A little over eight years ago when I finished my breast cancer treatment, my doctor told me I had three jobs to do my part in staying cancer free: maintain a healthy weight, exercise daily, and eat nutritionally. I was highly motivated and this launched me into a new journey of pursuing a healthy lifestyle.
Last week, I was joined by Danna Demetre, and we talked about the things she wished she had known earlier in life. We had such a good conversation last week that I wanted to welcome her back this week to talk about the final item on her list: To be more intentional about caring for your body for health rather than for beauty.
I have experienced the benefits of this personally. Since moving to a healthy lifestyle, I have less joint pain, my IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) is completely gone, my fibromyalgia flare ups have moved from monthly to once or twice a year, I’ve reduced my cholesterol numbers by 200 points (without medication!), I have more energy than ever before, and I feel the best I have in years. I have no doubt that I’ve also radically reduced my risk of cancer recurrence as well. A healthy lifestyle can make a huge difference. That’s why I’m excited to share this episode with you!
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- The importance of developing small healthy habits each day
- How much weight our genetics has on our health
- Some practical first steps to take on your journey towards a healthy lifestyle
- How our thinking impacts what is possible in our healthy lifestyle
- The connection between our physical health and our spiritual health
I loved talking with Danna, and this conversation is such an important one. Listen in!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Episode 111: What I Wish I’d Known When I Was Younger with Danna Demetre
- Danna’s Website
- Follow Lean Healthy Ageless on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube
- Eat Live Thrive Diet by Danna Demetre and Robyn Thomson
- Eat Live Thrive Diet Website
- Eat Live Thrive Academy
- Trace Minerals mentioned in this episode
- Cell Salts mentioned in this episode
- As a thank you for listening, get your 3 free eBooks.
My Key Takeaways:
1) Take care of your body for health over beauty. It doesn’t take much convincing to get women to purchase more makeup, anti-aging creams, or hair dye to help us look younger. But when was the last time you prioritized taking care of your body for health rather than just to look good? It’s true that these can often go hand-in-hand and are not mutually exclusive. However, we need to start prioritizing a healthy lifestyle over things that simply make us look prettier or more attractive on the outside.
2) You don’t have to do it all perfectly, all right now. Danna and I both had some extenuating circumstances that highly motivated us to make some big changes as quickly as possible. That is not going to be the case for most people, and that’s okay. You don’t need to burn yourself out trying to do too much too fast. Instead, work on making small changes that help you form new habits. Going on daily walks, eating less sugars, and starting your day with a big glass of water are some great examples of small steps you can make today to start building a habit of health.
3) Give yourself restorative rest. God designed our bodies to consume and convert food into energy to sustain us. However, when we are always snacking, our bodies rarely get a break and it’s constantly thrown into overdrive when we eat junk. Be mindful about what we are asking our bodies to do 24/7 and make sure to schedule in restorative rest. This is true for your body as well as your spirit! We need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds through truth and restorative rest in Christ.
About Danna:
Danna Demetre is a retired registered nurse, author of seven books, and a veteran health and weight loss coach. She loves encouraging women to live healthier lives in body, soul, and spirit. She struggled with emotional eating, bulimia, and panic attacks as a young woman but discovered the power of becoming “transformed by the renewing of her mind” and how that can impact every dimension of life. Danna recently co-authored Eat Live Thrive Diet with Robyn Thomson. She lives with her husband of over 35 years, Lew, near San Diego, CA and enjoys an active rural lifestyle and frequent visits from their children and grandchildren.
I loved this podcast! What a great conversation and full of information and resources. It all really resonated. High Cholesterol runs in my family, so I am very curious as to what specific steps or supplements you took to reduce your numbers so dramatically without medication.
Hi Jolene–I’m working on a blog post about how I lowered my cholesterol naturally! Watch for it!
Where do you get grass fed beef?
You can buy it at any grocery store. I find the best prices are at Aldi and Sams Club.
I just ordered the cell salts and the Trace Minerals.
Any recommendations about taking them?
Thanks!
Danna uses the cell salts at night before bed because she says they help reduce being up in the night to go to the bathroom. I use them in the morning when I take my other vitamins. The Trace Minerals I add a squirt to every bottle or glass of water I drink and we also add it to any smoothies we make. (There is a little bit of a taste with the Trace Minerals so I add a little less than the directions on the bottle so it reduces any taste. There’s no taste at all when it’s mixed into a smoothie.)