1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,800 Welcome to Peptides for Women. I'm Jennifer Woodward and this 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,560 is your podcast for smart, honest conversations about 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,000 peptide therapy and midlife Wellness. 4 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,440 We cover everything from GLP ones to BPC 157, plus the 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,560 foundations that still matter, sunlight, steps, strength 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,560 training, protein and minerals. So if you're ready to feel 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,480 better with science, back tools, and natural habits that actually 8 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:32,240 work, you're in the right place. Let's dive in. 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,960 I have to address the question I get more than almost any other 10 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:41,160 question, More than what do I do about my belly fat, more than is 11 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:43,960 this perimenopause, and honestly, probably more than 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,480 questions from my own family. Where do I get my peptides? 13 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,920 So here's the answer. I've been working with LEMD now 14 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,760 for about a year and I genuinely love them. 15 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,280 The physician oversight, the quality of the peptides, and the 16 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,240 business opportunity they've built for practitioners like me 17 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,360 is the real deal. If you want to order your own 18 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,319 peptides, the link is in the show notes. 19 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,880 It's super easy. And if you're a practitioner and 20 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,480 you want to talk about how LEMD can work in your own practice, 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,400 reach out to me directly. The conversation is free and 22 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:16,520 it's a good one. But a couple of quick 23 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,080 disclosures, because I'm a legally responsible adults, if 24 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,840 you purchase through my show notes link, I do earn an 25 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:24,400 affiliate income. Thank you. 26 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,520 I also want to be clear that I'm not a doctor and I don't 27 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,880 diagnose, treat, or prescribe anything. 28 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,160 I'm just a woman who did a lot of research, has a lot of 29 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,760 feelings about her hormones, and now has a podcast about it. 30 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:41,280 OK, now let's get into it. Welcome back to the Peptides for 31 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:43,920 Women podcast. I'm Jennifer Woodward, and I 32 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:45,680 have a treat for you ladies. Today. 33 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:51,280 I am here with Kristen Richards. Kristen is a certified menopause 34 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,040 coach and lipedema advocate. She's been in the health and 35 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,640 Wellness space since 2018, and her heart's desire is hoping 36 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,320 that women age with confidence and learn to advocate for 37 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,920 themselves. I love that, Kristen. 38 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,840 It's such a great thing to teach women that, Oh my gosh, we can't 39 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,080 advocate for ourselves. We can use our. 40 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:18,280 Words 100%. And so we were talking about 41 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,560 this before we hopped on. I had somebody reach out to me 42 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,640 via the podcast and say please, please, please can you do an 43 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:27,880 episode on Lipedema? And I was like, yes, I can. 44 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,520 I think, let's try to find somebody who is a Lipedema 45 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,200 expert. And lo and behold, after some 46 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,360 searching, your name came up and you were so gracious to say, 47 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,800 heck yes, Jennifer, I'll totally be on the podcast. 48 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,960 But you know, obviously this is a very, like, specific subset of 49 00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:45,480 people. So let's maybe start with 50 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:47,760 defining our terms. What is Lipedema? 51 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:49,600 Yes, absolutely. So thank you. 52 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,840 First of all, just thank you for having me. 53 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,000 And I'm always so excited when not only can two women connect, 54 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,840 but just the same energy and help empower other women. 55 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,000 I am all for it. I told you before we started 56 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,040 recording, I'm like, heck yeah, girl, sign me up. 57 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,240 Peptides, lipedema, girl power, like let's let's do this thing. 58 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,080 So thank you. Thank you for having me. 59 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,200 So lipedema is classified as a connective tissue disorder. 60 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,560 And So what that means, Jennifer, the easiest way to 61 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,240 understand is healthy fat stops communicating with the rest of 62 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,400 the body. And so it it portions itself off 63 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,200 and creates almost like a container. 64 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,680 So it creates scar tissue around the healthy fat. 65 00:03:28,920 --> 00:03:32,320 And so it's no longer responding to our normal weight loss 66 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,160 efforts. So diet, exercise, there's so 67 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,680 many underlying conditions that can also coexist with lipedema. 68 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,600 So a lot of times it gets misclassified as obesity. 69 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,640 And so then your gas lit and the medical system is lacking in 70 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,840 knowledge and education and diagnosis tools. 71 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,160 So it's really this condition that's triggered by puberty, 72 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,640 menopause and pregnancy. So these big hormonal shifts 73 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,080 that women go through, but no one knows what's going on. 74 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,640 We just see our bodies changing and there's no classification, 75 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,360 there's no real, there's no blood test that we can do for it 76 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,520 yet. As far as what actually causes 77 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,360 it, there's some ideas outside of the hormonal triggers, but 78 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,560 really we're navigating and pioneering this pathway because 79 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,000 of awareness and learning. It's just now finally getting 80 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,160 some, some legs underneath it, you know, kind of a pun on it 81 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:32,240 impacts our legs. So we're just really trying to 82 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,440 do the best with, OK, what, what science do we have to support 83 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:39,480 this and what anecdotal information do we have to 84 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,200 support what women are actually dealing with with this 85 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,720 condition? And So what are some of your 86 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:46,800 thoughts because you mentioned, you know, some of the hormonal 87 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,720 changes that can happen, but you will also mention some of the 88 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,480 emerging science as to, you know, explaining what this 89 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:54,600 condition, what the genesis could be. 90 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,040 So what are what are some of the other, you know, scientific 91 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,040 theories on lipedema? There's absolutely a genetic 92 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,920 component to it, you know, and it's, and we're finding that it 93 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,360 isn't just one gene that's determining the outcome of 94 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,800 lipedema progressing, growing, being impacted or not. 95 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,360 So we, we believe that there are multiple genes, but again, the, 96 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,480 the, the best way truly that we can kind of get our brain 97 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,200 wrapped around it is a Dutch test. 98 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,040 You know, there's, there's a metabolite that we can tap into 99 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,200 and kind of figure out, OK, we have this metabolite and we have 100 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,800 this genetic component. I mean, but truly it's so 101 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,560 difficult to get a diagnosis because not everyone's doing, 102 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,480 you know, functional testing like this. 103 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:41,280 And, and if they do, to have the, the knowledge to actually 104 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:44,440 say, OK, it's this metabolite that we think is triggering this 105 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,720 condition. I mean, again, we're just, 106 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,440 there's just so few practitioners that actually know 107 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:51,640 what the heck they're talking about. 108 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:56,560 South, It's, it's a, it's a very emotional component to this, to 109 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:58,560 this condition for sure. Sure. 110 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,600 OK, So talk dirty to me, Kristen. 111 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,320 What is a marker? What's a metabolite we're 112 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,560 looking for on the Dutch test that can be a trigger for, you 113 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,280 know, looking for lipedema. So I'm gonna get it wrong, but 114 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:13,320 it's like MB0016 or something. You'd probably know way better 115 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:18,280 than I would are as like the I don't I can, I, I know that 116 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,320 there's other, I always refer out to Carla Wharton. 117 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,320 She is an, an MP and she dials in and she actually just had a 118 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,080 study published. But she talks a lot about our 119 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,840 hormones and, and how you know, the hormone replacement theory 120 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:39,160 or practices and how those coexist and how they can benefit 121 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,640 this condition. But she has done podcasts on as 122 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:46,880 guest speakers on other podcasts that I can absolutely refer you 123 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,560 to do in your audience to dive into that Dutch test a little 124 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:51,880 bit more. Cool. 125 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:53,520 Yes, how fun. Thank you. 126 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,320 And I mean, obviously this, this does have a personal component 127 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:58,880 for you, right? Is this something that you 128 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:00,920 suffered from? Absolutely, Jennifer. 129 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:07,480 So I was right around 36 to 37 years of living in silence, like 130 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:10,440 just thinking God created my body different. 131 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:15,040 I had no idea what was going on. My first memory of realizing 132 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,320 that my legs were different. It can impact different body 133 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,240 parts. Usually the trunk is spared. 134 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,880 It can impact the middle section, but usually it's legs. 135 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:25,960 So it can be thighs, it can be your buttocks. 136 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,560 Mine is the rarest to get diagnosed and I have it from the 137 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,920 knees to my ankles. So literally think kneecap to 138 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,440 ankles. And it can also impact the top 139 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,480 of your arms. But at an early age, I was 12, I 140 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,640 was a cheerleader and it was an away game. 141 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,560 I mean, these memories and you can talk to so many women in 142 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:46,960 this community and they have, I have goosebumps just thinking 143 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,000 about it. They have this memory dialed in 144 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,440 of gosh, that was the first time I remember my legs look a little 145 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:54,800 different. Why do they look different? 146 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,720 So we were coming home from an away game and the boys started 147 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,000 making fun of my stump legs. And it just it, it stuck with me 148 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,400 because I already knew my ankles were bigger than my girlfriends, 149 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:11,000 but I would have always been super petite from my waist up, 150 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,880 even my my bottom area up. I mean, I've been a pear shape. 151 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,080 I'm not, you know, not gonna lie, but but I always had that 152 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:21,640 lower a smaller upper body. So another name that they call 153 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,840 this is 2 body syndrome. I mean, literally, it looks like 154 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,400 two different people are sewn together. 155 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:30,760 And that was me. I was a size 2 to 4 from my 156 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,799 waist to my top to my hair and then from my bottom I would be 157 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:37,760 like an 8 to A10. My waist would still be super 158 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:41,640 small, but to accommodate my hips and my lower legs, I always 159 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:46,000 had to size up in my my jeans and my maxi dresses and you 160 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,680 know, pants and all that. And that and that's kind of like 161 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:52,360 the physical, you know, manifestation of this disease, 162 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:53,360 right? Is this like kind of 163 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,520 accumulation of it's not just water, I mean it's fluids, but 164 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,160 it's also mass, right, that's accumulating and they. 165 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:04,520 Extremities yes they refer to it as diseased fat so there it's 166 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,320 not water so it's different than lymphedema. 167 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,800 You know, there can your lymphatic system is obviously 168 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,360 compromised, your veins are compromised, they're all 169 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,360 impacted. But it isn't just simply take a 170 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:17,760 water pill. You know, that's something that 171 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,640 I was given multiple times. I would just take a water pill. 172 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,680 This the standard that we would hear the the standard outcome 173 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:26,480 from doctors is you just need to lose weight. 174 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:28,560 You just need to eat less and workout more. 175 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:31,280 And I'm like, OK, and there there were times where I was a 176 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,480 little bit heavier, a little bit smaller, But you know, we have 177 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,720 women that are even smaller than I am that are, you know, stage 1 178 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,760 or preclinical that their their body parts, you just don't match 179 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:46,280 their entire being and they're and especially don't match their 180 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,880 work ethic, if you will. When you think of how we take 181 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,920 care of ourselves, it just the two pieces don't go together. 182 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,760 So we're back in high school, kind of coming home from that 183 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:56,640 away game. You're noticing that something's 184 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,880 a little bit different in your body. 185 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:00,640 Is this it's a progressive disease? 186 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,280 Does it get worse with time or does it just kind of pop up? 187 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,240 It can be progressive. It is classified as a 188 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:09,400 progressive condition. That's an ideology that I do 189 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,880 challenge only because we find more often, if we manage our 190 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:18,640 weight, we can limit how much of that, you know, quarantined off 191 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,320 or portioned off fat actually does grow and become impacted. 192 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,200 Now, I say that with the caveat of when we had these big 193 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,880 hormonal fluctuations. We can't control where the fat 194 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,040 goes, right? Like, yeah, let's go through 195 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,600 puberty and we get the bigger breasts or, you know, we go 196 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,400 through pregnancy and we get, you know, our body changes, 197 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,080 etcetera. But menopause was really the 198 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,720 rock bottom for me, Jennifer. I had been in menopause, you 199 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,040 know, and and had seen, you know, my periods had stopped. 200 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,640 I'm like, OK, I was I was on the younger side, 4243 ish, you 201 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,400 know, was coming out of an incredibly difficult divorce and 202 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,840 I just chalked it up to my period had stopped because I was 203 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,080 started an antidepressant because that's what you do. 204 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,600 Like, you know, I, I didn't at that point in my life, I didn't 205 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,440 know to push back on the medical system to ask more questions. 206 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:11,440 I was just the, you know, the suburban wife that you go and 207 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,760 the doctor says you do this and I OK, and no questions. 208 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:20,000 And so it was a perfect storm of menopause, high stress and, you 209 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,320 know, situation, you can think inflammation, cytokines, like 210 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,240 all the things that are just storming in your body. 211 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,160 And I didn't recognize my legs. I mean, it was just a matter of 212 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,560 a year or two and they went from my normal, which wouldn't be 213 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:34,720 your normal. You know, I, I never, I always 214 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,320 had ankles. You're just such an ugly term. 215 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,440 But I always had these big ankles and these big fat knee 216 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,040 pads that like the fat pads that sat on the inside of my knees. 217 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,480 And so as my menopause progressed and my ovaries 218 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:50,000 retired, they threw their party without telling me. 219 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,760 I always do like the, the ovaries were having a retirement 220 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,880 party. I was not, it was, it was quite 221 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,360 a, just a, an emotional storm. And I was just in a pit of 222 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,160 apathy. I mean, it was such a dark, 223 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,720 tough season. And menopause alone is already 224 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,200 so difficult and perimenopause is so difficult. 225 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:11,960 But at least there's some sisterhood in that space. 226 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,960 And you can kind of like talk about it and, oh, you have rage 227 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,280 or your night sweats or, you know, you can kind of talk 228 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,400 through those symptoms. But I was just so isolated and 229 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,920 alone. And I remember distinctly, I've 230 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,280 always sat on the floor and like, held this little mirror to 231 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:27,280 put on my makeup. And I, you know, I'm sitting 232 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,080 Indian family. I remember looking down and 233 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,080 grabbing a towel to cover my legs up from my own eyeballs. 234 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,160 Like, that's how disproportionate they looked. 235 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,760 And it was just so, so difficult, so much emotion, like 236 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,920 looking at the changes that my and not understanding. 237 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,920 I had no idea why at that point. And then how did you come to 238 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:48,480 understand? Because obviously your brain 239 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,360 said this isn't normal, but your doctor said you're normal. 240 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,040 Because a lot of times there isn't pitting. 241 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,640 So that's the standard like they'll, you know, I would go, I 242 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,240 was having my hormones replaced. I'd started, you know, just with 243 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,120 some testosterone and, you know, on the, on the lower end of, of 244 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,040 optimizing my hormones And I'm like, and, and it took so much 245 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,000 courage, Jennifer, I can't even. And that's why I'm so loud and 246 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,560 I'm showing my before legs all the time because it took so much 247 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:15,120 courage for me to hike up because I wouldn't show my legs. 248 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,440 I always had, it could be 9000° outside. 249 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,680 I've got jeans or a maxi dress that's dragging the floor. 250 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,800 But I pulled up my pant leg and I said, I don't know if you 251 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,240 would have any ideas. Like my legs just, and, and I 252 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,160 didn't know it was painful because they were my normal 253 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:32,360 again. So I didn't have anything to 254 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,280 compare it to. But there is a painful component 255 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,200 that goes with this because this inflamed tissue has ticked off, 256 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,200 right? So it's hurt and she did a 257 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,480 pitting test like she Nope, it's not pitting. 258 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,040 You know, let me, let me ask the other doctor, let me ask the 259 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,680 other nurse. No, no, I, I think maybe if you 260 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:50,000 just, you know, maybe workout a little bit more. 261 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,400 I said, I'm a runner. I run half marathons like, well, 262 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:55,400 maybe maybe you should stop running. 263 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,520 And I've been running. I've been running since my son 264 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,360 was six months old. He graduates this month. 265 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,280 I'm like, OK, this is where. And my gut was like, find a new 266 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,720 Doctor, find a new Doctor, find a new Doctor. 267 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,120 And so I, but I still just checked it to the side. 268 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,600 This is how God made my legs didn't think anything and and 269 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,840 again, why I love connecting with women, especially that are 270 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,040 making waves on social media is social media. 271 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,520 It was a random. I say random, but we know 272 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:24,280 there's no nothing is random. A scroll on Instagram and I had 273 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,920 gotten a new fall where I only had like 2000 followers. 274 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,400 I mean, I didn't have nearly the the community that I have now 275 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,760 and I got it and it was a lipedema something for the love 276 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,040 of me, I would love to be able to go back and bind her. 277 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,560 I don't know exactly the account, but I opened up her 278 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,840 page and there were my legs staring back at me and I was 279 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,440 just like, what the heck? I mean, I and I have a wave of 280 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,840 emotion just even sharing this and I don't know that that will 281 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,840 ever go away. But it was seeing my legs 282 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:51,920 looking back at me. Lipedema. 283 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:53,000 And of course you go where do you go? 284 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:54,200 Right. You go straight to Google. 285 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,200 This was before chat and before Claude and anybody could like 286 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:00,680 help us figure out anything. So I go to Google and this would 287 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:06,160 have been probably February marches, March ish of 23. 288 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:11,080 And it was like, OK, wow. It felt like so surreal to have 289 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:12,600 a name. My best friend's a nurse. 290 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,360 I'm like, OK, you know, send it over. 291 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:15,800 What do you know about this? She's like, I've never heard of 292 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:16,720 this. Right. 293 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,800 OK. So I just sat on it for a while. 294 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:23,760 I had done 75 ARD like the previous November of 22. 295 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,240 I just turned 48. I was done. 296 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,080 I was in this this pit of apathy. 297 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,240 I didn't understand my body, but I just knew deep in my gut, if I 298 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,720 don't make one last ditch effort, I'm just gonna keep 299 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,520 gaining weight. Like I'd gained 40 some, I mean 300 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:41,760 like 10. I had been slowly creeping, but 301 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,600 a total of 40 some pounds. And I thought, OK, we're just 302 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:46,560 gonna, we're in try 75. That was what I do, right? 303 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,480 We, we try harder, we go bigger, we go batter. 304 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,640 And that's what I did and lost 14 lbs naturally. 305 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,400 And that was right around that season where I was like being 306 00:15:56,400 --> 00:16:00,640 tested more for my hormones. So my, I found an awesome 307 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,520 integrative Dr. At this point, we still didn't really know 308 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,840 about lipedema. I had not been diagnosed with 309 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,200 that yet. But he also found I had PCOS, 310 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,280 which is incredibly common in this community. 311 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,880 You know, my ovaries, we're done, we're done. 312 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,920 So, so we really had to up that optimization and figure out what 313 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,680 was going going on there. And he started talking to me 314 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,280 about tirzepatide. He's like, I, I think that this 315 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,320 will really help for your PCOS, you know, and, and at that time, 316 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,360 I just want to take the listeners back that that maybe 317 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,760 are newer to this peptide conversation. 318 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,520 This was in the, I'm going to call it like a war of pro and 319 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,600 anti GOP ones. There were any way more anti 320 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,680 than it was pro. It was they're cheating. 321 00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:43,400 You're stealing from the diabetics. 322 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,760 You know, I mean, it was just this huge misunderstanding. 323 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:48,280 And now my doctor's talking to me. 324 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:52,760 I don't have diabetes, you know, my I don't understand like this 325 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:54,080 isn't how this is supposed to go. 326 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:58,160 And it changed everything. You know, Fast forward April, I 327 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,320 was able, April of 23, I was able to find a doctor at a 328 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:04,720 lipedema specialist. There's a handful in the 329 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,000 country. There was one an hour away from 330 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,040 me and I was able to get an appointment. 331 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,960 And he took one look at me open down, I'm facing the wall, he's 332 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:17,960 looking at my backside and he says, oh, classic case of 333 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,160 lipedema or as I call it, 2 body syndrome. 334 00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:24,079 And I'm just sobbing. Like sobbing. 335 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:24,880 It was. It was. 336 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:28,840 I mean, just, I, I can almost feel the emotion through your 337 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:31,760 story of the frustration and the hopelessness and the 338 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,440 resignation. I mean, on top of that being, 339 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,480 you know, perimenopausal, postmenopausal, dealing with 340 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,520 weight gain, dealing with PCOS. I mean, it does feel sometimes 341 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,840 like women's midlife conspires against them in so many ways. 342 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:50,560 But for you to be able to find some answers, you know, starting 343 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,040 with hormone replacement therapy, PCOS and then having a 344 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,080 diagnosis and then layering on in GLP, one that must have been 345 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,960 just like mind blowing and life changing. 346 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,160 So tell me what happened next. So mind blowing, so and so truly 347 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,800 like as I mentioned, my best friend is a nurse and and works 348 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:09,160 in the regenerative medicine space. 349 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,960 So this was not new to her. She was like, you know, I I was 350 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,840 doing tiny what we call micro dose. 351 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,400 Now they didn't call it then they only had the, you know, the 352 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,000 pre dose pens. But again, this incredible 353 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,920 integrative Dr. we had that I'm traveling an hour to see, paying 354 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,280 a crap ton of cash to see, you know, all the pieces. 355 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,360 And he's like, no, I just want you to use this tiny amount. 356 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:29,680 Tiny. I mean, it was like a milligram, 357 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,640 like just the the tiniest dose. But it was that missing piece, 358 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:35,520 Jennifer. And I truly was like, I don't 359 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,200 know what is going on and I don't know what's in this magic 360 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,440 syringe, but I wanted all the days of my life. 361 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:45,320 But this everything felt better, right? 362 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,880 My people became cuter, you know, happier. 363 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,680 I had more energy than it just it truly was. 364 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:55,920 And and I know just from listening to some of your other 365 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,560 podcasts, it isn't a monotherapy, right? 366 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,240 We, I, I all everything else was locked in. 367 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:04,200 And that's what's so is so common in my community. 368 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:07,760 What we're doers. We'll do the do, but it ain't do 369 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,080 it for us, you know? I do know. 370 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:12,280 I do know. I hear that story every day. 371 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,960 You know, that's my story. It's so many other of my, you 372 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,040 know, my colleagues stories. We were, you know, sold this 373 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:22,520 bill of goods that works really well when we're 253030 three 374 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,160 years old, but then all of a sudden right around, you know, 375 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,560 35, that stuff just doesn't work anymore. 376 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,480 Doesn't mean it's bad. We keep doing it, but we're not 377 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,160 getting the results that that, you know, we were getting as 378 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,920 younger women. And that is incredibly 379 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:37,720 frustrating when you're putting in the effort. 380 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:43,720 It's just layers and layers and layers of challenges, right? 381 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,960 And again, coming from a recovering, I can't say I'm 382 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,760 recovered recovering people pleaser who didn't know to push 383 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,200 back, who didn't know to ask questions. 384 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,600 You know, that is that's my heart's mission is to say no, 385 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,160 just just ask questions. Or if it doesn't feel right, 386 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,520 find a new Doctor because there, there are tools that can help us 387 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,600 even outside of peptides, there's tools that we can add to 388 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,880 our tool belt. They gotta speak up and advocate 389 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:14,320 for yourself. 100% that is definitely something I'm 390 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:18,040 passionate about as well. And it's kind of funny we my 391 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,640 husband threw an impromptu dinner party last night with 392 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,320 five of his closest friends just randomly showing up for dinner. 393 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,080 I was like, thank the Lord we have an extra loaf of sourdough 394 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,080 bread in the freezer, otherwise I'd die. 395 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:33,000 But one of his friends works in oncology and works with Applied 396 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,840 Clinical Research. And he, he was telling me, we 397 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,160 have this company that has approached us and is looking for 398 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,240 blood samples from perimenopausal and 399 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,760 postmenopausal women. They are paying oncological 400 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,880 prices like like these research companies, pharmaceutical 401 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,000 companies, they're they're paying, you know, $10,000 for a 402 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:55,120 slice of a, a, you know, a tumor to study it. 403 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,960 And they're paying similar prices, said my friend, for 404 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:03,200 woman's premenopausal menstrual blood and also postmenopausal 405 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,240 blood just in general, because our population is so incredibly 406 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:09,680 understudied. And so now with this 407 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,760 proliferation of people like you on social media talking about 408 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:15,880 things that are so important in the menopause space, people are 409 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:17,920 taking notice. You know, not just the women who 410 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,200 are living it, but other people around us are physicians. 411 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,760 And now even the pharmaceutical companies are getting involved. 412 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,120 And I think that is incredible what you're doing and what so 413 00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:29,320 many women are doing. We're making changes and. 414 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:33,160 And it is, it's truly exciting, the thing, you know, not only 415 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,360 encouraging other women to advocate for themselves, but I 416 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,800 have a daughter, she'll be 20 this month, you know, and, and I 417 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:44,000 can't imagine her having to deal with the same medical system 418 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:50,400 that I did that I 36 to 37, almost 4 decades, not 419 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,720 understanding I had a medical condition, not a willpower issue 420 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:59,240 and had been found, Lipedema was found in 1940. 421 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,840 Jennifer, like, can we please just pause and think about the 422 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,920 thousands and thousands and thousands of women that just on 423 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,040 my page, I mean, in my community alone that are raising their 424 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,400 hand? Like, gosh, I never had any 425 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:14,800 idea. Never, you know, I never had a 426 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,840 clue. I had to step into and, and I've 427 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:19,920 seen from your page, you know, you're a believer, but it was 428 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,560 one of those where the minute I found out about it was like, oh, 429 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,360 I'm going to social, you know, and then a good friend paused me 430 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:27,680 and she's like, how about we just work on your story 1st? 431 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,720 And I was like, OK, OK. It was an instant relief because 432 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,080 I'm like, I've hid literally my lower half of my body for all my 433 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:38,480 life since 12:00. So it was this huge relief. 434 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:42,040 And then I went through my own healing recovery journey, you 435 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,160 know, did lose the weight, have maintained the weight loss. 436 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,600 That's my that's truly the flex, right, is getting off that yo-yo 437 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,600 roller coaster and it and it just, it kept growing And I was 438 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,200 like, OK, because there's a surgical option where you can 439 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,960 remove that diseased fat. And it was like, do you do this? 440 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:00,320 Do you not? Do you do this not? 441 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,720 And you know, of course it's rarely covered by insurance. 442 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,520 It's super expensive if you go out of pocket. 443 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,840 I'm talking Jennifer 20 to 40. Ki was quoted like out of 444 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:14,720 pocket, no coverage. The first quote came in, it was 445 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,200 between 35 and $40,000. I needed two different surgeries 446 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,760 and it was, I'm like, I'm no, I've lived with it this long, 447 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,520 this is OK. And I just was prayerful and 448 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:27,360 kept looking and kept again, I found a surgeon here in 449 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,200 Indianapolis. I had a consultation with him. 450 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,480 He is not a lipedema specialist and because of the virality of 451 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,000 my account, doesn't take patients anymore. 452 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,400 You know, at the beginning I was like, go see Doctor Dadada, go 453 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:42,160 see Doc. You know, I had no clue. 454 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:43,440 You just don't know what you don't know. 455 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,720 But he was very conservative in his consultation. 456 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:50,280 He said this will be like a good haircut. 457 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,920 I mean, at this point, Jennifer, to put it in perspective for 458 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:58,760 your listener, I weighed 139 pounds, 37, did 39 lbs and I was 459 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,320 I'm 5 foot 6. So I mean, I'm like my intake 460 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,440 record referred to me as athletic, athletic build and 461 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,200 healthy or something. And it was like the one time 462 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,840 that I was like, darn it, no, I want him to see my legs. 463 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:16,720 Like I love being called athletic and fit, but crud, no, 464 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,680 I need to see the pain in the, you know, the body dysmorphia 465 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,280 and the mental health and they're so I mean, it isn't 466 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:26,560 just, oh gosh, your legs look a little thicker than Jennifer's. 467 00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:30,320 Like what's that kind of thing? But Long story short, we applied 468 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:34,000 to get it covered through insurance and December 26th of 469 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:38,480 23, so I post Christmas present that year, I got a letter I was 470 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,640 by myself at home from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, who's 471 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,080 our carrier, and I was approved like everything was going to be 472 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,160 covered for my inch for my. Surgery. 473 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,680 Praise the Lord, that is incredible. 474 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,480 It was insane. And I, and again, so there's so 475 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,720 many steps of emotion and I just sat in my kitchen. 476 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,560 I'm Facetiming my husband who's running errands or whatever, and 477 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,760 I'm sobbing. I mean sobbing because not only 478 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,480 am I approved, awesome, amazing. We don't have to come out of 479 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,680 pocket for this, but the edification that the best 480 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:11,560 insurance carrier in our country, literally they ensure 481 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,560 one in three humans is saying, yes, this is a medical condition 482 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:17,120 and yes, we're going to improve your surgery. 483 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,480 Wow. So. 484 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,480 What happened next? Did you schedule it? 485 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,160 What did that look like? Girl, I was like, OK, can you do 486 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,840 it tomorrow? My calendar just freed up. 487 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,480 I mean, let's see, we had a trip. 488 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,160 We had, we're going to Punta Cana in February. 489 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,280 And I'm not joking, they could get me in like right before the 490 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:37,600 day before we're going to Punta Cana. 491 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,480 And I'm like, I just don't think this is smart to do a surgery 492 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,280 and fly out of the country. So we're going to so we went to 493 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:48,160 Punta Cana, came back and I had surgery February 16th of 24. 494 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:52,360 So I'm just about, you know, a little over 2 years post op and 495 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:55,160 it's been life changing. It's absolutely life changing. 496 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,800 But it's also not an option that's available to everyone, 497 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:00,040 especially in my international community. 498 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,000 It's super, super hard to qualify. 499 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:07,200 A lot of times they are only looking at larger volume 500 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,600 removal. So it's very common to also 501 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,520 battle obesity in this community. 502 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,640 I mean, there's just, again, there's so many layers like we 503 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,320 were talking about, you know, earlier in this, in this 504 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,520 podcast. I I really am intrigued, 505 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,960 Kristen, because I did not know that there is a surgical option 506 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:25,800 for lipedema. So what does that look like 507 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,040 start to finish? So basically liposuction, 508 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,920 there's various liposuction techniques, tumescent there's, 509 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,920 you know, some some different options as far as the actual 510 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:40,120 technique that's used. I went the traditional route. 511 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:41,960 So I had traditional liposuction. 512 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,520 I had 4 little puncture wounds. You know what they removed the 513 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,600 fat pad on my knees. They removed some of the as much 514 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:53,160 as they could around my ankles. So like think top like me and 515 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,840 then inside of me and then ankle and outside of ankle were kind 516 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,720 of where the puncture wounds were and they removed what they 517 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,680 could down my calves. I mean, I share I've got lots of 518 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:08,880 this on my on my Instagram page, but it was very, very, very 519 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,840 painful. I am always very transparent 520 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,560 about that. If you think about your ankles 521 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,440 and you think about the type quarters of your ankles and you 522 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:21,720 think about all those nerve endings and, and the muscles and 523 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:24,360 everything. And one of the pieces that I 524 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:27,320 also really try to share when we talk about surgery is I didn't 525 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,920 think nada, not nil about recovery. 526 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,920 I was so in my head and preparing for what I bet I'm the 527 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,400 only one it won't work for, you know, it's just like the 528 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,320 enemies, you know, feeding his lies and you're scared and 529 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,280 you're this and you're that. And I was completely sedated. 530 00:27:43,360 --> 00:27:46,880 A lot of these women are not. It's just a local, right? 531 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,600 And that was one of the quotes. One of the surgeons that I 532 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,880 consulted with, he's like, well, we don't do sedation, you know, 533 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,800 we keep everyone alike. And the nurse, actually his 534 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:59,520 nurse, so he leaves the room and his nurse says, I just want to 535 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,120 warn you that this is incredibly painful, even with the local 536 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:05,560 sedation, you know, the local numbing that we use. 537 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,280 And I'm like, how is this an option? 538 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:13,400 Like right, No, And and I have many in this community that it's 539 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:14,760 fine. That worked for them. 540 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,120 Fantastic. There's, you know, an incredibly 541 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:20,600 talented surgeon at a Tampa that doesn't do full sedation. 542 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,800 Perfect. I wanted to be knocked the flip 543 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,640 out like, Nope, I'm going in one way. 544 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,280 I'm coming out another like good, put me under suit. 545 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,600 So you know, like let me and it was fantastic. 546 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,280 It was an incredible experience. We came home that day. 547 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,920 I'm in the Midwest, I'm here in Indiana and it had snowed. 548 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,120 You know, it's February, so we were literally snowed in. 549 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,480 So we just had this nice snowy blanket over the house over 550 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:46,800 everything. No one could go anywhere. 551 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,240 There were no expectations. And that's how my healing 552 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,600 journey started was that that weekend and incredibly 553 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,800 emotional, incredibly painful. I way underestimated the actual 554 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:00,720 physical pain. Think nerves. 555 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:04,000 I mean, you know, anybody that knows anything about nerves and 556 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,080 nerve healing, it's going to take months and months and 557 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:07,840 months and months. So you'd have like these full 558 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,400 body, you know, goosebumps almost that would just feel like 559 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:13,720 they're trapped because those nerves were regenerating. 560 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,760 It's it's, it's intense. Mercy, you are a warrior 561 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,720 Princess. I mean, really, that is crazy. 562 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,960 Just the whole again, like the emotional lead up to that and 563 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,400 knowing that gosh, you know, something different might be 564 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,040 right on the other side, but then having to go through the 565 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,840 literal pain to get there is impressive. 566 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:37,560 Yeah, feeling. You know, and because of again, 567 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,880 where mine was located like they didn't get it all. 568 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,720 So I still will have lipedema flares, but the beautiful piece 569 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:46,200 of that, and it's almost like God allowed some of that 570 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:48,960 lipedema fat to say, because that's another piece I can 571 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,320 advocate for women is, as I had said previously, my legs. 572 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,280 If somebody asked me if they heard, I'd say no, no, this is 573 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,120 just how they've always felt. But now I can recognize, Oh my 574 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,960 gosh, I'm not carrying boulders. Like when I run, my legs are 575 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,760 like dress like. I mean, I wouldn't say dress 576 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,160 maybe like, I don't know you. Say it, girl. 577 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:11,000 Really speedy dog like they kind of float a little bit more than 578 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:15,280 than they did before, but it's they aren't heavy that it isn't 579 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,320 so, so cumbersome to actually move. 580 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,400 I can tell when I've eaten inflammatory foods because my 581 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,640 ankles like sis, I don't know why you do that. 582 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,520 You keep trying. You cannot eat, you know, 583 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,120 because I can I can feel it instantly in my ankle. 584 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,680 So it's like the, you know, the weird grandpa that can tell when 585 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:33,960 it's gonna rain. I can, I can tell my ankle when 586 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,880 something's up, so. 100. Percent, it helps me help. 587 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,800 It helps me help others understand what they're feeling 588 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,800 so. Well, and you through it, it 589 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:45,720 sounds like you become even more of a student of your body. 590 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,960 Obviously you've been in that the health space since 2018, but 591 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,320 this didn't happen until 2023, you said. 592 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,160 And so the things you probably picked up along the way, 593 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,760 specifically with like what foods are increasing 594 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,520 inflammation or lifestyle habits that increase inflammation. 595 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,040 What are some of the commonalities you saw between 596 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:04,480 yourself and maybe some of the other women in your community 597 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,440 of, you know, foods or lifestyle habits that are triggers that 598 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,440 that do increase inflammation? So one of the the hard pieces 599 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:15,960 about this community is, as I alluded to, a lot of times, 600 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:18,240 women are also dealing with obesity. 601 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,640 And so when I was navigating my discovery process before, you 602 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,280 know, weighing out surgical options and kind of pioneering 603 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,720 my own path, well, I had done Weight Watchers through 75 604 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:30,800 heart. You have to do it, you know, a 605 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,880 diet program. And the good thing about that 606 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,680 was it was all inflamed. You got rewarded for eating 607 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:39,720 protein, like it didn't cost points. 608 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,360 And you know, so we'd have this whole mindset, but it shifted my 609 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,120 mindset because I, I just ate so poorly. 610 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:50,120 I ate processed foods. I, I love, I mean, cheese and 611 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,360 carbs, like line them up, throw them down the Hatch. 612 00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,200 Like, can we have more? You know, I'd already given up 613 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,480 alcohol because of menopause. So there was there's just so 614 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,240 many different pieces that we don't realize are inflammatory 615 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,760 until you really peel back the veil a little bit and start 616 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:09,520 diving in like, oh gosh, you know, I, you alluded to sour 617 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:12,280 sourdough and I was like, see, if heavy showed up, we would be 618 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,960 accidentally out of sourdough and his but that stuff is hard 619 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:18,920 to make. But I only make, I make all of 620 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,000 our bread now, you know, So there's things that just had to 621 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,680 change. And you, again, you, you can't 622 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,720 just flow through how you're feeding yourself and how you're 623 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,840 taking care of yourself. Absolutely, 100%. 624 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,960 The fundamentals, the foundation, just so important. 625 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,480 But I mean, you locked those in and then you were also layering 626 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,880 in this new tool. So you talked a little bit about 627 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,480 it, but tell me more about the GOP portion of your journey. 628 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,800 I I love it. Did I mention that that I went 629 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:53,760 all my days? So it again, it was that missing 630 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:56,680 piece. And early on it was one of those 631 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,960 like, oh, you're you only use it for a little amount of time and 632 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:02,120 then you need to titrate off. And there was just no one really 633 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:04,040 understood. And you know, it really was 634 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:07,000 listening to amazing podcasters like Doctor Tina and Doctor 635 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,440 Tina's podcast. And she's such an advocate for 636 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,000 small doses. And she was the first one that 637 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,840 made me feel like I'm actually smart for doing this. 638 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,960 Like, you know, I didn't feel shady or like I was stealing or, 639 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,120 you know, cheating or doing anything bad. 640 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,560 And so I was able to lose the weight that I wanted to lose to 641 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,640 help my body release that extra weight. 642 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:31,160 And it took 7-8 months. I'm a huge believer in slow and 643 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:33,040 low. Like, I wanted sustainable 644 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,120 change. I was done roller coastering and 645 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,960 and so that was slow low and then I did, I would titrate off, 646 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:42,680 you know, let's take a month off. 647 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,840 Let's see how we do. And my behaviors because they 648 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:49,560 were so solidified, my weight would maintain, but I started 649 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,000 to, you know, we'd travel and I'm thinking, Oh, I don't have 650 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,200 to wear my compressions on the plane or I don't have to. 651 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:56,960 And that wasn't the case. You know, that's when I really 652 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,080 when I was off the GOP one was when I was able to recognize 653 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,520 even more that flare in my ankle. 654 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,400 And I'm like, and it isn't Even so much that if you looked at it 655 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,719 in a flare, you'd say, I don't really see, but I can see it. 656 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:11,600 But that isn't even what matters to me. 657 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:14,120 It's how it feels. It's just like a think of like a 658 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,000 a water balloon that you're squeezing like and it's getting 659 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:18,520 ready to like that's what it feels like. 660 00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:21,840 It's just tight and and uncomfortable. 661 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:26,480 And the GOP one just almost within hours will lessen that 662 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:30,000 that phlegm inflammatory effect. Incredible. 663 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,120 It really is incredible. I know the research just on 664 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:36,880 inflammatory markers and GLP ones like interleukin beta 6 and 665 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,159 TNF alpha, you know, these, these markers come down. 666 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:42,920 I've seen it in lab work, C reactive protein coming down. 667 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,000 So it makes sense that, you know, you would you would feel 668 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,560 it because we all, we know when we're inflamed, at least like 669 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,360 the majority of midlife women kind of have learned to realize, 670 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,040 OK, this particular food, this particular drink, this 671 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,080 particular activity, you know, makes me feel a little bit 672 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,000 puffier. But taking it to the extreme, 673 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,280 you know, like in the case of lipedema, it has to be so 674 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,040 encouraging just to feel like that, you know, the puffiness, 675 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,200 the inflammation, the pain is starting to abate. 676 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,280 And it's so much more and I and I know that you're an advocate 677 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,920 of, you know, it's so much more than what the scale says. 678 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,240 Yet the, the less, you know, lower inflammation, less pain, 679 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:23,280 but we're also starting to see it's addressing fibrosis, you 680 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:26,720 know, it's addressing, you know, the metabolism and the metabolic 681 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,240 components of this condition. So literally just did a post 682 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:32,080 today. I'm like, this is so much more 683 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,320 than the scale. I don't want women getting hung 684 00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,440 up on. I don't have weight to lose or, 685 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,800 you know, I've lost weight or I, I'm only but like, yes, we feel 686 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:44,440 better when we're at a healthier weight, but there's, it's so 687 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,640 much bigger than that. I, I don't have weight to lose. 688 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,440 I've maintained my weight and I've maintained I've stayed on a 689 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:56,120 GLP 1 be because of all the added benefits because of the 690 00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,200 inflammation alone. I would take it in super small 691 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,640 doses forever. I mean, it's, it's just not, 692 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:07,520 it's not something that I have any desire to, to not be in my, 693 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:10,520 in my tool belt. Amen, fully agree. 694 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:12,960 It's one of my favorite conversations to have with women 695 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,080 because a lot of women are looking at it as a medication. 696 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,680 I'm not a doctor, so this isn't like a medical discussion, but 697 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,920 we know that Physiology of a peptide is, is different than 698 00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:23,640 that of a traditional firm acetical. 699 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,640 And so having people realize, gosh, it's this biosimilar 700 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:28,720 compound. I just, I, you know, was writing 701 00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:32,400 this weekend and just thinking about like our body has run on 702 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:34,200 peptide since the day we were born. 703 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:35,680 They they have. Yeah. 704 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,400 Oxytocin, vasopressin, GLP ones, these are all like they've been 705 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,120 in our bodies from day one. And so I think when women 706 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,480 realize that that we're putting back the missing signals that 707 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,640 have been stolen away by plastics and pesticides and a 708 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:53,120 crappy food chain and too much stress and all the things, but 709 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,520 it becomes easier to use them as a tool. 710 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,240 I think for the long term. For me, do not take away my GLP 711 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:03,960 one do not take away my. BHRT, my hormone replacement 712 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,280 therapy and my peptides. It's gonna get ugly if you try 713 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,720 to come out of life. I'm not very scrappy, but I I 714 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,160 bet I could be. Right, right. 715 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:17,240 Because you're right, the benefits are so much deeper than 716 00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:19,560 just weight loss. Weight loss is the tip of the 717 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:23,040 iceberg, which is fun. It is and it and it helps and I 718 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:28,120 feel better and, and not having that emotional weight of hiding 719 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,000 or figuring out what I'm going to wear to accommodate how 720 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,000 swollen or puffy I feel. You know, there's so many layers 721 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,480 that go into that. And I really think Jennifer and 722 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,760 I'm sure that you would agree that it boils down to to the 723 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,440 delivery method, you know, the delivery mechanism of peptides 724 00:37:43,440 --> 00:37:46,560 and GLP ones. If you swallowed it like a pill, 725 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:48,120 would we be having this conversation? 726 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,640 Nope. You know, and that's what it 727 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,280 comes down to is like, I'm lining up peptides. 728 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,520 I literally did a Wolverine injection 20 minutes before the 729 00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:58,440 call. I'm like, oh, I haven't done 730 00:37:58,440 --> 00:37:59,840 that. Did I like, you know, let's 731 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:02,920 let's pop that in. But it's that delivery mechanism 732 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,400 that I think really is jarring at the beginning. 733 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,800 People are obviously coming around and you can't scroll, you 734 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,920 know, 2 seconds without seeing it. 735 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:16,080 But if that weren't how they were consumed or how they got 736 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:18,480 into our bodies, none of these conversations would be taking 737 00:38:18,480 --> 00:38:20,400 place. Excellent point, my friend. 738 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,680 So, so true. And we wouldn't have the, I 739 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:27,080 think, restrictions that social media is putting on us if it 740 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:29,520 wasn't coming through a needle, that's for sure. 741 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,200 Yeah, that the social media, that's a whole other rabbit 742 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,800 trail. I'm really feeling that you know 743 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:39,800 it and it's incredibly frustrating and difficult, 744 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:42,360 right? Like it's I love having this 745 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,840 platform you to and being invited to speak so openly about 746 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:47,480 it here. I'm going to probably have to 747 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:53,520 create another community outside of our the big platforms so that 748 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,960 I can talk more freely with my community because it's you know, 749 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:01,320 censorship is alive and well. I'm 100% convinced I'm shadow 750 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,600 banned right now and it's and I'm not alone. 751 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:06,240 I know I'm not alone. You're not alone. 752 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:11,720 It's such a fine line, right, that we're walking on to, to try 753 00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:15,000 to balance. OK, I they have to know about 754 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:18,640 this, but at what cost, right? Like, you know, this is, this is 755 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,280 what I do and this is how I, how I've decided to shoot, you know, 756 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:24,680 and earn my income is through social media platforms. 757 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:27,520 I've been in this space since 2018. 758 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,880 I don't want to afford to. I can't afford to lose it but 759 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:36,160 also come on, come on. Like it feels very 2020 ish all 760 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:38,920 of us. Yes, it absolutely does. 761 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:41,200 Hopefully we, you know, my colleagues and I, we talk about 762 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,240 this all the time now. It's affecting everyone. 763 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:47,440 And so just figuring out, can meta hand down some sort of 764 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,880 boundaries or guidelines? I mean, it is a little bit 765 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:53,760 ridiculous that everyone's being controlled by bots and there's 766 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,760 no human that you can talk to. There's no set of guidelines 767 00:39:56,760 --> 00:39:59,160 that you can get. I don't think any of us, I mean, 768 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,880 we're all probably a little bit rebellious at our heart, but not 769 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,320 rebellious in the fact that. We are going to flaunt these 770 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:06,840 guidelines. If you could just give us 771 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,400 something to work with we're. Cool, Give me, give me the, the 772 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:12,440 OK, where's the playground? What's the same? 773 00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:14,120 It's like where, where are my rules? 774 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,000 What can I and then what can I push? 775 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,600 What can I not push? You know, it's I'm, I'm right 776 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:20,000 there with you. I'm right there with you. 777 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,960 And that again, that's why I just encourage you to keep doing 778 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,160 what you're doing because we do need these platforms. 779 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:30,080 We do need women and encouraging and raising up other women and 780 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:32,600 spreading, spreading the good news. 781 00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:35,640 I mean, you know, not the good, good news, but the second good 782 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,080 news of your peptides and taking care of ourselves. 783 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,960 And we don't have to age like our like our moms and 784 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,840 grandmothers, you know? Yeah, 100%. 785 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:49,360 That is the subtitle of this podcast, Jesus and Peptides. 786 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:51,800 I love it. I love it. 787 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:55,560 That's fantastic. Yeah, man, it is fun getting to 788 00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:58,560 connect with so many, you know, like minded people in the health 789 00:40:58,560 --> 00:40:59,640 space. It's been great. 790 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:03,240 And the feedback that we have gotten from this community of 791 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:06,200 women and men that are listening to the podcast and love it and 792 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:09,320 just like the story aspect of it, they're like the rest of us. 793 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:13,200 Like I, yes, go on Amazon to buy stuff, but I also go on Amazon 794 00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:16,280 to read everyone's reviews of all their Amazon products. 795 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:18,080 I don't know why it calms me down, but it does. 796 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:24,520 Right there with you yes and it weeds out like OK, this is so 797 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,920 helpful now heroes wear capes, right? 798 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,640 Like view Amazon products. Yes, that's right. 799 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:34,640 So I, I do thank you for that and I do, I am very thankful, 800 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,920 very thankful to have this outlet to get to talk with, you 801 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,600 know, brilliant people in this space and get to, you know, keep 802 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:43,680 learning and keep pushing and talk about things a little bit 803 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:45,560 more freely. So it's it's definitely been a 804 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:48,880 blessing. So you mentioned The Wolverine 805 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:49,720 stock. Obviously, no. 806 00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:51,800 I mean once you start you can't stop. 807 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:53,320 So you started with your GLP one. 808 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:56,320 What was the evolution for you there in the peptide space? 809 00:41:56,480 --> 00:42:01,520 I started with GLP 1, so compounded tirzepatide and then 810 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:06,320 went to, I want to say some Moreland was my next one that I 811 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:07,800 tried. And the funny part is, is my 812 00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:11,200 husband has been doing peptides and all kinds of, you know, 813 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:14,280 adventurous biohacking things for years. 814 00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:16,160 And I was just like, oh, it's just something he does, you 815 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,680 know, good for him. Didn't really pay much attention 816 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:20,080 to it. And then the, you know, it just 817 00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:21,600 started growing, right? It was just like this. 818 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:23,720 Wait a second. What, what else we got? 819 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:25,680 What else? What else can we do here? 820 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:28,600 And it's like you said, it's evolved quickly. 821 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,160 I love, love, love the cognitive benefits. 822 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:35,720 So I love the C Maxes and the Celanx and the NA DS and, you 823 00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:39,560 know, the GHKCUSI mean, there's just there's so much goodness 824 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:41,040 there. And actually, that's why I 825 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:45,880 believe I'm in a shadow band state is doing a post on GHKCUI. 826 00:42:46,560 --> 00:42:50,720 No, I had no idea that it was a no know and that I shouldn't be 827 00:42:50,720 --> 00:42:53,440 talking about it. But GHKCU is addressing 828 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:55,440 cartilage. What were we talking about at 829 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,200 the top of this condition? This is, you know, a connective 830 00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:01,480 tissue disorder. So it isn't one of those blanket 831 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:04,680 statements where I would ever say if you have lipedema, you 832 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:08,800 need a GLP 1 and GHKCU. But it's leaning into that. 833 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:11,720 There's so many other Co conditions and impasse and, you 834 00:43:11,720 --> 00:43:14,840 know, histamine reactions. So it isn't a like like most 835 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:16,720 women, right? It isn't going to be a blanket 836 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:20,800 peptide stack for all of us. But even when I'm in between my 837 00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:25,240 GOP one injections, I can't relieve from my GHKCU. 838 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:27,040 Like I'm like, I can see the, that's what I go by. 839 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,120 I can see the tendons in the top where I usually have my lipedema 840 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:31,920 flares. I'm like, oh, I can see my 841 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:34,240 tendons in my ankle. Like I haven't seen those dudes 842 00:43:34,240 --> 00:43:38,600 in, you know, 40 years now. I finally get to see them and I 843 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:42,120 want to see them all the time. How does actually fascinating to 844 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:45,640 me. Yeah, OK, so GHKCU for for 845 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,720 tendon. So is it also reducing 846 00:43:48,720 --> 00:43:51,040 inflammation, the GHKCU with? Yeah, yeah. 847 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,240 And I think, you know, ATP, so it's improving energy and 848 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:56,440 recovery. I mean, there's, you know, you 849 00:43:56,440 --> 00:44:00,040 just keep going and then, you know, Wolverine for gut health. 850 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:02,800 And that's, you know, there's again, I'm not telling you 851 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,400 anything you don't know, but there's just there's so much 852 00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,560 goodness. And it genuinely is something 853 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:12,560 that I encourage women to lean into and they have to do more 854 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:16,800 legwork than before. You know, then even in 20252025, 855 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:18,080 we could talk more liberally about. 856 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:23,000 But you know, now it's that's, that's the cumbersome piece of 857 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:26,400 this is women are having to do more of that legwork. 858 00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:29,400 And a lot of us don't have time a lot, you know, that's why why 859 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:33,280 you and I do what we do is to share information to help women 860 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:35,760 shorten the distance that they have to travel. 861 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,400 It took me this many years. I want to make it this many 862 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:40,920 months for you. I want to make that distance 863 00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:44,040 shorter for. You oh gosh 100% once you 864 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:48,040 realize that you can help other women not have to suffer the 865 00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,840 same way it it is definitely a calling and a mission. 866 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:53,040 The driver. Yeah, for sure, for sure. 867 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:56,040 Yeah, I'm just picturing as you're, as you're talking about, 868 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:59,840 you know, like COVID esque policies and even 2025 we could 869 00:44:59,840 --> 00:45:02,000 be a little bit more liberal in how we talked about it like 870 00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:05,880 peptide speakeasies, you know? Yeah, where are they? 871 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,080 Let's go. I mean, it's easier to do it in 872 00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:13,000 Indianapolis than it is in Bakersfield, CA, but we'll see. 873 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:16,080 We do what we got to do. I I don't know, sister. 874 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:21,080 Like, pot's not even legal here. So, you know, Yeah, well, we're 875 00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:24,640 way behind the curve. So yeah, I guess so, yeah. 876 00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:28,320 I do want to ask though, So what are like, what are the other top 877 00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:31,880 three lifestyle supporting activities that you do 878 00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:35,760 personally and you advise your community to do to, you know, 879 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:39,160 keep lipedema at Bay? So outside of peptides, outside 880 00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:44,120 of the GOAT of GLP, one walk every day and it doesn't and 881 00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:47,200 it's, it sounds so easy and so trivial that I think someone 882 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,000 were like me, you know, I walked to the car. 883 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:53,240 I did this, I did that, but just a couple laps around the block. 884 00:45:53,240 --> 00:45:58,040 I, I am a weird streak girl. So I have this, this walking 885 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:01,000 streak ever since I started 75 hard back in 22. 886 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,280 So my streak is like 1200 some days that I've walked 887 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:09,080 consistently and 99.5% of those have been outside. 888 00:46:09,160 --> 00:46:12,960 I just think that's, it's good for us get some fresh air, get 889 00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:14,840 some sunlight. No, I'm not out there doing 890 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:18,960 10,000 steps and my goal is between 5000 steps and 7500 891 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:20,280 steps. Like I'm not saying kill 892 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:23,400 yourself, walk each day. I'm a huge proponent of 893 00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:26,600 compression stockings. If you suspect you have 894 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,440 lipedema, that is the only conservative therapy 895 00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:34,240 internationally agreed upon is compression stockings. 896 00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,640 So you can imagine there's different classifications in 897 00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:40,640 Europe you aren't even diagnosed with lipedema if you don't, if 898 00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:44,600 pain doesn't also coexist with it, how do you quantify pain? 899 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,720 How do you how do you put a pain threshold? 900 00:46:47,720 --> 00:46:51,040 Like, OK, I've got a little bit. So anyway, but compressions 901 00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:54,640 across the board are embraced in this community. 902 00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:56,440 They're not sexy, they're not fun. 903 00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:59,840 Wear them, they help. I still, I'm two years post 904 00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:02,880 surgical, I still wear my compressions every single night. 905 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:05,560 And now it's to the point where I feel naked without them. 906 00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:09,120 I mean, I it's like I work so hard to get this disease fat off 907 00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:11,680 my body. We are in the same pants size. 908 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,200 We're doing all the things, but it's just again, everything's 909 00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:17,400 kind of the circulation's improved. 910 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:21,520 Everything's compressed. It's I compression for sure, and 911 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:24,320 then anti-inflammatory diet would probably be third, you 912 00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:26,400 know, and these aren't necessarily an order. 913 00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:28,360 It's just the ones that are popping into mind. 914 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:32,880 What we put in our in our mouth impacts everything, our mood or 915 00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:37,040 yes, our lipedema, our menopause, our attitude, how we 916 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,480 deal with our families. I mean, it just it's, it changes 917 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:42,360 everything. Yeah, it does. 918 00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:44,360 I mean, obviously you are super fit. 919 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:47,120 This is your job, it's your life's work, but you care about 920 00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:49,600 being healthy and strong. So what? 921 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,720 What does a typical day in your life look like nutrition wise? 922 00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:56,760 Oh gosh, the dreaded I'm as boring as they get. 923 00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,320 I mean, genuinely. And I, I think that that is a 924 00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:02,400 savings, a saving grace when it comes to the way that we feed 925 00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:05,240 ourselves. You know, I, I go for my protein 926 00:48:05,240 --> 00:48:09,760 first, but I also was blessed with a weird texture aversion. 927 00:48:10,520 --> 00:48:13,960 I have like a weird aversion to like Tendini. 928 00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:17,640 If my husband could hear me talk about this, like she is not 929 00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:19,360 talking about that on that podcast. 930 00:48:19,360 --> 00:48:22,880 Like seriously, that was almost a deal breaker when he and I got 931 00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:24,280 together. He's like, you don't need steak 932 00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:26,160 and like, I don't need steak and I don't eat chicken. 933 00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:31,280 So so I love seafood, but it's just I, I try to just generally 934 00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:35,280 go for protein first, you know, like let's let's go for protein. 935 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:38,160 I'm an intermittent faster. I have before I knew it was 936 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:41,040 intermittent fasting. I've done it, you know, probably 937 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:44,480 close to 20 years at this point. So I just eat dinner and then we 938 00:48:44,480 --> 00:48:47,120 eat, you know, twelve 1:00 the next day. 939 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:51,600 But protein forward, Umm, sourdough, you know, just just 940 00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:54,280 trying to write protein and sourdough. 941 00:48:54,280 --> 00:48:56,360 I mean, what else do you need? Life is good. 942 00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:59,080 Yeah, I'm not a huge vegetable person. 943 00:48:59,080 --> 00:49:01,320 You know, some people will kind of push back and I've just, 944 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:04,720 they've always been bloaty and my stomach's never really 945 00:49:04,720 --> 00:49:07,200 processed them well. So I'm hoping the longer and 946 00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:10,880 more dialed in with the gut health healing from Wolverine 947 00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:12,640 that that can kind of subside some. 948 00:49:12,880 --> 00:49:16,000 But I mean, there's just we find what works and then repeat. 949 00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:17,440 True. You know, true, true. 950 00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:19,680 And I will say, I mean, I think we'd be really good friends in 951 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:21,600 real life. I don't love vegetables. 952 00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:24,400 I'll eat carrots because of Doctor Ray feet and sometimes 953 00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:27,480 green beans but they make me feel terrible so I eat a ton of 954 00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:31,920 green terrible. I when I said that, I'm like, 955 00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:34,280 oh, I can't believe you're saying this on a recording. 956 00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:37,080 You're in the right spot, Kristen. 957 00:49:37,240 --> 00:49:41,600 Thank you. Jesus, I I do love hearing that 958 00:49:41,600 --> 00:49:45,040 because genuinely, it's like, I know I should, but that's what 959 00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:46,080 we're taught, right? We're taught. 960 00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:49,040 And then you get to an age where you're like, I'm a grown up and 961 00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:50,920 I get to decide. So yeah. 962 00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:53,440 Exactly. I mean, I, I do remember even 963 00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:55,920 just a couple years ago, I had a slew of plants who would tell 964 00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:58,640 me, gosh, I, you know, I feel so crappy. 965 00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:02,240 Like when I eat this big salad, I'm like, don't eat the salad 966 00:50:03,040 --> 00:50:03,840 like. Choose. 967 00:50:03,840 --> 00:50:06,120 Something you don't have to eat a big salad. 968 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:08,200 If it tears up your stomach, you're not a rabbit. 969 00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:10,400 Like go eat something that doesn't make you I feel awful. 970 00:50:11,120 --> 00:50:13,760 And I love that you share that though, because that's that's 971 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,600 women, right? We're like, I'm doing this. 972 00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:19,200 I continue to do this. I feel like trash. 973 00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:20,560 I don't sleep. I did it. 974 00:50:20,760 --> 00:50:23,600 Okay, so don't do it. Like let's let's look at this 975 00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:25,160 different. Like, here's your promotion 976 00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:26,360 slips, sis. Yes. 977 00:50:27,080 --> 00:50:30,360 Yes, Oh my goodness. Okay, well, clearly I love you. 978 00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:32,520 I love everything that you stand for. 979 00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:35,680 Just looking at your page, seeing what you teach your 980 00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:37,920 community the way that you look at this. 981 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:40,120 I think with a critical eye as well. 982 00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:43,720 You don't have to be perfect. Here are some habits that we can 983 00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,040 stack on top of what you're already doing so you can feel 984 00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:50,120 better, you know, and then you also have these incredible 985 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:53,480 other, you know, options to really, really help people in 986 00:50:53,480 --> 00:50:56,440 the Lipedema space. This wasn't available in 1940. 987 00:50:56,640 --> 00:50:59,320 Oh my gosh, no, not at all. Not at all. 988 00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:02,040 No. And just the information share 989 00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:04,640 wasn't available, you know, and you and it's one of those things 990 00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:07,240 now, Jennifer, you'll kind of notice like when you go to your 991 00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:11,360 next Art Museum, say check out the statues like Lipedema is not 992 00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:13,040 new. It has been round you. 993 00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:16,920 You will see bigger ankled, bigger legged women. 994 00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:19,600 But I mean, this is this is thousands of years. 995 00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:21,640 I truly believe in my heart of hearts. 996 00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:24,920 And what what caused it? What's again, we don't know, but 997 00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:28,360 it's not new. How we talk about it, how we 998 00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:30,880 communicate about it. That's the new part. 999 00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:32,480 That's the exciting part for sure. 1000 00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:36,120 And actually, it might even end up that we are airing in 1001 00:51:36,240 --> 00:51:38,080 Lipedema Awareness Month, that's in June. 1002 00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:42,200 So that could be a really cool little, little tidbit there. 1003 00:51:42,360 --> 00:51:44,640 We will. Definitely make sure that we 1004 00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,320 will air in June if we have to push some episodes back. 1005 00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:49,800 This is that's great. Thank you for telling me. 1006 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:54,320 Listen, I think you've opened up eyes, you know, everywhere. 1007 00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:57,800 And it also sounds like you have a ton of really good resources. 1008 00:51:57,800 --> 00:52:01,400 So let's start with where people can find you and your program. 1009 00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:04,240 But if there's any other, you know, lipedema resources you 1010 00:52:04,240 --> 00:52:06,280 want to share for women, I would love to hear. 1011 00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:09,560 Yeah, no, the best place to start really is on Instagram. 1012 00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:11,760 So it's just the Kristen Richards. 1013 00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:16,640 So KRISTI in Kristen Richards, but I would love to just have 1014 00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:18,600 you followed there and join along. 1015 00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:22,640 You know, I've got everything linked up in my bio as as per 1016 00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:25,880 content creator rules, right? So we can share all the 1017 00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:28,880 information. But I do try to really stay at 1018 00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:32,040 the forefront of women that look like me. 1019 00:52:32,040 --> 00:52:39,600 So, you know, newer, smaller, it goes in Lipidema is classified 1020 00:52:39,720 --> 00:52:44,040 as under stages and types. So I share that little piece 1021 00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:46,440 because most women that are drawn to me. 1022 00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:50,320 So if you think stage one, I was probably a stage 2 before I lost 1023 00:52:50,320 --> 00:52:53,320 weight. I'm I'm preclinical now with the 1024 00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:57,360 the surgery, but the lower stages are the ones that are 1025 00:52:57,360 --> 00:52:59,720 going to resonate the most with my page. 1026 00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:03,240 And then there's type. So you get a stage and a type as 1027 00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:05,280 to what stage, how progressed are you? 1028 00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:07,960 And type is going to identify where on the body it is. 1029 00:53:08,480 --> 00:53:11,880 So I share that as to your listeners that are like, gosh, 1030 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,480 my legs just always haven't always matched my body, but I've 1031 00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:16,600 always been a size 6 or a size 8. 1032 00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:19,000 I'm your girl. Like, let's talk, let's you 1033 00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:22,040 know, come check out my page. You're gonna see you hopefully. 1034 00:53:22,280 --> 00:53:24,600 I love it. Kristen, thank you so much for 1035 00:53:24,600 --> 00:53:26,560 coming on. I learned so much in this 1036 00:53:26,560 --> 00:53:28,480 episode. I'm so grateful for your 1037 00:53:28,480 --> 00:53:31,240 expertise and just sharing it with our community of. 1038 00:53:31,480 --> 00:53:34,280 Course, of course. Truly an honor, Jennifer. 1039 00:53:34,280 --> 00:53:38,080 Anytime that I can help just nudge the needle a little bit 1040 00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:41,480 more as far as awareness is concerned, I am here for it. 1041 00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:42,520 So thank you. Thank you. 1042 00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:44,880 Really, my hat's off to you. Well, thank you, Griffin, and 1043 00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:47,760 thank you for everyone who tuned into this episode today. 1044 00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:51,760 I hope you found it as enjoyable and informative as I did and we 1045 00:53:51,760 --> 00:53:55,400 will see you next time on the Peptides for Women podcast.