Fading Focus: An Inside Look at Health Coaching - Session 2 Joanna

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:01:36

What is new and good?

"Joanna"00:01:38

Not too much. I'm here drinking my black coffee and

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:01:42

yes, just a quick update to whoever is listening to this episode. Joanna and I were in touch on WhatsApp about the bulletproof coffee and basically your feedback was don't love it, don't hate it.Like I can drink it but it's not going to be a day to day thing. But you started drinking black coffee, which is even better, honestly. So super happy with that.Tell me how it's been the last couple of weeks in general.

"Joanna"00:02:11

Yeah, so in general it's been really busy. I feel my attention's been pulled in about a thousand different directions, but I think my energy levels have improved.I noticed a big difference when I started taking your advice and having my first meal of the day be some kind of like small protein rich thing like an egg or some nuts or something. So I haven't noticed any afternoon slumps in the last couple of weeks, which is awesome because I ain't got time for that.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:02:44

No one does.

"Joanna"00:02:45

And looking forward to the next couple of months, the pace is not going to relent, so I'm looking forward to integrating that into my routine. And yeah, I've been thinking a lot about attention span and like memory and recall.I was wondering if maybe we could talk a little bit about that, how to kind of optimize those things. I think there's like a lot of conversation now around people being diagnosed lately with like late stage adhd.I don't think I, I never felt like I had that before. But let me tell you, the kids and the work and everything going on, I kind of feel that.And I was just wondering, you know, if you, if you have any tips.I'm about to increase my workload by 20% in order to get everything done at the end of the day, you know, I feel like I need to be better with my time management and more focused and I would love to kind of get back to the sort of ability for deep work and information recall that I had pre children.I don't know if that's possible, but I would love to hear your tips and trips if we can maybe look at that today because I'm feeling very nervous about increasing my workload and I want to of course, show them that I can do it and I can do a great job and that I've got this.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:04:14

Yeah, well, first of all, you've got this. I have no doubt.Second of all, awesome stuff on the feedback on what, you know, the, the very small change that you've made and how it's affecting you. That's already showing us that your body is ready for this change and your body is just absorbing all the goodness. And that's great.So if you continue with that and we can, you know, tweak more things, of course you're gonna feel a difference. So well done, first of all, and yes, thank you for coming. Coming with a.With a topic, because that's the best way to go about these sessions when you have something in mind that you want to discuss. That's great. So how do I start this Energy levels after having kids?I wish I could say that it's like, oh, it's just, you know, it's just A, B and C, and you'll be like you were when you were 20. Unfortunately, kids steal some of our energy, mental and emotional and physical, and just is what it is.But there's definitely also a lot to say about perimenopause and the effects of perimenopause. You know, adhd, it's not really a late onset of adhd. It's just that we notice it more when we go through perimenopause if we have adhd.But a lot of the symptoms of perimenopause could go hand in hand with adhd. That's why with adhd, with women who have adhd, it's just like, so pronounced.It's just, you know, triple, quadruple, where other women will be like, oh, my God, what I do. I have adhd. And you start thinking about it in a later age. And it's just because our body is just going through a lot of shifts.

"Joanna"00:05:53

Yeah, I think I'm in that second bucket. I mean, I never used to feel like I had a hard time concentrating or completing a task. I would say, you know, four or five years ago.It's gotten really pronounced, though, in the last couple of years. And.But I, you know, I was always the kind of person I could just dive into sort of deep work and I would lose time and be super focused and, you know, so, I mean, I don't think that I have it, but I feel like these symptoms are. Yeah. And maybe it's periodic perimenopause, even though my doctor still says I am not in perimenopause, but.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:06:27

Yeah. Yeah.Well, look, there's a couple of things, so I'm not going to go too much into detail about it, but adhd, the stereotype of ADHD equals I can't concentrate or finish a task is misleading. So I wouldn't Be so quick to say you do or don't. I'm not going to diagnose you anyways.But like, you know, I wouldn't be so quick to say yes, yes or no to that. But it doesn't actually matter. Yeah, right.

"Joanna"00:06:51

I agree.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:06:51

So what we need to know now is like, you know, how do we help you you to get gain back a bit more focus, a bit more brain clarity, things like that. And that's definitely something that we can discuss. We discussed your sleep. You generally feel that it's okay at the moment. Right.And that you know, with now with the shift of just switching your breakfast, you're already feel or break.You know how you break the fast, let's call it could be at noon but it's a breakfast is already showing that it's giving you a little bit more energy, a little bit less of the slugginess in the afternoon. How do we. Sorry, I've been up since 4:30 in the morning so my brain is going to be slower today. I do apologize.So there's definitely a lot to say about food and how you help yourself in terms of energy levels and brain clarity with nutrition. And of course there are also other things that can help certain supplements that you can take.I don't necessarily want to go into the world of supplements cuz I can name now like 20 supplements that you can take and there's a lot to say about each and every one of them. So maybe we won't get into that one too much.But if you see that in a couple of weeks or in a month when we have our next call, if you feel like okay, I've done whatever we discussed today on the call and that didn't necessarily help, then we can start looking into maybe trying a supplement or two in general. Brain clarity or let's say the focus, the function of the brain will work much better on good healthy fats.And we need to see that you're getting enough of those into your diet and a supplement honestly, because Omega 3 I'm never going to tell you not to take. It's a great supplement to have especially now.And if you're having fish in general, like having maybe more fish dishes if it's not something that bothers you too much in any way. So that's one thing. Okay.But also, you know, let's pretend that bulletproof coffee or even adding a bit more healthy fat to your eggs in the morning or to your dish, putting a bit of a knob of butter on your steak put or steak, whatever on your lentils, whatever.

"Joanna"00:09:07

It is really clear because when, like, people mean a lot of different things when they talk about healthy fats. So what's in your healthy fat bucket?

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:09:15

Not that many, luckily. So we're talking about coconut oil. Butter. Butter best not to cook with, just as a addition to the hot food or cold food. Olive oil. Avocado oil is.Is good as well. It's just a little bit harder to find good quality or you're going to pay for. For a good quality one if it's cheap. It's not avocado oil.I would say those ghee. Did I mention ghee? Those are the main ones. Okay, so ghee and coconut oil for cooking are really great. Butter is a great addition after the fact.Olive oil you can cook with in a kind of like medium heat. So you don't want to go crazy with the heat and burn the fat.

"Joanna"00:09:57

What about this? They have olive oil that you can cook at high temperature.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:10:01

That's nonsense. I would not use anything. Any. Any oil that promises you random things on the front of the package is hiding something in the back.It's either processed in a certain way or, you know, we don't. We don't necessarily want that. We want pure, good, extra virgin olive oil. We want virgin coconut oil. Ghee.You want just good organic quality, preferably ghee, a bit more expensive, has a very distinct taste, but goes really well with heavier flavors. So I wouldn't cook my spinach with ghee because it will just really take the spotlight flavor wise.But already zucchini and, you know, kind of like carrots and things like that, Meat, lentils, things like that. That goes really well with it. Okay. Funky smell, but tastes great, I promise.

"Joanna"00:10:52

Yeah, yeah.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:10:53

In case you haven't used it before. So those fats are quite important to have. And I find that a lot of people especially.Unfortunately, there was a lot of hype about, like, fat makes you fat, you know, from the, like, 60s, 70s, 80s. And so people started having less and less fat. And for most people, that's just really bad because our brain is nearly 70% fat.It needs the fat to function. Okay? So fat is one thing. Make sure that you're getting enough. And always keep in mind, when you're cooking with fat, a lot of it stays on the pan.A lot of it. You're sharing the meal with other people. So you're not.If you're putting 2 tablespoons of fat, 5 tablespoons of fat into your meal and you're sharing it with five people, you're still not getting a tablespoon of fat in your meal, right. Because of all of the fat that's staying in the thing. So just kind of keeping that in mind.

"Joanna"00:11:48

Yeah, no, I'm not too concerned about that. Just can upset my stomach if I have too much.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:11:53

But yeah, so you don't want to like, you know, and of course, when deep frying and stuff like that, let's maybe not do that, but just make sure that you're having a little bit more without overdoing it, that it makes you feel uncomfortable. If there are any side effects or any kind of weird things that you're feeling, let me know on the WhatsApp and we can figure that out.There is a small percentage of people that really can't handle fat very well, but otherwise might be, might be a good addition. Okay. Another thing that honestly steals a bit of our, of our focus and, and gives us a little bit more brain fog.Of course, processed foods, you know, sugars and processed foods are just going to be detrimental to our brain and to our health, of course. So you want to make sure that you're really keeping on a very low, if possible, no processed food and no processed sugar. Okay.And that's even more important when you start the day and when you end the day. So you really want to make sure, as we discussed already, breakfast is going to be this, this beautiful protein and fib, hopefully, right?Vegetables and egg.You can start the day with lentils if you really wanna, things like that and at the end of the day, because if we're consuming, you know, processed food and, and sugars and things like that before we go to bed, that will also disturb our sleep, which will then disturb our brain function during the following day. So it's just things to keep in mind. Of course, it's easiest to just avoid them altogether if possible.The last thing, and you're not gonna love me for that one, but carbohydrates, and especially simple carbohydrates. Okay. So when we're having these carbs, yes, they're giving us this immediate energy boost, but it also makes us hungrier.It also makes the, then the blood sugar that just went up, giving us that energy drop. Okay. Especially when we're talking about when we consume these carbs.And I honestly, you have to forgive me, I don't remember if we discussed kind of like the order of eating if and when we have carbohydrates in the meal. Did we talk about that a little bit. I can repeat it anyways.

"Joanna"00:14:50

Doesn't But I also just mentioned that my short term memory is not so great, so.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:14:55

No, and that's perfect because, you know, I give a lot of information and I know I should repeat a lot of it frequently. So imagine a plate of a typical dinner of yours, right? Let's say there's rice on the plate.Let's say there's some protein, lentil, dal, I don't know, whatever you're having. And then there's some vegetables. Okay. Unfortunately, the way we grew up was like 50% of the plate was the carbohydrates, right?So you get a nice chunk of rice and maybe quarter of the plate is the protein and a quarter of the plate is the vegetables. That's kind of like the, that's how I grew up. I don't know about you.When we consume it and we have just everything together, meaning the carbohydrates are part of the first bites that you're enjoying your glucose, your, your sugar level in the body will go up high and then drop and make you feel like you need more energy and make you feel like you, you know, the brain fog and all of these things very within a couple of hours of consuming the meal. When we decide to say, okay, great, I'm gonna have the vegetables first and I'm gonna have the protein first.It doesn't matter if you're eating them together. If you're having one before the other, it doesn't necessarily matter.You can start with the vegetables first, especially if they are fresh vegetables and not cooked, because those are going to digest quicker and we don't want to slow them down with something that digests a little bit slower because it might be heavier on the stomach.But in general, if you start with the protein and the veg, or if you just consume protein and veg, I'm always just happiest when, when that's the case. But if you also consume the, the carbohydrates, make sure that those are actually the smallest part of the plate on the plate.And what I do if I consume them, if I decide if I, I mean, if there's fresh rice on the table, it's very unlikely for me not to have some. But it's like kind of my dessert in a way.So I'll have a first plate of just protein and veg, and then as a little dessert or as seconds, I'll have maybe a serving spoon of rice with again, the protein, the vegetables. So I load up on the protein and veggies. Okay, that makes a huge difference Already because of the sugar levels in the body.So we're trying to kind of, like, balance that. So you have a. Less of a reaction from the carbohydrates.

"Joanna"00:17:19

Yeah, so less of a glucose spike.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:17:21

Exactly, exactly. So you don't want the glucose spikes, basically. And there are other ways to do that.Of course, there are other ways to incorporate apple cider vinegar into your meal. Drinking it before, consuming it with the meal, drinking it after. Those all work. Having avocado with your meal, those all help.But when, you know, we're talking about the. The brain fog and everything, and also that your focus is maybe balancing your weight, kind of pushing the carbs a little bit away.Not necessarily not having them at all, but just having a lot less. And having them as a dessert, in a way will hopefully be helpful for you to feel a bit more focused and to feel a bit more. Yeah, less.Less of that brain fog.

"Joanna"00:18:04

Okay. I mean, I kind of already do that, so.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:18:08

Okay.

"Joanna"00:18:08

Yeah. I don't. I don't eat a lot of sort of simple carbs.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:18:12

Bread.

"Joanna"00:18:12

I mean, once in a while, you know, on the weekend when we're grilling or something, I'll, you know, have bread with a sausage. But yeah, I.We'll have, you know, if we have a spaghetti bolognese, I'll have my salad and the sauce and then the small half portion of noodles afterwards.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:18:30

Yeah, okay.

"Joanna"00:18:31

So I will keep doing that, and I will make it a, you know, more of an intentional thing, I think

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:18:37

the best thing to do, because we often, you know, life. It's a grind. Like, we don't necessarily notice, really, how often we consume certain things, like, I don't know, tortilla wrap. Right.We think, like, okay, well, it's a little bit of bread, but the tortilla. Tortilla wrap, unless it's homemade, which it probably isn't, because who has time for it has other things in it. So it is a processed food.Spaghetti, I consider a processed food. Honestly, it is processed. It's not like you're eating whole wheat as a grain.

"Joanna"00:19:07

Yeah, yeah.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:19:08

You know what I mean?

"Joanna"00:19:09

I mean, we do whole wheat spaghetti, but, yeah, I know it's. It's still processed, but the. I mean, honestly.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:19:14

Same, same.

"Joanna"00:19:14

I. I will try avoiding the processed foods, but this is. It's so difficult. This is just my. I mean, I. I'm aware, you know, but reading all the articles, that stuff is for you, and. But, yeah, it is.It is difficult to avoid it so that I don't. I don't see myself Being super successful, like 100% non processed diet.You know, I, I'm more in of the camp of like, I will try to make the choice for an unprocessed food when I can. But yeah, try for maybe 80, 20 rule. I don't know.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:19:49

8020 is great. Don't get me wrong, 8020 is definitely great. I think that what, you know, no one's expecting you to do anything perfect.I have processed foods, I have whatever, spaghetti. But the thing is that I think the easiest way to go about it maybe and please, you know, let me know what you think.Also, if trying it out in the next couple of weeks, the easiest way to do it is not to say I swear off of X, Y and Z right now and that's it. And then you're sitting there and you're immediately feeling deprived. Yeah, immediately.Even if you're not, Even if you just had a meal, you're like, now I'm hungry and now I want pizza. It's just human nature.But if you say okay, with every meal I make a certain choice and you sit there and you just take a deep breath and go like, okay, how do I want to feel after this meal? Right.Of course, if you're, you know, it's a Friday night and you know, you don't have to work or function or like have your full brain capacity the next day, then the choice is easier. You're like, yeah, okay, so I'll have a bit of ice cream. Well, I'll have, you know, spaghetti or I'll have the bread or whatever.But if, you know, okay, I have a really important meeting tomorrow or in this afternoon. I know I want this spaghetti. We're clinging onto spaghetti now. It doesn't actually matter what it is.I know I want the spaghetti, but do I want the side effects of that?So, so literally just take just being a momentary mindfulness just before eating a meal or just before choosing a meal, usually you'll be able to be like, okay, actually, yeah, I can make this decision. And the, one of the best ways that I've ever, ever experienced for myself and I see it with my clients all the time.The best way to know that you're making the right decision, this is in quotation right. This is not. There's no right or wrong.But I just mean like the decision that, you know that mommy voice, the split second voice that tells you like, ah, you shouldn't or you should. Do you know what I mean? So to capture that voice is literally just to count down from Five to one. It's a five second rule.I don't know if you've heard Mel Robbins. Bless you.

"Joanna"00:22:03

Excuse me, excuse me.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:22:04

Bless you. No worries. I don't know if you've heard of, of the 5 second rule by Mel Robbins. It's a very, she's super famous, is a very famous book.I don't necessarily recommend read, you know, buying it because it's literally about counting down from five to one. But the idea, the premise is that we're waking up the prefrontal cortex, we're breaking up the executive decision making part of the brain.And it knows what it needs to do. We know what we need to do all the time. We just start thinking about it and that's our fault as human beings.And when you just say, okay, lunchtime, there's this and there's that. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, I guarantee that you're gonna make the right decision.I guarantee that it's going to be easier for you to choose the better choice for yourself in that moment. And sometimes we're stuck in a situation when there's no real better choice, to be fully honest, you know, and that's okay as well.But the feeling inside that you've made the best decision that you could make within the situation that you're in is already better. Because if you're sitting there and you're like, now I'm eating this, I have to eat this.You know, kicking yourself about what you're eating and all that stuff, you're not going to digest well, you're not going to feel better. And it's not, it's gonna, not gonna be a healthy meal.Even if it's the healthiest meal ever, sitting and overthinking it and just, you know what I mean? So focusing on the five second rule with any decision that you're about to make, especially revolving around food, I think is super helpful.Do you think that's something that you want to try out? Have you ever heard of it? Do you ever try it?

"Joanna"00:23:42

No, never heard of it. But I can try it. I think for me, it's not that I have like decision remorse so much.And especially around lunchtime, I don't have a hard time, you know, making healthy lunch choices. For me, the clincher is dinner. And then it's not really about, you know, what is the choice? Well, I don't know.I mean, sometimes it's just about like, what do we have at the house? What can I get done? What can I get cooked in this, like, 25 minute time slot that I've got that's just. That I can grab and I'm ready for.So, you know, maybe that's less about the 5 second rule in the moment and more about sort of like strategic planning around what do I want to have that's on hand and that's easy to eat.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:24:31

Yeah.

"Joanna"00:24:31

And maybe letting go of the idea that, like, oh, I can make one meal for everybody and my kids will be happy to eat something that's healthy and, you know, maybe just making a few smaller things that I can have for my meal, and then they can have their meal.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:24:49

Yes, 100%. I know that. I understand your struggle with, like, you know, I just want to make a meal. I want everyone to be happy with this quick thing that I.That I put together. It's understandable. And now that you're upping your percentage at work, even more so. Right. So you're gonna have even less time. There's definitely.We can definitely talk about kind of strategies on. On how to do that. But I think that at the end of the day, adding one extra thing to the meal that you can rely on.So I'll give you just a quick example. When I make. I try to avoid gluten as much as possible. I know it doesn't do me good. I know it doesn't do anyone good, but I personally just.I started having gluten again just lately, and my face. I haven't had as many pimples and as much brain fog as I've had these last. This last month just because of that.And I was like, okay, no, this is a clear sign for me. I had like five pimples at once. I literally never had as many pimples as a teenager.

"Joanna"00:26:11

Lucky you.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:26:12

I know. I know. I was. But I'm kind of like, what in the world? Yeah.

"Joanna"00:26:16

Yeah.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:26:17

So my body is very clear. My body was very clear to me. I was like, wow, I can't. I don't have energy. I don't have. My brain is just kaput. I know.You know, so what I do when my kids cook now, so they make pasta and I'm like, okay, great. There's a sauce. They know not to mix the sauce. I buy what is called. Give me a sec.

"Joanna"00:26:41

That gluten working in the background, you know?

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:26:44

I know, right? Give me a second. I'll bring it.

"Joanna"00:26:46

I'm stealing your words.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:26:47

So after trying all of the options of pasta that are, you know, gluten free and also lower carb and things like that, this is my all Time favorite. And it's hearts of palm. It's got a specific taste, got a specific texture. It's not the same, but I am obsessed because it's pure fiber, no calories.I can eat as much as I want. I never finish a whole packet. And what I do is I'll just prepare everything. Even if I'm making the food, I'll prepare everything and I'll put this.I'll just drain it, rinse it, and dry, dry fry it a little bit on the pan before adding the sauce and then just add the sauce. I'll add whatever I want to it. A little bit of Parmesan, whatever, whatever we're eating. And I find that this is just a perfect solution for me.Everyone is eating pasta in a way. Mine just looks a little bit different. So it's not a huge differ, you know, it's not a huge change to what everyone else is eating.I will sometimes add egg or two. Right. If everyone's having a burger and they feel like, honestly, my kids don't even have that much bread, Honestly.But, like, if we decide to have burgers and we have the, the buns, I'll take two of the burgers and I'll add some fried egg on top. So, you know, I'm still eating a proper meal with a bunch of vegetables, with a bunch of protein, but I just don't choose to have the, the.The bready or the carby kind of addition to it. And so I do try not to make an entirely different meal for me than for my family. And it's funny that you'll see slowly, without even trying hard.And it's not a bad thing. The kids slowly kind of tend to try what you're having because you're not talking about it, you're just showing it as an example. And it's not.Again, it's not a bad thing. No child needs bread. No child needs pasta. Like, it's not something that you're, like, taking away from them and oh, my God, and poor kids.It's like, well, this meal is just going to be a healthier meal. Sure, have your ice cream. Sure have your, you know, cookies or your whatever, whatever it is that. That is fine at home to have, but you're.The actual meal is slightly healthier, and why the hell not, right? So I really just stopped eating bread and. And now we don't even buy bread. I mean, like, sometimes they'll have bread, but it's not.Like I told the kids, like, you cannot have bread. And there's no bread in the house. Never ever. I never did that. Okay.So just as ideas that the menu plan that I sent you has a lot of really good recipes that are low carb, very easy to make and they've gone through, I can now easily say hundreds of families and are loved so by, by most kids, some of the most picky kids that I've had, you know. So they're pretty much fail proof recipes.It's just trying them a little bit for the first time maybe on the weekend when you have time and don't want to rush through it. But it is definitely doable. It's just.

"Joanna"00:29:48

Yes.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:29:49

It's just shifting things a little bit and it does. It's not an overnight change. It really isn't. It's just trying one new recipe a week or, or every two weeks, you know what I mean?Just trying and just going like cool. What, what do you guys think?And have a full on conversation around the table and if they don't like it, the question of how do you think we can fix it for next time? Right. What do you think we can change here?So really bringing on a conversation where they're tasting it, they're like maybe a little bit more salt maybe, you know, they might just say nonsense and it might be that the next time when you give that meal or even if you have leftovers the next day and you're like I fixed it and you did nothing, they're going to be like, yeah, it's so much better.

"Joanna"00:30:31

Yeah. Yeah.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:30:32

That's just little tricks that work on.

"Joanna"00:30:34

Okay. So much of it is just about exposure.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:30:36

So yeah, 100 and it's something to, to just start. And again, it doesn't need to be an entire overhaul of your day to day menu.It just needs to be like this one new recipe, no one needs to know that it's healthier. That's not even a word that should be on the table with the kids, honestly.But at the same time you're like, well okay, I can sleep easier knowing that it was a healthier meal.You know that we didn't necessarily go just for the pasta and the pizza and the whatever, you know, I don't know whatever it is that you guys kind of like lean on when, when time is short. There are many, many recipes that you can lean on. It's just trying them when you're not stressed. And that's kind of the, the key there. Yeah.

"Joanna"00:31:16

Okay.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:31:17

What do you think? What, what, what goes through your mind when we're talking about that? What Are your concerns around it?

"Joanna"00:31:25

Just reflecting for a minute. Yeah, I think that it's. So my takeaway is kind of, you know, like adding a little something extra for me at the dinner table.I think that's very doable. Whether it's, you know, like a bit of yogurt or some hard boiled, eg, some fried eggs, some extra veg, I think we can try out a recipe.I really like this idea of asking them, like, what would you do differently next time? Now they're all, they're all very involved and interested in cooking, which I feel happy about. Very lucky.Yeah, they don't always like to eat what they have cooked, but at least they're, they're there and they're into it. And my older daughter is. Yeah, she's also kind of cooking her own meals sometimes and she, for a long time she was sort of a limiting factor.She was very picky for a long time and now she's kind of opening up her flavor profiles and, you know, into curries and stuff. So yeah, I think we can try it. I mean, I think there's. For me, I'm, you know, I'm very happy to cook the same stuff over and over again.If it's like a good meal and it's just in the rotation and people like it, I don't mind. I don't need fancy new recipes all the time, so.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:32:36

Excellent. So what do you think about this idea? How about. So we're going to have our next call in a month. We have to have to cancel.

"Joanna"00:32:46

Oh, okay.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:32:47

The upcoming call. Okay, we'll talk about that later.But so we're going to have our next call in a month, which means that you have a full month, of course, to be in touch with me on WhatsApp. That's not a problem at all with anything, but also to experience and experiment with some new recipes, maybe some new ideas and see how they go.And experiment also, you know, with the family. So having that conversation, what don't you like about it? Is it the texture? Is it the color?You know, just bringing the conversation down to a level that they can communicate in and understand, keeping it very simple, keeping the words healthy out of the equation because kids are allergic to that word in general and it means very different things to very, you know, varying people. But just giving it, I don't know what's realistic to you. Maybe once a week try a new recipe or is that a bit stressful?

"Joanna"00:33:44

No, once a week is doable.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:33:46

Okay, cool. So potentially you could get up to four Recipes, four new recipes. Of course, if you try more than one recipe a week, you will not get penalized.But let's say like, you know, three to four recipes until our next call just to give it a try. And then if it's good, repeat, obviously.And if it's not, try, you know, the conversation thing or try another recipe, try tweaking it to their liking. None.I think there's only maybe two recipes that I have in there that stick to the recipe, which are like bread, you know, seed kind of based bread and things like that. But otherwise everything else you can play around with.Whatever vegetables you choose, whatever type of lentil you choose, what, whatever it is, you can really play around with it. So it's very flexible recipes.

"Joanna"00:34:34

That's great. That's great. I have a friend who teases me and says that I just look up the recipe only to ignore it.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:34:40

So, yeah, good, good, good, good, good. I love the general sense.

"Joanna"00:34:44

And then.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:34:45

Exactly. So, so do that. Just scan through the recipes.I don't know, you know, and again, it's up to you if you want to include your husband or your daughter in the kind of decision making or which recipe should we try? You know, maybe this one or that one. Just print it out or show it on better even online and just kind of look through it.Find a couple that you feel like you're ready to try, show it to whoever your partner in crime is going to be and just toss it at them and be like, which one do you want to try? And then just give it a shot. And I'm really looking forward to an update on WhatsApp to let me know what works?

"Joanna"00:35:24

Yeah.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:35:25

Did I, did I answer your questions that I give you some good kind of goals to work on?

"Joanna"00:35:32

Yeah.I mean, so do you expect that this will help sort of with like the memory stuff and concentration, like changing these meals, swapping out these meals?

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:35:42

Like what?

"Joanna"00:35:43

I maybe. Let me, let me rephrase.Like, let's work off the assumption that, you know, being a healthy meal will have an impact on my short term memory and my concentration. What is the time span? I want to be looking at that for an effect. Wait, do I want to, like, so that it.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:36:02

That's really, really hard answer. Because if, and this can happen in later life. Yes, if. Let's say it's gluten that is affecting you. Just picking one that we discussed before.It takes gluten a month to leave your system before you actually start feeling the effects of it. So to have gluten every Two weeks and expect. And, but also have four different new really good meals and expect a change.I can't tell you if it is or it isn't because I don't, you know, or if it's sugar that your body just can't handle as much as it used to before and therefore, you know, that's affecting you. It's very hard to say. Of course, if you had a, and this is, this does not exist. If you had a perfect diet, again, I'm saying it does not exist.But if you had a perfect diet and then you made changes and the changes were based on test results that we know, okay, you're sensitive to this, this and that, you know, whatever. Switching things around, fixing things around, you'd be able to probably see it within two weeks or a month, maybe even sooner.You've already felt the effects of just changing your breakfast. You know what I mean? So it could, it's a, it's a, it's an impossible question to answer, unfortunately.But I do believe that if you try to stick to the idea of, okay, I'm just focusing on lowering my intake of gluten and general kind of carbs and trying to have more protein and fiber rich meals, I'm hoping that that would be helpful.But again, with three kids running around with now going to be a full time job, if I'm not mistaken with, you know, just life, it's sometimes harder to notice when things get better. It's only when you then go back to things like, then you feel like, oh my God.So I had a client who, she was one of my first clients over a decade ago. She came up to me and she was like, you know, we, we basically just focused on gluten, dairy and processed foods. That's all we did.And it wasn't 100 and nothing was to perfection.And she came up to me after I think a month, a month and a half, and she goes, she never even mentioned this, but she goes, I used to get so dizzy all the time. I was dizzy all the time. I thought it was my iron, I thought I was tired, whatever. She stopped with the gluten. The dizziness just stopped.Just stopped. And so again, we didn't even, we didn't even think about the dizziness.It wasn't something that was on her goal list to not be dizzy, but the glute, you know, the gluten made her dizzy. It obviously did other things in her body, but that's what the body signaled and that's how she noticed it.By Leaving it out and then going back to it and then going like, whoa, I wasn't dizzy for like a month and a half now, and now I'm dizzy again, and I just had a muffin. And that's so interesting how she realized it. It's super interesting. And it's so.And that's why it's so difficult for me to answer these questions, is because it's so individualized. Every person will react differently. And I don't. There's no way to monitor a hundred percent of. Of what's going on.You know, you might have a great diet, but you're not sleeping very well during that week. You're not going to have very good brain capacity because the sleep was not great.There's too many, too many balls in the air to actually figure it out.But I'm really hopeful that you will notice some difference and that that will motivate you to go like, okay, cool, then maybe again, I will stick to whatever. Maybe I'll leave this out. Maybe I'll enjoy something else.

"Joanna"00:39:35

Makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. All right, so I've got my, my two small changes. I feel prepared.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:39:41

Repeat them for me for a second.

"Joanna"00:39:43

So I'm going to bring some small foods out to the dinner table so that I can make myself a lower carbohydrate, more protein and fiber meal, despite what everybody else is eating. And then we're going to test out one recipe on average per week meal guide and see how that also. See, see how that works.And I'm never going to talk to the kids if they don't like it and ask them, what would you do

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:40:10

to change it exactly? You know, ask. Ask really kind of like annoying questions like, is it the texture? Is it the color? Is it the way it looks? Is it.I don't know, does it have enough salt? You think it has enough salt? It's really nice to kind of trigger those thoughts in their brain.

"Joanna"00:40:24

Yeah.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:40:25

Because it just opens another world for them as well. Yeah.

"Joanna"00:40:29

Yeah. Okay, great.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:40:31

Oh, cool. Joanna, so thank you so much for jumping on the call. Sorry for being late.

"Joanna"00:40:36

Yeah, sorry for the technical issues on my end as well.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:40:40

Yeah, no worries at all. And please keep me up to date on WhatsApp.It doesn't have to be on a regular basis if you don't, if it's too much, but just shoot over maybe once a week or whenever you choose. You try a new recipe, how it went, you know, might. I might have some, some tips and ideas on how to change things if the kids don't love it.

"Joanna"00:40:59

Okay, great. We'll do okay, so you can both say goodbye. I'm going to edit myself out, but don't leave yet because I need to stop the recording.We need to make sure it's all uploaded. So go ahead and say goodbye, but stay on. Sounds good. All right, cool.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:41:13

So have a bye.

"Joanna"00:41:14

Bye.

Danna Levy Hoffmann00:41:15

Bye, Joanna. Thank you.