Dear Chelsea - The Gut-Vagina Connection with Lo Bosworth

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

  Lo Bosworth joins Chelsea to talk about the gut-vagina connection, leaky gut, and building a successful business from the ground up.  Then: A New Yorker’s lack of motivation has her feeling down and out.  A hairdresser exceeds her goals and isn’t sure what’s next.  And a girlfriend can get over the cheating… but can she forgive the lies? * Find Lo’s line of supplements at lovewellness.com! * Need some advice from Chelsea? Email us at [e-mail] * Executive Producer Catherine Law Edited & Engineered by Brad Dickert * * * * * The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the Podcast author, or individuals participating in the Podcast, and do not represent the opinions of iHeartMedia or its employees.  This Podcast should not be used as medical advice, mental health advice, mental health counseling or therapy, or as imparting any health care recommendations at all.  Individuals are advised to seek independent medical, counseling advice and/or therapy from a competent health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issues, health inquiry or matter, including matters discussed on this Podcast. Guests and listeners should not rely on matters discussed in the Podcast and shall not act or shall refrain from acting based on information contained in the Podcast without first seeking independent medical advice.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jason Alexander and I'm Peter Tilden and together our mission on the Really No Really podcast is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor? What's in the museum of failure and does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to ReallyNoReally.com and register to win $500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblehead. The Really No Really podcast.

Follow us on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, Catherine. Hi, Chelsea. Hi, hi, everybody. I just, um, we're in LA with the fires and... You flew back just in time for this, in fact. I flew back just in time for the fires. I was with my nieces all week in Whistler, and I flew back to host the Critics' Choice Awards, which are being postponed now due to the fires.

And we landed, and she was like, did you see the fire we flew through? And I was like, I'm like, one of my nieces. And I'm like, what? And then I had, I didn't have Wi-Fi on the flight. I was reading, and I saw, and then I saw my phone, and I was like, oh my God. And so I'm at a hotel like everyone else in Los Angeles and Critics' Choice Awards,

I'm getting his phone obviously to January 26th. Okay. I am probably gonna turn around and go back to Whistler since this is a disaster. Okay. And there's really nothing for me to do here. Are you guys, we had to evacuate my street, but I don't know what's going on on my street. The pictures in the palisades are so devastating.

You'll see one house that's burned and then the one next to it is fine and then the one next to that is burned. I mean, it's just like, it's so random and devastating and all consuming and just really awful. Wow. I mean, yikes. Yeah. So it's, fires are just the worst thing to watch, you know, like see, and how they catch and how they spread.

Like the whole palisades is just fucking destroyed. I just got a text from my boss that his house is gone. Like literally just right now. Oh my God. But he and his wife and baby got out yesterday. So yeah, thank you. It's like you look for these silver linings. It doesn't make it any less devastating, but there you have it.

What's the silver lining? Oh, that they got out. Where is one? I'd like one. Where? Can we just like find that, please? Well, we have our guest today that we re-recorded this a while ago. So this episode is a lot about vaginal wellness for all of those of you who are listening

and who are not impacted by the fires and who want to learn more about your Pikachu. Here's an episode for you. Please welcome Lo Bosworth. Hello, gorgeous gaggle of girls on a couch. Hello, hello. Lo Bosworth, hello! Hi, how are you? I'm ready to talk about vaginal wellness.

I'm ready to talk about female wellness, vaginal wellness, anal wellness. I mean, if we have anything to cover on that, we wanna just be well. We wanna be well. And we have you here today to talk about all of the amazing things that you've accomplished with your company. Yes, thank you for having me.

I don't know if you remember, but I was on your show on E a really long time ago, once, when I was on the Hills. And I was so scared to come on your show. Because I was so intimidated. How was it? How was the experience? Was I nice?

It was scary as fuck. Was it? Was I nice to you? You were very nice, yes. I don't know why people are so intimidated by me. I mean, I do know, but I didn't know for so long what the problem was. I was like, God, everyone would say that to me.

Like, you're so scary. You're so scary. And I'm like, I actually still don't really quite get it. But that's for another time, I guess. You're a strong, funny woman. And I think people don't want to be, don't want them, don't want you to like point out their obvious areas of opportunity.

Yes, right. Yes. Thank you for, you know what? That was probably the most eloquent way you could put it. So thank you for saying it so I didn't have to say it in eloquently. But good to know and I accept this. I accept this badge of whatever it is because I understand.

But I'm glad that I'm getting to see you again anyway and I was gonna say, have I interviewed you on Chelsea Lately because I had so many interviews in the span of my career with all of the talk shows that I've done that sometimes I meet people and I can't tell. Like I had Christina Ricci on the other week, we had her on the podcast. And I was looking at her sitting here looking at her face going, I never forget a face. And I'm like, I couldn't remember whether or not I had interviewed her.

And I was looking at her face and I'm like, her face is a very unusual, she has a very unique face. And while I was looking at it, I'm like, I know I haven't seen this face face to face before. And so I was like, oh, and then she said, no, I was never on your show. I'm like, okay, that much I know. So anyway, Lo Bosworth, you obviously people

would have become familiar with you a long time ago from a show you were on called The Hills, which was like probably the first reality show, really? Or Laguna Beach before that. Oh yeah, it was early. Laguna Beach, I don't know if you remember that, but that was 20 years ago. We started where it debuted in 2004, which is when I graduated high school and then started college. So yeah, a full

20 years ago, Laguna came on the air and then Hills followed that. So it's been a while. Listen, you made a career out of being on a reality show. That was, that wasn't a thing before. I mean, it's a thing now, but you were able to parlay that into something meaningful and great. So fucking good for you and congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, I've been working on Love Wellness for going on nine years now, which just blows my mind. I don't think I've been able to commit that long

to anything in my life. Yeah, that is a long time. I'm really passionate about Women's Wellness and I started the company out of really my own need for better products in the healthcare space. And I really, to be honest with you, was determined not to be a reality television personality forever as my byline.

And now I realize it probably just will be anyway, so whatever, I've kind of moved past that. But I think coming off that show, I had so much trauma, and I'm sure you talk to a lot of people who are on reality past that, but I think coming off that show, I had so much trauma. And I'm sure you talk to a lot of people who are on reality that have such traumatic experiences on it. And for a long time in the early days of reality, those stories were not really validated. They were pushed to the side.

It was like, well, you're famous, so shut up about your feelings. But now I think there is a better understanding just how like manipulative and terrible those shows can be, you know, and people's psyche. And I started my business really as sort of a second chance at life, to be honest with you. Like I had to get away from LA, I moved to New York and I really started my life over again.

Wow. Yeah, and I had read too that you used sort of like the last bit of your earnings from the show to develop this product line and start the business, right? That's so cool. I did. And I just wanna say that our business is now worth, I mean, you guys made,

I think I'd said $100 million this year, right? Or it's valuated at $100 million? It's valuated more than that. But I'm, we can't talk about our revenue yet for 2024. But we're doing very well. Okay. Well, I just wanted to say it's very successful. So that's the point we're trying to get across.

So tell us, okay, give us your backstory, like what happened, what kind of like, what was your issue that led you to discover and launch this kind of brand? So I was in a really terribly sad, emotionally abusive, romantic relationship. And in that relationship, I was very depressed and very anxious. And I also had a whole host of women's health issues, urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and it was like chronic. I was just always sick.

And there was really a tipping point for me though, where I was normal one day and then the next day, I was just not. I was like, lay on the floor depressed, like go home to my mommy for three months depressed, kind of a thing. And I was going to the doctor over and over and over again and trying to advocate for myself and just being told that, you know, here's some Prozac, you need to exercise more, drink more water, whatever. The typical medical gaslighting that I think a lot of women experience and have historically

experienced in this country for a very long time. It wasn't until I was 18 months into this health journey of trying to understand why I was okay one day and then so not okay kind of overnight that my GP finally agreed to just do a blood panel and test my vitamin levels, like the most basic blood test you can do. And it came back as like,

deficient, deficient, deficient, deficient. It was overwhelming, but it was my very first data point that there was something physiologically wrong with me, and I wasn't making it up because I was being made to feel that I was just making all of this stuff up. And so with that first data point that I was dealing with these vitamin deficiencies, I actually had some information to go on, right? And then I kind of took that information to better doctors that were approaching health care from a more holistic point of view, which is, I think, becoming more popular in our health care system here.

But you still have a lot of doctors very focused on their primary area that they focus on. And so I was looking for a gynecologist, say, that could help me connect the dots better between vaginal health issues and gut health issues or the brain stuff that I was experiencing. And finally got a healthcare team in place that said, you know, I think that actually all of these things are connected. I think that you have a gut health issue because you're the antibiotic generation.

I was born in 1986. For every little thing, we took an antibiotic. Oh, I take antibiotics all the time. Yeah, we were raised on goldfish crackers from Costco. Like, I love a goldfish cracker. And we have messed up gut microbiomes. And as a result, we have vitamin deficiencies. We have anxiety and depression because of leaky gut

and the connection between the gut and the brain and that blood-brain barrier. And then from the gut to the vagina, we have gut dysbiosis that results in vaginal health issues because the gut microbiome and the vaginal microbiome talk to each other. It's called quorum sensing. The gut bacteria literally tell your vagina bacteria, hey, like we're in good health here. You should be in good health down there.

Or the inverse, which is crazy. And so I finally started to understand what was going on in my body, but this was like 2015. There was still a lot of emerging research on just the gut microbiome coming out. Very little on the vaginal microbiome. That took kind of like the course of my business up until this point to get better understanding on research on women's microbiomes, but started to

develop products based off of the holistic recommendations of some excellent doctors that were as simple as take a probiotic, use an intimate cleanser without fragrance, and it was these simple solutions that actually really like made such a pivotal change in my health and allowed me to get better. And I decided I'm gonna launch a business with a focus on these white space innovation types of products for women that really can fundamentally change the game for how we take care of our bodies

at an accessible price point in everyday types of stores, right? And it was 2016 when I launched the company. It was right after the presidential election in 2016. And yeah, here we are. Eight years later. Many years later. In an interestingly similar place. I am curious about when you talk about leaky gut.

So obviously you changed the vitamins that you were taking the probiotics and that sort of thing Did you do any sort of protocols to address leaky gut or anything like that? Yeah, so, you know when I was kind of initially going through this discovery My doctors thought well, maybe you have some food intolerances things like that And I certainly do but I'm also a human and still sometimes eat through those things anyway. And the only way to really find out if you have a food allergy or an intolerance

is to do a diet where you eliminate that thing from your diet for a significant period of time. And I did that with gluten. And I was pretty surprised when I reintroduced gluten how negatively affected I was. Because the reality is if you're eating something that you have an intolerance to every single day over time, your reaction to it is not gonna be very big.

It's gonna be kind of consistent. You kind of get to that baseline kind of reaction. It's brain fog, it's bloating, whatever. But when I eliminated gluten from my diet and then reintroduced it, I got vertigo, I got horribly sick. I was like, oh my gosh, I really have a gluten problem. But yeah, elimination diets are really kind of the gold standard for understanding if you have some kind of food issue.

How long do you think it takes, like when you eliminate something like gluten for you to actually feel the results of that, the impact that it has on your body? The positive benefits? I think within a week you probably start to feel the positive benefits of it if you have a food intolerance to that thing. Do I think you get max benefits in a month? Maybe, probably longer than that. I think if you've been eating something, you have an intolerance to your entire life, it's

going to take a while for your body to heal from all of that inflammation. Because I just feel like, isn't everyone intolerant of, I mean, not intolerant, but kind of allergic of gluten? Well, there is. Because of all the shit we put in and put in this. When I eat bread in other countries, I don't have the same issues. Specifically in the US, I think you're right. Like whose body gets along with that? Well, the thing is what we use in the US has about like seven or eight times the gluten of the wheat that we evolved eating over 10,000 years. So our body is a really, it does. It was, it's a usually a GMO and it was made to help feed the world. Like the scientists who created it was like,

this is amazing. It's gonna help feed all these poor serving kids in these countries. And we're eating it here in the US. And that's why you go to like Italy or whatever. Like I don't have any reaction to gluten in Italy or France or any of those places. But here it's like, I can eat Italian flour that I'm making here, you gluten in Italy or France or any of those places, but here it's like,

I can eat Italian flour that I'm making here, pasta or bread or whatever, I'm fine. The second I eat something that's like US bread flour, it's over for me in about 20 minutes. Big agriculture for you. We're agrarians over here, Lo. We're agrarians. I'm a government official for the agriculture department.

Can you imagine? If someone said you have to get up and speak about that for an hour, I'd be like, you better give me a long hit stat. And so then launching that, because I've been in where you've tried to launch a business and it is so fucking arduous to get something off the ground that anyone who's been able to do it successfully, I'm just in like awe of. You know, I'm pretty relentless. Yeah, you sound like you really have your shit together.

I really love the subject matter. Like, I love biology. I love the human body. I am just fascinated by it. And I think if you get into any business, and you really want to be in it for the long haul you have to really love what you're doing and I actually gave up the CEO role in my business last March or March of 2023 So that I could focus on innovation regulatory marketing the stuff that I'm really really passionate about because to be honest with you, like the CEO job is a tough job. I was a CEO for the first seven years of my business and was able to successfully grow and guide that

business as a first-time founder and CEO to, you know, pretty significant size. I'm so proud of my accomplishment, but to really scale the business, to be like a major player in Walmart and in Target, which are our retail partners, you have to have done that before and with success. It's really hard to walk into the room at Walmart, never having ever been there before, and say, trust me, and I can deliver products on time, and I know about all the margins and you know

All the coupons and stuff you guys want to do no no like being a an owner or an operator of consumer brand Means that you really have to have done it before or you have to be willing to Bring on a team that has done it before they can help you and so that's where I'm really at now In terms of kind of my journey with the business. I don't have to do one-on-ones anymore, thank God. But I'm still really focused on all the product innovation and really a lot of regulatory work. We sit in a very interesting category

in supplements and cosmetics that's not actually regulated by the FDA in terms of like ingredients or safety, really just in terms of claims. And there's like a big consumer misconception that the FDA is all over these products in terms of like safety and stuff, but they're not. And it's really on brands to do the self-regulation. So that's one of my kind of missions

is to make really clean, you know, efficacious products for women in a category of a lot of frankly just like bullshit. Because a lot of brands will just sell you a gummy vitamin and say it works. It's gonna like solve all your problems when they won't. And how are you as a consumer supposed to know which brands are full of shit and which brands aren't? It's so hard. It's, it's truly so hard. It's truly so hard.

It's like, I'm not reading any of these fucking labels, you know what I mean? And I wouldn't even know what to be looking for. I just do what I- It's such a challenge. A lot of brands now tell, like, oh, clinically studied ingredients, but they don't actually have necessarily the clinically proven amount of that ingredient in a product. Right. Or the formulation that works best. You know, even like CoQ10 is something I started taking recently, and there's like five different kinds.

And like one is very accessible by your body, and like the rest are not, you know? So you have to take away more. And it's sort of like on a case by case basis. I think, you know, I want to believe that most brands are trying to do right by the consumer. What I will say is that- Well, don't assume that because they're not. I mean, we know that's not true. I know, but in this category, I want to believe that. I want to believe that if a woman starts a business for women's health, in her heart, she has good intentions in mind for her customer base.

Yes, yes. I agree. I don't think that that is always the case, and I can think of a few examples where that's specifically not the case, but I have to, just to be able to get up and operate every single day and live in the earth that we're living in, have some hope about the innate goodness in people. You know what I mean? Yeah.

It's called lovewellness.com for people who want to go and order stuff from her company. Because I like the idea of having your own health issues and then finding a solution, which is the impetus for starting a company. I think that's a very natural kind of like linear thing to do. And I think you're right about female founders. I mean, I think for the most part, you know, women's, it's like, we're not handed anything. You have to actually actively go and work probably twice as hard as a man to start a company.

To get the funding. Cardi B said 10 times as hard the other day. And I thought, yes Cardi B, it's 10 times as hard. Well, she's always been better at math than I have. So we'll take her. I'll take whatever she says. Yeah. So what's happening with your personal life?

You're not married, right? I have a fabulous partner. He's great. We live together. Great. In love. Oh, great. I love that.

You don't have kids, no? No, no kids. I can tell by the look on someone's face if they have children. I look so rested to you, don't I? She's glowing. I'm kidding. No someone's face if they have children. I look so rested to you, don't I? She's glowing. I'm kidding. No, we would love to have children, but not yet.

I wanna go back to- But maybe soon, but maybe soon. Okay, okay. Well, that's obviously a pregnancy announcement. It's not. It's absolutely not. What is leaky gut exactly? I hear a lot about leaky gut,

but what physicality does that take on in your body? What happens? I'll probably let Lo take this, but it's a lot of inflammation and other stuff, right? Is something actually leaking from your gut? Yeah, so think of it when you eat food. And imagine if in that food there

was some weird bacteria or something. Let's say you ate fish. I'm giving you a very basic example. Let's say that there's some weird bacteria in the fish that you ate. Because you keep eating foods that are inflammatory to your body, your gut wall lining may have tiny little gaps in it. And that weird bad thing may be able to get through that gap, get into your bloodstream and then go up to your brain.

And if it's small enough, penetrate the blood brain barrier and theoretically affect your brain health. And so that's like at the macro level, the concept of leaky gut. You should be on Grey's Anatomy, Lo. She's very well-raised. I know.

Seriously. I mean, that's actually great. I've been wondering what leaky gut is for a long time. By the way, it sounds, I assumed it had something to do with your asshole. Like that your gut gets your asshole. That's a disaster. You know, it turns into a shit storm. I mean, it could cause you to have like a lot of diarrhea and stomach upset if you have leaky gut, to be honest with you, because your problem, your stomach is probably so inflamed from all the weird stuff that your body doesn't agree with that you're putting into it.

And also, it's just, there's a lot of vaginal health talk that we're having these days when you never think about how healthy your vagina is. Unless there's something wrong. Unless there's an issue. It's not like you're like, oh. I always like to tell the team, it's like when you don't notice anything,

that's the ideal state, oh. Right, well, I always like to tell the team, it's like when you don't notice anything, like that's the ideal state, right? Right, yeah. It's like when you don't know what's anything's amiss, that's like where you wanna be, that's the healthy state. What I think is cool about the vagina is that it's actually an immunity organ, and very few people know that or think about it that way, but it is, right?

There's a lot of talk about vaginal pH levels. That's like very like, you know, that terminology is used a lot now. Vaginal pH is acidic because it protects you from overgrowth of bad bacteria or bad yeast or pathogens, things like that. Because like, guess what? The vagina like is the entrance up into your uterus, right? Like it's your fertility kingdom up in there. And so your vagina is protecting you from bad things that come and invade. But the vagina is very smart. The vagina will attack things that are not self, right? Like you know, a bad bacteria or you know, a bad pathogen that like doesn't come from

you, but it will not attack sperm. It knows that sperm is not self, but it knows that it's not bad. Isn't that interesting? It's like an elephant. It's an organ, but it's a fucking brain also. I mean, seriously. She's smart. She is.

She sounds as smart as an elephant. I mean, how do you know who's welcome and who's not? She's smart. Although then if the vagina was that smart, it should know that when someone's in danger and the sperm is coming to not let that sperm in. If it were really smart, it would fend off rapists, all the bad guys sperm. Wouldn't that be just a dreamy scenario? I think there's some Republican senators who do think that that happens, which is a problem.

Yeah. It's entirely possible. The vagina's only going to get smarter as we move on, guys. It's evolution. People are getting smarter, not dumber. Although some people are really stupid. Yeah. OK, we're going to take a break on that note and get rid of all the stupid people and we'll be right back. I'm Jason Alexander and I'm Peter Tilden.

And together on the Really No Lily podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the wooly mammoth

Plus this Tom Cruise really do his own stunts his stunt man reveals the answer and you never know who's gonna drop by Mr. Bryan Cranston is with us. How are you? Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park Wayne Knight. Welcome to really really sir Bless you all hello Newman and you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really No Really. Yeah, really.

No Really. Go to ReallyNoReally.com. And register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblehead. It's called Really No Really and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And we're back with less stupid people and with low Bosworth. Okay. We are back.

We're going to take some questions and some callers, Lo. Are you ready for some action? Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready, yes. I'm excited. Well, our first question, this one's just an email, so she won't be joining us, but this question comes from Annie. Annie says, Dear Chelsea, I've been a fan and listener from the start. I'm a psychologist. I'm a psychologist. This one's just an email, so she won't be joining us, but this question comes from Annie.

Annie says, Dear Chelsea, I've been a fan and listener from the start. I'm a psychologist who primarily administers intellectual and personality assessments. A few years ago, I was unfortunately in an abusive relationship and experienced a traumatic brain injury, also known as a TBI. As a result of that injury, I have a diagnosis of aphasia. In my case, it's a wall between my formerly large vocabulary, similar to yours, and my ability to access it as necessary during quick communication. My question is, can you give me some of the tips you discuss on the podcast that you use to continually increase your vocabulary? Also, any advice on

how to manage the anxiety that comes at work and increases the severity of my ability to access my vocabulary? Forever one of your biggest fans and supporters, Annie. First of all, I want to say one thing. Accessing your vocabulary and having aphasia, you have to understand that it's okay not to have to use sophisticated words all the time. It's okay to communicate. Your main goal is to relay something, a thought or a message or whatever. So just do that in the simplest way without putting pressure on yourself

to remember the bigger words to do that. That's not necessary right now. In the meantime, what you can do, and what I always do is I always have vocab words, I have word of the day, dictionary things, I get a million words of the day. I always print them out, have vocab words, I have word of the day, dictionary, you know, things. I get a million words of the day. I always print them out, have them laminated, I collect them. Like if I have those 20 new words, I print them out and put them on a laminated sheet

and put them in my closet or put them on your fridge so that you're seeing them every single day. And I guarantee you, you will start to imprint new words into your vocabulary and then you're going to have a whole new slew of words. And some of those words that you already know will be repeated, but you're cementing them in your brain in a visual way. And that lends itself to memorizing things more easily, even if you are dealing with aphasia.

Yeah. And Lo, I know you had a traumatic brain injury a few years ago. Yeah, I was like, is this question custom tailored for me? Yes, we try to, well, we do do that. I know. Charles, you're like an English teacher,

like posting up your words. I know, I love it. It's all I've got. I had a traumatic brain injury in 2019. I was at a restaurant in Manhattan and one of the swinging kitchen doors came off its hinge and fell onto my head and it was pretty brutal. And I dealt with some loss of vocabulary

for a period of time. I think that I have mostly recovered, but sometimes it still happens to me where I can't come up with the word and it's really, really tough. What I would say is that brain exercises really helped me, whether it's brain games. It could be as simple as dedicating yourself to 20 minutes of reading a book every single night just to kind of activate your brain again to like be reading and understanding just language in general. But I would give yourself just as much physical rest as you can in the time that you can, right? Really focus on sleep. We know that as women, we need more sleep than men. And one of the things that my doctors recommended for me while I was going through my TBI recovery was to really avoid inflamed foods because inflammatory foods can cause even more brain

fog. And I think it can probably make the aphasia that she's talking about even worse. I notice for myself when I eat a bunch of gluten, I really struggle with my vocabulary. I really struggle to find the words that I'm looking for and when I eat a cleaner diet that doesn't seem to be as big of a deal for me. I'm also going to go down the peptides injectables rabbit hole right now into something called BP7157. I take that. It is.

BPC157. BPC, BPC, thank you. BPC157, right? Yeah. And this has actually started to be recommended for people who have brain issues. It is a gastric acid, I think, that supposedly can help with brain lesions and things like that. So I would look into that. It's supposed

to be a crazy healer type of peptide. It is on, I think, the list of worldwide banned substances for doping. So I hope that you're not a professional athlete. You can't be a professional athlete and take it, but it also... You can't be a professional athlete and take it, but the general population can take it, and it may help. And yeah, it may help. And that also helps with like physical recovery and any injuries. Like I inject it into my knee area all the time, especially when I'm skiing,

because it helps like kind of heal whatever your issues are. The other thing I wanted to say, what Lo just touched upon though, is that your diet and the correlation between what you put in your body and your mental alacrity is scientifically proven. So like I know if I'm about to do some event,

like if I'm gonna do this podcast, I don't eat before I do that because my mind isn't as sharp. Your mind will always be sharp when you're slightly hungry. It'll be sharper. You know, when you're full and you feel tired and you're not digesting things well, that's when you start to get lazy

and you feel less kind of vibrant. So just be mindful of that. And you know, when you eat, don't overeat because that puts you into like, then you spike your blood sugar, and then you go high, and then you crash. So you have to be really mindful of your diet, especially when you're talking about these kinds of issues.

It's like we're Dr. Phil and Dr.- I think we gave some great- I think so too. I feel like where you have like a doctor, this is like two doctors, we're like two really medically advanced laymen. Yes. Yeah, exactly.

Yes. BPC 157. Okay. So our next question comes from Cynthia, and she will be joining us on the phone here in a moment. She says, Dear Chelsea, I'm a 39 year old woman living in Brooklyn, New York with my beautiful girlfriend of four years. Now my fiance.

I have a great job. I love my fiance to pieces. I'm not the most social person and I don't have many friends, if any at all. I consider myself an intelligent person and I've been in therapy for many years on and off to help me cope with childhood trauma. I think the root of my depression or maybe the consequence of it is I have zero motivation. I don't have the willpower to exercise. I have a pretty shitty diet and I basically just work to come home to do the same cycle the next day. I know that diet and exercise is a huge factor for bettering myself mentally and physically,

but I just can't seem to find the energy or motivation to get up and do all the things I probably should to make myself feel better. I used to be on antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds, but stopped them on my doctor's advice because it withered my sex drive down to nothing. I've been off my meds for a couple months now and I've been feeling the ups and downs of that. I'm consumed with shame and guilt at the fact that I know exactly what I have to do, but the fuck it in my brain is much stronger than any of those thoughts.

I've talked to a doctor and they tell me I just need to push myself, but how? I've had times in my life where I did have motivation, like in my 20s, and I'd get up and exercise and eat a healthier diet, but I feel like that part of me is just not alive anymore. My fiance also struggles with the same lack of motivation I do, so it seems like we enable each other. How can I spark some much needed motivation? I'm tired of being tired.

Cynthia. Hi, Cynthia. Hey, Chelsea. Hi, Kathryn. Hi. Hi. This is our special guest, Lo Bosworth. She's here today. Hi. Hi, Catherine. Hi. Hi. This is our special guest, Lo Bosworth. She's here today.

Hi. Hi, Cynthia. Who's going to go first? Because I have an idea. I think you should go first. Okay. Cynthia, have you ever tried meditation because it requires no physical exercise and no dieting? I haven't, no. So meditation is really cool because it creates new neural pathways in the brain and creating

new neural pathways in the brain allows you to create new habits, new hobbies, new interests because I think what you may be experiencing is something that a lot of us are experiencing right now which is kind of this like freeze mode in reaction to potentially the stress of the times we're living in or whatever it may be right I think that there's not a ton of hope right now. And so I think one of the ways to think about, from an actual neurochemical, neuroplasticity point of view, is how can I create neural pathways to change how my brain is behaving?

And then I can change how my body is behaving, right? My behavior can follow. And so I've been doing something called Transcendental Meditation off and on for almost 10 years. And it's a tool in my toolbox that I use when I'm feeling really anxious or really depressed. And after like five or six days of doing Transcendental Meditation,

I wake up and I actually feel different and I'm actually inspired to like, go do things differently in my day. So that would be my like immediate go to suggestion. I think outside of just acknowledging that we live in some really weird times. And I think what you are describing is, to a certain degree, the human condition and we all feel this way from time to time. Okay, gotcha. That is good advice. And I always endorse a spouse meditation,

but you and your partner are in a funk together. So out of love, if you can't do it for yourself, then you need to be doing it for her. You guys have to get on a different fucking program and you have to write down what your goals are. I want you guys to sit down together tonight and write down what you wanna be accomplishing in a month, exercise-wise and diet-wise and meditation-wise. So now you have like three tasks

that you have to be mindful of every single day and you need to be accountable to each other. And when she's weak, you need to be a little bit stronger. And when she and when you're weak, she's going to have to pick it up too, because you guys are kind of commiserating together. And until you break this pattern, you're not going to you're going to be stuck in this pattern. And you want to be healthy and strong. Yes. When you don't do anything for long periods of time, you become less inclined to want to do those things. But the minute you say,

today we're gonna go for a 15 minute walk together, 15 minutes, you can do that together. And you're gonna feel the benefit of that when you get back. You might be annoyed and like, but you're just gonna do that every day for one week from now, 15 minutes of exercise together, the two of you have to do together, if you can.

Can you? Yeah, I think we can. Yeah, that's nothing, okay? And then you can download a meditation app, any of them. I do Chopra, which is called Presence, they just changed the name of it. But start with an app because those are easier. There's 10% Happier, there's Headspace.

Headspace is really beginner-friendly. Download Headspace. Do that. Yeah, Headspace is really user beginner friendly. Download Headspace. Yeah. Headspace is a good one. And you guys can meditate together. That's an even more powerful vibration to create. It's two people meditating together. Two people that love each other.

You're doing this together. This is a team now. You're on a team with your partner. And you're going to put 15 minutes a day towards exercise. You're going to do five minutes a day towards exercise. You're gonna do five minutes a day to begin with of meditation. And you're gonna be mindful of what you eat. Doesn't mean you have to change your entire life,

but just start to make little healthier choices. One thing that's really helped me is the addition of healthy choices, especially when you're just starting out, it's like adding in a little fresh fruit, adding in a fresh salad, like something that's really manageable and easy. And like you start to crave that stuff even more. Yes, absolutely. Instead of french fries, get a salad. Instead of whatever, just those things. It doesn't sound

appealing, I understand, but once you start to practice these things, you're going to create all of those neural pathways that she's talking about and you're going to create all of those neural pathways that she's talking about. And you're going to start to crave the goodness and the clen- like, you're going to start to crave to move your body for 15 minutes. You just have to commit on the lowest level. And then also, I think what you should do is write down at the end of the day how you felt about all of the stuff you did. How did I feel about the exercise? How did you feel after you exercise?

Good, bad, exhausted, whatever. How did you feel after you made a healthier choice after you exercise? Good, bad, exhausted, whatever. How did you feel after you made a healthier choice with your food? Good, bad, great, didn't matter, to have no impact. Write that down for a week and I promise you, you will start to see benefits and you're going to start to feel differently. Your lack of motivation is feeding itself. Right. So now you have to feed at something else. I have a question for you too. Is there room for a dog in your life? You know, right now, no, we have a small apartment, my super, you know, I'm sorry, my landlord wouldn't be cool with it.

But we are planning to move eventually and definitely want to get a dog. Yeah, I think that is such a helpful tool in getting you to the move more because you're just like, I'm out with my dog, I'm listening to a podcast maybe, I'm having a good time, I wanna go an extra block. It just helps so much getting you out and about. Yeah, and being outdoors at all,

whether it's nice, ugly, cold, gray, is good for your system. That's good for your immunity system, it's good for your energy. You have to feed yourself medicine because you're depriving yourself of all of the things that life has to offer. Everything's here for you and you're choosing to not,

you know what I mean? You gotta like step it up a little bit. And on the medication front also, is your sex drive better without the medication? It hasn't. I mean, it's only been about three months and I'm just like waiting around to see what's gonna happen and I'm still kind of at a lull.

Okay, so then maybe you do need the medication. Like was the medication making you not sexual too? Yeah, I think that it contributed to me not having any kind of sex drive and my doctors agreed that that does usually happen on anti-anxiety meds or antidepressants of certain kinds. Okay, so I think what you should do is do this, this prescription that I've given you

for the next four weeks, okay? Do that and see if your mood changes. And if at that point it doesn't, I want you to call us back. Okay. But you guys have to do this every day together. You have to commit to it. Yeah, and I love what you say about like starting small.

I think like it's not new advice, but it is the best advice. Like because you do get the ball rolling when you start small. Yeah, you just gotta pick up like you made this call, you're calling in because you wanna change your life. And now you have the opportunity to change your life. I just told you the simplest things to do,

they're totally accomplishable, regardless of what happens in our atmosphere of what's happening right now, that has no impact. You know what I mean? Just, I want you to move forward caring about your body and caring about your partner's body. Lo, I wanted to ask too, are there any supplements that you would recommend as far as sexual wellness

and increasing libido or anything like that? Especially for women? You know, I think, honestly, I think a great multivitamin is just a good place to start. We make a great one at Love Wellness, not to toot our own horn, but ours has- Yeah, toot your own horn, bitch. Why do you get your own horn?

Toot your own horn. Go to lovewellness.com and pick up a multivitamin. That's always good. Everyone needs fucking vitamins. There are some libido supplements out there that you can try, but I think just in general, there are some classic herbs that support women's health that are actually found in our multivitamin as herbal add-ons like ashwagandha, chastree, St. John's wort, et cetera.

But a good multivitamin can really help with hormone balance. It can help with some of the neurological stuff that you're talking about. 90% of Americans have vitamin deficiencies. Most of them are vitamin B and vitamin D, and that can actually lead to a lot of depression and anxiety. I dealt with that myself.

So I think, in addition, probably just a routine trip to the doctor could be in order. Just to take a deeper look under the hood, I'm not sure of your age and I won't ask, but there's even the possibility that you could be experiencing some paramenopause symptoms, which may be a factor here, I don't know, but paramenopause can start in women at age 35,

which is something that is really not talked about. And so, yeah, I think the team here has some really good suggestions. And I think I heard you live in Brooklyn. You probably are doing good things for yourself already. And you're just like not noticing it. Like you're, you're a New Yorker. I live in New York too. Like we walk a lot everywhere, every single day. You know what I mean? So that, that first week that you're taking a journal, like write down all the things that you're doing. Like, yes, like go above and beyond and take that 15 minute walk,

but I suspect that like you're already doing some things every day that you can feel proud about and you are stuck in kind of this like negative self-talk environment. And yeah, I think remembering that you wanna do it for your partner and that you love them and that you need to be accountable to them and for them is a really helpful part of it also.

It's like whenever my boyfriend is having a bad day, that's when I'm really able to like jump into superhero mode. It's like, oh, you need me? I can do that for you, you know? And so playing that role for each other I think can be really powerful. Gotcha.

And it's gonna put a pep in your step. I promise you, all of these little micro things are gonna add up together and the sum of its parts are gonna add to your life. Okay. I hope we haven't overwhelmed you. You can do it. No, no, it's not overwhelming at all.

Check in with us again. Yeah, check in with us and maybe we'll have you open on a couples counseling episode with your partner. Yeah, yeah, that's fun. We could do a follow up with your partner and see how you guys are after a month. That would be amazing. Yeah, and then we can take it even further. Okay.

Okay, cool. All right. Thank you, Cynthia. We'll talk to you soon, okay? Thank you so much. Thank you Cynthia. Bye. Bye. Bye. All right, our next question comes from Aspen. Aspen, Colorado? Aspen, North Carolina actually. Oh, she lives in North Carolina, but her name is Aspen. Aspen. Maybe that's where she was conceived, who knows. Dear Chelsea, I turned 30 this year and I've been at my job for 10 years. I'm a hairdresser at an amazing salon

who supports me in every way possible. The issue I'm facing is I had five and 10 year goals and I've mostly hit all of them, even having a whoopsie doodle baby along the way. I can't help but feel that now I'm where I wanna be, I'm really restless. I'm very driven, I'm a dream chaser, but I feel like

I've fallen into a very uncharacteristic slump. I absolutely adore my job and I do dream of bigger and better things, but I have such a hard time figuring out what the hell that means. Basically, what I'm asking is, have you ever been in a career plateau and how did you get the clarity for your next big dream? Thank you, Aspen. Aspen. Hi Aspen. Hi Aspen. You look incredible. Thank you. I thought today was a great day to wear a pink power suit. You're correct. Excellent. I love your outfit.

You look great. This is our special guest Lo Bosworth. Hi. I've been a fan for a long time too. This is wild. Oh thanks. That's so nice. It's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you too. Lo, did you want to go first since you're such a power top? Yeah. Honestly, I think sometimes it's okay to be in a slump. Here's how I think about it. I think that you could go too hard on being so good at stuff and too hard at doing nothing and being lazy.

I think that when I talk about balance, that's what I mean. I'm working on fertility stuff for myself right now. I'm taking so many fucking supplements every night and doing all of this stuff. And I decided the other night, like, I had it. I needed to go out and have a drink. And I realize we're talking about your career and not like your wellness personal life,

but I'm just trying to create that parallel, right? Is that like, you can take a break from being a boss bitch if you want to. There is a lot of good in taking a break, in letting it coast, in letting it ride for a little while. You can accomplish a lot of personal goals, right? You can get a lot of sleep. You can drink that cocktail that you're drinking, right?

And so I didn't expect this to be the advice that tumbled out of my mouth, especially on this podcast. We were like, girls, yeah, entrepreneurs, yeah. But like, my God, it's exhausting to always try to be the best and to always try to do the right thing. And so maybe you take this moment as a time for rest and self-reflection and when your body and mind are ready, it will come to you. Perhaps your body and mind are not ready.

Hey, I mean, that definitely all resonates for sure. It's exhausting always feeling like you have to be the best. I mean, I feel like it's helpful in a lot of ways and it's helped me get as far as I have, like having such a high standard, but at the same time, it like, it's hard to keep that going you know. It's hard to keep that going and also when you're really good at multiple things in life there is such truth to what Lo just said like sometimes you have to chill out to let the mood strike you like when you're in search of the next job, the next project, like that aggressively,

sometimes you're kind of almost creating a blockade towards that goal, you know, because you're putting so much pressure on yourself. Like there is something to be said for enjoying the moment that you're in because you're not struggling right now and you might be in a little bit of a plateau, as you say, but out of plateaus, things rise up. You know what I mean?

So enjoy this time because you may not have a quiet time like this moving forward. And I wouldn't put so much pressure on, I have to come up with this next thing. What is the next thing? I'm too productive and too smart to not be this productive. That is kind of like, you know, almost a negative self-talk cycle as well.

So I would say enjoy the time that you're having, you're in control of your situation. Things seem to be under control, right? I'm definitely maybe too in control of my situation sometimes, honestly. Well, tell us about that. I mean, expand. Yeah, so I've always had a very clear idea

since I was really young of exactly what I wanted to do. I went to school for it, I did it, I became really successful at a really young age. I mean, I'm only 30 now, and I've been at my salon for 10 years, which is kind of wild. And I've gotten to the top of the salon. And I think, yeah, like I said, I had all those goals, and I was so meticulous about every day this number I hit, every month this number I hit, every year this number I hit,

every, like just kind of obsessed with it. And I've been so obsessed with it, I think, being in control of my own career and my own pathway that now that I've kind of gotten to that goal that I had, not having control of it anymore is I think a little bit terrifying because I'm like wait now I don't have control of the future because I don't know what the fuck the future is And do you have anything that you're thinking about doing next? I mean, that's what I was saying to is I absolutely love what I do, but I can't help to like I Do still feel like I had this like pit like this feeling in my stomach of like I'm not fulfilling

My full potential like I feel like I might have more to offer the world than I'm currently offering, if that makes sense. And if that's true, that will come to you in a natural way. I think you sound very controlling. You know what I mean? Like you're a control freak of your own life. I mean, most people are, so that's fine. But I think this is actually a good lesson

that you're calling in to talk to us. And we're telling you both to just, we're both telling you just to chill out, chill out and like allow ideas to come your way. And I'm sure whatever it is will naturally organically appear in your life. Once you stop looking so hard for it. It's like trying to find a boyfriend. Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's honestly like how I met my husband 10 years ago, too.

I finally was like, fuck it. I'm done dating. I'm just going to work. And then literally three days later, he comes to the salon and is like, hey, marry me. And I was like, okay. Great. It sounds like you have to learn how to sit in your discomfort a little bit. It feels like you're really uncomfortable and you're really trying to get out of that uncomfortable. I don't know what's next. Try anal. I'm not in control. Try anal. Try anal if you're trying something uncomfortable. Try anal. Yeah.

I mean, what'd you say? Been there, done that. Okay. Well, just something to shake shit up. I just love that she's having a cocktail. Okay, well, this is good. What's your takeaway from this call? It was definitely really helpful for sure.

I mean, I think I knew that deep down, but it's almost like when you're a little bit of a control freak and like a go-getter, you almost need permission from somebody else to do nothing for a minute, because it's like you never give that permission to yourself. So I feel like it's really nice to get permission from women that I really respect too,

I consider to be go-getters as well. Yeah, also like be really proud of yourself for getting this far in your life. You're 30 years old, you've accomplished all of the goals that you had set out, which leads me to believe that you are going to accomplish the next set of goals you set out. And there is no timeframe on those things. So be very proud of your competency and your ability

to like follow through on all of these dreams that you've had. Like that is a huge accomplishment. So like we, yeah, enjoy that. Go with that for a minute. Luxuriating your accomplishments. Like you've earned the right to sit back and take a break. And you're only fucking 30.

Like this is awesome. Even you're 30. That's so cool. You know, I feel like I grew up really fast as I had a kid at 21. So it makes you grow up really quickly. But so sometimes I think I feel that I'm older than I am. But yeah, you're right.

I am only 30 and I do have lots of time to figure it out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You will. All right, well, thank you so much for calling in Aspen. Bye Aspen. Yes, thank you Chelsea for all the years. I've been a huge fan since I was like 15 years old watching Chelsea Laley on the couch with my mom at night.

So this has been an honor to talk to you. So thank you for being a huge role model to me. Oh, thanks. Thank you. Thanks, Aspen. Bye. What a sweetie. So funny because Cynthia was upset at herself because she didn't have the motivation and, you know, Aspen's upset at herself. Yeah, we should combine those two. One has no motivation and has too much motivation. Yeah. She's like, what's next? I'm like, I take a nap. Exactly. A nap is so delicious.

Yes. Come on. So let's take a quick break and we'll be back with one kind of wild question that we have. Okay. We're going to take a break. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the Really No Lily podcast, our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions like...

Why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the wooly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stunt man reveals the answer. And you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Brian Cranston is with us today. How are you two? Hello my friend. Wayne Knight about Jurassic Park. Wayne Knight, welcome to Really No Really, sir. Bless you all. Hello Newman. And you

never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really No Really, yeah. Really. No Really stop by to talk about judging. Really? That's the opening? Really, No Really, yeah. No Really. Go to reallynoreally.com. And register to win $500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblehead. It's called Really, No Really,

and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back with Lo Bosworth. We are back and our final question comes from Savannah. She is 29. She writes, Dear Chelsea, my boyfriend tried to fuck a stripper two weeks ago and I'm wondering what I should do. I'm leaning toward the idea of forgiving him going to couples therapy and working through it, but part of me can't help but think, what if this is who he is? Are these his true colors? How can I trust a liar? Do people genuinely make mistakes or am I just a sucker? For context, I'm a 29 year old girl and my boyfriend is 31. He's the absolute love

of my life, the most thoughtful, caring, passionate person I've ever known. He truly has a heart of gold. This sounds ridiculous, I know, but it is true. When we first got together, all of his friends warned me not to break his heart. Who knew I would be the one getting screwed? Well, me and at least one other person. We were close friends for two years before we became a couple and have been dating for a year and a half and we lived together. Here's my problem. It's not so much the stripper, it is the lying. The deception, I feel tricked, betrayed, bamboozled. You get it. He went out of town a three hour drive away on a work trip and was going to be gone for one, maybe two nights. The second

day is wrapping up and he decides to stay another night. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up at 2 a.m., grabbed my phone. To my surprise, he never called or texted, so I FaceTimed him and he was in an Uber acting pretty weird, but it was late and I didn't want to get into it, so I went to bed. When he got home the next day, the vibes were kind of weird, so I asked him what he did that night and told him it was shitty, he was too tired to drive but went out and partied. The area he was in has a lot of strip clubs, so I asked if he went to a strip club and he said no.

I could tell he was lying, so I reassured him that I wouldn't be mad. I just would like to know the truth. He insists he did not go to a strip club, doubles down, triples down. So I tell myself I trust him. I have no reason not to and a week goes by. Then Chelsea I have a horrible gut feeling all week. I can't sleep and I keep thinking he cheated on me which is not normal. So I did the thing you're not supposed to do and I looked at his phone. I went to his deleted text messages, also he was smart enough to delete it,

and found that he texted a stripper that night that he was on his work trip. Hey, this is Tony, come to Indigo Hotel, I got you. I leave at 10 a.m. I feel so heartbroken, confused and deceived. Am I a fool for not walking away or am I throwing something amazing away for a stupid mistake? Savannah.

Lo, would you like to begin? No. See, this is the thing. She says like my boyfriend tried to fuck a stripper, but like who's saying she didn't show up? Nobody's saying she didn't show up. He might've done it. Your boyfriend lied to you repeatedly.

He chose to stay in a hotel, motel, around a bunch of strip clubs instead of coming home to you. That is all the information that you need to know. That's it. No other information is relevant. That's what he chose to do. He's telling you exactly who he is and that's it.

He's a liar. Yeah. Bye. I mean, like he spent a lot of time to like plan, prepare, execute. This was not off the cuff. Right. Which means that if you, he's done this before. Like it does take a lot of bravery, I think, to like go out and to actively cheat on somebody

who you love in a lot of ways. Like it takes a lot of balls to actually execute against that plan. It's the lying after the fact. If there was nothing to hide, he would have just told you, yeah, I did. I tried to fuck a stripper. I've never done that before. It's the lying. So it's over.

Like that's not somebody you can trust and that's not somebody who has your best interest. So that's the news. And I hope that you act on that instead of finding out about this happening in another six months. Right. You know, there is a question of like, is your tolerance level to let him go do these things and like have that kind of relationship.

And if it is fine, but like you can't really get past the lying. There's no tolerance level for lying in a relationship. No, really, the lying is I can't deal with any adults who lie. It's too stupid. Adults that lie are never going to learn how to un-lie. You know what I mean? If you're an adult that lies, that's

just your pattern of behavior. It's who you are, and you're not going to change. Yeah, so Savannah, I think it's over. Anyway, Savannah, sorry about that. But there's plenty of guys out there that won't lie to you. That's right. Okay, well, Loewe Bosworth, how fun was today? Thanks for having me.

This was a delight. I want everyone to know where you can get her products. They are available nationwide at Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Amazon, and then at lovewellness.com. Yes. And you also wrote a book called Love Yourself Well. So that goes into all the science behind all of the gut, brain, vagina, axes, everything we're talking about. And you have a podcast, right? And you have a podcast called Gut Feelings. Yes. Our Love Wellness podcast is coming back next year. We're on a little hiatus right now because we've got a lot of work to do, but the podcast will be coming back.

Okay, great. Okay, Lo, thank you so much. Congrats on everything. Thank you. Bye. If you'd like advice from Chelsea, shoot us an email at dearchelseapodcast.gmail.com and be sure to include your phone number. Dear Chelsea is edited and engineered by Brad Dickert,

executive producer, Catherine Law. And be sure to check out our merch at chelseyhandler.com. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together our mission. On the Really No Really podcast. Is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions. Like.

Why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor? What's in the museum of failure and does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to ReallyNoReally.com and register to win $500 a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition signed Jason Bobblehead. The Really No Really podcast. Follow us on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts.