Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Simple Health and Wellness Tips from Anne Dunnington | Clutterbug Podcast # 135

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

In today's podcast, I'm joined by Anne Dunnington! If you ever feel stressed out, Anne's helpful advice can help. We chat about health, wellness and simple strategies to help live a happier and healthier lifestyle.      You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/   #clutterbug #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, and welcome back to the Clutterbug Podcast. I'm so excited today. We have Ann Dunnington here with us. I've been following you for a while. I love your YouTube channel. So I'm so excited to introduce you to my listeners. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Great. Thank you so much, Cass. I'm so excited to be here. And I too have been a follower of yours for such a long time. And we did. We did a collab about seven years ago with Catherine from Do It on a Dime. It's been a long time. So I think we need to do another one. I think we do too. Absolutely. So I have been doing the YouTube thing since March of 2010, I believe is how long it's been now.

And then of course, Instagram and TikTok at this point too. And over the course of the last maybe 10 or 15 years, I've gotten really into natural health and wellness and being able to help support our bodies, to heal our bodies in the way they are meant to heal. which is the right tools. And we actually encountered that firsthand with my husband's story. He has recovered from autoimmune back in 2016. He's been in remission ever since, literally by making lifestyle choices. So that's become such a big focus for us because we've seen it work firsthand. And it's really a cool thing. When we let the body do what it's supposed to do, it knows what it's

supposed to do. I love that. So I have an autoimmune disease. I have Hashimoto's and I was diagnosed in, in 2014, but it started right after my son was born. And going to the doctors, they gave me pills that kind of helped with the symptoms. And they were like, I don't know, something's wrong with your body. Here's some pills. It's because you had a baby. And I'm like, but there's got to be something else going on. So I've tried a lot of things. But making a huge lifestyle change like that is difficult for me. So I've been not so great at it, but I would love to hear what you'd recommend or what's really working in your family. And maybe you can share with our listeners easy ways to dip their toe in the water and gradually build up. I found I did go into remission

when I stopped eating carbohydrates and sugar, but I also found that so restricting that I wasn't able to maintain that. And so as soon as I started eating that way again, my Hashimoto's came right back. Right. When my husband was diagnosed in 2016, the doctor that he saw was a very good, like, with diagnostic. He said, okay, we think this is Crohn's is what we, you know, the, what he was given. But he didn't say it was autoimmune. We didn't know until after we got home and I started doing a bunch of research. And I actually have a friend who has Crohn's as well. And she just happened to mention in passing that Crohn's autoimmune. She was talking about how he may be able to work from home or, you know, because it's covered

by the Americans with Disabilities Act because it's autoimmune. And as soon as she said autoimmune, in my head, I thought, okay, paleo autoimmune protocol. So three years or four years prior to that, we were gluten-free. And I was getting a whole bunch of gluten-free cookbooks. And one of them was a paleo cookbook. And the girl who wrote that just happened to mention, oh, these are a part of the paleo-automune protocol. I just put that in my rolodex in my head because I didn't know, you know, if I would

ever need that or whatever. And so then they all comes rushing back to me as soon as my friend said it's autoimmune. I asked my husband, I said, okay, I know there's this thing called paleo-automune protocol. It's a diet. People have had really good experience with that getting into remission. He was desperate. And so he's like, let's try it. So cold turkey, we went paleo-automune protocol.

And so basically what that is, it's a way of eating that does eliminate sugar grains and dairy. And it eliminates other things, too, like nuts and seeds and nightshades and various things that can be inflammatory for some people when they're in that heightened immune state. And so it was pretty immediate with his recovery. Within the first round of blood work he had after the hospital release, he started to see his numbers get better and better and better. The thing that was kind of the most frustrating part with that, though, is we would go back to see his doctor for six weeks checkups and things like that. And his doctor at the time didn't think

diet had anything to do with how well you would feel with an autoimmune disease. Diet wasn't any part of it. His suggestion was to eat a low-residue diet, which is not very nutritious. It's like white bread and baby food and things that just kind of pass right through you, right? But it doesn't really offer a lot of nutrition. So that was kind of the first eye opening thing to where we knew that we needed to kind of think more holistically in his healing because the traditional Western medicine methods, I didn't feel we're going to cut it. So that's why we started with that. I think you're right. And I mean, for me and my journey, too, the proof was in the pudding. When I stopped eating sugar and carbohydrates, I went in.

remission. So I get my blood work taken every month and my I was like I was too high and he's like, you have to stop taking your medication. We were lowering it. And then as soon as I started eating, you know, sugar and carbs again, I had to go back on the medication. So I know, Anne, I hear what you're saying. Stop eating it. But it's, it is, it is very hard because it's everywhere and it's in everything. This is a lifestyle change forever. And what I found was just in my own, obviously the pregnancy triggered an autoimmune response that has, it's like it flicked a switch.

Right. That I'm not able to switch back off. Yeah. So do you think in your husband's case, if you went back to eating that type of food, would he then, like, is this like once the switch is. flicked, it's on forever type of thing? His original doctor said that. It's something that never goes away. It's always kind of underlying, and you just want to see if you can get it to a place to where it's not a bother. So we have reintroduced some foods that were eliminated from the initial elimination stage

of the paleo-otamine protocol, and we have more reintroduction still to go. And he's done very successfully with all of the introductions so far. So there's other things that factor in outside of just food when it comes to autoimmune. What we've learned over the years is stress is a huge, huge trigger. And any time he may have a small minor flare-up, you know, that lasts a couple of hours, it's nine times out of 10 stress-related. And so over the last couple of years, you know, it's been a stressful time collectively for everyone. And so that's something that we've really needed to be mindful of is helping to release that stress also.

So that's another factor that we didn't even know that was a thing. And it's definitely a trigger for many, many people. It is. I feel like I need some help in the stress department for sure. And obviously, like, looking at it, yes, being pregnant was such a huge stress mentally and physically. Yeah. Which could be what sort of flick that switch. And I think I've been in sort of a constant state of stress ever since, if I'm being completely

honest. So give me some stress releasing tips. Give it to me. Give it to all of us. We all need it, right? So one thing that we have really been starting to do is Vegas nerve exercises. So if any of your listeners are on Instagram or on TikTok, which I'm sure many are, there are so many good accounts on there that talk about how to do really easy Vegas

nerve exercises. And Vegas nerve is kind of the thing that helps with your stress response, your sympathetic or parasympathetic state. Have you heard of this before? No, I was thinking, I love Las Vegas and I want to go back to Vegas. But I think we're not talking about the same thing. Yes, the Vegas nerve, it's a really interesting. It's like a really long nerve. And I'm not, you know, a doctor or a nurse or a scientist or anything.

This is just stuff that I've come across on the world of the internet. And so the vagus nerve runs the entire length and it helps to control whether you are in rest and digest or fight or flight. And so we can do something really easily. There's points behind the earlobes kind of where the jaw and the neck meet. And you can gently massage that area and that can help trigger that rest and digest, that parasympathetic state. And so it can get our body from being, you know, super high, you know, if it's either high functioning anxiety or if it's just, you know, an anxious, state after an event or whatever, I can bring that stress down to where you're at kind of baseline again. And there's so many different things you can do. Put your legs up the wall or go for a

gentle walk. Even being outside just standing in the grass barefoot can also be really, really helpful in that case. I love that. I have definitely noticed, I know people always say, go outside, go outside, go outside. And I kind of rolled my eyes like, okay. But when I'm outside, in nature, I do. It is amazing how calming it is. Absolutely. For the body. Right. Right. I love that. And I know you're really into essential oils. Yes, definitely. So, and I love that. My sister's also very into essential oils. And I remember one day I had a terrible migraine. And I always kind of thought, I thought, I don't, you know, it's a little woo-woo. I'm not, I'm not very woo-woo. And she said, let me rub some peppermint oil on your temperament oil.

And I laughed at her. And I was like, okay, Jennifer, listen. Yeah. It immediately, I would say within a few minutes, my headache dulled. Absolutely. Yeah. It's crazy. The constituents, the thing that's interesting and a lot of people don't realize about essential oils, when you first, like, hear about them, you think about a room spray or you think about a candle or, you know, aromatherap lotion or whatever. You know, you think of it just as being this placebo. effect, right? But when it comes to essential oils, there's actually molecules in there that help the body. It's kind of like the vagus nerve, right? Helps the body to reset and do what it's supposed to. So they can help from anything from helping with skin stuff to immune stuff to stomach stuff to all things. So yeah, they've been an integral part in our health journey. It's not what started it, but they have fit right in and like plugged a lot of holes for us. So I love that. Okay. So I'm like, a peppermint oil. That's my thing. Now, I love it. And I use it to clean because I do find it like

repels insects and bugs and I love the smell and it helps with headaches. So what is your sort of go-to oil? I would love to know. I'm just curious. Yeah. Well, there's a couple of them that do a whole lot of things. And so two of them are frankincense and lavender. So both of those have over a thousand undocumented uses each. So when in doubt, pull lavender out or frankincense out, either of those, because they really will, if you don't know what to reach for at any given time, those two can do a whole lot. So, yeah, there's many a time where I will just reach for lavender if I am outside of the sun too long and I come back in and I'm a little pink and I'm, you know, not the most tan person in the world. And so I do, I burn a little bit. And so just putting lavender right on

that I sleep great because lavender is just wonderful for sleep, wake up the next day and it's like I was never out in the sun. It's absolutely incredible when you get good high quality essential oils. Like it's good for this. Absolutely. For your skin too. Oh yeah. I actually keep a bottle of lavender in the kitchen for kitchen accidents. So if I happen to nick my finger while I'm cutting something or if I'm pulling something out of the oven and it gets a little burn on my hand or whatever, lavender right on the area, it's like, I don't know, magical. It works so well. This is so fascinating.

I have some amazing lavender that I love that I just, you know, diffuse, but I've never thought, and it does help relax me. I don't know. Maybe it's in my head. Maybe it's not. I don't care. It works when I need to go to sleep. But I never knew you could just apply it topically.

This is very cool as I love the smell. Oh, yeah. It's so nice. And lavender is what we think of when we think of aromatherapy a lot of the time, too, right? when you think of aromatherapy candles at wherever or the lotions and that kind of thing. It's the first for many people, they think lavender just because it's such a calming and relaxing scent. And it's an adaptogen, too.

So it helps us to adapt to stressful situations. So when it comes to needing to relax, anxious feelings, panicky feelings and that kind of thing, just smelling lavender even, you don't even have to put it on is enough for many people. I love that. Thank you. Okay, so I've been following your journey and I just want to talk for a second because this is very exciting. When I was watching you on YouTube years ago, we were in the same like home space. That's cluttering, organizing home things and then you had this big life change.

Yes. And then you sold everything. All of it. Everything. Yes. You had like a blanket and a pillow on the floor. Please tell us about this journey because. I feel like now you're sort of starting fresh again. And I want to hear all about that. And I can't wait

to see your journey, but also hear your perspective of sort of starting over with very minimal things. Right. So my husband and I were in our late 30s. And we feel like we're just coming ride out of college to our first apartment almost. Like it's been such a crazy ride. In 2019, the spring of 2019, we did sell everything with the intention to go down to Orlando to do a year to do Disney content, not for Disney, but for my own channel. During that entire time, my father-in-law unfortunately got very sick and he passed away suddenly. So what we were going to spend as a year down in Orlando turned into three months. So at the end of 2019, we came back up here and we've been living with my mother-in-law ever since then. Now, as soon as 2020 hit, we all know the world

shut down, the housing market went crazy. And so we've been looking for a house for about two and a half years now. And the houses, the prices are astronomical. People are putting in curb offers. Like, they don't even care about inspections. It doesn't even matter. So it took us a good 50 or 75 or more houses to find the right one. And we found the right one just within the last month and we get the keys for it next week. So, but we are starting completely from scratch. I think to our name right now all we have is like a couple of forks in our clothes and an instant pot. And so we are. We're starting completely over, which is a nice, fresh slate, you know, which is good. But it's also a little overwhelming because it's, you know, like, oh gosh, I have to go buy some dishes and

glasses and all these things that we haven't had to think about for the last 20 years. Now we do. But it is a really nice refreshing start because now we can pick the things that we want. to have. And we know now what living minimally really means. Like we were okay. Not that I would want to do it again, but sleeping on the floor with a pillow and a blanket was okay. You know, there's so, we think we need all this stuff to be happy. And it's the exact opposite. I'm so happy for you. Yeah. Now you are coming, you have the knowledge, you have the wisdom to build a home that's filled with like a cultivated collection of things. actually love and need instead of having, I still have things from in my 20s that are just like

all over the place, you know, that are just adding unnecessary clutter. So this is very exciting. I'm, I'm so happy for you. Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, we're really excited. And the thing that's going to be a little different about this house versus the other two that we've lived in before, well, I guess three, if you include my mother-in-law's house, it's not a neighborhood. It's actually in the woods. And so we're going to be learning how to live amongst the critters. and all these things. And it's almost like a little mini homestead of sorts. It's definitely a different situation. So we're going to be learning a whole lot along the way, too. Are you getting chickens? Are you? I'm just curious. We're not getting chickens. Chickens in your future. No. I hear there are

snakes in the woods, though. So we might have a pet snake just by default. But yeah, we're going to probably not do the animal thing, but definitely do a lot of food growing for sure. Oh, I'm so, so happy for you. That's Awesome. We've also been looking for a home for almost two years. What a crazy time. Absolutely. It's a crazy time. And the house prices here have tripled. But now we're starting to see like everything's stagnant. Right. The house prices are still extremely overinflated. Yet nobody's buying because interest rates are going up and everything. And I think we're entering a new phase. Not to get. crazy but we did we went through a time where it was like we all had access and there was we were all buying in accumulating and then decluttering like crazy and now comes a new phase right where we all

do need to be more mindful about what we purchase and more mindful even about what we declutter and you know being prepared and getting really organized so i'm excited to see your channel and your journey going forward. And going forward for me, we're looking at, you know, how do we save more money? How do we make sure that we are making good decisions for our financial futures? Right. Yeah. I think everybody's kind of in that same boat too, you know, like where's the priorities and what can be cut? What is like super important that you need to have in there. And for sure, I think everybody is kind of in this little reset mode a little bit. Yeah, the whole world's kind of in a reset. a major reset. So this is a very exciting time for you. I'm excited to watch you. And I'm excited to

learn from you too when it comes to thinking outside the box with health. Yeah. Because for a really long time, I was just listening to my doctors who were prescribing more and more medication. And my family doctor recently retired and I had a new family doctor. And she said, how long have you been on this ADHD medication? And I told her and she said, well, now, I mean, there's been studies that show that this causes brain damage. Yeah. And I'm like, what? Right.

She said, well, your doctor was older. He probably wasn't keeping up on new information. And this is it, right? We can't expect medical professionals to know everything and be up on all the changing things. We have to take a proactive approach to our health. Right. And that includes a holistic approach to our health.

It sure does. This is great. I would love for you to share like your favorite, just give it to me, your favorite low carb or something you recommend that's like no carb healthy thing. Is it just vegetables? And listen, is it just vegetables and fruit? Please. We do eat a lot of vegetables in our house. Not what I wanted to hear. I know. I know. Yeah, we don't really do a whole lot of low carb, although I guess we probably. do and I don't even really think about it because we don't, you know, we don't eat the grains and the pastas and the things like that very much. I think one of my favorite things that does fall in that low carb type of scale is we eat a lot of avocados. And so we'll make a guacamole, super easy, just a squeeze a lime with some avocado, a little bit of salt, and then use that as a dip for either plantain chips or we'll eat it with cucumber slices or carrots or anything like that. And that's just a really a nice, easy snack that we often, often have.

Sounds very healthy, Ann. It sounds very healthy. It sounds a little too healthy. I was hoping you'd tell me like chia pudding or something. I know. I was like, it's good. I should try plain taint chips. Yes, because I'm looking for alternatives.

I eat like a trash panda. I eat like a toddler. And it's not good for me. And I'm starting to see the real, like I have been seeing the effects. But I'm getting older. you know, mid-40s and I cannot keep treating my body this way because my body's going on strike. It's like I've had enough. It's time to be an adult, Cass.

Get it together, man. All right. I'm going to start rubbing lavender oil on me and eating more vegetables. There you. Thank you. I'm feeling excited about this. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining me.

please let the listeners know how they can find you on social media and follow your journey of starting over in your new place. Absolutely. So I'm just Ann Dunnington everywhere. I used to, if you followed my channel before, I was Annie's Simple Life, then it switched to Annie a rafter. Now I'm just Ann Dunnington. So it's a little easier to find. And I am that on YouTube, on TikTok, on Instagram, and Facebook. Yeah. And we were talking right before we started recording about your last name. I love it. It's so, it's so Bridgeton. Regal. Lady Dunnington. That's like literally the best last name. So that's how everyone is going to remember you and find you. It's because you have the most regal last name. It's so beautiful.

Well, thank you. Honestly, thank you so much. I love chatting with you. I hope we can chat again in the future. Absolutely. I love to. Oh, thank you so much. And thank you everyone, listening at home. We'll see you next time.