Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Jessica Sepel: Upgrading Your Mental & Physical Health

Episode Date: October 18, 2022

Clinical nutritionist, entrepreneur, and founder of JSHealth, Jessica Sepel, joins KB in studio to talk about two of her favorite things – rosé & vitamins – and SO much more! She and Kaitlyn are getting real and vulnerable about their personal relationships with food and fitness, and expanding on how they’ve gone from the extremes to finding balance throughout their lives. Jess explains how she got started in this career and why she created her solution-focused supplements after being in private practice as a nutritionist, a career she hopes to eventually return to. She’s giving invaluable advice on how to let go of the scale, how to get out of the endless unhealthy cycles we often find ourselves in, and why it’s important to give yourself permission to have bad weeks among the good. Plus, KB and Jess are talking about why diets fail us (not the other way around), how therapy can help us when it comes to nutrition, and play a game of fill in the blanks which will inspire you to feel your best.  Use code OTV for 15% off the full range of targeted formulas, marine collagen collection, vegan proteins and more at JSHealth Vitamins ... Carefully formulated to care for you. You can also find Jess on all social platforms at @jshealth and @jshealthvitamins. Thank you to our sponsors! Check out these deals for the Vinos: EUROPEAN WAX CENTER - Make a reservation today - your first wax is free. PERKIE PRINTS - Shop today, for high quality, made-to-order pieces that support small business and help dogs, at www.perkieprints.com and use code VINE to save 10% off your order. PROGRESSIVE - Quote at Progressive.com to join the over 27 million drivers who trust Progressive. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Quote at Progressive.com to join the over 27 million drivers out there who trust Progressive. Welcome to Off the Vine with Caitlin Bristow. Get ready to laugh, connect, and feel empowered with Caitlin and her guests as they sip wine, lots of wine, and get candid. They say vulnerability creates connection. So save the highlight reel for Instagram because when we're among Vino's, there's no filter. It's time to unwind. Here's your host, Caitlin Bristow. All right, welcome to Off the Vine. I'm your host, Caitlin Bristow. In the studio, today with me is the incredible Jessica Seppel. She is a clinical nutritionist, best-selling author, and a fellow female entrepreneur as the founder of JS Health brand, App, and Vitamins. After years of

struggling with fad diets and body image issues, just managed to transform her life and is now empowering other people to do the same. So I really hope you enjoy it this episode, and I hope it inspires you. Thank you for being here with me in the studio today. It's so good to be here. You're from Australia. From Australia. It used to live in L.A., though.

Oh. Yeah. Round the corner. There's something special about a podcast with somebody with a beautiful accent. Oh, it's a bit of a mixed accent because I'm actually from Africa as well. Africa, Australia. Oh, my gosh. And L.A.

L.A. I lived in L.A., so it's a little mix. Oh, well, it's beautiful. whatever it is. Thank you. It's all those things and it's beautiful. Okay. Mine, yeah, just beautiful American. It's good. But I'm Canadian. Oh, you are. I actually, I swear to God, you know, it's weird. I can actually normally tell the difference. Yeah, I don't really have a Canadian accent, though. I can normally, and literally I can say to someone, oh, you're not American, you're Canadian. So I'll probably say something

throughout the podcast where you'll be like, oh, okay, I heard it there. Yeah, it's like a little more subtle. It's very subtle. Yeah. I think it's because I've been here for like seven years, but Thank you for coming on off the vine today. So excited. First of, before we get into anything, you were just talking about how much you love rosé. No, it's funny. And it's sitting right in front of you. Roseae and vitamins are like literally my two favorite things.

Literally. No, I'm known. People, like in Australia, people know me. Jess loves rosé and vitamins, literally. So they're sitting next to me, the two things I have to take a photo. Yeah, you have to. But my trick that I was saying before. Yeah, totally the rosé trick.

So I used to love red wine. Yeah. Like it's like I do say like red wine is one of the loves of life. Like the greatest pleasures of life is red wine. I agree. But unfortunately, I wasn't sleeping well when I was drinking it. So I had to transition, had to, to rosé. I was forced.

I was forced to transition to rosé. The trick with rosé and people might agree, might not. But you don't get a hangover. And you sleep well. Okay. This is, first of all, I thought my rosé was maybe one of the only ones that didn't give me a hangover because all of our wines are low sugar. And sulfites as well.

Yes. So that's. that's what's helped. A lot of people have said, like, they've drunk my wine, drank my wine, whatever it is. And they don't get a hangover. And I was like, oh, it's because we have low sugar. But rosé specifically is better for sleeping. I thought it was French rosé.

But I feel like I've been drinking California and rosé here all I've been here. And I feel it's like there's something about rosé and I really want to speak to any of the wine experts out there. Because I sleep well and I wake up not hung over. Even if I just, if I have more than two glasses of wine. I wake up fresh and it's like has no impact on my sleep, which is so important to me. Like sleeping well, I'm sure you're the same. Oh, gosh. Yes.

So yeah. So my trick is French rosé or rosé. If you don't want to hang over and you want to sleep well. Wow. Well, you're selling my wine for me. Done. That's amazing. I also have a trick.

Everybody that listens to my podcast knows my trick. But I slice fresh jalapinos in my rosé and it's like a little kick with spicy rosé. And it's freaking delicious. That is cool. I'm doing that tonight. Well, because you have so many, I mean, recipes, yes. And also, don't you have a cocktail recipe that you like to do? So the thing is, I love to drink in moderation.

And I do really appreciate wine as well, especially with food. But there's another cocktail that I wanted to make for you, which is my grapefruit time gin. Because, again, this gin cocktail for some reason, the next day I literally feel amazing. There's something about like drinking moderately, but then also being able to sleep. Yes. And then also waking up feeling refreshed. I'm all about that. I like to drink, but not if it's going to affect my functioning.

I feel you. So this grapefruit gin is literally just fresh grapefruit, which is so good for the liver as well. Anyway, with a little bit of tonic, I use a low sugar tonic, Hendrix gin, and Time leaves. I need a next time I'll make it for you. I was going to make it for you, but it would be messy. It sounds like heaven because I love grapefruit juice. Yes. I love gin, Hendricks specifically.

Yes. And I love adding basil or thyme to. my drinks. Oh my gosh. So there we go. You make it already. Do you have a name for it? I call it like the Jess. What do we call it? The Jess's gin. I make it for my girls in the office often on Fridays. We just call it the grapefruit time gin. Yum. Sounds delightful. Anyone who's listening literally just ice cubes. Yeah. Fresh grapefruit, but also the pulp, which is so healthy. Yeah. The Hendrix gin, a little bit of low sugar tonic and that's it. Okay. And you mix mix and the time leaves. Yeah. And I like put the time leaves through it. Just try it tonight and you feel good.

You sleep well, you wake up refreshed, and it gives you like, I don't know what it is. It's like the combination. I don't know if it's a time, if it's a grapefruit, the gym, it's all of it. It's just like, it's a feel good cocktail. It's a feel good cocktail. It's a sold. And by the way, I'm a nutritionist. So you know.

Let's remember that I'm also all about the healthy life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I promote drinking in moderation with balance. I love it. It's fun. I love when people who are nutritionists or doctors or like skin experts or anyone like in that industry telling me that it is okay to have drinks, like in moderation, I'm like, Thank you.

And it's also nice to meet a nutritionist who really does genuinely promote balance. Yes. I think that is important. I think I always ask myself, like, what is balance? And it's probably the number one thing that people want to know how to create balance in your life. It's not perfection. It's just not perfection. And it's different for everybody.

Different for everyone. No extremes, no restriction. Yeah. Enjoying. Enjoying all of life. But eating well just to feel good and being in touch with your body. And that's really how Jay's help began. It's like exactly that I asked that myself.

same question because I thought I was living a healthy balanced life as a fat dieter. Yeah. But it's like being in touch with yourself, your body, your unique body, because what works for me is different to what works for you. Exactly. And giving yourself permission to enjoy, be kind with yourself, be flexible. Like, I used to drink and feel so guilty or go to Ilpastaya and have the pasta and berate myself.

Like, how do we get to a point where we have a wholesome relationship with food and our bodies without feeling guilty, without berating ourselves or criticizing ourselves after it. And I think that's freedom. Yeah. Jason sometimes will, if he has like a, you know, a cheat Sunday and he eats all this food, he goes, oh, I got to work out extra hard tomorrow. I'm like, no, you don't. Work out the way you normally would work out because it working out makes you feel good. Don't do it to punish yourself because you enjoyed pizza. I feel like you have a really good relationship with food. It's taken a long time. Okay. You know what? It's my story's kind of interesting because I grew up, I would eat McDonald's every single day. I was not healthy. I would eat like the

frozen dinners because I was dancing. If I wasn't at school, I was dancing and I just didn't understand or care to know nutrition. Then when I moved away from home when I was 19, I gained a bunch of weight. I wasn't dancing as much. And then I started having a very unhealthy relationship with food where I was punishing myself or I was eating less. And then I had body dysmorphia. But then I really started working on it at the age of like 26, 27. And then around 30. I can't remember, but I did an eight-week course on intuitive eating. And it's just always been something I've kind of practiced in my life since I was like 26. Intuitive eating is literally like my passion. I think that's something that's like not even spoken about enough. Yeah.

And it's changed my life. It's truly changed my life. You have just so many incredible recipes on your Instagram page. I was drooling yesterday, scrolling through it. Like my stomach was growling And after looking at all of them, like it's so good. Thank you. It's like the OG of Jay's Health, you know, because I was just a nutritionist literally preaching, you know, how do we have a better relationship with food in our bodies and let go of the fat dining, exactly what you just said. Yeah.

And learn how to be an intuitive eater. Yes. And that's was, I was actually living in L.A. when I used to, like, develop all the recipes, reminds me of the OG, J.S. Health, because I was like many years ago. And that's how Jets Health began and now obviously more known for our products. But exactly the recipes are such a beautiful foundation. And also the thing about my healthy. recipes is what I like to say is yes they look delicious yeah but it's all about simplicity and

yeah being quick like I cannot deal with getting into the kitchen for long I swear to go longer than 20 minutes yeah it's work hard who has time you and even if you don't who wants to I'm all about like yes the healthy recipes but they must be simple delicious and fast yes to make I feel you I feel you now you keep saying JS and I for the listeners who don't know could you tell us a bit about who you are and what J.S. Health is? So I'm first and foremost a nutritionist. I actually studied health and nutrition way before it was trendy. Cool. Like, I don't know, 15, 20 years ago. Oh my gosh, that makes it that scary. I realized that the other day that it was like 15 years ago when I started my Bachelor of Health and did three years of Bachelor of Health and then two

years nutrition. So five years of study. And as I say, I was literally studying health before it was, you know, trendy, which was so amazing because it was such a, true passion. But the backstory to that is I had developed a really unhealthy relationship with food. I was a teenage girl, 12, 13. Instagram didn't even exist at the time. And I really developed sort of disordered eating, really negative body image, this obsession with being thin. I mean, that number and the scale. And I say this honestly, like, determined myself worth. Yeah. That number was literally the determination of my self-worth and who I was. It was governed by that number. So it was like, started at 12 years old for at least 10 years.

And it's so weird because as I say, Instagram didn't exist. I don't even know where I discovered these fad diets. But it must have been through like those trashy celebrity magazines and fashion TV. Like I don't even understand where I discovered the lemon detox diet and paleo. Well, the fat diet's like, I remember seen in a magazine, it said what Julianne Huff eats in a day. And it literally said like an orange, four almonds. Yeah. And I would do, I would like, would you, I would follow everything that I read in those things.

Like scary. And literally 10 years of this until I went off to study my Bachelor of Health and then Nutrition, I think a part of it was just very interested in knowing more about the human body and nutrition, but probably another part of it was my obsession. I needed to know more about health. It was like an unhealthy obsession at that point. But in my fourth year of study, things started to change for me because when you studying nutrition and you learn about the power of nutrients and minerals in the body and

literally the way that help your body and your brain and everything to function, you have a whole new respect for food and whole foods in particular. Like when you learn about how fats help make your hormones and you learn about amino acids help to make triptophan, which helps to make melatonin and serotonin. And you learn about the gut microbiome. And I actually was trashing my body as a fad dieter with the extremes, living of diet coke, cans of tuna, artificial sweeteners, diet jelly for breakfast. Oh my gosh.

I actually had panic attacks at my uni because I used to go up to my lectures and saying, oh my God, I've been living of diet coke, learning about how terrible Aspartum, I don't know what you call it here. Aspartame. Aspartame. Yeah. Learning about, you know, how unhealthy these foods can be. And I had cut out all the food groups because as a fad diet, you become so afraid of every food

group because one diet tells you to be, don't eat carbs. The other one says don't eat protein. The other one says don't eat fats. And by the end of it, you're actually afraid of all the food groups. Yeah. I was also very confused and overwhelmed by the industry because, as I say, everyone was telling me to do something different. Don't eat this.

Do eat this. And then the problem with that is that you become disconnected from your own body, which we're talking about earlier. Like, I was listening to everyone else, but I stopped listening to myself and what works for me as an individual. So in my fourth year, I started actually blogging about this and a diet was private. And I basically was saying, guys, I've developed this really unhealthy relationship with food and I've had enough. Like, I've had enough. Surely there's a better way to live a healthy life that you don't have to be on a torturous fad diet or that terrible cycle of, you know, depriving yourself and then followed by overeating, binge eating.

And then again, deprivation, restriction, overeating, binge eating. And the cycle starts again. It's just a torturous, dangerous cycle. And I was genuinely stuck in it. And during the studies, I started slowly transitioning and finding ways to bring back in the whole foods, bring back in the good fats, bring back in the protein, exercise less, not more. I was on the side seeing a therapist, which I still do see a therapist and like healing my relationship with food mentally and then on the one side and the other side actually physically taking care of my body and I actually started feeling good. Yeah.

You know, as a fad diet, I'm like, well, I'm not feeling good. No. I'm not sleeping well. I'm waking up tired. My hair's falling out. It's actually not working for me. And then when I started bringing back in the whole foods and actually being kinded to myself, stop, stop weighing myself, started drinking more alcohol with more.

I started eating more, indulging more and actually feeling better because I was starting to be in tune with myself. And that was my motivation to start J.S. Health and it was a blog, which turned into, I got my first book deal soon after that because the message was resonating with so many people about let's start with our relationship with food and our body and let's get that right first and let's really bring in kindness and flexibility when it comes to the healthy life. And as I say, I started feeling so much better. And then the Jay's Health community did too through the blog.

And then as I say, the books came and the app. So what made you stop having it be private and share it with and build this community? The husband over there who was my boyfriend at the time. He actually took a look at it because I was being very, very vulnerable. You have to understand. No one was talking about the stuff. Right. And I was being super candid.

I'm like, I'm really struggling. I'm feeling so confused. I mean, when I tell you the obsession with being thin, it was like I was obsessed. So much so, my husband actually, again, my boyfriend at the time, helped me throw out the scale. One day, I weighed myself and I literally had a meltdown and breakdown. I was like, I can't believe that that's the number. And he took the scale from me and we walked down to the dumpster down the road and we threw it away. And that was the last time I ever probably had a scale 15 years ago.

But I remember how scary that was for me. And I also remember thinking, you know what, it doesn't matter. I'll just come back to the dumpster tomorrow and get it if I need to. No way. You know, just the obsession was so strong. But Dean took a look at the blog and said, this is powerful. This is a really strong message. Other young women would love to know that there's a better way.

I literally flicked it from private to public. And a couple months later, I got my first book deal. Wow. Yeah. And I was young. I was like, this was like a long time ago now. Again, before the end, like, it was really good timing for me because in Australia, people hadn't heard that message before.

Yeah, you must have been nervous to share this whole story to see like, you know, how it resonates with people. But then once you see how many people you probably helped and that was it. It was a passion project. I was a business. There was no way to make money through blogs back then. Right. It was just like, oh my gosh. Yay, I have a platform. Now I can help spread the message. And that's where the healthy recipes came in. But how can I like, I was, I was starting to feel so much better. And I just was so excited to share the message with others. Yeah. I mean, I bet so many people, I know so many people can relate to hopping on the fat diet train. I mean, I can. Not anymore, but I have, you know, hopped on that train and all these things.

It's so tempting. It is. But like 90 percent, I don't know the exact number, but like 90-something percent of people quit and fail. And that, you know what I like to say is we don't fail diets. They fail us. Yeah. They're not designed to be followed. Our brains, literally, we know in the sciences that are to prove it. I'm happy to say anyone in the studies, our brains actually rebel against the concept of diting. Right. So please, anyone out there who's failed the dyes, it's not you failing them. It's them failing you. It's just not the way our bodies are designed to work. That is a great way to put it. Okay, really quick question. My dog just bonked his head on my desk as I said that. Is your phone full of photos of your pet? If it's anything

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state of smooth at European Wax Center. Make a reservation today. Your first wax is free. I do want to talk about the scale because so many people. do you know let that number dictate how worthy they are I barely use a scale because my mom has told me like the scale is my mom she struggled with her own problems like that and grew up she was a professional ballerina well that so that was and then she realized how awful that was and she kind of saw me going down that path with dancing and I was a ballerina and so she doesn't believe in a scale and so I sometimes will step on it now this is interesting because I want to gain because I'm trying to build muscle.

Yeah, and that's a healthier way of looking at it. Yeah. So I've tried. That's rare, though. Well, so I've had to really, I didn't use a scale for so long. And I, then when my trainer is incredible, he has made me realize like gaining weight when you're doing it in a proper way where you're building muscle and you're eating the right foods and, you know, giving yourself the nutrients you deserve. Like, that's a good thing. So exactly. So I think the point is when it gets obsessional.

Yes. Are you, if you start weighing yourself to check on your muscle every day, I wonder the question is, does that feel obsessional? Or does that add pressure to your body and your mind? If you're waking up and it feels comfortable and exciting and you're not obsessing over it, that's healthy. It's about the obsessional aspect, which I personally was stuck in. Yes. I, well, I even saw myself going down that road again with the scale in the other way where I was like, I didn't, like, you know, I wasn't like worried about the number, but I was. wondering and every day I was stepping on it and I became a little bit obsessive with the working

out and building muscle, which I'm like, everything needs to just be like, I don't need to freaking lift that way every single day. But I'm proud of myself because I do it two or three times a week. And then I do things. And I've just realized that like I work out definitely for mental reasons now. And it's and it feels so good to do it that way. That's like the reason for me these days. It used to be for looking a certain way. These days it's about feeling a certain way. Yeah. So do you think it was throwing the scale away that kind of let you take those steps to let that number go? Do you know what I think it is? I think it's freedom. I think, you know, part of my, I had an eight-week program in the books and the app and part of my philosophy was that if you want to

come onto the JAS Health's journey, you need to let go of the scales for at least three months because it is so petrifying for people to think of it that they'll have to let go of them forever. So I used to say for three months, you let go of the scale. And what people would see in those three months was phenomenal. It's just how much more light they felt in their mind. And they started feeling the sense of freedom that they weren't attached to something else. dictating the number and their bodies actually started relaxing like their nervous system started relaxing cortisol started dropping and people actually just started feeling so good without the scale and their weight funnily enough would actually balance out better yeah without the scale that's what

literally I saw with thousands of people on our eight week program so then it was motivating to continue to live without it yeah so I would encourage it for those who are stuck in that obsessive cycle, throw out the scale. Yeah. And see how good it feels. Have it like scale smashing party. Literally, that was like a thing. I used to do that.

Really? I used to encourage the community to like throw it. I think my girlfriend, Erin Trelor, who if you don't know who that is, you should totally follow her account is raw beauty talks. And she, her and her daughter did it together. I love that. And her daughter's very young, but they did like this scale. Yeah, it's really cool.

I want to do that again. Yeah. That's a good idea. Good idea. What mindset do you have now about your. body and your health. It's so good because Dean, my husband and I've been traveling for the last three weeks, we'll be four weeks altogether. And it's so interesting to me because my travel always will tell me how my relationship with food is because I'm out of my comfort zone. I'm out

of my routine. I'm eating so much more, you know, I'm not, I don't even like good or bad, but I'm eating not as healthily as I would be at home. I'm not exercising like I would be. I'm drinking more for sure. So it's very interesting because I can see I can gauge my relationship with food being very good at the moment because I'm not berating myself. I'm not being guilty. I'm even waking up, looking or feeling more puffy. I'm feeling a little heavier, but I'm okay with it. Yes.

And I'm enjoying. I'm being present. I'm eating mindfully. I'm eating intuitively. I'm being kind with myself. I'm super flexible. If I don't have a healthy meal, if access to a healthy breakfast because I'm at a hotel that doesn't have, that's okay, even though these days there are so many healthy choices.

And I literally was at Erwan last night buying Greek. yogurt and granola and berries and I'm like, I just wish I could, just put it in my hotel in case I don't have access to something healthy. And I'm like, if people knew just how simple that is, like literally a tiny tub of Greek yogurt, some nuts and seeds and berries, you don't even have to have the berries, that's all you need. Yeah. So keeping it simple. So my relationship with food at this point in time is very healthy. But when I say that I still have negative thoughts, I still like will beat myself up at times. I will still have negative body image days. This is what I say to people who have struggled with.

their relationship with food, never expected to be fully gone. And that's okay. You have the tools in your box, as long as you have the tools in your box to manage it. Yeah. That is all you can ask for. And I have anxiety on the side. And the thing is, my therapist, I'm still in therapy, which helps, I think, all aspects of my self, my relationship with food, my relationships with my team, everything being a boss is, it's just not every day is a good day. And that's okay. She sometimes has said to me my therapist which will help anyone out there like why don't you let yourself have the shittest week have the shit like she says that to me she goes have the shittest week and it's so petrifying to me because every day has to be good every day has to feel but like that's my personality

I'm such a perfectionist and what if we don't feel good some days yeah what if we have a shit week what if we feel low sometimes everyone does but actually giving yourself the permission I do give myself permission good I can know you haven't know because you're you've done the work you've done the hard work but you've done the hard work but You can only get to that point when you've done the hard work. I've said this a million times on my podcast. I said it in because now I am, I still jump onto some of the Zooms for this eight-week course so that my friend does.

I will still come on to support and like see people and say what like that journey has done for me. And I still say the same thing over and over is that I think of my body like a home, like an actual house. So nice. And so, you know, when you buy a house and it's nice and you think it's like, okay, I'm good. I bought the house now.

And then the next day you, realize, oh, shoot, this wall is cracked or this leak needs to be fixed. I love that. There's always something that could go wrong and will go wrong, but you just have to always be willing to show up every day to work on it and treat it like your home. It's your body is your home. And, you know, you just have to take care of it. There's always going to be good and bad days.

There will always be lakes. Yeah. And that's okay. Like you said, that's okay. And I think a lot of times we don't give ourselves permission to have those shit weeks. Because I think the fighting against it makes it worse. Yeah. I shouldn't be feeling like this. I shouldn't have those thoughts. I shouldn't be having a bad week. Yeah. You think that must just amplify everything. Whereas when I give myself-

media. Exactly. But when I give myself permission, I'm like, okay, I'm having a really shit day. I'm going to have a really shit week. Yeah. Then suddenly everything calms down a little bit. Like the fighting against it, the perfectionism in me, I think just makes things worse. It's true. And I feel like you have so much good advice that you've already shared. But what advice has helped you? We talk about fad diets and it's so hard to stick to. to them and it's so hard to say because it's fighting against you. What piece of advice would you have to help people stick to the healthy way of a wellness journey and like intuitive eating and actually not stepping on that scale and, you know,

the habits that they get into? It's really about small transitions and changes to get there because it's not going to be overnight. And that's really why I started JAS Health and with the books because I understood this is a journey and this is a way of life for it to become a way of life. What I missed out on is that I was actually, and you're true. and private practice when so soon after I finished my studies I went into private practice and I used to sit across with my patients like this which was my literally my career my end goal in my

career is to be back in private practice because that's how extraordinary those years were because you get to see what women are really struggling with anxiety stress digestive health hair like I was so lucky to have those years of being fully in touch yeah with what women were really going through with their relationship with food anxiety stress and I used to sit across with them and say listen we're going to put together this diet plan on the nutrition plan but everything we put on here today I want you to feel like you can do today and forever if there's one thing on here that feels uncomfortable we need to adjust it because this is a way of life so I can't say to you today do this this and this because it's a slow once you start adding in the changes the

transitions making small simple changes every single week you'll end up living a healthy life that suits your mind and your body and you'll feel so well and so good that you'll just continue to make those changes and transitions. It's true. And I don't like to say, do this today, do that today. But what I can say is it's one to two small changes a week that will lead to a forever lifestyle. And so the first place to start is your relationship with yourself and food. Like how is it and checking in? Like seeing a therapist is a good idea because if you haven't looked up to your relationship with food and your body as a starting point or yourself, like how is your relationship with yourself? Do you love yourself? Do you feel

worthy? Those are the first things to address because when that is in a good place, I believe your relationship with food starts healing. Because I've often said your relationship with food is a reflection of how you're actually feeling about yourself and it can just show up there. And people wouldn't even know, you know, that that's a thing. It takes some therapy or a professional or starting to realize that and then digging deep into like your core of why you feel this way around food. And then it stems to like, well, when I was a kid and then you get into like even deeper issues. And forgiving yourself. Yes. Like forgiving yourself like if your mom put that on you or you were a dancer and you had that stress and that pressure on you like understanding that that pain had an effect and that's

okay. We all have pain. And just I think the first place with therapy is so important because it also helps you to be kinder to yourself. Like, that's what therapy is given to me. It's like I am such a high performing perfectionist that what therapy is given to me is the leaning into imperfection. Yes. It's okay. Imperfection is actually a good thing.

Yes. A good thing. Because nobody is perfect. No. And striving to it, it will literally eat you up alive. It will. Absolutely. So I think the best way to start is your relationship is of course, like I have so many

resources on my blog and in my books to help you get started because that's my first book was that. Let's just tell people right now what is your blog and where can they get the book and what's it called. It's literally, well, you can come onto Instagram at JAS Health and then if you want to see the books at jessica sepple.com. I'm really not saying that to plug myself, but I'm saying if you're looking, no, I'm just saying if you're looking for a resource to get started with, because I'm so passionate about helping women have a better relationship with food, come there. Yeah. And then, of course, I can also help guide you to see a good practitioner who specializes in relationship with food and your body. My team and I, um, send

people recommendations and then of course there's a nutrition aspect though is like starting to make slow and simple changes to your diet because that will help you to feel so well like adding those whole foods back into your diet or letting go of certain foods like sometimes i say to people if you're drinking three or four cups of coffee a day going to one to two literally will change your sleep which will therefore change your blood sugar levels which will therefore change your energy which therefore can change your mood and your melitone production like it's always stress, cortisol. So like literally I've helped people go from three or four cups of coffee a day to one to two and their entire day has changed. So this is what I'm saying. It's like slow and steady nutrition changes, which I can help guide people with depending on your body and what works for you. But literally, you know, all those important food groups that you're important, your carbs, your protein, your good fats, your greens, your vegetables, the fiber in them, all of those.

foods are really important to add into your diet. And then, of course, adding in that water. Yes. My gosh, that was, that used to be a big struggle for me. I know, me too. I've gotten a lot better though. Yeah. I've got a lot better. Do you know the number one cause of fatigue? Is it really? The number one. Cause of fatigue. If you're feeling tight, like the days that I'm starting to feel like tired and heavy in my head, I'm like, oh, I'm dehydrated. Really? I mean, of course you can be tired for other reasons. You need to check your thyroid. Yeah, yeah. But that's the number one. Yeah. But like, if you are like, it can just be dehydration. This week's Off the Vine is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

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I know you've created a product. that you're very passionate about. So I want to know about the product and about how people can be inspired to start what they love to do. I think for me it's just being a pure passion. J.S. Health vitamins really was, it was always going to be vitamins.

So what I've spoken about in this podcast is the healthy life, my relationship with food. And J.S. Health is just sort of, I see it as a world of health, right? We've got the recipes. We've got the philosophy to help you to have a better relationship with food in your body. and then we've got our products.

And JAS Hulled vitamins was, as I say, was always going to be vitamins. I was a nutritionist. I had been obsessed with vitamins my entire life. I used to work in Priceline, which is like the CVS. And literally during school, that was my job. And I used to like literally study the aisles of vitamins. Always felt this gravitational pull towards vitamins. It's actually sometimes hard to describe.

It feels like an innate calling. Like I had my great grandma that I just recently discovered that she used to travel from Africa to Switzerland to get vitamins. What? No way. It's literally in your blood. It's like in my blood. Like my uncle who passed when he was 22, I opened up his cupboard ones.

And the first thing that fell out was like all these vitamins. And then in private practice, I saw the way vitamins changed my patient's lives. But when they were good formulations with the right doses, the right forms of the ingredient, the right combination of ingredients, less fillers, less excipients, the right code. Like I believe that when vitamins are done right. they can be completely transformational alongside a healthy diet. And the science is there.

I mean, now being a nutritionist in this industry, I get to see the research and the science every single day. Like, I was looking because we created our mood and emotional balance formulation, I'm very passionate about mental health and anxiety. There are 22 plus clinical trials to show that saffron is incredibly supportive with anxiety, depression, sleep. And I can't get over the science myself and I'm in this industry. And so, of course, we put it into our formulation.

but just seeing the research is so affirming of how nutrients and minerals can seriously help people. But the thing is, I felt with J-S-Hull vitamins, as I said, I was in private practice prescribing them, but I always felt a bit disappointed in formulations. And I say this with the least arrogance I can, but I felt I could do them better and simpler. I needed them to be solution-focused because literally people were feeling overwhelmed by them. So overwhelmed. And there's so many vitamin companies out there that will just pump products out because people will buy them in the marketing. And you've actually done the research and you're trying to make it like...

I really care about the research. Yeah, I can tell. Thank you. And you're so knowledgeable about it that I'm like, I want, well, I have your vitamins, but I want everything always... You know, the label speaks to people because JAS Health Vitamins is there to address women's main pain points. So skin, digestion, anxiety, stress, hair loss. Yes, I've been taking the hair loss, the hair and, yes.

Yeah, hair and energy. Hair and energy, but you also have... Hair and libido. And libido plus. How did those two go together? Okay. So I was going to create my first. my first ever male product, which was going to be for hair loss and libido, sexual function,

because that is something that males do struggle with. Yes. And so we put it together and I was like, right, my first ever male product, put it out. And the reason why we created the libido product is because every Thursday we have our customer support meeting. And for literally 18 months, the thing that was at the top of the list was libido. I was struggling with low libido. I was struggling with low libido.

So I put it together for the males, but of course all the females ended up buying it. And it's literally in Jay's Health's life. it's the only product that has sold out five times in five months. We could not keep up. I'm telling you, I had a sex expert on the podcast and the amount of questions that came through, like, I'll have a big celebrity on them. People will be like, yeah, ask them this, normal questions. A sex expert questions about libido, people in their marriages that have low sex drive,

all these things. It's like the number one thing. And I think the last two and a half years or three years has really affected people's libido because of the stress of the pandemic. And I think I've always intuitively felt that stress is the number one sex drive killer. For sure. So I'm all about reducing the stress with our supplementation. And I just want to say one more thing about J's Health vitamins is the label, as I was saying,

will speak to you. So whatever you're struggling with, there will be a product for that. And the label, without it saying vitamin C, calcium, chumric, you can be rest assured all those ingredients in our formulations, but the label will tell you how it's going to help you. And I think that's where the vitamin industry, we did it accidentally, and that's why J-Salth vitamins has had such success, is because it's simple and clear. And if you're struggling with hormones, hormone plus PMS. You're struggling with skin, skin plus digestion because of the link between skin and digestion.

So I think just if you're wondering what supplements are right for you, our labels will tell you everything. I love this. It's just not overwhelming. Solution focus. Yeah. And like even the one that's staring me in the eyes right now, skin bright. I'm like staring at me. I am obsessed with this one because I have a lot of people writing in with their transformations

and that J-Salt vitamins is sort of known for the transformational aspect, but this is a complex from France and I'm obsessed with things from France, a special complex that has been proven to help with skin brightness and skin radiance and skin luminosity. I mean, your skin is freaking glowing. No, it's not. Yours is. I was going to ask you what's going. I've got a 10-step program, but yeah, okay. Yeah, tell me.

But yeah, skin bright has the results coming from that are. pretty incredible, but there's, as I say, there's proprietary blend called Skin Axe from France. And I just sometimes think the French do not when it comes to skin and perfume. And perfume and food and wine. Yeah, everything. They're good over there. Totally.

I just, I do want to go back to libido for a second because I do think all my listeners like once we tell. Yeah. It's just what is like in the formula that helps libido and other foods people can eat that help with that. So it's an aggravated herb called tribulus. In libido plus, we've got two because people just want libido support libido plus.

People are so obsessed with hair and energy because there's specific kelp in there for hair growth, that we actually created hair plus libido because people are cult followers of our hair and energy. So we just made it that formulation plus the libido supportive nutrient. So that's why it's called hair and libido. It's our best-selling hair formulation, hair growth, with the libido support because people live on our hair and energy. Yeah. But then there's just libido plus. But both of them use tribulous.

In libido plus, it's also ginseng, which is really nice for the stress. It's an adaptogenic herb, which is there for like stress response. which is important to help with your libido. So Tribulus is an Ayurabetic herb that has been shown to help with sexual function and support a healthy libido. So that is sort of the main ingredient in there. There's also ginko, which helps with blood blow and B6. But what I want to say about sex drive is that it is definitely a combination of your lifestyle.

I think the first thing to do is to reduce stress. I also think people, and again, this is like there's no science behind this. My intuition is that being so addicted to your phone and, scrolling is affecting people's sex lives because they come into their bedroom. They lie in bed and what do they do? They scroll on their phones. Like we have a no phone policy in our bedroom. I love that.

It's as simple as that. And 8.30pm we switch off our technology, our phones. We work like crazy people during the day and then we have a cutoff time, which is 8, 8.30 p.m. And just I think that in itself can help people sex lives. Because if you're in bed and you're not scrolling and not checking your emails and not checking Instagram, suddenly your whole nervous system calms down. And actually when your nervous system is. calm. Think about it. When you're on holiday, the truth is you feel like sex more.

That's true. And why is it? Because your nervous system's calming down, which means your cortisol levels are calming down. And again, I don't know the science behind this, but cortisol is a hormone that will shut down other hormones. We do know that. We do know that cortisol has a very strong relationship with estrogen and progesterone and testosterone. These are all hormones when they're out of balance will affect your sex drive. So cortisol is that hormone that I like, But when it's pumping out too much, it really will affect your sex drive. So you really want to work on getting your nervous system calm. There are foods that really will support your sex drive.

Of course, we just want lots of nutrients through your greens and through your whole foods. You know, protein is really important in amino acids to support all of our hormones and our production of serotonin and dopamine. We want all the food groups, you know, carbohydrates. You want all of them to support your body to function and feel its best. You know, zinc is a really nice mineral for, you know, sexual function and sperm health. So, but then there's supplementation. So there's lifestyle with reducing stress and calming down your nervous system. There's food.

Eating a whole food diet will absolutely support your hormones, which therefore can support your sex drive. And then there's supplementation, which can support. I think all three together will really support someone. So what I like about when you were talking about the labels is for someone who doesn't know where to start with vitamins or know even which. vitamins they need. Can they just go on your website and literally? There's literally a shop. It's called shop by need and we'll direct you to the formulation that's right for you.

That's incredible. And we have the best customer support team. Our biggest team at JAS Health Vitamins is our customer support team. There's literally 10 people on that team who will guide you to the best formulation. So we have our signature formulations and then foundations with every day, the fish oil, the turmeric, the vitamin D, probiotic. And again, all of our formulations are backed by evidenced, either traditional use evidence or scientific evidence. We will not add an ingredient unless the science has affirmed that it will work with whatever we're stating. And doses, I think what we're known for is our therapeutic doses because there's a very big difference when you're creating a product as a business or when you're creating a product

as a practitioner who cares about people's health. You will use the best magnesium glycinate. You'll put it at 200 milligrams. You'll, you know, you strive for a very different product. You know, if you're thinking about it from a business perspective, you'll put in a speck of magnesium. You'll use probably magnesium orotate or oxide because they're much cheaper. Yeah.

So you use the three. best forms of magnesium, glycinate, citrate, chylate, at 200 milligrams. You really want to look now at these days, and really, I'm not to talk about my brand. You want to look at the back and see the doses. Yes. If it's at a therapeutic dose, it's a good sign the company cares for the product to deliver results. How do you know if it's a good therapeutic? I know it's hard to know because I obviously as a nutritionist, I know the doses, but you can do some research. And, you know, fish oil, for example, you want it, ours is triple strength. So you want to look at the back and you can see the total is 1.5 grams, right? That's a pretty good dose of fish oil. And you can compare it,

like some will have 300 or 400 milligrams. You really, I mean, that's why I like people to see a practitioner, nutritionist, where possible, or a naturopath, so it can help guide them. And you just want to find reputable brands. Like J's health vitamins might be one. You might find others in heroin or Whole Foods. Find a brand that truly cares about people's health. And then you can be rest assured that the doses will probably be correct. The forms of the ingredient will be correct. The fillers and exhibits will be as low as possible because you have to have some to keep a tablet stable. But you just want to find a brand that cares about the research has reputable people behind it. It's funny how humble you are because I'm like, no, your brand is the brand

to get it. Well, you know what? What I can say is we do use the best ingredients, the best doses. Our products deliver results. I really can truly say that. And that's because, First and foremost, I'm a practitioner. I want, you know, my end goal is to be back in private practice. Like, I think as a brand, we truly care about people feeling well and take, if you're going to invest in our supplements, they better bloody work, you know? Like, Chase Health Vitamins is one of many really, really good brands. Yeah.

And I support all of my competitors. And like these days, you really want to do your research. Yes. And it's so easy to, like, be gravitated towards, like, those trending vitamin brands, you know? I just think it's a. important to to go for the brands that have done the research. Yeah. I mean, you can just tell that you know your shit, one, but you can tell how passionate you

are about it. And you know, and I think that's really important when you find any brand out there in the world that somebody has created to hear the passion and knowledge coming out of you is incredible. Oh, my God. I could talk about it for hours, but it's hard to do it in one podcast. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Let's do more. Exactly. I appreciate that you can feel my passion because that's really how the brand began many years ago. And I think people, you know, sometimes through Instagram and you actually can feel people's intentions. Yeah. Oh, 1000%. It's like it's an energy thing. That's why you've got such a huge following. I think people can feel your kindness and your true care for them as in your community. So I think you can't hide that stuff. It's so true. I love that you said that because I feel that same way. Like I can just tell when people are performative or trying to sell something. And then the people that are just so true to themselves and they're

passionate about what they're selling because that's there. And do you think that leads to long-term success? 1,000%. Like, you can have a minute of fame and success if you're not being true to yourself. But unfortunately, it all comes out in the end. And I think if we can all just continue to be true to ourselves and also shut out the noise of those who don't believe in it and just continue to be kind and do our thing and stick to our passion, it's always going to lead to success.

I agree with you 1,000%. I have a little game for you called fill in the blanks. At this time in my life, I am most grateful for. My husband, my family, and like my mental peace. Yeah. That's nice. Yeah. People, it's interesting how you've got to work to get there, though, huh?

This is hard work. Yeah. That's what I say to people. It's hard work. It really is. Okay. Blank is the one thing I most want to accomplish this year. more mental peace yeah i mean you can't have enough of that i just feel like that's all that matters also

because i know you'll agree with me when you have mental peace that's when all of the things fall into place in your life like i was asking gabriel bernstein i asked her i was like what like i am so big into manifesting and totally having peace and feeling good and then i was like so what like what can manifest and she goes honestly to just feel good because when you feel good everything falls into I feel that like I've struggled with my own terrible anxiety and I had a bit of a mental health crisis a couple years ago after losing my best friend to mental health. And I just realized and I never realized at that point what it is to have mental health and peace feeling good exactly what Gab says you can do anything. Yeah. If you wake up feeling good. Yeah.

You can achieve anything. I really truly believe that. I believe that too. The person who inspires me most is. I'm going to say my husband again, but I'll have to just swap off him out. Oh my gosh. Stop being so cute. I think my dad though is corny as well because my dad has gone through he's had a hard life. He's gone through a lot and his famous line is keep boxing and like it sounds funny but like it's simple but just keep boxing like when I'm having a hard day at work having an issue with my team which like it's hard managing you know staff of 40 or 45. My gosh I can't even imagine. No it's like really hard. It's not what I was born to do for sure. But anyway, whatever it is mental health, whatever you're going through, you just have to keep boxing and it always gets.

better there's always light in the end there really is and you just have to go through the hard times like I used to be afraid of the hard times the hard times I'm being honest like yeah I was like no no no no no hard times no painful times no hard days please please yeah and like it's okay and you will get through them and in fact you might even say thank God for them because you will you will like I've got chills I just got chills because I just know that every hard time in my life whatever it has been has always led to my biggest blessings yeah every time it's so don't be afraid it's I say that all this podcast all the time and it's so true and everyone can agree with that yeah um okay one thing i find beauty in that others might think is weird is like when people are just kind yeah they've got a good

heart and just want to just want to do what's right yeah when people have a good heart i really appreciate it i feel like it's so and i don't know if it's because i'm jaded or i've been in the entertainment industry but i find it really hard to find people that have good intentions these days it's hard and It makes me sad too. It makes me really sad. Because it's like I just, and I wish people, I really truly hand on heart wish people well. Yeah.

And when like everyone, like why wouldn't I? Because there's enough, there's so much abundance. And I feel when I meet someone else who wishes that, it's like so lovely. Yeah. You know? I agree. And it makes like, it reminds me of like that that's the good in the world. Because when we all wish each other well, when we're kind to one another, that really is

where the world that we should be living in. I agree. Is it like that in Australia? It's like the same as it is here. Oh, it is? I don't know. I'm a picture Australia. I know.

I know, everyone thinks it's like, no, you know, Canada. It's the same. You know, Canada is the problem. I think you know what I think everyone's the same. And I think everyone's gone through a really hard time in last race. I've noticed there's a lot of more anger and frustration. And I don't know, it makes me so sad. It is, there's a lot of anger, frustration, irritability.

Like, I agree. Yeah. It's, I hope that shifts again because we have been through it. We've been through it as a world. Okay. So again, just let everybody. And you said before the podcast, you're like, I find it's so hard to just like like pump your own tires and your own horn but i'm a believer in that because you

work really hard and you deserve the you know to promote to promote you really do so let everyone know again where they can find your product and and like the testimonials like you said a lot of people honestly you know what i will do i'll tell you to go read the testimonials because they are the ones that get people understanding js health vitamins so jeshealthvitam or at jayshealth vitamins on Instagram. And if you want to follow me, it's at JASHealth. Amazing. Thank you. And also, please don't be afraid to access our customer support, though.

Like, go to JaseHealthvitamins.com. You'll find our customer support email and anyone who needs guidance. We're there for you. Amazing. Thank you so much. Oh, that was so much. That was so special. Honestly, that.

We could keep talking for a long time. I could. But you've got many other interviews today. I do. Otherwise, I might keep you. We're going to have to preserve energy. How many more today? That was beautiful.

Oh, my gosh. You know, your energy is so special. No, yours. No, yours. I'm Caitlin Bristow. I'll see you next Tuesday. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Off the Vine. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow on your favorite podcast platform. And we'll see you next Tuesday.

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