Eps 190: Getting our nutrition on with Lahana Vigliano

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Casey O'Roarty 0:04
You are listening to the joyful courage podcast, a place of inspiration and information for the parenting journey. I am your host. Casey overrordie, positive discipline trainer, coach and parent of two teens of my own. I am honored to be a guide and fellow traveler on the path of more connected and thoughtful parenting. I wanted to give you a heads up that coming June 25 we will begin the 2019 summer series, a best of compilation of shows that focus on the tween and teen years. As a parent of teens myself, I am on a mission to fill what feels like a gap in the information for those of us who want to maintain a kind and firm relationship based style of parenting, as our kids go through their own developmental era of pulling away and figuring out who they are, this summer, while I take a break to prep a fantastic fall for you all, You will get to revisit some of my favorite conversations about what is turning out to be the most challenging and the most fun season of parenting yet. And don't forget, if you love what you are hearing here, please jump over to iTunes and leave a review. This is how more people discover the show and how we can work together to create a more connected and loving world, one family at a time, and now enjoy this episode. Hi podcast listeners. Welcome back to the show. My guest today is lahana vigliano. Lahana is a certified clinical nutritionist and CEO of thrival nutrition. She has her bachelor's degree in nutrition science, and currently is pursuing her master's degree in nutrition science. Lahana and her team help support women who struggle with weight loss, hormone imbalances, digestive issues, chronic fatigue and many other lingering issues that leaves women not feeling their best. She uses food as medicine as well as herbs and supplements when needed to support her clients, she looks at the whole body holistically, making sure women are understanding how nutrition, sleep, stress and their environment impact their health. She creates tons of free resources on her blog, www.thrivalnutrition.com I'm so excited to have you. Hi, lahana. Welcome to the podcast. Hi, thank

Lahana Vigliano 2:28
you for having me.

Casey O'Roarty 2:30
Please share with the listeners a little bit more about your personal journey of doing what you do.

Lahana Vigliano 2:35
Perfect. So you got the formal. You got the formal down. So all your creds, all my creds, really, when it started, I was actually in kindergarten, and I always knew that, you know, I wanted to help people with their health. I loved it. So in my mind, you know, I wanted to be a doctor. So, you know, I was going through all the prereqs to become a PA. And, you know, something just changed to me when I was in college. Granted, I started having kids as well around that time. But, you know, I just wasn't. I had this feeling that this wasn't what I was supposed to be doing, in the sense of pill for this, pill for that, and having kids, because I was 18 when I had my son, which I'll get into in a little bit. But baby,

Casey O'Roarty 3:15
you're a baby. I

Lahana Vigliano 3:16
was a baby and so, but my perspective started to change. So, you know, I wanted to just raise, you know, good and happy and healthy kids. And you know, I feel like I just yearned for more, like preventative aspect of health. And even if someone didn't feel good and they had issues, they were really interested in getting more back into like alignment with the foundation, like the nutrition and stress and sleep and exercise and all that. And I just, you know, I just loved that I fell in love with, you know, there was so much power right here on this earth, and that's kind of where I am today. And you know why I turned to nutrition? I just fell in love with it. And my family definitely influenced that as well, well.

Casey O'Roarty 3:58
And as I was reading your bio, I was thinking about, you know, just the whole perspective of the whole body, right? The whole body holistically, you know, when I think about my lens, and what I talk about is, is parenting and behavior and relationship and, like, it's the same kind of concept, like, there's not one thing for one behavior. It's this bigger picture of what's happening under the surface and what does relationship look like. And so I just really appreciate any time we're looking at anything holistically. And I have to just tell you my daughter, who's 16, and my listeners are probably like, oh geez, she's already talking about her daughter again, so just bear with me. But lately, she's gotten in you know, of course, we parents, and you know you're a parent. How old are your kids? Eight and five. Eight and five? Great. So you know you want them to be eating healthy, and you know you're buying the food and talking about health, and ultimately they decide what they put in their mouth. Mine are 13 and 16. Same is true. There. Her and my daughter has gotten into this kick, and she woke up this morning. She's been drinking tons of water. She's just she's been juicing, which I've have never been able to get her to drink my green juices. And now it's as if she's discovered, like she's invented them. I think she feels like but whatever, it's fine. She's eating better. She's sleeping more, going to bed earlier. And she woke up this morning and she says, Mom, you know, I looked in the mirror and I'm just my skin is just glowing. And I was like, Yeah, it's amazing what happens when we take care of our insides, what how it manifests on our outside? So yes, yes, yes, yes to nutrition. I love that. And so we're going to talk about yes nutrition, but in the context of stress, right? Because and cortisol, which I think is like the normal, not normal, but like the mainstream human doesn't really have a clear understanding of what cortisol is. So I'm really excited to talk about that and how it shows up with stress, specifically in mothers. So what tipped your interest off in wanting to talk about work with write about cortisol and high stress in moms?

Lahana Vigliano 6:11
I think it stems from being a mom myself. So, like I said, I have an eight and five, and so I understand that struggle of stress and parenthood and just wearing so many hats. And so, like I mentioned, I had my son when I was 18, and we had our daughter after we got married, I think 2122 so I was like a young mom, and so I didn't have any Oh, girl, you still

Casey O'Roarty 6:33
are a young mom. I

Lahana Vigliano 6:34
know girl, but I just didn't have a choice but to work. So I was working a 40 hour job to help my family with finances, and I continued going to school. So like right from high school, I never stopped school. I went straight to community college, the local university. I was always taking full time semesters through pregnancies, infant, toddler, years, everything. So I literally picked up my books at the bookstore for the next semester. Three days after I gave birth, hurt so bad to stand in line because my vagina felt like it was just going to fall off. I just understand what it's like having all these plates spinning. And of course, when I whatever I mentioned with school and work, that doesn't include like this life, like cooking, cleaning a sports on the weekends, maintaining a social life. So I just understand and I appreciate the moms who have a lot going on. And what's a lot going on means a lot of stress.

Casey O'Roarty 7:32
Yeah, and so tell me about who you work with, like through thrival nutrition. Do you mostly work with moms that are finding themselves in this place, who is your typical client? Yes,

Lahana Vigliano 7:43
I do. I definitely try to really reach out to moms, because I just feel like I relate to that and I understand that, versus, like, working with someone who's 60, which I still do, but I just feel like I connect so much more with moms. And so I see postpartum moms, and then, you know, just moms in general. And so usually, you know, what I see is they're coming to me, and they're just like, they just don't feel good, yeah. So some of the things that I feel like I hear all the time is, I'm so tired, I don't have energy to do what I need to do. I can't sleep. You know, I'm so hyped up, my mind's just, you know, running with like my to do list in my head, or I can't sleep. I have insomnia. My cycle isn't regular and normal anymore. I can't lose weight. So cortisol really plays an impact in this, because our adrenals, which is in our body, right on top of our kidneys, and so this makes our stress hormone, which is cortisol. And so cortisol just naturally, you know, it's very beneficial to have, but not for, like, a long term. And so right in the morning is when our cortisol is peaked, and that is what helps us wakes up and gets our day going. And then it slowly goes down as as the day goes on, and we come into night time, and it goes down so we can sleep. So when I see this in moms, this is, it's kind of all over the place, yeah. And so when cortisol is all over the place, everything else, it's like a good domino effect other hormones, digestion, weight gain, you name it. And

Casey O'Roarty 9:13
cortisol isn't cortisol the fight or flight hormone? Like, isn't that what gets released when we are in fight or flight? Yep, yes. And it is a hormone, right? Like, don't assume I know anything right now behind, yeah, okay, okay, great. So, and what does it do? So I heard what you said about what it does for the body, as far as, like, that rhythm of the waking upon waking and moving through the day, and then, you know, the wearing down and winding down into the evening. So when there is a lot of cortisol flooding, and I do know, like I've talked about cortisol a little bit, when I've worked with teachers who have kids that have been raised with trauma, we talk about attachment and we talk about how when young children are. In high stress, like situations, over and over and over again, when the Cortisol is released, brain growth cannot occur. And so in the context of, you know, young kids and trauma and high stress, you know, we always want optimal brain growth get gets compromised when cortisol is present a lot over long periods of time for, like, a grown woman, when there is, because some stress is good, like, some stress, like, moves us along. You know, I know I'm the queen of, oh, now I've waited and this is due tomorrow. I mean, it's been since I was in college. Talked to my roommate, Amy Perkowski. She'd be like, I do not understand how you can pull off 12 page papers in one night and still get a decent grade. I can do it. But it was that, it's that, was that stress of coming right up against the deadline that would put me into action. And it's not always useful. So what are some of the ways that cortisol stops being useful for us? Like what you said, when it's when it's all over the map? Yes, so you're

Lahana Vigliano 11:00
right. I mean, there's definitely benefits with cortisol. It's helpful for, you know, maintain our blood pressure. It's great for when we're fighting off, you know, bugs and viruses bacteria for our immune system. And it's actually anti inflammatory as well. But yes, the goal is for acute cortisol rates. So like when you exercise, your cortisol goes up. That's normal. That's what you want, but it should go back down. So it's definitely the chronic when you're stressed out for a long period of time. So I see cortisol in practice, there's a couple of stages, you know, there's your normal, then the second stage, I would say, like after, you know, you've been through a really stressful experience. It could be anything from a death of a family member, or you just have a lot going on, or whatever it is, cortisol is always high, and so when it's always high, again, on a chronic level, that actually brings down your immune system. It affects hormones. So it affects our cycles, our progesterone, our estrogen. And that's why sometimes, if you're stressed, you'll be like, my period was like, a week late, and that's because you were stressed. It affects our digestive period.

Casey O'Roarty 12:04
Is never late, ever. It is like freaking clockwork, okay, well, okay, it

Lahana Vigliano 12:12
affects our digestion. So when we're in that, like, fight or flight, your body ain't gonna want to digest no food, right? So then that causes, like, digestion issues, and then you're not able to lose weight. But then the third point is, like, after it's been high for so long, it will eventually fall and your body will be like, I ain't doing anything. So then you're just tired and you can't and you have this love handles, and you can't get rid of them. I mean, you name it, right? So there's different, like, phases of our cortisol, it's high all the time, and then eventually it will be like no more, right?

Casey O'Roarty 12:42
Well, and I just appreciate any time we're talking about connecting how we're feeling in our physical body with what we're navigating in life, I just think it's so much bigger than how we eat and how we move, right? And I think parents, especially, I uh,

you know, we want what's best for our kids. We always want to know that we're doing enough. And sometimes that results in crazy over scheduling and and then this, like, kind of martyr, not martyr, but this, this idea that, well, I have, you know, they can't drive I have to be the one that drives them around. I have to be this person. I'm the mom. I should be showing up this way. Of course, I'm tired, but this is for my kids, you know. And I think there's that stress of, Am I doing enough? And in the question of, Am I doing enough, we often are actually doing too much. Everyone, by the way, everybody's gonna be okay if their schedule isn't completely jam packed.

Lahana Vigliano 13:44
Yes, what

Casey O'Roarty 13:45
do you find with your clients? What is causing the most stress for them? What are some themes that come to the surface? I

Lahana Vigliano 13:52
think you totally hit it in the head like this, the schedules, the over commitments, I feel like are the number one things I see parents stressing about. And with that, you know, comes with other factors, like, when we have a long list of commitments, we usually lose sleep because we're trying to do them all, and the lack of sleep increases cortisol. So the lack of sleep will also throw all your other hormones off and off balance, just like our hunger hormones. So then now, like, because we have, like, this over commitment, which I'm the same way, like, I I understand trying to keep our kids busy and keeping them out of trouble, but like, how I grew up, my mom was never like that. So I feel like I'm kind of bringing that into my family in the sense of, like, one sport, like, at a time, you know, two kids. I mean, then that's naturally choose sports and stuff. So I am kind of the same way as I try to make sure that our schedules aren't crazy. So going back to the sleep though, because when we're stressed and when we have all this stuff to do and maybe we are pulling all nighters to finish something we tend to crave, like unhealthy quick foods when we're lacking. Sleep, and the increase of cortisol will also increase our adrenaline, which is our hunger hormone, and that tells us, like we're hungry we need to eat. So it's not in your head. It's something physically happening in the body when you're stressed and you're lacking sleep, is that you're eating more, you crave the worst foods, and that's just what's happening. So I think just being a parent, we can easily become overwhelmed, busy. We have things to do for the kids, our families, everyone else. And I think self care is the issue that we push it aside, especially because we're moms. We're working 24/7 I mean, through the night, when we have a sick kid, you name it. Oh yeah. So I think the second thing is the lack of self care is another big stressor. And self care doesn't have to be big. I mean, it could just be something taking time out to exercise and just have a good meal. That's self care in general, and we're just not doing it anymore.

Casey O'Roarty 15:53
I find that even just, you know, we have a dog, and nobody walks the dog but me, which is they leads me into this resentful like, gosh, we got the dog. Everyone said they were gonna walk the dog, and I'm busy. But when I can just shift into Hey, you know what? Like, just this just before this call, I was like, Oh, I have 15 minutes. I'm gonna walk Daisy. I'm gonna feel the sun on my face. I'm gonna feel the fresh spring air like it changed the whole experience. And I think that we miss self care opportunities just because we aren't in the mindset of recognizing that we're having a self care opportunity.

Lahana Vigliano 16:32
Yes, yeah. And you know what? I think massages and spot aids are really great, even needed if you enjoy it. But I think too, like the foundational self care, like you said, like having that time, just seeing them for like, 10 minutes, can really make a difference. And we tend to turn for foods too that provide like little, like no nourishment. So we're on the go, and I hear the excuse you don't have time to cook or eat healthy food.

Casey O'Roarty 16:58
We'll get there. We're going to get there in this conversation,

Lahana Vigliano 17:03
I think it's just we need to re organize our priorities. Yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 17:11
hey everybody. Sorry to interrupt. I wanted to share a little bit about joyful courage, calming the drama and taking control of your parenting journey, as you know, if you follow me, I'm in the middle of a mega book launch, and I'm talking about it every chance I can, and it's so cool because people are getting it in the mail, and they're reading it, and they're sharing about what they think, and they're sharing their feedback. So I just wanted to make sure that you heard some of it. So I'm going to share a Amazon review from Mike P. Mike P gave my book five stars and titled his review practical and relatable tips. He says Casey o'rourdy is amazing. Her joyful courage podcast keeps me grounded and sane in this journey of parenting. I was thrilled to hear about her new book, and couldn't wait to read it. She did not disappoint. Her book is an easy read filled with practical tips on how to stay calm and regulated During the challenging moments of raising our kids. Thanks so much. Mike p i So so, so appreciate that. I've also been sharing screenshots and reposts on Instagram. Every time somebody sends me a picture of their book in their hand, I get so excited and I screenshot it, and I've been sharing it in my Instagram and Facebook stories. So I want to just share with you some of the friends that have shared. Allison Tedford, thank you so much for the shout out. And my good friend Ashley Tate, my sister, Kate, thank you so much. Lauren Russo, she got her book and was so excited to curl up in a reading chair to read it. Let's see who else. Krista petty Ramer shouted out my book, my good friend and fellow podcaster, Kelly covert, go on over to end her voice to listen to her show. Nancy Haley, I love you. Thank you for sharing. Anna sewald from the authentic parenting podcast, shared about the book. Thank you so much. My sister in law, Janae, thank you for sharing that you got the book and that you're proud of me. Denise Kastner, thank you, thank you. Thank you. So so excited. Sarah McLaughlin has been all over it. Thanks, Sarah. I love it every time you respond to a post. Mom is in control. Podcast shared about the book my friend Christy down at Portland. My friend Anna Folsom, thank you. Nicole McNabb, so so, so honored that you all are so excited. If you haven't gotten your book yet, go to joyful courage.com/book. And that'll take you straight to Amazon to get your copy. Do it. It's really good. You'll like it, all right. Done interrupting. Can we talk about sleep for a minute? Yeah, so, because I think this is so big, you know, and, and I don't think that the outcome of not getting enough sleep like is really understood by the general public. You know, I was reading about I was I'm reading under pressure by Lisa D'Amore, which is all about the epidemic of anxiety and depression in teen girls today. And she talks about how when girls aren't getting enough sleep, it can manifest and look like depression and anxiety. And a lot of times, girls will come into their into her office, and it's one of the first questions that she asks is, how much sleep they're getting, and more likely than not, they're not getting enough sleep. So, you know, if you're an average mom, right? I mean, you're in your 20s, aren't you? You sweet little thing. Okay, so 20s, we'll go even farther, maybe 30s, 40s. I'm in my 40s. Like, what is how much sleep should we be getting to maintain optimal health?

Lahana Vigliano 21:05
I think it's very dependent on the person, because some people need a good nine to 10 hours, and some people like, I need seven to eight, okay, but ideally, nothing less than seven is ideal, I mean. And I think too, the quality of your sleep is so important. And so if you don't know that, I mean, you can wear like your Apple Watch or Fitbits. I mean, there's so many different things. So just even tracking your sleep for a couple of nights to see like if you're actually going into that REM deep sleep, because that is where the rejuvenation of your body happens. It's not in the light sleep. You're going through cycles and sleep, and so knowing that as well, and there's different things that you can do if you feel like you're not going into a deep sleep, can be really, really

Casey O'Roarty 21:48
beneficial. Yeah, and I think that, and this is just going to lead me right into the next question, because I think this is the story with food. This is the story with exercise, self care, sleep. There's, it's really easy to believe that there's so much out of our control, like, even as I sit here and think like, okay, seven hours, that's not a big ask. Come on, moms, get it together seven hours, and then I'm thinking like, oh, but Right, I remember, I remember when my kids were real little, and, you know, I chose to co sleep, and that's what worked for our family, and I nursed through the freaking night. My kids were just on the boob. And, you know, like, seven hours is a can feel like a really big ask, yeah, and we and then it's like, oh my gosh, they said seven like, I can even feel so if you're listening right now, and it's adding to your stress, hearing the words seven hours, we can be, first of all, those early years don't last forever. You're going to be okay, yes. And second of all, like we can get creative, right? I mean, I remember, yes, seven a seven hour stretch really never happened for me in the first, you know, between the two kids, they're about almost three years apart, they both nursed. You know, there was tandem nursing for a little while there. That was wild. And so, you know, the seven hours all at once stretch never happened. But our bedtime, like the the amount of time that we were laying in a bed, was pretty profound. I mean, by 738 o'clock, we were in the bed and then in the bed until, you know, six or seven the next morning. So while it wasn't a solid seven hour stretch, but it it did happen eventually. People, yeah, just recognizing that there's creative ways that we can create an environment for more rest, right? Would you agree with that?

Lahana Vigliano 23:41
Yes, and definitely. Again, we're also in a society of, like, sleep when you're dead, yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 23:47
yeah. I think that's a millennial thing. So we're gonna blame you guys, because I look at it, I'm

Lahana Vigliano 23:53
like, no sleep is the priority. Yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 23:56
you're dead. When you're dead,

Lahana Vigliano 23:59
there's no more sleep when you're dead. So I think just putting it as a priority, and I know some people like, use a little bit of time after the kids go to bed to like, you know, do some self care, which is awesome, but making sure that you're still going to bed early and not totally binging on Netflix all night, making sure you're going to bed at a good time. And, yeah, you're in a season, if you have young kids, like, I also didn't get seven hours stretch. Of course, we're able to bounce back, but we need to make sure that we're doing other things to kind of make up for that lack of sleep.

Casey O'Roarty 24:27
Yeah, well, and I Yeah, and I am hearing you on the binging on Netflix, because I think too, like it's easy to convince and I think we do this in a lot of places, right, as parents, it's easy to convince ourselves. Well, this is my time, as if we are taking ownership of this time. But when you're sitting on the couch and you're just letting one episode of parenthood run into another episode, I'm not speaking from experience at all right now,

Lahana Vigliano 24:53
that's really hard. Parenthood's awesome.

Casey O'Roarty 24:56
Oh my gosh, but I'm actually watching it for the second time. I. Um, you know, like, there's a, there's a place where you are, no, you're on automatic pilot, right? And with a and you're not necessarily making what's a choice that's best for you. And I know, like, I'm, and I've, I know. I mean, even just last night, I was like, I could actually turn this off and go to bed. And then it was like, No, I'm gonna watch it till the end, you know, and then my alarm goes off at 615 and the eyelids are so heavy, and I just know, like, Darn it, that extra 45 minutes would have really benefited me today. So I try to think about my future self as often as possible, but just being, I think in awareness of when you're chalking something up to oh, this is me time. And when you're just kind of going through the motions of automatic pilot, and you're not actually doing something that is benefiting you, which listen a couple shows on Netflix, absolutely is self care and beneficial. What I'm talking about is when it becomes really late. And we know it's getting late, but I just want to watch one more. Netflix is forever, people, you can come back to it, you know, the next day. And I think the same is true with food too, right? Yeah, what are some of the what are some of the stories that we tell ourselves about food? Like, I like, maybe, like, oh, I'll just have 10 tortilla chips. It's fine.

Lahana Vigliano 26:22
Yes, people turn into food too, for, like, emotional reasons, and which is understandable, but you know, it's just like anything breaking that habit, yeah, because we have to look at, I feel like people look at food is just like, Oh, my stomach's crumbling, like, I just need to put something in it. But we really need to shift our focus. Like food is like our fuel. That is what's actually building and creating ourselves. That is what is fueling our immune system. And when we switch, like, our thinking about, like what food actually is and what is like real food, things we can, you know, kill and grow and all that, it makes you realize, like, oh my gosh, 95% of the store, technically, honestly, is in food, yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 27:01
which is gross. So how do you support people in shifting and making that shift? I mean,

Lahana Vigliano 27:07
we look at their schedule, and we really helps, help people find what works for them and how we can incorporate these in their schedule. You know, we all have the same amount of time during the day. It's truly how we use it. So the three things. We want to just nourish we want to make sure you're rested, you're taken care of. So we help parents put some healthy meals on the table. We help them figure out what exercise works for them and what fits in their schedule. And this does not have to be something you do alone. This can be something you do as a family, killing two birds with one stone. Type feel. We teach them figure out, you know what stress it, what relaxes them? What is a stress reliever for them, whether it's Bible study, meditation, I mean, you name it, really taking, like, one day at a time, and also knowing that, like, as much as and I'm a control freak, I can say this that want to be in control. We can't be in

Casey O'Roarty 27:59
control. Yeah, that will serve you. That will serve you when your kids are teenagers. And just giving you a heads

Lahana Vigliano 28:04
up, actually, I'm feeling it like a little bit because, like, I have parents around me that are like,

all right, they're going to the park. Okay, hold on. Let me get my purse. And I'm all like, go to the park. Have you have fun? I mean, there's always been danger in this world. Yeah, we're just aware of it. But, you know, just we look at their environment as well, because we want to control what we can, you know, food, our environment, we want to reduce the internal stressors that if we don't take care of these things, it just naturally increases cortisol. And then we also utilize functional lab testing, and that helps us dive down to a really personalized approach with like supplements and herbs that can help reduce this cortisol response. So like some of my favorites are, like ashwagandha, holy basil, rhodiola, and these are just all adaptogenic herbs, and they help our bodies adapt to stress in a better way and negate the negative effects that cortisol can have.

Casey O'Roarty 29:07
So you do assessments of your clients to figure out what it is that would support them individually, is that what you're saying? Yes,

Lahana Vigliano 29:14
food sensitivities. We actually look at, okay, what foods are inflaming you? And I did have a pediatric client that salmon inflamed her, and so that, you know, obviously, is not that common, but I mean, everyone's so high individual, so we look at that. And I think supplements are also great too, like just different symptoms, like headaches or I am having trouble getting to sleep. And while we do run like comprehensive hormone panels that can show me, like your melatonin and stuff. We just help support that, like natural rhythm, so you can get into that rest and rejuvenation.

Casey O'Roarty 29:47
And what's really coming up for me as I listen to you lahana, is, I think so many of us are like figuring it out as we go right, like we know we're stressed and we carry on and okay, I'm. Going to get more sleep tonight, and the evening rolls around and it's the same. It's the same as it was the night before and the night before. And so what I'm really hearing you speak into is one, getting more information about our own individual systems, and also two and parenting. I call it taking the balcony seat. Really like broadening and expanding our perspective around what is my what does my day look like? Where are those periods of time where I fill a bowl full of tortilla chips and what is an option? What is an alternative? And how can I make that easy to grab like, if I'm gonna, this is me. This is what I do. Okay, I'm gonna buy more vegetables. And so I buy more vegetables, and they sit in the fridge until they are like, super soft and I have to throw them away. But when I buy the vegetables, and then I get home and I make time to chop them up and wash them, so that it's just a matter of sticking my hand in a bag and filling a bowl full of celery and carrots, then I don't eat the chips. It becomes easy. What becomes easy? You know? I set myself up for easy in a way that's also healthy, which requires planning, right?

Lahana Vigliano 31:12
Yes, it definitely does, um, and two also, which sometimes a little harder if you have a family and everyone's kind of have different you know? Oh gosh, yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 31:22
me making the food kills me. Kills me. Four o'clock, I want to kill people.

Lahana Vigliano 31:27
I've totally been there too, though. Like, I, and this is what I do for work, but so I go through like, ebbs and flows of like, I'm so excited to be in the kitchen, like, I'm so excited to create recipes for the blog and all that stuff, and the next week I'm like, don't ask me to cook. Like, survive, yes.

Casey O'Roarty 31:41
Or my husband will be like, what's for dinner? And I'll look at him, I don't know, you tell me, you know, I even do that to my kids. Sometimes I'm like, you're big enough to cook, like, What are you cooking? Gosh, mom, they're like, geez. Sorry, exactly.

Lahana Vigliano 31:53
So I always say, like, some things that you can, you know, start implementing is definitely, well, look at what you're buying. If you feel like you have a weakness in a food, like chips. Don't like chips. Like, don't even make them like in your house, because that just makes it really easy. If you feel like you're really struggling to, like, take yourself away from them, but making extras when you're like, when you are in the mood to cook and you're making like, like, a healthy, I don't know, chicken parm or something, make two more chicken breasts and then freeze away for the days that you don't want to cook. Love it, yeah. And so that way you just kind of have it ready where all you have to see that meal planning, you know when you can so you you have all the ingredients, you know what you're going to cook with. And I do this for clients in the beginning, because I want to help them take the guesswork out. I want also them to realize, like, Oh, these are how my plates and my meals are supposed to be set up. Meal prepping, just like you said, chopping up your veggies, just having them ready, having, like, even whole meals done, breakfast and lunches. So I feel like those are like the busiest days in our in our day, we're getting kids out the door for school, we're at work, or we're just busy during the day for lunch, so just having a couple meals, just like, done and set aside so you don't have to feel like you're in the kitchen all day, every day, that will definitely give you, like, get you not excited. Eventually,

Casey O'Roarty 33:16
it's me. It's dinner for me, I don't by the time dinner rolls around, I'm just like, oh gosh,

Lahana Vigliano 33:22
yes, I do love for dinner is like having quicker proteins on hand, tell me, tell me more frozen, like chicken breast. And I try to get organic all the time. I am a big Nazi with quality, okay, great. Chicken frozen breast that you can get at like Target or wherever you live, just your basic grocery store. And like having frozen or fresh veggies on hand, and just throw it all in a skillet, put some like coconut Minos or spices or whatever. And like, skillets are just so easy to whip up. And so I feel like the thing that's the hardest is the proteins, because they take the longest to cook, whether it's chicken or steak or whatever, they take the longest to cook. So if you would just have them already cooked or prepared. It makes meals so easy.

Casey O'Roarty 34:03
Tell me more easy protein so there's frozen chicken breasts, Okay, what else? What are some other easy ones?

Lahana Vigliano 34:08
There's also, like, good, like, if you go to Whole Foods, you can find way more of a good selection and quality and stuff meatballs that are already done as well. Yes, love that. Turkey burgers. I know Applegate has really clean turkey burgers that are great. We do have, like, breakfast sausages from Applegate as well that we buy for like, breakfast. But even printers, we do that as well. Love me some Brenner hard boiled eggs, especially if you have an instant pot like five minutes and make like, a dozen. Like No, no excuse.

Casey O'Roarty 34:41
Do you love the Instant Pot? I don't have one.

Lahana Vigliano 34:43
I do. And so I was gonna say, like, using your instant pot. And so cookers is amazing. So like, instant pots, I love though, because if you forget to pull something out, which I'm notorious for doing, yeah, me too, Queen of that. Yes, you can throw, like, frozen chicken breasts in there, and they're done in like. 30 minutes that is so crazy. Of course, you know, if you're trying to get, like, a grilled flavor, it's not going to happen, but it will cause and you can mix it with just like salsa and, boom, yeah. Well, that's what I feel about, like

Casey O'Roarty 35:13
the slow cooker. I feel like everything I make in the slow cooker is, like, mushy meat with a tomato based sauce. My family's like, oh, it's slow cooker night. Great.

Lahana Vigliano 35:25
You can do like, chicken and just a jar of, like, organic barbecue sauce and, boom, like, barbecue shredded chicken.

Casey O'Roarty 35:31
Yeah, do you so your blog has tons of recipes I want, yeah, I want everybody to know that your blog and is all in your mom and your people are moms, so I'm guessing all the recipes are super easy.

Lahana Vigliano 35:41
I try to make them super easy, but I do have some fancy ones, like my Gluten Free whoopie pies that are freaking amazing. Like, yes, those take a little bit of work to do. Okay, so worth Okay,

Casey O'Roarty 35:52
awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, that I already feel less stressed about dinner. So thank you. Thank you for that.

Lahana Vigliano 35:59
I would say too if you've never tried one sheet, like one sheet meals, those are really awesome, where you just, like, bake a one sheet. You put some meat, you put some veggies, you know, some healthy fats, avocado oil, coconut oil, seasonings, which for like, just a one sheet pan, yeah, doing that with, like, chicken, some Brussels, asparagus, some olive oil, garlic, balsamic. For the chicken, easy. Like, easy stuff,

Casey O'Roarty 36:23
you just throw it off. So the chicken has, the chicken had been soaking in balsamic. Or is it you just put it on it, sprinkle it, put the whole thing in a bag. Like, what? What does that

Lahana Vigliano 36:33
look like? Yeah. So I just take fresh chicken breast, put on, put on, like, you know, the sheet pan. I love using more of a balsamic glaze, because that's a little bit easier. Just doesn't like. Roll off the chicken. I'm seasoning it, and then put around the chicken, just some veggies, cut up, veggies, peppers, asparagus, broccoli, whatever you name it, and then doing some avocado oil on it, some, honestly, salt, pepper, garlic powder, or my jam. Just make it really easy. And just bake at like 375 until like, the chicken's done,

Casey O'Roarty 37:02
which takes like, 35 minutes. Yeah, yeah. I'm always super paranoid of the chicken. I'm always I stare at the chicken, like, is it pink? I don't think it's pink. I think it's good thermometer. I know, I know that would be so easy. But even the thermometer, I'm like, is it still moving? Has that stopped? I cannot get my shit together around that anyway. Super useful. Lahana, thank you so much. I'm so excited to do more exploring of your website. Are there any other tidbits, especially around and we didn't even really I do want to say again to the listeners, like, what I'm hearing you talk about lahana, which I think I talk about, just from a different angle, when we talk about parenting versus, like feeding and taking care of ourselves, is there is a lot of perception that we have around things are out of control. I have no time, and I'm stuck with how life is right now. And I just really, really, really, really want all of you listeners to see that none of that is true. It's just a story that you're telling yourself. And you know so much has been shared just in the last, you know, 35 minutes around small things that you can do, but ultimately it's going to it requires personal responsibility. So it requires you and me and everyone to say, okay, yes, I am going to take an hour this weekend and map out some meals, and then I'm going to go to the store and actually buy the ingredients. Like the personal responsibility is there. Change isn't going to happen just because you want it to happen, but it will happen when we step into action. So I wanted to just give that little pep talk to everybody. But are there any other tidbits that you want to share with listeners before we wrap this up? Lahana,

Lahana Vigliano 38:52
yeah. So you know, getting your hormones tested. If you really feel like your stress is out of hand, your symptoms are becoming a bother, you just feel something's off. Get them tested, and you just go to your

Casey O'Roarty 39:02
general doctor, and you just or your new or your naturopath or whoever, and you say, I need a hormone test.

Lahana Vigliano 39:07
I actually order a comprehensive hormone test that I work with people all over the US on Austin,

Casey O'Roarty 39:14
they talk to

Lahana Vigliano 39:16
you, yes. So if you really just feel like because I'm there to support you. It's like the food, the supplements, the herbs, all that. So we do all that. Just don't ever guess what's going on. Because, you know, that's when you start spending lots of money on supplements. You don't even know it's gonna help, and all that jazz, um, giving yourself some grace. You know, we've all been there. We try our best. We just, we know better. We do better, yeah, um, we just gotta, you know, take one day at a time with everything, you know, not getting overwhelmed and with stress like reducing it. It doesn't have to be super fancy. The best rule of thumb is to do something you love. Love hiking. Go hike. If you love riding on your bike, go do it. If you want a scrapbook, sure. Love to read a book, whatever. Make it happen. Because I would say you do not not have. Time to make it happen, because stress is totally one of those things that can catch up to you, and it can crash your health, you know, mentally, physically, emotionally, so making sure that you're putting yourself as a priority so your cup is full, so you can pour into other people.

Casey O'Roarty 40:14
Yes. And my final question that everybody, every guest, gets to answer is, what does, oh, I know it's exciting. There's no right answer here. What does joyful courage mean to you?

Lahana Vigliano 40:26
So I think just, you know, as my life, as a mom, a business owner, a wife, I think it just means to, like, really live life to the fullest, you know, having no fear and just being filled with joy, with everything that you do, no matter what season, no matter what time in your life, because it's meant to be, and it's building me up to become the person you know, God created me to be. So I'm just kind of going through life with that mantra. Love it.

Casey O'Roarty 40:51
So let the listeners know where they can find you and follow your work. Yeah,

Lahana Vigliano 40:56
so I'm hanging around Instagram and Facebook all the time, cool, especially in Instagram stories. So you can find me at thrival nutrition. So T, H, R, I, V, a, l, nutrition, and then, um, my website, www.thrivalnutrition.com, along with my podcast, thrival nutrition podcast, if you want to keep learning about nutrition and integrative medicine and all that

Casey O'Roarty 41:18
fun stuff, awesome, I will be listening. Thank you so much. And thrive on nutrition. That's where you are, on Instagram and on Facebook, they just yeah, that up. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming and spending time with me. This was awesome. Yes.

Lahana Vigliano 41:33
Thank you for having me.

Casey O'Roarty 41:37
Joyful courage community. Thank you so much for tuning in each and every week. Big thanks and love to my team, including my producer, Chris Mann at pod shaper. Be sure to join the discussion over at the live and love with joyful courage group page, as well as the joyful courage business pages on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to the show through Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google Play. I Heart Radio, really, anywhere you find your favorite podcasts. Also, I mentioned Patreon at the beginning of the show. Check it out, www.patreon.com/joyful courage. This is where you can contribute to the show and take advantage of patron perks like content rich monthly webinars and deeper discussions about what's being shared on the podcast. You will like it. Www, dot P, A, T, R, E, O n.com/joyful. Courage. Any comments or feedback about this show or any others can be sent Casey at joyful courage.com. I personally read and respond to all the emails that come my way, so reach out. You can also sign up for my bi weekly newsletter at joyful courage.com just go to the website. Sign up for that. Take a breath. Drop into your body, find the balcony seat and trust that everyone is going to be okay. Big Love to each and every one of you have a beautiful rest of your day.

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