Realfoodology - Ask Me Anything | Solo Episode

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

143: On this weeks episode, I am answering all the personal questions that you submitted to the show.  As always if you have any questions for the show, you can slide into my DM's on Instagram @realfoodology.  Thanks for listening, I really appreciate you

I am such a huge proponent for getting blood work done. I'm asked all the time what kind of supplements people should take and how much. And I tell everyone the same thing. You need to understand what's going on in your body first before you start taking supplements because you need to know what you're deficient in or if you have too much of something in your body.

And from there, then you can determine what vitamins are best for you and your specific health needs. This is why I love Healthier's micronutrient test. It is super affordable. It's $124.99. And as someone who has been getting a ton of blood work lately, let me tell you, blood work is not always cheap and not always covered by insurance. But this is $125. And there are six biomarkers tested, vitamin B12, folate, ferritin, which is iron, vitamin D, magnesium,

and calcium. It is so simple. They send you a little finger prick with a lancet and a little blood collecting card in the mail. You collect it yourself and then you send it back. It is so easy to do. And what I love about the biomarkers that they're testing, they're related to nutrition. So this kit can really help you understand where you may have gaps in your nutrition or diet. It can also provide insight into symptoms you may be experiencing that are caused by those nutrient gaps. For example, if you're struggling with low energy, it could be caused by low levels of vitamin B12 or ferritin. Also, if you are having a hard time sleeping at night or dealing with anxiety, you might need more magnesium. If you're plant-based or vegan, the micronutrient test helps you to monitor your

levels of B12, ferritin, and vitamin D, all of which are pretty difficult to obtain from a vegan or plant-based diet alone. So by testing all these biomarkers, you can tailor your diet and your supplement regimen based on your own unique needs. And you can also check and see if your supplements that you're taking are actually working for you and being absorbed so that you're not wasting your time or money on supplements that aren't giving you results. This is why I love blood work. It gives you real tangible information

about what is going on in your body specifically. To try Healthier's micronutrient test, go to behealthier.com. That's B-E-H-E-A-L-T-H-Y-R.com. Use code REALFOODOLOGY and you're going to save 15%. I've really struggled with chronic anxiety most of my life. I've been really honest about this on the podcast as well as my Instagram. Outside of talk therapy and really addressing the root cause of my anxieties and getting to the root of my traumas, one of the things that has really helped me the most with my anxiety is taking CBD consistently. I am obsessed with this brand,

Cured Nutrition. Everything is organic. They use really high quality ingredients. And I know the founder personally. I love his mission. His desire and commitment to really high quality products is above and beyond any other CBD company that I have seen. Their commitment to really high quality products is above and beyond any other CBD company that I have seen. Their commitment to quality is so high that they test all their products. So you can actually go to any of the products that you buy, look at the batch number, go on their website and see the lab results from that specific batch number. They test for heavy metal toxicity. They test for pesticides. Also, they show that the amount of CBD that they claim is in their product is actually in there, which shockingly enough is a huge problem with CBD

companies. Many of these companies are claiming that they have higher amounts of CBD than they actually do. Some companies that are really sketchy are claiming that they have CBD when they don't have any at all. So quality control is really, really important. It's super important to Cured Nutrition, which is why I love this brand so much. Also, if you guys go to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology, you're going to save 20%. Make sure that you use the code realfoodology. And again, that is cured, C-U-R-E-D nutrition.com slash realfoodology. Hi friends, welcome back to another episode of the RealFoodology podcast. I am your host, Courtney Swan. And as promised, I am doing another Q&A solo episode. This episode

is going to be all personal questions that I got on my Instagram. I recently put up a text box in my stories and I asked for you guys to ask me anything. And it was a lot of health questions, which I did another episode on that, answering all of your health questions. And then there were some personal questions. So I figured I would just create a whole episode around that. Someone asked me, what is your day-to-day life look like? So it depends on the day. I have broken up my schedule based on various things that I have to do that week. One day a week, I record my podcasts. So I have one day specifically put aside to record at least two podcasts. If I do more than two a day, my brain starts not working entirely because it's a lot of talking and absorbing of

information. And then I have a day that I record the videos for my Instagram with my producer. We record those once a week. And Mondays, I always reserve for just catching up on work in general, whatever that looks like. So I'll usually go sit at a coffee shop or I'll sit in my apartment, depending on what I have to do that day, catch up on emails. I also spend one day a month on Mondays filming all of my branded content, which is the stuff that I do, like paid sponsorships with brands for my Instagram. And then towards the end of the week, I usually will kind of like tie up some loose ends on Thursdays. And then if I have anything left to do, I'll do on Fridays. But I really try to stick to a four-day week. And I know for people that don't build their own schedule, that is not feasible for everyone

unless if you work at a really cool company. I think more and more companies are starting to move towards this. But for me, since I build my own hours, I really try to get the majority of my work done in the first four days and then I allow myself to have a really light day on Friday or just have fun on Fridays. As far as like breaking down what my typical day looks like, depending on

what's happening, I usually try to get my workout in in the morning. I hike almost every single day because that has really been my, it's just my favorite way to work out, to exercise. I get a bunch of different things in one for hiking. I cross off a lot of different boxes. I get sunlight. So I get vitamin D from the sunlight. I get exposure to nature. I get to spend time in nature. It's also a bonding experience for me and my dog because my dog really likes the hikes. And so we get to spend a good amount of time together. It's obviously a great way for me to move my body. I get good exercise. It's also a great way for me to either catch up with friends. So if I go for a hike with a friend,

it's a great time for us to spend time together one-on-one to catch up or if we get like a little group together. It's also a great time for me to catch up on podcasts or listen to music, have me time. Sometimes I do walking meditations. So I really try to get my hikes in almost every day or a beach walk. I really do love a beach walk too. I live pretty close to the beach. And so I try to walk the my hikes in almost every day or a beach walk I really do love a beach walk too I live pretty close to the beach and so I try to walk the beach often with my dog turkey because

he also loves the beach it's so cute and then if I'm not doing that that day then I do a workout class that is strength training and stairmaster it's really working on your butt and so you do a combination of floor exercises where you're lifting weights, and then you also go on the Stairmaster. And I really love that workout too, because the more I'm learning about how important it is to maintain muscle mass and how important it is for us to resistant train, especially for women. It's also important for men, but I say, especially for women, because a lot of women are intimidated to lift weights. So it's really important to make

sure that we do that as women, if you're a woman. So I usually try to get my workout done in the morning, unless if I have a really early something else going on. But for the majority of the time, I get my workouts in first. I come home and I shower, I get ready for my day. And then depending on what I'm doing, I either record podcasts for a few hours or I go to the grocery store or wherever I decide to film that day with my producer, Drake. Hi, Drake. He's listening and editing this right now because he's also my podcast producer. Right-hand man, Drake is the best, you guys. Without Drake, Real Foodology would not be happening on so many different levels. With the podcast, with my videos, he helps me film everything. He helps me edit. He's also a great

part of the humor aspects of Real Foodology because he has a great sense of humor and he's just a really amazing guy. Okay. And then after I get my work done, depending on the day, again, either I will come home and I love to spend time alone at my apartment with my dog, or I will do some sort of like dinner with a friend or have a really amazing community of friends here on the West side. We like to do potlucks. So we do a lot of potlucks. Everyone brings air one. It's like the potlucks of my dreams. Yeah. And then I try to be in bed by, I mean, let's be real every, every night I hope to be in bed by nine, which I know is extreme, but I realistically usually get into bed around 10, 10 30. And I hope to be in bed by nine, which I know is extreme, but I realistically

usually get into bed around 10, 10.30 and I like to read before bed. And I usually will read for about 20 minutes, depending on how into a book I am and how much I can stay awake. Sometimes I'll read for like an hour. Other times, like last night, I'll get like 10 minutes in and just fall asleep immediately. Oh, and I forgot to note, when I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do, well, the very first thing I do is I let turkey note, when I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do, well, the very first thing I do is I let turkey outside and then I get sunlight in my eyeballs. This really helps with your circadian rhythm. It helps to signal to your body to produce melatonin, which is something that I have really been struggling with. I haven't talked a lot about my own personal health stuff that I've been dealing with, but one of the things that I have

dealt with mostly, like pretty much all my life, and I'm finally starting to, I think, hopefully get to the bottom of it, is that my body does not produce enough cortisol in the morning and it produces a lot at night. This is classic signs of adrenal fatigue. And it's why if you find yourself waking up and having a second wind and a lot of energy at night and dragging ass in the morning, this is why. So what our bodies are supposed to be doing is releasing a good dose of cortisol in the morning because this is what wakes you up, gets you out of bed, gets you ready for your day. And then you're supposed to be releasing melatonin at night to relax your body and get you ready for bed. My body has been doing the opposite. So I make sure to get sunlight in my eyes in the morning to signal to my body to create cortisol and to wake me up. And yeah, just to signal that

circadian rhythm. Oh, and then I like to get a 10 minute meditation in with the open meditation app. It's a great way to get yourself into meditation. If you've struggled to get into a routine, it's just 10 minutes. I like to do that while I sit in front of my red light box every morning so that I can get two birds with one stone, get my red light, get my meditation, and then I start my day. So that's what a typical day looks like for me. Let's see. What is another question that I got? Oh, I really like this one a lot. What is one thing that you would love your audience to know about you that you don't think that they know? This is actually

something I've really been working on on my Instagram because I don't think that people really get a sense of how silly I am and how not serious I take life, which is so funny because I know that my Instagram is based on really serious things like food additives and all the corruption that's going on in our food industry. And I take that very seriously and I have to get that point across and it's a lot of information. It's really heady.

But I'm also just like a really silly person that doesn't really take life very seriously. I started actually recording some funnier videos with Drake, my producer, that I'm so excited to release you guys. I actually released one of them today on my TikTok. I was testing it out there first because it's very different from the normal content that I do. But it was just us like running around Lowe's making really ridiculous jokes. And that's the majority of my day, especially when I'm recording with Drake. Like all we do all day is make jokes and laugh. And humor is a huge part of my life and it's really important to me. And I love to make jokes.

I love to be silly. I love to not take life so seriously. And I'm trying to show those other facets of my personality because this is what's so strange about the internet is like you get only such a small glimpse of someone's life. And so I'm trying to show more facets of that in my online life. I also just find it so funny. I got a comment on the TikTok that I posted with something like, oh, I always knew that you were a slut because I'm making like, I'm making like sexual innuendo jokes about going to the hardware store, which look, that's just my, that's just my humor. And I just find it so funny when people comment stuff like that, when they don't know you at all. And it's also just like, why are we so serious? Like, why can't we laugh at ourselves? I'm obviously making jokes. Like these are supposed to be funny

and they're meant to make you laugh because they really made me laugh. I mean, Drake and I were like dying laughing at Lowe's the other day and just having fun. And I just want to have more fun with life. And I want to show more parts of my personality in that way. And I love to make people laugh. And so, yeah, I just feel like people wouldn't, I just wish that people didn't take life so seriously and that we could just like laugh about things, you know, and not take it so seriously. But you guys will start seeing those videos.

The majority of them are still based around food. This one that I'm talking about is not, it has nothing to do about food, but it's pertinent to my personal life in like really hoping to meet my partner soon. But it's a joke on like meeting your person at a hardware store. Cause there's all these memes floating around right now about like women going to Home Depot to like find their man. Anyways, but yeah, so you guys will start

seeing some more like goofy, silly videos on there because Drake and I have made a pact that we're going to make one funny video every time we go out and film at the grocery store. So more of those are coming soon. All right. I got a bunch of these questions. Can you please talk about toxic nail polish and hair color? All right. I'm going to address this, you guys. I have tried for so long to find non-toxic nail stuff. There are nail polishes that are free from, like, I forgot what it's called. I think it's free from eight,

where it's free of a lot of the different toxic chemicals that are in nail polish. I have tried everything. I've tried Dazzle Dry, and the Dazzle Dry was coming off within a week, and I was literally going to the nail salon once a week and I just could not do it anymore. With my work, my line of work and what I do, I would like to have, I was going to say need, but I don't need, I like to have clean looking

nails because you see my hands a lot and like on video, et cetera. And it's important to me to have clean looking nails. So I was going to the nail salon once a week. I can't do just normal nail polish because my nails genetically don't grow very long. I have been taking collagen for like six years. And for whatever reason, my nails, my mom's nails are the same. My grandmother's nails are the same. We just do not have the ability to grow our nails out super long without the help of something else like hard gel. I have been trying to figure this out for years. I keep going back and forth. Sometimes I just do no nail at all because every once in a while, I'm like, oh fuck, I know that this is not good for me. Look, I know it's not good for me.

And so I'll go with a clean nail for a while and then I get sick of it because I really like having pretty nails and I like feeling feminine and I like it. I like it. And is making informed decisions. They're not, not even that I believe. People are not making informed decisions about things that could be affecting their life when they don't know all the details. If you know all the ins and outs of the decisions that you're making and how they could be affecting your body, then I'm all here for it. So I don't want to hear messages from people saying that, oh, you're a hypocrite because you talk about these things being bad for you. No, I believe in everyone being informed and having the information and then making a solid decision about what they want to do and what they don't want to do because it's

their own life. And that's really the way that I approach it. I do so much to avoid so many things. I do all the non-toxic cleaning products. I do all the non-toxic skincare, all the non-toxic beauty products. I eat organic. I drink filtered water. There's so many things that I do in order to take care of my health that I have picked and chosen a couple things that I know going in with the informed consent that they're not great for me because I just, I like it and I just want to do it. So that's where I'm at. I believe that it's incredibly important that we all know the facts and I know the facts and I'm choosing to do it anyways.

And then the same question about the hair. I used to see someone when I lived in Nashville that did like non-toxic hair dye. And I've actually been looking for someone in LA, but I have not been able to find someone that can do my color with that. And so again, the way I justify it is that I really like my hair blonde. I was born blonde and then my hair got darker as with most people as you get older. And I tried doing my natural color for a long time. I was not super happy with it. And I'm also of the mind that like you do better when you feel better in your body.

And I feel better when I feel like I look my best and also feel my best, which is why I take care of my health in many other ways. And my hair is just something that I have decided and chosen for myself that that is where I'm willing to take a risk. Guys, we're all taking risks every day in our life, and I am by no means claiming to be perfect, and I've never claimed to be perfect. Ever since I started Real Foodology,

I've always been very open and honest with everyone and saying, look, guys, these are the facts, and this is what I know and I wanna share it with everyone. And then it's up to you to decide what you wanna do with that information. And I'm also doing the same for myself. I'm not upholding myself to this like level of perfection just because I know all of this stuff. It's also about like finding balance and living your life in the way that you want to

and prioritizing the things that are important to you and then finding the cleanest options for, you know, for everything else so that you can allow yourself to have these like few things that you know that are not great for you. And look, you may not agree with me or you may have different things that you justify. You may be like, you know what? I think hair dye is so bad for you and I decide not to expose my body to it, but I love Diet Coke and I drink Diet Coke once a week or something like that. And if that's your prerogative to drink Diet Coke, but you know the risks, as long as you know how bad it is for you, I don't have a problem with that. That's my whole thing. I'm like, live and let live. I just want everyone to be informed

with the facts, to know what they're doing and to know that they're making a decision from an informed place. And then after that point, it's up to the individual to do whatever they want and do what's best for them. So that's where I'm at. And it's wild that I have to explain all the nuances of that. I've seen other people online talk about this too. There's this other girl I follow healthily. Actually, she's amazing, a friend of mine. And she came on the podcast a couple months ago and she was talking about the same thing where she was like, guys, I talk about all this stuff, but it doesn't

mean that I'm perfect and I'm supposed to be upheld to this standard that's not feasible for any of us because none of us are perfect. So it's all about picking and choosing what's best for you. I will never judge if you want to have the Diet Coke, as long as you know that it's not good for you. So I just ask that you don't judge me for choosing the things that I want to do that are important to me and that make me happy, you know? So that's my philosophy on that. Someone asked me, what makeup line do you wear? The majority of the makeup that I use is a brand called RMS Beauty. I've been using them for, I don't even know how long now, a long time. Really clean ingredients and they rate really low on EWG. I'm obsessed with their Uncover Up Concealer. It's so good,

you guys. So I use the Uncover Up Concealer. I use a brand called Suntegrity Impeccable Skin as my foundation slash CC cream. I don't actually wear a foundation. I just wear the Suntegrity on my skin every day because it's, I forgot what the SPF is. I believe it's 50 SPF and it's really clean ingredients and it's lightly tinted. If I'm going out, I'll put a little bit more on than if I was like just wearing it throughout the day, but it's really even coverage. It's not, it's not super heavy. So I don't really, I don't like wearing foundation. Another brand that I really love a lot is Kosas. It's K-O-S-A-S. I use their concealer. I use their airbrow for my eyebrows and I like their, I like their glosses a lot. And then another brand is Tower 28. I really, really like Tower 28's glosses. And then I also use their cheek, the blush and the bronzer.

What else do I use? Oh, there's a brand called PYT, which is what I use to fill in my brows. And they make some great like liquid to dry eyeshadows that I really like. And what other brand? Oh, so I like Ilia and I've been using Ilia for a long time. I use their eyeshadows and sometimes I use their concealer and I was using their skin tint, which is an SPF, but I was tipped off recently that their products might not be as clean as we thought. From what I understand, their earlier products that they created are still clean. I love their illuminizer that I put on my cheeks after I put on my bronzer, just to add a little bit extra dewy and shine, dewiness.

But I haven't been using them as much because I've been told that they might be greenwashing. So I need to look into that further. And then I really like Dime Beauty's mascara. It's really volumous. It's rated really low on EWG for toxicity. And it gives you like really big eyelashes. I love it. And it's not clumpy and it stays and it doesn't give you the raccoon eyes.

Because I was using the Ilia mascara, but it was always rubbing off under my eyes and giving me that raccoon like black ring under my eyes. And so I stopped using that. I think that's all the natural brands that I use. I also got a question about what skincare I use. I have been using Agent Notor skincare forever. I'm obsessed. I have been following Jenna, the founder on Instagram for like five or six years. I don't even know. So I have been following Jenna, the founder on Instagram for like five or six years. I don't even know. So I've been following her whole iteration is my point of creating all these products. I found her when she just had her deodorant and it was the best non-toxic deodorant that I had found. And I tried everything like back in the day,

I feel like I tried literally every non-toxic deodorant on the market at the time. And when I found hers, I felt like I found the holy grail of non-toxic aluminum free deodorants because it really works and I've been using it for like six years however long it's been now I love that deodorant I'm also obsessed with her whole skincare line so I've been watching her release all these products over the years and what I love so much about Agent Attour is that if you follow her she talks a lot about her process and how long it takes her to create certain products. Like for example, she's been trying to create a sunscreen for years and she goes to France to formulate all of her products. Her formulator is over there and they just, they use higher quality ingredients. And the reason

why she's not released a sunscreen yet is that she has not been able to find one that's clean. Like she's not been able to find the exact formulation that she wants that's clean enough for her standards, which is why I really, really like her stuff a lot. I love her lactic acid face wash. I use the Holy Trinity every morning, which is the vitamin C powder. And you mix it with the hyaluronic acid rose, I guess you call it like

a toner. And then I put her Holly oil over that. And then at night I use the face wash. I have been using this other brand called Alpine Beauty, their nettle serum, which is like their like natural Botox. I also recently got Clear Stem's like fake out Botox product, which I haven't tried yet. And I'm really excited to try that. I just had a founder of Clear Stem's like fake out Botox product, which I haven't tried yet. And I'm really excited to try that. I just had a founder of Clear Stem on my podcast recently. And we talked all about acne. Kaylee is amazing. She's a friend of mine and she created an amazing line of holistic skincare products that really work and they're super clean and they're especially great if you're acne prone. Anyways, so I also use from Agent Atour the face filter

cream, which is like the moisturizer that I put on after the hyaluronic acid that I also use at night, the hyaluronic acid rose. I'm like toner and what else do I use? Oh, I love this brand Indie Lee for the CoQ10 toner spray. I spray that on after I put on hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture. I will say using hyaluronic acid and a spray after have helped so much with dewiness of my skin. I feel like my skin is so much more hydrated now. I have really dry skin and it has made my skin look so much dewier and hydrated. And another thing that has really helped me a lot is using vitamin C in the morning. So the vitamin C powder I talked about that I use from Agent Doutor has really helped with dull skin. I used to have really dull skin and my skin looks a lot better now. So what else do I use?

Oh, I really like the Dime Beauty products too. So I also use their hyaluronic acid. I especially like to take the Dime Beauty products with me when I go on vacation because they're pretty much almost all TSA check approved. And so I like to take all those in my carry-on. The hyaluronic acid I love, the TBT serum, the Turn Back Time serum. I love their face sunscreen because it's clean and rated really low on EWG.

Oh, I also love their gel cleanser. I actually use that a lot too. If I really have like a lot of makeup that I need to get off, I love using the Dime Beauty gel cleanser. I use that one pretty frequently as well. I'm trying to think if there's any other products. That's mostly it. Oh, if you're listening and you want to try any of the Dime Beauty products out,

you can use code REALFOODOLOGY and you're going to save 20%. It's a really good deal. So that's my skincare spiel. Oh my God, I almost forgot actually. The Agent Attour Under Eye Serum, you guys. It is incredible. It smells kind of like watermelon and it really works. It makes your under eyes look so hydrated.

It's incredible. I am so obsessed. Also their body wash smells insane. It's so luxurious. You feel like you're being transported to like a sexy hotel in France. The body oil is also amazing. It smells like roses. It's incredible. And her body lotion also smells really sexy. Yeah. Agent Datorre is like got it going on. Oh, oh, this was the other thing I was going to say. I know that Agent Ator is really expensive, but the products actually end up lasting a really long time. The Holy Trinity, I only end up buying about twice a year.

No joke. So when you think about it spread out throughout the entire year, you're actually not spending that much money and you're getting a really good high quality product that really freaking works. So just something to keep in mind. There's nothing more comforting than a warming cup of hot chocolate before bed. I know coming from me, that may sound a little counterintuitive

because you're probably thinking, how is hot chocolate healthy for you? But I've got a little hack for you and it's called Organifi's Gold Chocolate. First and foremost, the most important thing here, it has one gram of total sugar in it. So you get the satisfaction of having a comforting, cozy little sweet treat after dinner without all the loaded sugar. And it's like with this one, you get a twofer, a two for one, because you also have the added bonus of things like turmeric, lemon balm, turkey tail. There's also magnesium and there's reishi in there. So whenever I drink this at night before bed, it gets me really sleepy and ready to wind down and it really improved my sleep. There's also a blend in there that helps with digestion.

There's acacia, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric. So if you have this after dinner, it's also going to help with your digestion and it's going to get you ready for bed. My favorite thing about Organifi products outside of them being all organic, they're also glyphosate residue free. If you have listened to this podcast long enough or paid attention to my Instagram, you know that glyphosate is a huge, huge concern for all of us in this country. Glyphosate is a known carcinogen that is being sprayed. It's an herbicide that's being sprayed on all of our crops that are not organic. And it's also being leaked into organic products as well, organic foods. So

this glyphosate residue free stamp is so incredibly important. And it's one of my favorite things about Organifi outside of their actual products, which I love. If you want to try this hot cocoa from Organifi or any of their other products that I mentioned today, make sure that you go to Organifi.com slash realfoodology and you are going to save 20% on your order. Again, that's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash RealFoodology, and you are going to save 20% on your order. Again, that's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash RealFoodology. I love this question. Someone asked me, curious about your time in Italy. I want to go there later this year. I had an amazing time in Italy, and then I also had a hard time in Italy. I was originally flying out there,

not originally, I was flying out there for my friend's wedding. A friend of mine was getting married in Italy and I decided to make a solo trip out of it as well on the beginning part of it. So I flew out to Cinque Terre, which was incredible by the way, you guys, if you follow me on Instagram, you know how much i love to hike and i flew out there because someone suggested that i go there because i love hiking so much and what's so cool about chiquiterra is it's a group of cities along the coast and you can hike in between all the cities and there's also a tram and so what I ended up doing is I stayed at the very end in a town called Monterosso. And then I took a train all the way to the other end. And then I hiked into one town, which I'm trying to remember the name of right

now. I'm looking on the map to see if I can find this. So I walked to Cornelia. I'm not sure if I'm saying that correctly. And then, so I explored around that town for a littleelia. I'm not sure if I'm saying that correctly. And then, so I explored around that town for a little bit. I had breakfast. I went into the little shops. And then I hiked from there to Vernazza. And I had lunch in Vernazza. And then I hiked back to Monterosso.

It was such a cool trip. I wish that I had had someone to share it with. But I've also really come to cherish my solo trips. I've done a lot of solo trips in the last couple of years, which I'm happy to talk more about those in another podcast if you guys want to hear more about that. But I really find that solo trips are also really important for us to take if you can do it because you learn a lot about yourself and you really learn how to love yourself. I will say though that there is a line, and I talked about this with a girlfriend of mine once, that after a while of spending so much time by yourself, you, or at least for me and my friend

also shared a similar experience, you end up spending so much time on your phone because you're just kind of like, well, what else am I going to do? Like I'm in my hotel room by myself or I'm laying on the beach and I would always try to read. And when I was going out to eat and grabbing drinks, I really tried to not be on my phone because I wanted to be open to meeting people, which is one of the beautiful things about traveling solo is that you meet a lot of really amazing people. I met so many people on these trips, you guys, whenever I went solo, which was really cool because when you're going with friends, you are less inclined to meet people. I met so many people on these trips, you guys, whenever I went solo, which was really cool because when you're going with friends, you are less inclined to meet people. And when you're

solo, people just come up and talk to you all the time. Or like you talk to people at dinners, people sitting next to you. It's really a beautiful thing. But yeah, the being with yourself for so long after a while, it does get a little bit hard. But I also think in that hard time and that challenge, it's a great time to get to know yourself better. And also when things come up, you can learn how to self-soothe and take care of yourself. I think it's really important. So I'm a huge proponent for solo traveling. I do not think it's sad. I think people that are in relationships should also do it. And it does not mean that you

don't have friends. I have plenty of friends and I go on a lot of trips with my friends, but I think having the balance is really nice. And that's actually exactly what I did with my Italy trip. So after Cinque Terre, I met my friend Rayanne in Florence and we spent a couple nights together in Florence and had such a blast. We had amazing food. We went shopping. We went sightseeing. We went to rooftop bars. I had such a blast. It was so much fun. And then I went from there to my friend's wedding in Sicily. It's actually, it's so funny where we were was very close to where they filmed the White Lotus. And so I was watching that show just reminiscing of my Italian summer, last summer. But yeah, it was really fun. I ended up leaving after my friend's wedding because I was just like, I was tapped out

on the solo trip. And this is what I was talking about earlier, that after so many days of being alone, the rest of my trip, I was actually going to go to the Amalfi Coast and do that for a couple days solo. Because initially, actually, I was supposed to go with a friend. She ended up not being able to, which is why on the tail end, I was going to do another solo. And then I was like, you know what? I'm just going to go home. I'm ready to go home. I missed my friends. It was overall an amazing trip. And I felt like I broke it up really well, where I did a couple of days alone in Cinque Terre. And then I met my friend in Florence. And then I had a day alone before I went to my friend's wedding. And

then I got to see a bunch of friends at my friend's wedding and it was overall such an amazing trip. I highly recommend going to Italy. I'm actually trying to figure out how and when I'm going to go back to Italy this summer. So if you guys want to see more about that, follow my Instagram because I will be sharing more. So my trip was amazing and I highly recommend going to Cinque Terre if you can, because also the beaches there are so beautiful. You guys, Monterosso was so beautiful and it was such a cute little town and it's right on the water. So the views from the restaurant are amazing. The food was amazing. You could go to the beach every day and you could hike and it was just, I cannot speak highly enough of it. Someone else asked me, does your immediate family also prescribe

to your food philosophy? So I've actually talked about this a lot on other podcasts and I think I've sprinkled it here and there on like some of my own episodes, but my story actually started because my mom has always been really healthy. My dad is healthy because my mom is. If my dad was like a bachelor

or married to someone that did not eat that healthy, he would not care and he would not subscribe to it. I think when he's alone, like when he's at the office and eating out with friends, he's not eating that healthy. And I'm not throwing shade. He just doesn't see it the same way that my mom and I do. My mom has always been very healthy. My whole life, she's cooked everything from scratch. We used to joke that she was Martha Stewart without the litigation because my mom made everything from scratch as a kid. And we were always shopping at the little organic natural food stores. We had a place called Sun Harvest in San Antonio that was eventually bought out by Whole

Foods, but that was like our little Whole Foods before we got a Whole Foods. My mom has always been really healthy. She instilled a really healthy mindset and food philosophy in me. And while I was super resistant of it as a kid and all I wanted to do was eat Dunkaroos and Honey Grahams and all like Gushers, just all the crap you can think of.

Reese's peanut butter cups were like my favorite. She didn't really allow any of that kind of stuff in the house for the most part. I was getting it outside of the house. And when I went to college and I started seeing the effect that all that crap had on my body, I was so grateful to my mom for instilling that in me and showing me how to eat well. She was also the one that she started, she really got me into health. She started sending me books when I was in college about nutrition and I was kind of resistant to it at first. And then I started leaning in and reading the stuff. And then I realized that I was so passionate about it. Like it sparked the most passion in me. So I owe a lot of that to my mom, actually. This question, are you single and ready to mingle? I am single,

yes. And I am on the hunt for my person. I really would like to find my partner. I really want to have kids. And I am very intentional with my dating and very clear on exactly what I'm looking for and what I want. I'm really wanting a teammate, a partner, someone who wants to build a life together. And I'm really hoping that I'm going to find that soon. So yeah, I'm looking through these questions to see if there's anything else like personal wise. I feel like we dug into a lot today. So I hope you guys loved this. Let me know on Instagram, slide in my DMs. Let me know if you like the solo podcasts and if I should do more. Love you guys. See you soon. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. If you liked the episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a Resonant Media production produced by Drake Peterson and

edited by Mike Fry. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie. Georgie is spelled with a J. For more amazing podcasts produced by my team, go to resonantmediagroup.com. I love you guys so much. See you next week. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical

and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider-patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first. Do you suffer from IBS or other digestive issues? Are you looking for a new podcast to listen to? From the producer of the Real Foodology podcast comes the all-new health and nutrition podcast, Digest This, hosted by Bethany Ugarte. You may know Bethany as the face of the popular Instagram page, Lil Sipper,

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Each episode features an interview with health experts, doctors, and wellness advocates, and delivers you information that is, well, easy to digest. Bethany also delivers a weekly segment every episode called Bite of Knowledge, where she highlights an ingredient commonly used in food, skin care, household cleaning, you name it, and gives you the lowdown on the benefits or dangers that ingredient might have in your everyday life. From Botox, potassium, olive oil, and magnesium,

all the way to those ingredients you can barely pronounce on the back of your cereal boxes, Bethany has you covered. There's a reason why it debuted at number two on Apple Podcast Nutrition Charts. Check out Digest This on your favorite podcast app. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday, produced by Drake Peterson and Resonant Media.