very shallow breaths and not expand the diaphragm. So really thinking about when you’re breathing to let your… abdomen and belly expand as you’re breathing. So if you were to lay on the ground and put your hand on your stomach, you want your belly to be expanding up as you’re breathing. So that’s really feeling all of your lungs, not just the top of your lungs, but your lungs are going like all the way down...

In this episode, Cheryl McColgan discusses the concept of habit stacking, a technique that involves attaching a new habit to an existing one to make it easier to adopt. She shares her personal struggles with maintaining new habits and provides practical examples of how to effectively implement habit stacking in daily routines. The conversation emphasizes the importance of cues and motivation in forming lasting habits, as well as the value of research in validating health information. Takeaways Habit stacking is a technique to make new habits easier to adopt. Attaching a small habit to a daily routine can enhance consistency. The perceived importance of a habit affects motivation to maintain it. Using strong cues can help in forming new habits. Daily routines can serve as effective cues for new habits. Habit stacking can reduce decision fatigue. Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.174) I’m Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow and welcome to day 22 of the 30 days healthy habits challenge. Today is something that we’ve talked about a little bit throughout the challenge, but I haven’t really dedicated an episode to it yet and I haven’t challenged you to actually do it as part of the habit challenge and that is to habit stack. So habit stacking is really simple. It can sometimes be hard to find ones that put together that make sense. But when you can find those ones that go together that make sense, it just really makes this such an easier thing. So today’s challenge is to attach a small habit to something you already do every single day. So I think I just even mentioned this in the last recording for day 21 in the reflection thing is about if you missed habits, know, habit stacking is a great way to do those. Because if you’re finding them challenging to fit in your day, sticking them to something you already do is going to be one of the easiest way that you can make that stick. And then so I’ll give you an example of the one since I started making this challenge, I’ve been thinking about this a lot for myself. And here’s the one that I’m working on right now. So I have had this hair trauma for the last three years. It’s a really long story that you don’t need to hear about in this episode, which I have actually done a podcast episode on it before. But at any rate, it’s, you know, I’ve had a lot of trauma to my hair. I’ve had a lot of hair falling out. I’ve had some scalp irritation, things like that. And so I’ve been very focused on that. And one of the things I purchased to help me deal with this is this OS one supplement. I’ve been using their skincare for a while now. Absolutely love it. I have an article over at the website all about it. He says a peptide science. It’s really cool technology and it actually works and there’s some good clinical data behind it all. But anyway, oh, and just because I mentioned that If you read about it, you do get a little extra discount with my link or something. But anyway, the point of none of that is the point here. The point is that I find it difficult. I bought this hair serum and I bought like I can’t remember if I bought a three month supply or six month supply because you definitely get a bigger discount if you buy more. And plus, if you’re doing anything with your hair, it’s going to take you a little bit longer to actually notice results. Right. So anyway, I’m getting to the point I promise is that I bought that serum, probably a good Cheryl McColgan (02:20.305) six months ago now or maybe even longer. And I’ve only used it maybe a total of five times and I’ll start to think, okay, I’m going to use it today and then I’ll get on the new habit of doing this every day because you got to do it every day for it to really be effective. So I haven’t been able to do that up to this point. I don’t know why it’s such a simple thing. It’s not difficult. You literally split your hair, you put the serum on the scalp, you rub it in, you go to bed. Easy peasy, right? Can’t seem to make myself do it, but The one thing I do every single night is wash my face, brush my teeth and put on my skincare. put on the same skincare by the same brand that I put on my face every single night without fail. Doesn’t matter how late I’m out. Doesn’t matter what else I’ve done. I will not go to bed without washing my face, putting my skincare on and brushing my teeth. That is a solid set in habit that does not fail. for the last few days or since this challenge when I was talking about habit stacking several times, I’m like, this is just ridiculous. have this perfect habit that this pairs with, which is like I mentioned, my teeth and skincare routine in the evening, I just need to put that hair serum like literally where I cannot miss it. And so I had it on the counter next to my toothbrush. I don’t know why, but that wasn’t quite working because the flow. But what I found was I put the hair serum inside of a drawer that has the skincare. I took the hair serum out of the cabinet off the counter. put it in the drawer like literally right next to the moisture. And this is so dumb right, you’re like, why can’t you just put that in your hair every night? I don’t know why. This is why anybody has trouble with habits, right? This is why we’re doing this whole challenge. But put it right next to my skincare so that it’s literally right where I take them both out. I do the skincare part, I put that back and then I take the hair stuff and then I put it and rub it and put it right back next to the moisturizer. So that seems to be working. So that is a habit stack. So that was a very long winded way of telling you. But I also think it speaks to the fact that, you know, obviously none of us are perfect. Even those of us that are very good

In this episode, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of reflecting on progress during the 30-day healthy habits challenge. She emphasizes the flexibility of the challenge, encouraging participants to celebrate small wins and make adjustments to their habits for better integration into daily life. Cheryl also highlights the significance of planning for long-term habit maintenance beyond the challenge, ensuring that participants can sustain their new habits over time. Takeaways You don’t have to be perfect on this challenge. Celebrate the progress and reinforce the behavior. Small adjustments prevent an all or nothing mindset. Keep your focus on being consistent. Choose the habits that resonate with you. Missed days are just data for you. List out three wins this week, even if small. Creating small daily habits supports your core values. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.142) Hey everyone, I’m Cheryl McColgan, founder of HealNourishRo and welcome to day 21 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. So day 21, we’ve made it through the third week and if you’ve been doing the challenge along with us the whole time, then you know that this is time for the weekly reset. We reflect and adjust. So again, you don’t have to be perfect on this challenge. That’s why all the habits have only taken five to 15 minutes a day is so it gives you some things to try, gives you some things that see which habits could really work well in your life, what could help you the most. And knowing that you don’t have to start over again, if you miss something, you can just do the little habit along with the next day’s habit, or you can just jump right back in. It’s not anything, one of these challenges where you have to start over if you miss a day. This is meant to be very flexible, to fit easily into your life, and to just give you some new ways of thinking about habits that might be helpful to you, and that you might wanna integrate. each and every day going forward instead of just trying it on these little five minute, 15 minute intervals. So today’s habit is look at your tracker, celebrate what you did, and then choose one habit to make easier next week. So some of these, if you’ve been going through, you know, I’ve encouraged you, you’re just trying the one habit each and every day. But if you found a habit that speaks to you or that was super easy that you wanted to add in for the entirety of the challenge, maybe you’ve been doing those. And so notice if you told yourself, hey, I was gonna drink that glass of water every single morning before I drank coffee. Have you stuck with that? Have you done it? And just notice what’s making it more difficult to keep that habit in is that you didn’t put the water next to your bed like I suggested, or maybe you go downstairs and you just go straight for the coffee and you forgot one day to do the water first. So whatever it is, just look what’s making these easier. And so I’ve been sending out the emails at 6.30 a.m. Eastern time. Eastern time, that’s probably not the perfect time for everyone in the whole world that decides to do the challenge, obviously. But noticing if it’s harder to integrate into your day because you just got it later, maybe you kind of set it the day behind where you read today’s habit and you actually do that tomorrow so that you can plan ahead for it and know where it best fits in your day, that sort of thing. So again, we’re just looking to make these easy. We’re looking to make them fit with the habits that we already have, trying habit stacking, putting one habit, sticking it with another that makes it easy. Like we had the idea about, Cheryl McColgan (02:19.554) taking supplements when you brush your teeth kind of thing, or putting your running shoes next to the door where you have to see them before you go outside to go to work and remind you to take your bag with you for the gym. know, whatever it is, you’re just trying to plan ahead so that you make things easier and repeat it every day until it becomes a habit. So the consistency is the key. Again, not every day is gonna be perfect, but making these small adjustments on a week to week really prevents you from getting to this all or nothing mindset like, why are you missed three days? So now it’s too late and you just forget about it and you never come back to this. It’s always noticing that evaluating the week. Okay, yeah, maybe I wasn’t perfect this week. I missed this and this. How can I do that better next week? Maybe I’ll come back to those habits because I actually missed them this week and I wanna try them. But just you’ve got to celebrate the progress. and reinforce the behavior so it feels rewarding. So we want to notice the positive. We always want to be training our brain to notice those positive things, have gratitude for the things that did work this well, easy this week, and then set your mind up for noticing which ones were more challenging and figuring out a way to make that easier for yourself the next time. It just, you know, also keeps the momentum going. So we just want these small wins. And I want you to list out. Three wins this week, even if they were small. Ideally, they’re related to the habit that you did. You were able to try this one that you weren’t so sure about. But you can also just start with three wins, period. Just evaluating your week and thinking about the positives. And then choose one way to make it easier. So if you missed some of your 10 minutes of movement every day this week, how can we make sure that you hit that every single day next week? Because really, I think that that is one of the most beneficial habits that if you don’t have already integrating that, you will just do...

In this conversation, Cheryl McColgan discusses the importance of adopting small, manageable habits to improve mental clarity and reduce stress. She emphasizes the benefits of a five-minute decluttering practice, which can lead to a calmer environment and a sense of accomplishment. Cheryl shares insights on how clutter can increase anxiety and how small wins can build trust in oneself. The conversation encourages listeners to embrace these habits as part of a broader 30-day healthy habits challenge. Takeaways Clutter increases your stress. It creates a calm Zen mind. You get to check it off your list and it’s done. Touch it once, that’s the practice. Don’t be tempted to deep clean. Watch on YouTube Disclaimer: Links may contain affiliate links, which means we may get paid a commission at no additional cost to you if you purchase through this page. Read our full disclosure here. CONNECT WITH CHERYL Shop all my healthy lifestyle favorites, lots of discounts!  21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart: Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight  Avaline Wines, Tested and Clean, Sugar Free Drinking Ketones Wild Pastures, Clean Meat to Your Doorstep 20% off for life  Clean Beauty 20% off first order DIY Lashes 10% off  NIRA at Home Laser for Wrinkles 10% off or current promo with code HealNourishGrow Instagram for daily stories with recipes, what I eat in a day and what’s going on in life Facebook YouTube  Pinterest TikTok Amazon Store The Shoe Fairy Competition Gear Getting Started with Keto Resources The Complete Beginners Guide to Keto Getting Started with Keto Podcast Episode Getting Started with Keto Resource Guide Episode Transcript Cheryl McColgan (00:00.62) Cheryl McColgan founder of HealNourishGrow and welcome to the day 20 of your 30 days of healthy habits challenge. Today is one that I use pretty frequently and I think it is so helpful and actually looking into the research about it I always knew that there was a reason that this was a thing that was good for you. But today’s habit is that you’re going to declutter one small area for five minutes. So you’re just going to set a timer on your phone or in the kitchen time or something like that and stop when it ends. Now, I will say what happens to me when I use this little habit is that sometimes I kind of get on a roll and I don’t really want to stop. So if you want to keep it super manageable and not let it go kind of taking over other parts of your day, if you have a really busy day, you might want to just take a five minute section that’s right before you need to do something else. So you definitely have to stop. And it’s interesting how it almost leaves you kind of craving more because once you get started, quite often you get a little bit in a flow and then a rhythm or you want to do a little bit more. And it’s kind of like the other habit that I shared with you, I mentioned how I would kind of trick myself when I used to have to get out the door to go run or go exercise or something like that. And so it’s kind of the same with this. saying I’m only going to declutter for five minutes and then I’m going to stop. So it takes away the resistance to that. Because I know a lot of times if I have a big cleaning project or if I have an area that’s a big mess and I just I want to reorganize it and I want to deal with it, but I just I will mentally put it off forever because it seems like it’s going to take too much time. And it creates a lot of mental stress for me specifically. So I think that this habit is a really good one to take on. It is something that, again, like all of these habits has research to support why it’s good for you. But basically clutter increases your stress. So like I just described, for me, it definitely creates, it’s more like anxiety for me, what it creates when I have a messy space. And a calmer space also supports calmer routines. It makes it easier to carry through on your other habits because you’re not looking around thinking about all the things that you need to clean up or organize or do. It’s just a calm Zen space really creates a calm Zen mind. So this small reset can also help reduce visual stress and make your environment just more supportive for everything that you’re going to do in that space. For example, right now, if I look at my desk, there’s a few papers and things on it that aren’t making me so happy in the moment, but Cheryl McColgan (02:22.466) That’s probably what I will do for my five minute little clutter cleanup today. So you start these short sessions and it really helps you build trust with yourself because again, it’s a small win. And so in this scenario, the way that we set this up, decluttering a small space, you’re going to have the small win where you finish what you started and you get to check it off your list and it’s done. And that always feels great, right? So that’s another way it’s really supportive. So as far as picking a tiny zone, Here some examples or ideas that you might want to use. So for example, a counter space, maybe the kitchen, junk drawer. I don’t know, my junk drawer would probably take more than five minutes. I might not pick that one for this particular one. One specific shelf, or maybe it’s a part of your car. Maybe it’s like just vacuuming. You know, this one’s not really decluttering per se, but say you had trash or work things or piles of paper or something in your car, you can declutter that space. And then the simple rule is just you only want to touch the things once I think that is a really good practice as well I try to get my husband to do this with the mail, but he just he’ll sort through it He’ll kind of look at it and then I’ll put it down. It’s like touch it once So that’s what we’re doing with this declutter habit and you just trash it donate it or relocate it That’s your choices. So it’s either trash donate put away just you’ve got to deal with it though in that moment and So again kind of stopping at that five-minute mark even when you want to keep going the reason this is important for this particular habit is it’s about repeatability. So you can’t, you know, you can’t put it off as easily when it’s only five minutes. If you get into a whole thing where you try this five minute habit and then it takes you 20 minutes because you didn’t stop and then you’re kind of annoyed by it because it took over some other space in your day that you needed. That is so I think it’s good to sit mentally that parameter at the very beginning and then that way when you stop again you get to check off. that thing off your list, you did it the way that it was supposed to be done, and that’s it. So if you have problem...