Shawn Stevenson: Welcome to the Model Health Show, this is nutrition expert Shawn Stevenson and I'm so great for you tuning in with me today.

This is a very special episode. Today, we're diving in and talking about some of my favorite people on the planet. And little known fact, there's this X chromosome, there's a Y chromosome, they come together, create people, or you get the double X. The X chromosome is actually a little bit bigger than the Y, alright? There's a little bit more genetic information in there, when those two Xs come together in creating our amazing women. And this episode is dedicated to some of the incredible women that we had on The Model Health Show and inspired by International Women's Day, coming up later this week when this episode is published.

And for me, it's been the women in my life who've truly been the force of change, who've truly been the force of inspiration, and even going all the way back to just my childhood influences and just kind of feeling out of sorts in my childhood, moving from my mother's house when I was very young, very volatile environment to moving in with my grandmother who really cultivated and taught me unconditional love, and taught me certainty, and safety and the importance of education. And I remember her sitting there with me as I'm writing out my cursive letters in my Garfield... Shout out to Garfield, by the way. Lasagna, alright? In my little Garfield notebook, and just encouraging me to write and to read and to learn and how important that is.

And I kept that thread with me throughout my entire experience of school, of education, and I really kind of mastered that system, because it is a system, let's just be honest, there are some issues with the system, but it was very good, no matter what was going on in my life, I just knew that I was going to "get good grades". And she instilled that love of education in me to just like, "Oh, I just want to figure this thing out." And from there, parlaying into my experience early in life, my grandmother...

My grandfather actually had a couple of open heart surgeries, just a victim of that city living. He's a country boy at heart, he would hunt and forage and things like that, but him and my grandmother actually worked at a factory in St. Louis. And that pace of life and the doctor telling him, "Hey, you need to switch off of that butter and get on to that margarine," alright, the partially hydrogenated oil. And the same thing, he was a big fan of peanut butter, that Jif. And he would make this little concoction. He was a pretty fit guy, he was a fit, slim, handsome fella. And he would take the Jif, pour on the artificial version of maple syrup because it wasn't the... It was the Aunt Jemima version or Ms. Buttersworth maybe, and her thick self. And he'd pour the peanut butter and the maple syrup together, mix it up, put it on a piece of... No, he put the piece of bread on top of it. White bread, alright, the Bunny Bread, Wonder Bread. No, it was Wonder, I wonder. It was Wonder Bread, and that will his snack.

But again, he was hunting, foraging. My grandmother had a garden, but this was a time during the '80s that it was promoted low-fat, be careful with the fat, especially if you have heart conditions. And he just continued to get worse by adding in more and more, more processed foods that were removing all the healthy fats from natural foods. And so, long story short, after a couple of open heart surgeries, he moved back home to Piedmont, Missouri, the "country", the boot hills, gravel road to get to their house. But my grandmother was left with a choice, bringing me to an environment where I really, really would not fit in, to going back with my mother in the kind of the inner city structure and a little bit more of a volatile environment that we were in.

But even in that environment, my mother taught me how to survive, she taught me how to make something out of nothing. And that no matter what's going on, no matter our lack, we're going to find a way to eat, we're going to make sure we have a roof over our head. And gave me that hustle, she embedded that in me, and so, I'm so grateful to my mother for that.

And it wasn't until I met my wife, then girlfriend in college. And I was a personal trainer at the time, had about maybe two years into the game, very passionate about serving and helping people, because I had my own transformation. This is early 2000s, this was probably 2004 when we met. And she was coming into the gym, coming into my space, you know, at the... I worked at the university, it wasn't my gym, but I really felt like it was my gym. I knew everybody coming and going. There was this new girl coming in, and she was dedicated. She's coming in every day, she was on the treadmill just like... I was like, "Oh, she's super dedicated." And it wasn't of like, checking out kind of thing, it was more like, I would know who was about that life or not. Because I was just in a different mindset then even with relationships, I was just sick of it.

But I just saw her coming in each day, and funny enough, I just finished up with a client, and she was on the abductor chair, which is the most awkward machine to be on in a conversation with somebody. She was on the abductor machine and she was just maybe 10 feet away from me. I was just finishing up with a client and she dropped her headphones, and I just went over and just picked 'em up, because she's in an awkward position, you know with the... You know, the abductor machine, that's the one where your legs are open and you're trying to... Never mind. But anyway, so I picked them up and I gave 'em to her and she said, "Thank you." And I noticed her accent, and I was like, "Where are you from? I know you're not from around here." And she told me that she was from Kenya, and she was just... And I didn't know this till years later. She was very impressed that I picked it up, 'cause their accent is very, very subtle. But working at a university, I work with people from all over the world, so I just kind of picked that up.

And the rest is history. We started talking and dating, but when she came into my life, she came packaged with her mother, who is my mother-in-law now, and they just gave me so much culture, so much... They broadened my horizon so much. All I knew was the city of St. Louis, it was like a bubble, I had no desire even to go anywhere. I'd see planes flying by overhead, I'm like, "Oh man, they must be going somewhere," but I never desired to be on one of those planes, I never desired to really go outside of that comfort zone, I guess, I was in. And so, she just got me on my first trip and when she found out I'd never been anywhere, she was like, "No, we are going somewhere right now."

She held me accountable. She supported my dream and my vision, and she allowed me to support hers as well. And in her support of her mom, her mom is a occupational therapist and running her business, and she was... My wife was running things for her mother. And so they both gave me this feeling of certainty that I had lacked since leaving my grandmother's house, really, and trusting that somebody had my back, that things were going to be okay. When I wake up in the morning, there isn't going to be somebody's that got a black eye, or somebody's... 'Cause that's the stuff I would wake up to as a child. And it took a while, but that love, that consistency that they brought to my life of showing up for me, it always surprised me when they would do stuff for me. My mother-in-law, when I land from going on a trip, going to speak somewhere, and she would have food ready for me, and it just like is a love language. And it just really made me feel like I mattered.

And so I could tell a thousand stories about the women in my life who've helped me to be the person that I am. And all of us, truly, without the love and the insight of women, this world wouldn't exist. Technically, it couldn't exist anyways. Let's be real, it's the giver of life. And so I wanted to do something special today and to share some of the most powerful messages from some of the most incredible women that we've had here on the Model Health Show over the years. And I think that you're really, really going to enjoy. This is something you're going to want to listen to over and over again, so many powerful clips and insights. And also, I want to share with you, I've been studying this so much, I'm obsessed right now, but listen, this is a compilation for women. Let's talk about the Queen B. And I'm not talking about Lil' Kim, I'm not talking about Beyonce, shoutout to them, no disrespect at all, all love. I'm not talking about Cardi B. I'm talking about the queen bee, that everybody's pulling the name from, but this is the queen bee of the beehive.

Why is the queen bee so special? Now, if you look at some of the data, scientists still don't understand how bees are able to communicate with each other and function together in understanding direction and communication. They can navigate better than humans can. And one of the things we don't understand is this word we don't like to use in science, it's psychic connection. It's something that we just don't understand how they're able to reverberate this message. And no matter the distance that these bees are from the hive, the queen bee, the reason that she actually becomes the queen bee... Now, first of all, let's just make something clear, what really differentiates... We have the worker bees, there's drones, but the queen bee, feeds exclusively on royal jelly. A royal jelly, the royal jelly, and it's this nutritive component that allows the queen bee to live far longer than any other bees, and to sustain life and guidance and govern this colony.

Now, here's what I want you to know. There's a study published in advanced biomedical research, that found that royal jelly has the potential to improve spatial learning. So navigating your body within space, so things like proprioception, things like map learning, like understanding our environment. Also, they found that they were able to... Royal jelly is able to improve attention. Who could use some of that today? And also it was found to be able to improve overall memory function. Now, in addition to that, royal jelly is anti-microbial, it's anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, specifically for the brain. It has some properties where it functions as a neuro-hormone in the brain, really remarkable stuff. Royal jelly has also been found to facilitate the differentiation of all types of brain cells. And on top of that, researchers in Japan recently discovered that royal jelly has the power to stimulate neurogenesis in the hippocampus. This is the part of your brain responsible for your memory. This is the memory center of your brain. This food, one of the rare foods that can directly cause neurogenesis, the creation of new brain cells and make you smarter.

Now, Beekeeper's Naturals knew this, this incredible company, and they decided to... There's this huge wave now taking place with folks tuning into nootropics, these specific supplements and sometimes smart drugs, things that help to radically improve cognitive function, it's where the whole Limitless movie paradigm came from, it's like you could take this substance and unlock superpowers in the human brain. Now of course, there are levels to this, and we want to work with things that are natural, that don't have side effects, of any ways, have direct effects on just making your brain and your overall health work better. And this is what we see in something like royal jelly. And so Beekeeper's Naturals took this to make an incredible nootropic that I actually had today. I've been having pretty frequently, especially if I got some cognitive stuff to do, some mental performance stuff to do. It's really, really awesome. Now, this is the highlight of the product, this royal jelly, which again, I've already shared some of the data on how powerful it is for cognitive function, but they've also combined it with some other ingredients, including Bacopa.

Now, I've been a fan of Bacopa for years. This is one of my favorite things. And their product, it's called B.LXR, B.LXR, L-X-R, B.LXR. The Bacopa, listen to this. In a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled human trial, this is the gold standard of study. This was published in 2016, found that after just six weeks of use, Bacopa significantly improved the speed of visual information processing, learning rate, memory consolidation, and even decreased anxiety in study participants.

Royal jelly combined with this, combined with gingko, incredible, alright. I got put on to this, a friend of mine, Angie Lee, dropped by my house and she gave me some of this. And I'm very body sensitive, I'm just like, "I don't know, I'll try it out." Tried it, love it. Alright, highly, highly recommend checking this out, especially for up-leveling that cognitive performance. Pop over there and check 'em out, it's beekeepersnaturals.com/model and get 15% off everything they carry. That's beekeepers, that's B-E-E-K-E-E-P-E-R-S naturals.com/model for 15% off all of their incredible products. Definitely try out the B.LXR today. Get yourself some of this, I think you're absolutely going to love it.

And the reason I love Beekeeper's Naturals so much, you're not going to find this quality anywhere else because they do third party testing for over 70 different pesticides residues and toxins that are in common bee products, that honey bee, even if it's 'raw honey' that's out there, this quality and the testing, and looking for things like pervasive things even like DDT that's in a lot of different products out there. But heavy metals like arsenic, lead, mercury, bacteria like e-coli. They test for all this stuff, so you're actually getting incredible products without any of the negative stuff. Alright, so don't even get me started on their honey. Their super food honey? Oh my goodness. I love it. So pop over there and check about beekeepersnaturals.com/model for 15% off. Now, let's get to the Apple Podcasts review of the week.

iTunes Review: Another five-star review titled, “love love love” by Miss Independent O5. “I absolutely love this podcast with my whole life. Literally, the best podcast ever. Shawn's knowledge is pretty amazing. Keep it up. Love it.”

Shawn Stevenson: That put a huge smile on my face, a smile in my heart. Thank you so much for sharing that review over on Apple Podcasts. Love it with your whole life. Man, that means everything and I appreciate you for taking the time out to leave that review over on Apple Podcasts. And everybody, if you get to do, so, please pop over to Apple Podcasts and leave a review for the show. I appreciate it so very much.

And listen, this episode is again, a very, very powerful episode and dedication to the incredible women who've I've had the opportunity to have on this show over the years, and this is just a speckling, by the way. I mean, there's so many different people and I wanted to just drill this down to 10 powerful tips and insights from 10 incredible women. And we're going to kick this thing off with one of my all-time favorite episodes. This might be our most downloaded episode or it's in the top two or three for sure, and this is with Lisa Nichols. Lisa Nichols is a top female speaker in the world right now for many years. She's a star in the hit movie The Secret, best-selling author and just a true force, a force for goodness, a force for love and a force for growth. And in this clip, she's going to be talking about, or sharing with you what your number one job is for you to do each day. So let's jump into this clip from the amazing Lisa Nichols.

Lisa Nichols: My job, your job is to get up and like you, and every other like on Facebook is bonus, but you liked you first and I think the journey to liking you, the journey to getting to that place, that's what everyone's seeking, that's what people seek when they step on my campus. That's what people are seeking and ideally, we watch people get to that point, when they've studied with us for a while.

And what that looks like is, if you want to know my opinion, the first thing to do is to become whole and complete with every decision you've ever made. Because we're holding ourselves hostage to our past decisions, actions, behaviors, the things we did that we felt we shouldn't do and the things that we felt we should have taken a leap on that we didn't take a leap on. So one, become whole and complete with all of your past decisions because when you know more, you do more. And you made all your decisions based on what you knew at the time and you can't measure the man or woman you are based on the decision you made back then based on what you know now, you didn't know then what you know now. If I knew then at 29 what I know now at 51, excitedly my 51, I wouldn't have made those decisions, but I knew what I knew and so I did what I did based on what I knew.

So one, become whole and complete with all your decisions. Two, recognize that forgiveness is not about pardoning anyone else in your life, decision is about opening up more internal real estate for love and possibility in yourself. So I think forgiveness of yourself and forgiveness of others. So if you ask me the two things, one is to become whole and complete with your decisions and your actions from 20 years ago, become whole and complete with those because you knew what you knew, that's why you did what you did. And two, recognize that forgiveness is not about pardoning a behavior, it's not about giving acceptance to what occurred, it's about opening up more real estate in your body, in your heart and in your soul for what's possible in the future, because two things can't occupy the same space. So where there's hate, anger, shame, blame, there cannot be love and possibility.

Shawn Stevenson: Alright. Up next on our compilation of some of the most inspirational women that we've had here on The Model Health Show is my friend, Andrea Navedo. Alright, Andrea is one of the stars of the hit, smash hit show, Jane the Virgin, and she's been in films like Bright with Will Smith. And just super talented but super dope. She's just a dope human being and it was so cool to have her on the show and to just talk about her story, her insights, her growth, her dedication to health and wellness and to learning and to getting better. And that's how she found out about The Model Health Show, it's just her dedication to being the best that she can be. And so in this clip, she's going to be talking about not letting your insecurities rule you. Alright, so let's jump into this clip from the amazing talented Andrea Navedo.

Andrea Navedo: You know, I've been acting, I want to say for over 27 years, that's including college. And it's been a long road and it's been a long road of growth and self discovery because I had challenges of mindset challenges. So a lot of insecurities, which I still have, still working on. I don't think they will 100% go away, but I am very proactive in them and I like to talk about them because I feel like it's like shedding a light on it and not letting it stay in the dark because then when it's in the dark and it's hidden, it rules you. And I want to be the one in charge. So I like to talk about my insecurities especially because I want people to know that... They see me on television show and they think "Oh, she's got the perfect life," and you look at social media and it looks so ideal. And yeah, I'm doing fun and cool and wonderful things, but I'm walking around with insecurities. I really am. And I'm working on myself and it's one of the reasons why I love your podcast, because I feel like the things that you share, the things that you share with your audiences is to make us a better people, and that's my MO. I want to be a better person inside and out.

Shawn Stevenson: Alright, we are doing a compilation of some of the most incredible messages and inspiring women here on the Model Health Show, and next up for you, I have a clip from Marisa Peer. Marisa has been voted and acknowledged as the top hypnotherapist in the UK, and also just really in the world right now. And wow, she has had such a huge impact on many of the people that I know, friends of mine. Just in one session, in one conversation, transforming issues they've been battling with sometimes their whole life, the life as long as they can... Their recognition. And just having a conversation with her, she's brilliant, she's insightful and she's powerful. And in this clip, she's going to be sharing with you why one of the most important moments in your life is when you realize that you are enough. Let's jump into this clip from Marisa Peer.

Marisa Peer: We see my family, my mother was evacuated, in the war in England. You sent children away from the cities into the countryside, and they lived with complete strangers. And she learned very early on, if she got sick, her parents would come to visit, they had no money at all, so, being sick was very useful, it met her needs. When you have children with unmet needs, they very often become sick because it's the quickest way of meeting that need. So I grew up with a mother who was always sick and a father who loved his job and was never sick. And I realized very early on that when you have a brilliant brain which we all have, you can choose, rationalize why you feel so bad. I just had one parent who always rationalized what, "Oh, the weather's changed, you're going to get sick now. This is all going to go wrong. This will all end in tears." My mother was a master in rationalizing go wrong, and my father was a master, talks about, "I never get sick, my body would never get sick. I love my job too much. Those kids need me." He was never sick a day in his life, my mother was always sick. It was an interesting environment to be brought up in.

And I realized very early on, your words shape your reality. If you don't want your reality, change your language, rationalize why you feel so bad, talk yourself out of it "This freeway is killing me," or "Hey, I've got a car. I've got money to paying gas. That's someone else's fantasy dream come true." What would you have given 10 years ago, with this problem that you gotta commute to a job and you moan and bitch about it, "Oh, the freeway's killing me." "This job is too much, I'm dying under my paperwork. I'm at my maximum bandwidth. I can't take it." And of course, you can. It's someone else's fantasy, and so that was very interesting to me, to understand that you can choose how you feel about anything. I mean, after all, if you decide to get a whole sleeve of tattoos down your arm, would you go going, "Hey, is this going to hurt me?" They go, "Of course, that's going to hurt. Going to take you a year to get that tattoo done."

But some people choose to love pain. How weird is that? I'm choosing to love tattoos. I love a bit of pain, I love endurance training, I love pushing myself to the limit. But to see how they choose it, now that people go, "I couldn't do that, that would kill me, no." So you got to understand that you should be your own best friend and talk to yourself better. And so, I wasn't destined to be success. It was my brother went to a private school, I didn't. My parents tried to train me to be a nanny 'cause I was told I would never make it. But I realized very early on that that's not up to anyone else, that's up to me. And when I was told I could never have a baby, would never get pregnant, couldn't carry baby to full-term, I had a voice in my head going, "Don't let that in." Much, much later, I had cancer and I heard the same thing. Well, you know, I mean my doctor said, "It's got your name and address it will probably come back." And I thought, "What a terrible thing to do to someone," to actually knock on the table and go, "Well, it knows where you live, it's probably going to come back." I'm like "No, it's not coming back. I'm never having that come back.

So we get to choose, and one of the biggest thing to choose is don't give your power to someone else. No one can tell you how to feel, "You'll never get to find love, 'cause you're not a supermodel." "No one's going to love you because you're not wealthy." "You're never going to make it, because we're not the kind of family where we can send you to college." We hear all these limiting beliefs as kids, "Why can't you be like your sister?" "She's not messy." "Look at your cousin, she could read when she was four." We buy into, "I'm not enough," and "I am enough" will change your entire life, because what lies beneath addictions, hoarding, compulsive shopping, neediness, is a belief, "I'm not enough, and I need more." That might be more food, may be more drugs, may be more praise, it may be more stuff. But if that stuff could make you feel enough, why do you need more?

And if you understand that when you think you're not enough, you will always need more. When you know you're enough, you don't need more, but you think, "Oh, I deserve a better relationship than this." "I deserve a better career than this." "I deserve more, 'cause I'm worth it." And so, if you want to change your life, join the "I Am Enough" movement, write it on your mirror, say it every day. What else you're going to say when you're cleaning your teeth? "I like this minty toothpaste." How about looking in the mirror and going, "Oh look, that's in lipstick or eyeliner or marker pen, I am enough." Wire it in, put it on your fridge and fridge magnets. Put it on your phone, so it'd alert you twice a day. Change all your passwords securely, of course, because have you got that? Absolutely, but you'd never work it out, 'cause it's got squiggles and dots and capitals and a weird spelling, but I type out every day, "I am enough." I read it every day. One of my clients amazingly had it printed on her kids' pillowcases so they read that every morning and every night, and these kids were being bullied and it changed everything, it was a game changer for them. So if you can accept that a lot of our unhappiness comes from believing we're not enough, well we're not born with that belief. Then you can accept, "Okay, if I say I am enough, it will change my life, absolutely." And what's it going to cost you anyway? It's free, it's easy, it's effortless, and it's a game changer.

Shawn Stevenson: Next up in our compilation is somebody who's really helped to make this possible, who's helped to make this compilation possible, the Model Health Show possible. And this is a very special episode that I did with my mother-in-law, Wambui Kaberere. Alright, Jane Wambui Kaberere. And in this clip, she's going to be sharing with you how self-love can uplift you and create the foundation for you to achieve your potential. Again, one of my all-time favorite episodes, special moment to have on my mother-in-law, one of my greatest teachers. Let's jump into this clip with Wambui Kaberere.

Jane Wambui Kaberere: But the way I live my life is where I have so much love for myself, self-care. I love myself so much that I want to do everything which is going to empower my mind, empower my body so that I'm able to experience the presence of what there is today, not tomorrow. How happy do I feel today? How contented am I today? What is my relationship with other people? I prepare that foundation. It's like watering the roots of the plant so that it can flourish and bear good fruits. I become that reflection without knowing, only to transmit, only that which is flowing from me without effortlessly. If I see somebody, it's like every day I ask myself, my life is the way it is not because of me. Thousands of people, not even my relatives, the people here, they're making this thing happen. The place where we are in, the roads we're driving. You see, everybody in the whole world is making my life possible. How can I reflect that image or that light which I have already created within me to give the best out from myself. I want to feel more energetic when I go there. I want to be able to give only what I have. You don't give something you don't have. Yes. That's how I prepare myself to create that foundation to give whatever is being created in this body by making sure that I do, and preserve this body which is the only gift I have and I have acquire. I don't expect any other gift except this body and my mind to be able to make it every day.

Shawn Stevenson: Alright, in honor of International Women's Day, which really should be every day, we're doing a compilation of some of the most inspirational messages from some of the most powerful women who we've had on the Model Health Show. And next, this is one of my favourite people on the planet, and this is Chalene Johnson, New York Times best selling author, fitness icon. I believe she has a Guinness World Record. It might still stand of having the most fitness DVDs's sales and just being in people's homes. We've shifted out of the game to the DVDs, Now, as everything is online and downloadable, but she's been in the game for a minute, impacting lives, and just such an incredible human being. But the thing that I really love most... Well, there's a lot to love about her, but one of the things I love most is that she's given people an example that you can have a successful business without throwing your health and your relationships with your family in les toilettes. Alright, because there are messages out there that you have to sacrifice one thing for the other. Now, of course, there is the importance of prioritizing. And she's going to talk about that here in this clip, so just check out her response when I ask her the question about having it at all. Let's jump into this conversation with Chalene Johnson.

Chalene Johnson: I think you have to start with you said you can have it all, which is true, but which is most important? Because if you don't honestly answer that question, then your actions don't align. And for me, I was always saying, my family is most important but my actions and the way I was living my life didn't align with that because I was working 90 hours a week. And just even when I wasn't working, I was really preoccupied with what I was supposed to be doing. I'd be in a movie theater and looking at the screen, but I couldn't tell you what the movie was 'cause I was going through tasks and ideas and work. And it just took a toll on... It didn't take a toll on... It was taking a toll on me, but I would have continued like that indefinitely, until my husband really just said he'd had enough. And it took him a long, long, long time of just dealing with me to finally tell me that this isn't fun. This isn't what I signed up for. And I was like, "Oh. What do you mean? Look at all the things that we have." And so, it was my go-to, it was my drug. For some people, it's shopping or drinking or their sport. For me, work was how I disassociated. I felt like I wasn't a worthwhile person if I wasn't working. I would never dream of letting somebody find out that I was taking a rest day 'cause I thought they would think less of me.

And so, how I solved that problem for myself, transparency is through therapy. I mean, it's an addiction, and I think you can figure it out yourself if you want, but that's kind of the long, hard road. I always tell people, "If you want the shortcut, don't be afraid of it. Get a good therapist. And if you don't find the first person you see is great, then keep looking, because it is a shortcut."

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, as I was, of course, wondering, how did you get out of that? Because it's so pervasive and affects everything. And by the way, so this is to be clear, when I say have it all, I mean having some value or a sense of accomplishment in each area, but you have to identify what matters most.

Chalene Johnson: That's right.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah. So thank you for that. And so, yeah, and this is around when I first met you, I saw that. You really like your family. And so this was like... Was that after or during that time?

Chalene Johnson: No, I met you after that transition, for sure. And what's funny is you... I think a lot of us as entrepreneurs, you learn from other entrepreneurs who most are regurgitating this hustle, hustle, hustle, grind, grind, grind message. And I believed that, too. And I also believed that in order to be successful, you had to pay a price or you didn't deserve it, right? I didn't deserve in my mind, I didn't deserve to enjoy these things unless I was working that hard. And when I would wear the Workaholic Badge, I was proud of it. And I remember going to therapy and thinking "You're not going to believe this, but I'm here because I work too hard."

I was like, "Oh, she's going to love this." And it wasn't, it didn't take long to get to the root of why I felt that way.

Shawn Stevenson: Alright, we're back and I hope that you're enjoying this compilation. And this month on The Model Health Show, we're doing a dedication to brain health, we're really doing a focus, all the episodes that we're putting out, but this is a special episode that I really want to get in, just to honor all of the incredible women. But we still want to have a little bit of information on supporting our brain health. And nutrition is obviously a huge part of this because the reality is, your brain is literally made of the stuff that you eat. Alright, that's where the physical structure of your brain actually comes from. So you can derive then that your thoughts are going to be a result of the food that you eat. Your emotions are going to be a result of the food that you eat. Your attention span, your focus, your creativity, are all going to be derived from the food that you eat, that's creating the structure of this amazing brain that we all have.

Now, with that said, obviously, real whole foods is the basis, but now we do know that there are some, this category of super foods and super herbs and things that have actually been around for thousands of years and documented use that can help to support the health and performance of a human brain. And for me, probably, this is the thing that I have been utilizing the longest. And it's just been something that even prior to The Model Health Show, me just kind of being fresh in this field and looking at how can I improve my cognitive health, and just my immune system, all the stuff, I started looking into the medicinal mushrooms. And one of the first ones I came across was Chaga. And Chaga is well noted to... Well, first of all, this is one of the rare food sources of melanin. Alright? Melanin. That might sound familiar. This is that skin pigment that is noted to be one of those things related to longevity and great skin. You might have heard the statement that black don't crack.

There are a few foods that actually have melanin built-in, but the big component is it's a powerful antioxidant, and Chaga might be the most antioxidant dense nutritive source that's ever been discovered. Alright, more antioxidants than, you name it, red wine, chocolate, whatever you put out there, Chaga has more. So I was looking at it from that perspective. And also immunomodulation, that's one of the things I really studied in looking at some of the impacts in the clinical data on Chaga and cancer. It is fascinating to look into that. So all of this stuff. And so, Chaga was one of the first things.

And then I came across Reishi, Cordyceps and Lion's Mane. So if we're talking about brain health, Lion's Mane, University of Malaya, did some studies and they found that Lion's Mane is one of the few things. They're actually studying it for assistance in healing traumatic brain injuries. It's that potent. And so, what they found was that this is one of those other rare nutrients that's able to stimulate neurogenesis. The creation of new brain cells, and it's neuroprotective, and protecting your brain against nefarious inputs, whether that's environmental stress or whether it's stress through our food, bringing in pesticides, the stuff that we're breathing in. Lion's Mane is one of the most remarkable things for protecting your brain from the things that it's exposed to.

And so for me, I'm a huge fan of Four Sigmatic for my Lion's Mane because they do a dual extraction of the mushroom so they're doing a hot water extract and an alcohol extract. So when you hear clinical data like that, what kind of extraction methods are they using to get the good stuff out of the mushroom? And Four Sigmatic does both, so that... And it's there in one easy-to-use packet, organic, wild source, they do the best job in procuring the mushrooms as well in an ethical fashion. And they have the Lion's Mane elixir, which is Lion's Mane by itself. It's more like a tea. And they also have, which I like that with a little bit of maybe a little Almond Milk, and then they have the Lion's Mane Coffee blend which has Chaga in there as well, and some organic coffee.

And so either one of those is a great addition to your superhero utility belt, something that again, this is about protecting your brain. And it's great to include things that are going to help our brain's performance, but we also need to protect our brain because it's again, we're exposed to a lot of different things that our ancestors were never exposed to. So pop over and check them out. It's foursigmatic.com/model, that's foursigmatic.com/model and you get 15% off everything that they carry. And again, just do yourself a favor, make sure you got some Four Sigmatic in the cabinet.

Alright, now, on that note, let's get back to our compilation. We're doing a compilation of some of the most inspirational messages from some of the most inspirational women who we've had here on The Model Health Show. And next up, we've got a clip from a true fitness icon today as well. She just blown up on social media and she's created this movement of really, just positive body image, and understanding that health and fitness comes in all different shapes and sizes. And her branch, just little T-shirt that says, "Thick Thighs Save Lives." Thick thighs do indeed save lives. I can put a testimony to that, that that's the truth, that's a fundamental truth of the universe. And so Lita Lewis was on the show, and this clip, she's going to be sharing with you a quick insight about weathering life's inevitable storms that come about, and I think that you're really going to get a lot out of this, so check out this clip from the amazing Lita Lewis.

Lita Lewis: In fact, I really encourage people that if they find themselves in a really dark place or a hard time, they have to know without a shadow of a doubt, it never lasts. And then I really encourage that if you can, find a moment to stay still within that storm that you're enduring, change your perspective just slightly, you may see the reason why life or God or the universe is putting you through that storm. If you are lucky and you have that little bright light within, you may find the reason. Therefore, it makes it a little bit more easier to endure that storm but one, know that it never lasts, and two, there's absolutely a reason why life has dealt you that card for the better. I've gone through those storms multiple times in my life, and without a doubt, every single time, because I've had that minute to be still and realize "It's okay because I will gain XYZ afterwards," that would then put me in a position to do XYZ. That puts me on top of the mountain every time.

Shawn Stevenson: Up next in our compilation of some of the most inspiring messages from some of the most inspiring women we've had on the Model Health Show, is this is one of my besties right here. This clip is from Cynthia Garcia. Now, we've spent a lot of time together, a lot of nights just hanging out, double dates, and just laughing, having a good time, and thinking, talking about big things, big ideas. And she's just one of my favorite people. And she's also the founder of the Institute of Transformational Nutrition, nationally accredited health coaching program, and also business school. That's the thing that's really what sets ITN apart, one of the things that set them apart. And also the nutrition education is just phenomenal. If you want some more information about ITN, check out transformationalnutrition.com/model. But in this clip, in this episode with Cynthia Garcia which again, just one of my favorite people, one of my favorite episodes, she's going to be sharing an insight about getting beyond victimhood and being more empowered in your life. Let's check out this clip from the incredible Cynthia Garcia.

Cynthia Garcia: Especially when you talk about the mindset, because you can either be the victim or you can be the victor. And it's really up to you, but it's not always... It's that simple but it's not that easy. Do you understand? Because we have grown up, most of us, we... I don't know anyone who hasn't experienced trauma. If you were born, you've experienced trauma. And so that affects you and you carry that with you. You know this, you carry it in your body, it's in your mind, it influences your behaviors, and it's conditioning. Your neurological pathways are formed around these ways of thinking. And so you have to really hone in on that, and so obviously the food critically important. But you have to understand the deeper triggers. You talked earlier about going to the pasta celebration. I'm going to have this. What is it that's triggering that? I wonder, I like to play the I Wonder game. I wonder when else you felt that way, you felt like somebody told you you couldn't do something and you just really fought back against that, I wonder? "Well, it was this time when I was eight years old and my dad did this or my mom did this or my brother did this and I thought I'll show them."

And so there's always this trauma, like my client with the Snickers bars. There's always something that these things are triggering. The key is to understand how to safely get to those dark places, how to let go of shame that you felt around this for so long. I used to be so ashamed to tell my story, I thought, "If they hear this, they're not going to like me. They're not like me. They're different. I'm different than they are." And I was very ashamed and I lived with that for a really, really long time and it just ate away at me. It held me back in so many areas, Shawn. You talked about business, you gotta be able to run a business if you're a coach or any kind of healthcare practitioner which is so true but I would self-sabotage because, "Oh, I'm just that little girl from the Appalachian Mountains who didn't have running water." Getting over the trauma, getting through the trauma. And then we teach this at ITN, we teach the transformational trauma technique that helps you to go back and really uncover where that shame comes from, and what the traumatic events were that led to that, so that what you can do is transform your deepest pain and your darkest shame into your greatest power.

And then you can use that to leverage you forward in every area of your life. You talk about relationships. That's huge, right? I always say if you want to understand how someone's health is, take a look at their relationships. It's a direct correlation every single time. This earth suit that we are in, like somehow I got in here and you got in there. And I look at little animals sometimes and I'm like, "How did you get in there? How did that soul get in there?" It's such a trip. But we all have had these journeys, and I think when you can get to the root of some of these things and release and let go, it can power you forward because now you're not a victim. And now, when you're at the dinner and the pasta is presented and you're like, "I'm going to eat that pasta." You can step back and almost become an observer, and you can say, "This is me doing that thing again, and here's why." And now you know. Now, whether you eat the pasta or you don't, that's not the point. The point is you're developing an awareness so that you can break those old habits. You can create new neurological pathways. That's how you create change and transformation. It's understanding what you are without trying to change it. Like Krishna Murti said, but 'cause when you understand it, then what you are undergoes a complete transformation, and you'll eat the right foods just as a by-product of the person that you're transforming into. Does that make sense?

Shawn Stevenson: Absolutely, absolutely. Do you know how you meet people in your life that you just click with? You guys just catch a vibe, and no matter what's going on, no matter where you are, it's just like... It's just... It's all love. It's a vibe, it's a connection. For me, one of those people is Isabel Price, and it's funny because how our connection evolved, she's been in the fitness space for many many years, and she's impacted tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of us, specifically serving and supporting women. And she made a shift from just focusing on diet to just focusing on the whole person more recently. And it's just been an incredible experience to see, and to see the impact and the shift in her. But when we first met, she was coming to me, she was one of the very last people that I was working with before closing my clinical practice and focusing on writing books and speaking and doing the Model House Show and just working on different projects. But she was just dedicated to getting better.

She's a true celebrity in the space, and she was wanting to just get rid of her vices. She was leaning on coffee super hard. Not a cup or two a day, put a X 10 behind that, just like... Well, wait a minute, that's 20 cups. She was just going hard on the coffee, not 20 cups a day but, she just didn't want to feel like she was dependent on something. She wanted to able to... If she wants to enjoy coffee, she can enjoy it. But she was just hard charging. And she reached out to get some strategies on how to transition away from that. And we were successful, she just did an amazing job, but just a friendship really fostered from our communication, our connection, and her just being a dope person.

So, I'm really grateful that I had the opportunity to have her on. She's truly... Again, she's, just killing it. Her business is incredible, her reach, the things she's accomplished. And in this clip, she's going to be talking about an important mindset shift that you need to have in taking care of your body. Alright, this is a... Literally, it's a mindset shift to take place. And, so we're going to jump into this conversation with my awesome, amazing friend, Isabel Price.

Isabel Price: We really need to look at it... We really need to look at taking care of ourselves in a completely completely different way. So, let's say I was an artist, and I made you a sculpture. And it was a beautiful sculpture, and I gave it to you and Anne for your house. And you were like... You were just in awe of it, and you took it home, and you put it on the shelf, and once a week, you would dust it just to make sure that it looked nice, and people would come to your house, and you'd be like, "Look at this sculpture that Isabel made me, isn't it... Isn't it great?" And every once in a while, you text me and be like, "The sculpture's still looking great, it's awesome." You would take care of it out of love for me. Or just out of love. But what if I made you the sculpture, and you took it home, and you put it on the shelf and you looked at it and you were like, "That's just one more thing I need to take care of." And every time you dusted it, because you did, once a week, you'd be like, "I hate dusting. Oh, but I'll do it." Or if the only reason why you did it was because you thought I'd be mad at you if you didn't. You'd be like, "Well, I don't want Isabel to get mad, so I better just dust this thing and take care of it."

What's the difference there? One is you're taking care of it just really out of love, respect, so happy and grateful that I made you this thing. And the other one is just doing it out of just guilt almost, like "I have to." And I truly believe that God gave us this beautiful beautiful temple, this vessel. And if we can shift our mindset to think like, "I want to take care of what you gave me, I got two arms and two legs and I can do all this stuff, and of course I want to feed it the right way. Thank you God that I have this opportunity." And until you get to that place, then it's just a bunch of have-tos and, dragging yourself to the gym and eating food that you don't even want to eat, as opposed to one of, "You know what? This is... I'm so grateful to be able to do this." And there's a lot of people that weren't born with two arms and two legs. And even still, many of them make the most of it or actually do take care of themselves even better than some of us who were born being able to do everything.

Shawn Stevenson: Yeah, living outstanding lives.

Isabel Price: Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: Living their best life.

Isabel Price: Yeah, exactly.

Shawn Stevenson: So, with that said, you've also... Now, you might be at a place where you're telling people... Like instead of telling them they need to lose weight, you might tell somebody that they don't need to lose weight.

Isabel Price: Yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: Why would do that? Especially with you being in this field, and selling weight loss programs, why would you say that to somebody?

Isabel Price: Because the first thing that I want to communicate to them is that, you are enough exactly as you are right now. You are absolutely perfect right now: Who you are, your thoughts, what you have to give to this world right now. Now, if you want to wake up each day and feel better, and be able to do the things that you want to do, now, that's something that you get to do. You don't have to, you don't have to do anything. Shawn, you don't have to be here, you don't have to do this. You didn't have to go to the gym this morning. But this is what you get to do. And until I can get to that place with them, not, "This is what you have to do, but this is what you get to do," then it's just a lot of wasted time, then it's a lot of, "I lost 10 pounds, I fell off the wagon. I ate healthy all week, and then I went to a party this weekend, and I just ate whatever." So, until I really feel like they've made that mental shift, then it's just a bunch of beating yourself up, forcing yourself.

Shawn Stevenson: When you said that, it literally... It just struck me. I... I felt... I really listened to what you said, and I hope that other people did as well, that you are perfect how you are right now.

Next up in our compilation, we have a clip from an episode that I did with Christine Hassler. Oh my goodness, one of my favorite episodes, dropping jewel after jewel, after jewel. And by the way, all of these episodes you could find in the show notes. If one just jumps out and just grabs you by your blouse or by your shirt... Isn't blouse a strange name by the way? And the funny thing is, when I think of blouse, I think of Prince, I'm just being honest. But anyways, if any jumps out and grabs you by your blouse or your T-shirt or whatever you have on, your turtle-neck, you have the opportunity to go and watch the full episode or listen to the full episode and get the full download. But Christine is a coach who's, oh my goodness, she's just in a different stratosphere in her ability to help folks struggling with emotional traumas, with mental anguish, with just performing at a higher level, whether it's in their business or their relationships, and it's just incredible, best-selling author as well. But in this clip, she's going to be sharing with you how expectations influence our lives, and how we can experience an expectation hangover. Super fascinating stuff, let's go into this clip with the amazing Christine Hassler.

Why is it so difficult to just say, "This is what I want"?

Christine Hassler: 'Cause we don't think we deserve it, we don't think we're enough, or we think it might upset other people, or we're afraid we can't. We're afraid of not being able to do it. And so I think there's a lot of reasons. A lot of times, for people who have, I call them compensatory strategy, mine was the over-achiever, those things that we do to make us feel safe or validated or compensate for where we feel less than. A lot of people who are people pleasers often don't go after what they want for fear of what other people will think, for fear of upsetting other people. Their life is so oriented to making sure everybody else is happy, and being more of a giver than a receiver, so their self-worth is often very low, so they don't think that they deserve it. Or it's the really thinking that it's too big, or everybody else is doing it. And the "Who am I to... " story, that's a big one that gets in the way. "Who am I to go help people? There's already other people out there. What do I have to offer? What's the value for me?" There's a lot of ways [chuckle] we get in our own way on that one.

Shawn Stevenson: I want to dive in a little bit deeper on this one. Before we do that, I want to jump back really quickly and talk about something you've said a couple of times, the expectation hangover. Let's define what that is. And how this kind of plays into this as well.

Christine Hassler: So I made up the term, which is probably good we're defining it. It's when one of three things happen. Either something doesn't go according to plan and you're disappointed, like you didn't get the job, you end up getting divorced, whatever, someone breaks up with you. Or something does go according to plan, but you don't feel like you thought you would. Like my job in Hollywood reaching a certain point and not being happy, or life just throws you an unexpected curveball. You get diagnosed with an illness, you get laid off, something undesirable that you didn't see coming that throws off your sense of certainty, safety and control, just like a universal two by four. And you're left with hangover-like symptoms. You want to get out of it, it feels awful, your head is spinning from all the thoughts and the thinking, the fear of certainty. It's just a terrible, terrible feeling, because the thing about an expectation hangover is we don't have certainty, and a well of emotion comes up. And we're in chaos because anytime we have an expectation hangover, there's some kind of transition happening. There's some kind of ending, there's some blow to our ego or our sense of security. And we're in that uncertain period which for the human psyche, is incredibly challenging. It's even more challenging if you grew up in a more chaotic, unstable household, because it threatens that little kid inside who's like, "When's the other shoe going to drop? Oh my God?"

And when we're in those, what most people tend to do is want to get out of them as quickly as possible. And they use ineffective coping strategies like numbing, overeating, overdrinking, over-gaming, over social media-ing, overworking. Working is one of the acceptable ones. Spiritual bypass, like, "I'm just going to meditate my way out of it, and everything happens for a reason, and la-di-da," or "Be strong, I'm going to be strong, be strong, I'm going to push through and look at how strong I am." That's another one that doesn't work. Or the pep talk, just that positive pep talk kind of thing. And those get you a little bit through, but it's like putting a band-aid on a broken arm, it doesn't really heal it. And that's really why I wrote the book, is because from my own life and working with thousands of people at this point, there's such healing that can happen in an expectation hangover because let's just use like if you got broken up with, it's not the first time your heart's been broken. It's pushing a button that goes back to maybe when your dad left the family when you were five or something like that. And it's in those moments where we can really dive in and go into the feelings and heal emotionally, mentally, behaviorally, spiritually. And to me, disappointment is a huge doorway to transformation. If we can, again, start with acceptance, like, "I don't like this, I don't like this." But ask not "Why is it happening, but what am I learning? What is this showing me?"

Shawn Stevenson: Alright, next up in our compilation of some of the most inspiring messages from some of the most inspiring women we've had here on The Model Health Show, I gotta be honest, we're saving the best for last here. Alright, we've got this clip from my wife, my best friend, my coach, my leader, my cheerleader, my supporter, my boss, my partner, everything. She's everything to me. And in this specific clip, she's going to be spitting some real game to you. Okay, now I want you to absorb this, get this in your soul because this is some real stuff. This is real. I'm telling you this from direct experience. She's going to be talking about the superpowers that women carry, that needs to be acknowledged today more than ever. Let's check out this clip from my wife, my best friend, Anne Stevenson.           

Anne Stevenson: I have been fortunate to have such amazing strong women in my life, that I have just some solid examples on what a strong woman looks like. And once I had Braden, I really... I started to understand that strength that I had in me, that it wasn't a physical thing even though you know when you work out, it is a certain strength that I'm able to tap into, but this is a whole other part that I never knew existed in me. I knew it was dormant until then, so that has helped. But again, don't necessarily... If that you don't have that background or anything... I know truly that women, we have this superpower that we want to... We try and ignore it. I knew it was there before realizing and having home birth and all of that. It was there, it was just like I didn't want to own up to it. I felt that I wanted to shy away from it but it just kept on coming.

And again, situations will come forth for you to express that. So first is just the realization that if you are a wife and/or a girlfriend or whatever, it's like you do take control of the relationship in a different aspect, but you're able to... You're kind of the driver. You're able to... They always say, "You can train your man how you want them to treat you," and it's just like, "Wow, how am I supposed to do that?" Like they seem like they know... They're a hard head, they can't listen. The thing is, they don't want to be without you. Plain and simple. Like I mean, they want... And if they don't, obviously, they're not the one for you. And again, it's not about abusing your power. It's you've always been able to see the bigger picture before it happens, and I'm speaking to the ladies. We are always able to see it even when it's a small inkling, something happens, I know you can testify to there's so many times I've told you about something, and then sure enough it comes to pass, but it had to happen so many times. I think some men, it might have to take so many times for it to happen where it's like "I told you so." And until...

Shawn Stevenson: Yes. Should have listened to mamasita. You should have listened.

Anne Stevenson: Right. Until now, he just has to come be like, "What do you think?"

Shawn Stevenson: True, true.

Anne Stevenson: But... And then that we talk about that patience of being them being like, "You know what? He'll get it." But you know who you're in the relationship with, and what routes you have to take for you. I knew you would get it at some point but some things you just have to go through the motions with it. But as women, it's like standing up to that role because if you don't, no one else will. And I know sometimes it seems unfair, like "Well, he should... " No, he's busy, he has his own role and he knows what he's here to do. For you, he is the... He can be the provider or however, whatever title that you have, the complexity of the relationship, but standing up, standing up for that because no one else will. That means you taking control of what happens in the house, "This is what we're going to do in the mornings, we're going to talk this out. I don't care what happens. No. Yeah, you want to go. Okay, if you go, then these are the consequences." And that's another part I feel, they're so afraid if they say consequences, that their man will leave them. Then obviously, it wasn't for you. And it's I'm sorry, it hurts to say that, but it's the truth.

He's been... They were not there for you 'cause if they are, they're willing to battle it out. If that means they go and sit there and y'all going to like talk for five hours straight to figure out what is going on, because you are worth it. But it takes for you to recognize that because a man cannot... Is not going to shine that light for you to do that. And the thing is every woman knows this is true. They feel it in their heart, it's just that afraid of "If I do it, the love will be taken away. I don't want to be too strong," or all these small things. And the funny thing, a man will embrace that, he will embrace it and will uplift you up even more. So I think patience but also just following your innate gut to just follow through, stand up and being strong. So yeah.

Shawn Stevenson: Oh my goodness. This is like babe, when you said, "He doesn't want to be without you," man, that hit my soul. I definitely do not want to be without you. What does it take? What do I have to do? And I'm just still going through scenarios in my mind. Like what if I'm upset? What if I'm like really hurt about something? I still don't want to be without you. So I'm going to do whatever it takes and... Yeah.

Anne Stevenson: And can I say something, too, though? And when I say this sometimes, there'll be people where it's like, "I'm just going to do it and being this strong voice," but I think also to add compassion to it, also seeing what you need to do to become that woman first. Because there's always inner work to be done. And when the more you do inner work, the more compassionate you will be for your mate. And you will know the right way to say things but still being that firm individual that is willing to stand for themselves, to be that voice that they know, like it's been in their heart all this time.

Shawn Stevenson: I hope that you enjoyed this episode and this compilation, and please send this out to somebody that you love, an inspirational woman in your life, and show some support, show some love. And this is for everybody, though, this truly is. These insights, these mental tips and tools and mindset shifts can truly change the course of our life if we allow them in and truly imbue them into our spirit. So if something really spoke to you today, walk with it, really meditate on it, process the information, make it a mantra, something that you can just carry in. "I am enough. I am enough." And just remember how powerful you are, alright, because right now more than ever, we need people to embrace their innate greatness, their innate goodness. And first of all, it starts from a place, a foundation of love, of loving oneself and understanding that you are enough, you are perfect how you are, with the caveat that you have full permission to change it to be everything that you want to be as well, and I want to be here to support you in that.

I thank you so much for tuning in and sharing this experience with me. And again, you can share this out with the people you care about, you could shoot it out right from the podcast app. Hit the share button or you can share it out on social media. And of course, tag me if you're sharing on social media. And I appreciate that. I love seeing the shares out on social. You can tag me, I'm on Instagram. I'm @shawnmodel, S-H-A-W-N model. And on Twitter as well, @shawnmodel. On Facebook, I'm @themodelhealthshow. Alright, so I appreciate you so much for tuning in today. We've got some epic stuff coming your way. We're focused this month on brain health. So the next episode coming is fire. Alright, it's so good, so good. So make sure to stay tuned and look out for that very soon. Alright. I appreciate you so much for tuning in, take care, have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon.

And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all the show notes, you could find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome, and I appreciate that so much. And take care, I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.