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You’re listening to the Balanced Bites podcast episode 242.
Welcome to the Balanced Bites podcast with Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe. Diane is a certified nutrition consultant, and the New York Times bestselling author of Practical Paleo, The 21-Day Sugar Detox, and co-author of Mediterranean Paleo Cooking. Liz is a nutritional therapy practitioner, and the best-selling author of Eat the Yolks and The Purely Primal Skincare Guide. Together, Diane and Liz answer your questions, interview leading health and wellness experts, and share their take on modern paleo living with their friendly and balanced approach. Remember our disclaimer: The materials and content within this podcast are intended as general information only, and are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Liz Wolfe: {hoarsely} Hey everyone {laughs}.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Liz here with Diane.
Diane Sanfilippo: Hey.
Liz Wolfe: Hey, this is really me, I promise.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} It really is.
Liz Wolfe: I rocked out to hard to; I found my Ace of Base cassette from 1991.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: And put it in my old, old, old car tape deck, and just rocked out a little too hard.
Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, I know. You and the kiddo just jamming down the road.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. You’ve got to do something, right? Us stay at home moms, we don’t have anything to do, so we might as well do that.
Diane Sanfilippo: We tried to push this one back.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: But this was kind of our last chance of letting the voice heal.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: So we’re rolling with it. I think it’s going to be fun.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: Maybe you can sing Smelly Cat at the end.
Liz Wolfe: {laughing} That’s exactly what I was just going to say, do I sound like Phoebe with her sexy voice?
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Yeah, totally.
Liz Wolfe: Oh, this is going to be a fun one to transcribe.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, totally.
Liz Wolfe: Let’s hear from one of our sponsors.
Liz Wolfe: Our podcast sponsorship today comes from Vital Choice, an online purveyor of the world’s best wild seafood delivered right to your door; because juggling a busy life shouldn’t mean you have to forgo healthy meals. At www.vitalchoice.com, you’ll find wild Alaskan salmon, halibut, tuna, sable fish, and cod, as well as prawns, crab, and scallops. You’ll also find grass-fed organic Wagyu beef, free range heritage chicken, fresh frozen organic berries, and dark organic chocolates. Make a vital choice by eating the highest quality food you can. Vital Choice; come home to real food.
1. News and updates from Diane & Liz [2:39]
Liz Wolfe: Alright, this is just too funny. Hopefully my voice warms up a little bit by the time we get going. I think it will; I’ve been trying not to use it at all.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Which has been hard, because we’re not that good with the baby sign language around here. We try, but pretty much all we have is more and all done. I mean, which I guess pretty much encompasses most of my day, so.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}
Liz Wolfe: That’s alright. But anyway, what are your updates Diane?
Diane Sanfilippo: Updates. So, for those who are going to Austin for PaleoFx, or if you’re fairly local to Austin and you’ve been thinking about it, I will be there. So come look for me, come find me, let’s take a selfie.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} And we’ve got just a few tickets left for the Badass Business Mastermind that’s happening in Austin. And you don’t have to be attending PaleoFx if you want to come to the Mastermind; it’s just myself and a bunch of other entrepreneurs that I have collected up. It’s a separate event from something that’s being organized with PaleoFx, so you can check it out. Go to BalancedBites.com/events, we’ll link to it in the show notes. But if you think that you might want to come join us, definitely come join us. I think it’s going to be super motivating and inspirational and fun, and I’m really excited. We’re maxing it out with 25 people in terms of tickets; there will be a handful of my team there alongside the attendees, so I think at most we’ll have about 30 to 35 people in the room, so very, very small is kind of my point. So that’s all I’m going to say about that.
And if you are at PaleoFx, I will see you there. I’ll be milling around. I don’t have any talks this year, I did not submit anything because I have a ton going on, so I’m working on a bunch of stuff over here, some of which is sort of top secret, and I’ll reveal more about that when the time comes. But what’s not top secret is Balanced Bites Master Class, totally moving along. We’re looking at June for a beta launch, which I’ve teased out to you guys a bunch, and I’m not sure exactly how many people we’ll be able to allow into the beta launch, but stay tuned for information on that. It may open up to my 21-Day Sugar Detox coaches first for availability for the beta launch, so if you’re in my coaches program, keep your eyes and ears open for that. And then I think we’ll probably be able to let a few other folks in thereafter for the beta.
And then it’s going to roll out, I believe in the fall, is our actual roll out date. Which I’m super pumped about. I’m kind of ready to give people a more comprehensive way to learn all of this stuff, and we’ve been doing this podcast for more than 4 years; maybe, are we, I don’t know how many weeks it will have to be until we’re; we’re coming up on 5 years probably.
Liz Wolfe: Wow.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, so it’s a lot of the stuff that we talk about here on the show. But you know how we just; it’s always in bits and pieces, and so this is going to be much more comprehensive, much more applicable to people’s lives. And we’ll talk more about it as it gets a little bit closer. But I’m really excited about that. So, I think those are kind of the big updates.
Also, very important update. I played Boggle for the first time.
Liz Wolfe: {snort} {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Since I was probably a kid. I mean, I’ve played it in my life, but…
Liz Wolfe: Which one is that? That’s not the one where you pass thing around, like hot potato, right?
Diane Sanfilippo: That’s, no, or there’s one called…
Liz Wolfe: That’s hot potato.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. Boggle, it’s the grid with a bunch of basically lettered dice.
Liz Wolfe: Oooh, yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: And you shake it up, and then they fall, and then you have to find words through the letters that all connect straight and diagonal, whatever, all different ways.
Liz Wolfe: Cool.
Diane Sanfilippo: I like it, because Scrabble is kind of like its own whole other game with a lot of strategery. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: {laughing}
Diane Sanfilippo: With a lot of strategy involved, and I feel like you have to really know how to play Scrabble plus having a really extensive vocabulary, which as you know I’m not a voracious reader by any stretch, and my vocabulary is just fine, but it’s just not my thing.
Liz Wolfe: You have the words. You have the best words, as Donald Trump would say.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} But, I don’t know what Donald Trump says, I haven’t watched or listened to anything he says, so.
Liz Wolfe: It’s incoherent, don’t worry.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} So, but the fun thing about Boggle is that it kind of combines being a visual person with knowing words and just putting them together. They tend to be some more basic words, but I like it because it just kind of keeps your brain sharp, looking for how to connect things. We played; we went down to Las Vegas, it’s just a very weird story, but we had a global entry appointment, which is like the TSA precheck thing for if you’re going to travel abroad, and we couldn’t get an appointment here because they would have been too far in advance for when we needed it. I guess people in San Francisco like to travel a whole bunch.
Liz Wolfe: Yet, people who go to Vegas live there, they just stay there.
Diane Sanfilippo: I know {laughs}. It’s like, I have no idea. So we were able to get an appointment there; and we figured, well it’s a quick flight, we have friends there, so we ended up staying with friends, and I was the Boggle champion of the night last night! After avoiding playing for the first handful of games, because I was like; I don’t know about that game. Am I going to be able to play that? What’s going to happen? And I was like, alright, I’ll give it a try. And then we decided to have; I think it was a 3-game championship round, and when I won that I pissed everybody off {laughing}.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: I was really proud of myself considering my, I don’t know, what I feel to be somewhat limited word smithing abilities.
Liz Wolfe: Boggle-smithing skills.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. So, you know, my skills are transferable to Boggle, and that’s all that really matters.
Liz Wolfe: Put that on your resume.
Diane Sanfilippo: It’s going on there.
Liz Wolfe: Can I tell you a secret about Scrabble? Can I talk more and tell you a secret about Scrabble?
Diane Sanfilippo: Tell me.
Liz Wolfe: Smaller words are better.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: But you want to make multiple words.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: With the little words.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Sometimes you can really, really rank with that.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, because you keep your letters, and you can keep playing, right?
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Diane Sanfilippo: And you can get triple word score out the wazoo.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Scott’s a really good Scrabble player. He plays Words with Friends all the time, and the way they play that game, I wouldn’t even start to try. I used to, but no. Anyway. {laughs} What’s going on with you, besides being sick? You don’t have to say too much if your voice is not there.
Liz Wolfe: I know; I don’t want to bug people too much with this episode, so I’ll try not to talk too much. But there’s not a whole lot going on. People have been really supportive around all I’ve been talking about, motherhood lately and being out of our house for a long time, so I just want to tell everybody that I really, really appreciate it. It’s not; I know sometimes there’s that kind of wall between what we’re doing; I don’t know. People think; “Oh, there’s no reason to reach out, because Liz probably gets plenty of emails,” or, you know, “Liz doesn’t need my support.” But I do! And I really appreciate it. So I want everybody to know I appreciate all the kind words and the support, because we’re all in this together. And that’s it.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. That’s nice.
Liz Wolfe: I hope everyone understood that.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I mean, actually a couple of the girls on our team were like; I hope Liz is ok! {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Aww!
Diane Sanfilippo: I think that last episode, maybe, everyone was getting a little concerned.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs} Yeah. I’m kind of surprised I haven’t gotten sick before this. But I’m looking at this as the culmination of everything; we should be back in our house in hopefully 2 weeks.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oooh.
Liz Wolfe: You know, things are going to get; I did find my first tick of the season though.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, great.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, so that was awesome.
Diane Sanfilippo: When you texted me the stove option you were looking at {laughs}.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: I was like, I guess this will be soon if they’re getting a stove.
Liz Wolfe: Well, yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: A missed text, I should say.
Liz Wolfe: You got the good view of the house; the rest of it is still covered in construction dust and everything is packed up. It’s kind of funny; our military community will understand this. The military comes when you move and they pack you up, and they pack everything. They will pack a half-eaten bucket of chicken
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}
Liz Wolfe: From your refrigerator, pack it in bubbles and peanuts and put it in with your clothes. It’s crazy. So for some reason, I guess we left in a hurry or something. We packed everything up, and I’m opening up these boxes now, and unpacking stuff and I’m like; why do we have this Mason jar that’s cracked at the bottom with no lid? Why do we have this? So we’re actually kind of getting rid of a lot of stuff, which feels pretty good.
Diane Sanfilippo: That’s nice.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: I know people don’t like to move, and obviously this wasn’t really moving. You’re kind of out of your own house, going back into your own house.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: But I find moving to be extremely cathartic for all the purging that happens and you know.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Sometimes stuff still moves, and you get to the point where it’s the last couple of boxes and you throw in that broken mason jar, and you’re like; whatever, just take it, I can’t make a decision right now {laughs}.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}.
Diane Sanfilippo: And it’s probably why it was there.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Maybe it wasn’t broken when you packed it.
Liz Wolfe: That’s true. That’s very possible.
Diane Sanfilippo: Maybe. But yeah.
Liz Wolfe: I got some new Tupperware; it’s going to be good.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
2. Shout out: Juli Bauer of PaleOMG [12:03]
Liz Wolfe: Alright, so do we have a shout out today?
Diane Sanfilippo: I think, yeah, let’s do a shout out. So I’m going to do a shout out to our friend, Juli Bauer from PaleOMG, and the reason for my shout out, which I think probably a lot of our listeners follow her all over the place. If you don’t, definitely go follow her at PaleOMG. Just one word. She did a post recently on Instagram and on her blog where she was kind of being a little bit funny about it, but her post was the real deal, where she made a note in the caption, something about, “the real secret to my abs” or something like that. And she’s funny; she definitely is not the type to write a headline that’s super click bait, sensational, whatever. But I think she really wanted to make sure people read the post and didn’t just take something at; here’s a quick headline and face value, and you’re not actually putting attention to what the content is.
Liz Wolfe: You mean people don’t pay attention to content?
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: What?
Diane Sanfilippo: Yes. {laughs} Please read captions and content. So I really appreciated it because I was like, ok I want to hear what she says. I want to see, because a part of me also just likes to see how other people I support in the community, how they handle the responsibility that we all have to share information in a certain way. And I knew that what she was going to say would be done in a responsible way, if that makes sense. I wasn’t thinking; oh, she’s going to say something crazy. I was like, this is going to be good; I’m going to see what it is.
And she really talked about consistency. Because she’s gone through a lot of different changes physically with her body, with her appearance, with working out as a crossfitter, and as a competitive Crossfit athlete, and then not as a competitive Crossfit athlete. And you know, people get really hung up on the way our bodies look and forget that a lot of times the body might look a certain way, either due to stress or due to the way we’re taking care of it in a not so great way, or the way we are using it in a way that just supports goals that we have that may not be goals that other people have for themselves. So, you know, a few years ago I think she said she was 20 or 30 pounds heavier than she is now, but she was competing in Crossfit. And to be able to lift the kind of weight that you need to lift to compete, you have to be bigger. You have to have a lot more muscle on you; you need to have a little bit more body fat on you. And you know, that was supporting her goals at the time, and she was just talking about how it’s taken multiple years to get where she is now.
And you know, I’m not the kind of person to be like, “oh, I want to look like that person, or that person.” Because I’m old enough to know that my body is my body. It doesn’t look like other people’s, even if it’s bigger, smaller, whatever it is. But, the message of consistency was one that really hit me. And it was; I don’t know, I found it very sweet and endearing and positive to get that reminder from someone who is; she is quite young. I don’t think Juli is even 30 years old, and I just had my birthday, I’m 38 now. And it was a really nice reminder to just see that consistency is what we have to be committed to, whatever it is that we’re doing, whether it’s starting a business and blogging once a week; whether it’s podcasting once a week; whether it’s eating well all the time or 80-90% of the time. Whether it’s training and working out and being really consistent with that.
Since I joined a new gym a couple of weeks ago, I’ve literally gone every single day. And I’m not saying every day is a hard workout; there are days that I just show up and do something to move. Maybe I’m foam rolling more. Whatever I’m doing, I’m very smart about the way that I move my body. I do not push myself when I can’t push myself. I just loved that reminder, because it’s even important for everyone to know that something like a 21-Day Sugar Detox or a 30-day paleo challenge; for some people, it’s not enough time to see the change that you want to see. It’s a great way to start things off, but I think even having those numbers out there, a lot of people get very hung up on quick fixes and short turn arounds. And the truth is, seeing the kind of change that most of us want to see takes a heck of a lot longer. It can take multiple months; it can take multiple years.
But I think, you know, we’ve answered questions about body composition changes, about health challenges; all of this stuff for almost 5 years now. And so often we try and tell people; it’s going to take longer than you think, or than you want. And it’s so hard to tell people that and have people realize that unfortunately, today, it seems overwhelming that it’s going to take that long, but you just chip away at it little by little, day by day. You have to just be consistent with whatever it is that you are after, and the results will come in time. Whether it’s healing, whether it’s body composition changes, whatever it is. Whether it’s like stuff we’ve been talking about with stress management and saying no to things and just getting a better handle on your responsibilities and commitments in your life; any of that stuff. It’s not going to change overnight; it’s not going to change in 3 weeks or 4 weeks or even 6 weeks.
So I just really liked that message, and I wanted to give Juli the shout out for that. And that’s pretty much it.
Liz Wolfe: I like it.
Liz Wolfe: The Balanced Bites podcast is sponsored in part by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants, including me, I’m an NTP, emphasizing bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes local, whole, properly prepared nutrient dense foods as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s ability to heal. Nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants learn a wide range of tools and techniques to assess and correct nutritional imbalances. To learn lots more about the nutritional therapy program, go to NutritionalTherapy.com. There are workshop venues in the US, Canada, and Australia. Fall registration will open June 2016. I know the price is increasing next year, so do not wait. If you see the NTA as part of your future, get started now. You won’t regret it.
3. Tips on shaving; razor burn and itchy regrowth [18:32]
Liz Wolfe: Alright, so today we’re going to answer some listener questions. We’ve been doing theme shows quite a bit lately, which I’ve loved, but this will be a fun little break from that. Do you want to read?
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: I’ll read some questions to give your voice a break.
Liz Wolfe: Everyone’s; “Phew, ok, I don’t have to turn it off.”
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} We’ll see. Maybe if you’re voice is too low, we’ll make sure that our esteemed podcast producer, editor, gets that.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Nailed down. {laughs} So, alright. This question is about shaving. “It’s getting warm out, so I actually have to start to shave my legs more regularly. My skin seems to hate when I shave frequently, however, and I break out in what looks like a rash or severe razor burn. It also itches like crazy when the hair starts to grow back to the point where it wakes me up at night. I’m a hairy girl,” {laughs}. I just think it’s so funny how she worded this.
“I’m a hairy girl, and I’ve always had sensitive skin. I’ve even had eczema on my legs as a child, though that seems to have gone away with what I attribute to diet change. Here’s what I’ve tried so far; various kinds of razors, mostly 5-blade models and shaving creams, frequent exfoliation to help new growth break through the skin, waxing, and moisturizer. I’m not sure if this question is a good one for you ladies or not, but I wondered if you had thoughts, any ideas, or new tricks to try out. Y’all are the best; thanks.”
I don’t have a name on those. I’m going to have; our girl Niki put these together, and I’m going to have to throw her a note so we can have a name. But I’m sure whoever it was that asked this question, I’m sure she knows {laughs} who she is.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: As I’m reading it; when I don’t read an intro that says, “so-and-so asks,” it feels like I’m saying it, if that makes sense.
Liz Wolfe: You get a little flustered.
Diane Sanfilippo: Hmmm?
Liz Wolfe: Nothing.
Diane Sanfilippo: It just, yeah, it sounded; I was like, this is the question from a person who is listening.
Liz Wolfe: This is from a human person.
Diane Sanfilippo: Uh-huh.
Liz Wolfe: Who listens to the podcast.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok.
Liz Wolfe: I want to point out first that you don’t have to do anything. I’m pretty sure I went about the last 2 years without shaving much of anything, ever.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: This reminds me of that line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where she says, “And I was a swarthy 6-year-old with sideburns.” Do you remember that?
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: So cute.
Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, Greek women are amazing.
Liz Wolfe: Oh my. Ok; did you see Greek Wedding 2? Is it out yet?
Diane Sanfilippo: No.
Liz Wolfe: I haven’t seen it. Alright; John Lithgow; not John Lithgow. What’s his name? John Corbett; how the mighty fall. Ok, so, my thoughts for this are; first of all make sure your razor is nice and sharp. Because even after a use or two, for a lot of people it can get a little bit irritating. The other thing I would say is condition your skin with something first; warm it up first. So maybe some warm coconut oil, just a really thin layer. You know how men’s shaving bars, which are coming back now, they’ll warm up the face and the skin, and they’ll put some warm, whatever shaving cream on.
That’s what I would do; first just use a warm towel to warm up your skin, and then put some kind of warm conditioning treatment on it. Wipe that off, just to really condition your skin before you shave. And then, there’s really kind of a lack of options around safe shaving creams, I think, right now. But it might be worth trying either the Primal Life Organics shaving cream, which is really good; Beauty Counter does have a shaving cream as well. I haven’t tried it yet, but I am, when I finally break out the razor, I am going to do a little comparison of one side to the other side, doing what I normally do, because I always have had pretty sensitive skin; and using the Beauty Counter shaving cream. You might look into that, as well. My husband has used it, and he says it’s really great.
You can also do a mix of coconut milk and castile soap, if you want to do something a little bit more natural, or just some kind of fatty, oily substance with castile soap. It can be shea butter, it can be pretty much anything, and try that. And then afterwards, use some kind of soothing balm or treatment of some kind; and you can even do, before you put on any kind of balm or lotion, you could do some kind of soothing hydrosol. So, Aromatics International, I’m not sure of the website, but they have really affordable, really good hydrosols. And calendula would probably be really good. There are probably a couple of other soothing ones, but you could just spritz that on your legs after you shave to try and calm any inflammation. And just try that.
I mean, to a certain point, if the hair is thick and your skin is sensitive, it’s going to be a heck of a lot of work to really keep things calm and feeling good, but you just kind of have to play with those things. Sometimes it’s what you do before that matters more than what you do during or after. Makes sense?
Diane Sanfilippo: Makes sense to me.
Liz Wolfe: Ok. I hope you could understand what I was saying. {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I could. And I don’t have any further tips, so that sounds good to me.
Liz Wolfe: Cool.
4. Paleo low-fat, low-carb [24:06]
Diane Sanfilippo: So this next question is asking about low-fat and low-carb. So this listener asks;
Liz Wolfe: What else is there?
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} I know. No one ever asks about going on a low-protein diet. She says, “I’m trying to combine low-fat with low-carb within paleo structure. I have your book; do you have any tips on combining the two?”
So you might think; I’m just going to go into this one, assuming Liz that you’re kind of not going to have much to say about this other than, “Why?”
Liz Wolfe: Why?! {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: Why!!! {Laughs} But it’s fine, I can definitely address this. So, yeah, you might think that I would just say, don’t do this, this is crazy. But I think there’s a sort of moderation or balance point of doing it; following, I like to say lower fat, or lower carb. Because it’s always in relation to something else, right? There’s not one measure of; this is considered low-fat or low-carb. I mean, of course if you’re looking at food labels and there are FDA or USDA restrictions around what can be called low-carb or low-fat, then that’s different. But when we’re talking about the context of your overall diet and your overall intake, I think that unless you’re talking about ketogenic diet where there is a certain gram number that you do need to keep below to support your body and getting into ketosis, that’s different.
So, that being said, I do think there’s a way to do this. I don’t know that it’s a health thing to do for forever, or I also don’t think that it’s sustainable 100% of the time for the rest of your life in terms of not only enjoyment but socializing and a variety of foods and nutrients that come with them. So with that caveat, I think it’s really important to count to make sure you’re getting enough food.
So if you’re trying to just reduce the amount of fat you’re taking it, it’s fairly easy to do that by switching the types and cuts of meat that you’re eating and not adding tons of extra fat to your meals. And of course, it hurts my heart to be like, “Eat chicken breast.” But obviously, chicken breast is a very lean source of protein. You can eat chicken thighs. There’s not a ton of fat in a chicken thigh. Of course, adding the skin to it will add a little bit more, and cooking it in tons of fat is where you’re going to add a lot more fat there, as well. You would opt for fish, maybe some white fish or different types of fish. I’ve been eating salmon, and just avoiding the fattier cuts of meat.
I mean, I don’t think we need to go so crazy as to only eat tilapia and chicken breast; I just think that’s unsustainable and unwise from a bodily health perspective as well as a, what are we buying at the grocery store and what are we supporting perspective. Like, I just can’t get behind only eating; or you know, turkey breast. Just the really lean cuts of meat all the time. You can still be eating whole eggs. I think it’s a good idea to take this stuff into account when you’re balancing the rest of your plate. So eat whole eggs instead of adding some olive oil to the plate, because as much as I love olive oil, I think the nutrition you're getting from an egg yolk with the fat that you’re getting; it’s just a lot more vitamin and mineral dense than what you might get with a spoonful for sure of coconut oil.
So think about nutrient density; focus on that. I have a note here that I want to make sure that if you are trying to limit these things, what’s going to end up happening is you have to eat a lot more protein. That gets really, really expensive, and the quality of the protein that you’re eating may or may not be that great. So just keep that in mind. But let’s just say you were trying to keep your fat a little bit lower, around 50 grams a day, which is not that much. And let’s just say you were trying to keep your carbs a little bit lower, as well; around, let’s just say 75 grams. I was going to say lower than that, but I just don’t think; I think it’s too low.
So if you were to do 50 grams of fat in a day and 75 grams of carbs, that’s only going to give you about 750 calories; which is really only, I’m guessing, at least about half of your calories for the day. That means you’re going to have to get 150 or so grams of protein in for a day, which is a ton of protein. And I think it’s really important to make sure you’re just not undercutting both of those categories; both fat and carb. It’s important to make sure you’re not undercutting those too much and then relying too much on protein.
I do think you can do this in a way where you get some good healthy fats into your diet; you get some starchy foods and more plants, more veggies. I think that if you give yourself a limit in terms of carbs that you want to eat, I would make sure that the balance of that is, you’re getting some good starchy stuff. And then honestly I would add more nonstarchy vegetables; things like broccoli and any kind of leafy greens, and Brussels sprouts and all of that. I would get to a point where I’m not actually even counting those, if that makes sense. Where I just don’t think you need to limit those to a crazy degree when you’re limiting fat and you’re eating a good amount of protein.
I just do want to say that I don’t think it’s a sustainable way to eat and live in the long term for forever. I think it can be very effective; that’s essentially what I was doing when I was following my macros plan. It was essentially lower fat, and lower carb altogether, although it wasn’t low-carb. It definitely wasn’t. I was definitely eating 100 grams of carbs per day, so I think; I just don’t know what the numbers are that this person is asking about, I’m assuming it’s a female, when she says, low-carb. How low?
If you’re thinking you want to eat 30-50 grams of fat a day, which would be pretty low fat, and you want to do low-carb, which most people think of 30-50 grams or 30-75 grams, I’m just not sure I think that’s a good way to go in the longer term. I’m just not. I think, Liz, you and I {laughs} I think you and I did something like that for about a week or two a long time ago; and I’m pretty sure we dubbed it “the stupid diet.”
Liz Wolfe: {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: Do you remember that? We just did it to test it. And I’m pretty sure it was both low-fat and low-carb, and it was probably high protein. Do you remember that?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah. Yes. {laughs} Buried under layers and layers of shame.
Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, it was forever ago. We were like, let’s just see what it’s like.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: I mean; look, in the name of supporting other people and trying things out and seeing what happens. But we dubbed it the stupid diet; we thought it was really stupid. Because we just know too much about what we need in terms of nutrition. And if you’re trying to get only a certain amount of fat in; this is like the last thing I’m going to say on it. If you’re limiting the fat to a certain point, and the fat that you’re getting is not nutrient dense fat; then you’re also really skimping yourself on this stuff.
So let’s just say you eat chicken breast and broccoli and coconut oil, which is our kind of joke what we talk about paleo plate being a joke of; it’s pretty void of vast nutrition if you look at chicken breast and coconut oil. Broccoli is decent in terms of a veg, but coconut oil is not the most nutrient dense fat. I would much rather somebody take in a really small portion of pate and get the liver and have that as their fat source; or even something like bone marrow.
This is the kind of stuff where, if you’re trying to play with the macronutrients and limit some things, I really want people to be looking at; well, what are the micronutrients I’m getting here, too? Because at least if I’m being smart about this, I might be limiting some of these things, but let me get the most vitamins and minerals for the calories that I’m taking in. And that’s where we really talk about nutrient density. You can eat lower calorie and high nutrient density if you pay close attention to what you’re doing. But a lot of times, what happens when you cut back on all of this stuff too much, is that you’re limiting the nutrition coming in over all, and it’s not sustainable for the long term. And there’s that. This was like a ranty, rambly answer, interrupted by loud noises in my hallway. So I apologize for that.
Liz Wolfe: Loud noises! But let’s talk about coconut oil real quick. Because if you’re going to do this, I think it’s important to know that some people who are particular sensitive to these types of dietary fluctuations could deal with some thyroid slow down, which is totally counterproductive.
Diane Sanfilippo: Mm-hmm.
Liz Wolfe: So it might be good to really understand that coconut oil kind of doesn’t count in fat in the same way other sources of fat might with the MCTs, so it might be really worth it to add a tablespoon of coconut oil and just kind of count that; pretend it didn’t happen. Because coconut oil; or MCTs, anyway, are very pro-thyroid.
Diane Sanfilippo: I think that’s a good point. I think if someone is doing; here’s the thing though, too. If this person is trying to do low-fat and low-carb, so if they’re low-carb that means they’re trying to become ketogenic, right?
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm.
Diane Sanfilippo: But if they’re eating high protein because you can’t take everything away.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: You can’t eat low-carb, and low-fat, and not eat high protein. And not just in terms of sheer volume; the ratio of protein you’ll be eating will be pretty high. You’ll be starving otherwise. {laughs} So, you’re going to eat a lot more protein. That’s going to keep you from being in ketosis, anyway. Eating that much protein. So you’re not going to be there. I mean, I think if you want to do something; I don’t know.
Maybe the answer here that I really need to give is, you kind of can’t do both of those. I think what I was trying to get at was, you could do lower carb, where it’s maybe 75-100 grams, and lower fat, where maybe instead of 100 or 150 grams a day you’re eating 75 grams. For most people who eat a general paleo diet and don’t count anything, they’re eating more than that of both of those macros. So the balance is a little bit tricky there.
But yeah; coconut oil, it could be helpful, but them I’m sure you’d argue, too, that the low-carb thing is probably not super supportive of thyroid health, anyway, for most people.
Liz Wolfe: Totes.
Diane Sanfilippo: Totes. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: {laughs} Beware all who enter; beware, wait what is it? Pay heed all who enter, beware of rabid starvation.
Diane Sanfilippo: Rabid starvation.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I mean if you’re eating super high protein, right?
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: So there’s a lot to look out for there, and I think we might need to hear some follow-up on that. And thanks to everyone; a little note. I should have given this shout out earlier, {laughs} but a little shout out note to everyone who came and commented on the blog post for my weekly; my what’s up weekly. But come comment over on the blog post about this episode, because that’s going to be the best place for us to follow up, hear what else is going on with this question. Because it was a really brief question, so I had to assume a lot of things in there. But I know this is a topic that people want to hear more about. Yeah; the short answer is it’s not a short answer {laughs} unfortunately.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, moving on. Yes?
Liz Wolfe: Yes.
5. Underarm odor [35:46]
Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, this one is about underarm odor. “Thanks for a terrific podcast. I love the combination of interest and the fun that you bring. I look forward to listening to the show. What causes underarm odor? I know the actual odor comes from bacteria; what other health issues contribute? What excretes through the armpits that feeds the bacteria?”
Liz Wolfe: Oh, golly gee. I mean, does it matter? I mean, stink is stink right? I guess we’re trying to get to the root of the problem.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, I mean, {laughs} oh man. I think lymphatic drainage issues probably contribute to this the same way they contribute to a ton of other things; which, as a side note, try not to wear underwire bras if possible. I think that could very well be impactful with this type of thing. But I also think, to a degree, what we’re giving the bacteria to eat is probably also impacting what the smell actually is. And I know I notice when my diet kind of suffers, particularly when I eat more polyunsaturated fats than I probably should with things like; I’ll have too many nuts, too many treats, maybe some corn chips cooked in safflower oil, that type of thing. I notice that I kind of start to stank a little bit more. So I think there’s definitely a dietary component. There’s probably a detoxification component; and let’s get over our issues with the word “detoxification”, because it is a thing. It just is an overused word applied to things that aren’t actually detoxification.
So, quite a few things that could be going on. But I think a lot of people are looking for a more natural approach. They don’t want to use the aluminum; I don’t know, it’s not aluminum, maybe it’s an aluminum derivative. I’m not sure exactly what it is in conventional deodorant/ antiperspirant, which basically stops you from perspiring, which stops the smell from being generated in the first place. So if you’re looking for a more natural option, you can start from the inside and you can do some stuff on the outside.
Liquid chlorophyll seems to work for a lot of people. I think sometimes it’s mistakenly attributed to its ability to help you “detox” which is not…
Diane Sanfilippo: As a topical?
Liz Wolfe: No, no, no, no.
Diane Sanfilippo: Or taking it orally?
Liz Wolfe: Internal.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah, don’t… I mean you could try spraying it, but most of it’s like super green, so I don’t know if it would stain your skin. But hey, if anybody wants to try it let us know how it goes. So, taking it as a supplement; my suspicion is it has something to do with magnesium, which is really, really abundant. So you might try that; it’s something that works well. I personally don’t do so well with the sweetened stuff; I don’t know, you can try it. It’s not the best tasting.
I do think possibly magnesium has something to do with it, and maybe that’s why some of these magnesium containing topicals help. Fat Face has a deodorant that contains magnesium oil, which I really like. You might try that. You can also try priming your armpits with an ozonated oil, which is something I’ve been doing lately, using ozonated olive oil. You can just kind of type that into Amazon and see what pops up. Ozone has its own smell, so you’ll probably want to get one that has lemongrass or lavender in it. Put that on, and then follow up with whatever natural deodorant option you like.
I just haven’t had that much success with natural deodorants with the exception of Primal Life Organics, Primally Pure, and Fat Face. Those are the three that I really like. And I think that’s pretty much it. I mean, I think you just overall need to be well hydrated, and that doesn’t necessarily mean just drinking a ton of water. I’m actually not a huge fan of that. I have a YouTube video that’s going to come out, eventually.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: On myths about hydration. I think it’s really important that we keep electrolytes in mind; magnesium being a mineral that functions in that capacity. So nut just chugging a ton of water, but chugging; not chugging at all.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}
Liz Wolfe: Making sure you get enough water maybe with lemon, with some magnesium added, with some sea salt added, that type of thing to make sure that you’re giving yourself the appropriate amount of electrolytes for the amount of water that you’re drinking. I think that’s super important. And if you’re peeing all day long, you’re over hydrated. That’s not appropriate. And the advice to not; to want your pee to be really dilute is not accurate either. You don’t want to be peeing clear all day. So those are my ideas right now, but really just keeping that diet healthy, getting some good magnesium, and making sure you’re not under-hydrated.
Diane Sanfilippo: That’s interesting, I want to hear more about {laughs} I basically want to hear more about pee from you.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah?
Diane Sanfilippo: So that will be fun.
Liz Wolfe: Maybe when my voice is a little better.
Diane Sanfilippo: Mm-hmm.
Liz Wolfe: It can be more pleasing to hear me talking about urine.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I think that would be cool.
Liz Wolfe: Cool.
6. Gluten-free grains on paleo [41:11]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok. I have food questions today, and you have some skin questions.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Which sounds pretty spot on. Alright, we’ve got a couple more here. So this one about adding gluten-free to a paleo diet. This listener says; “I totally get,” This one, I think, is directed at me because of what I’m posting on Instagram. She says, “I totally get that you’re following a paleo ‘template’ and not being a Nazi follower of the paleo guidelines. I’m interested in the recent addition of steel-cut oats in your diet. I’ve missed oats so much since starting paleo AIP to help with an autoimmune vascular inflammatory disorder that I have. I was wondering if you could talk about the benefits of adding gluten free oats/grains like quinoa and rice, specifically to your diet, and if you see this being a permanent thing. I appreciate your guidance on this one.”
So again, this question I think was specifically directed at me, but if you’ve got anything to say you can let me know on this one, too, Liz. But, first and foremost I just need to remind you that I do not have an autoimmune disorder, I never have, so I’m not even in remission from an autoimmune disorder, and I think it’s important to know that because we all are speaking from a different context. So when I tell you what I’m doing and I tell you what works for me, you have to know that I have a very different bodily landscape than you might have if you do have an autoimmune disease. So when I say I try these things; I don’t have intense ramifications that may or may not crop up as a result, so you just have to keep that in mind.
So, the recent addition for me was just a way to get more carbs into my diet and do it in a way that I found enjoyable. I tried quinoa again; I did not like it at all. I bought a whole bag, I made a batch, and I was like; yep, I pretty much hate that. And I know how to doctor it up; {laughs} I made it into a dish that was supposedly going to be pretty yummy. I felt the same way about wild rice, actually. And it could be that I like it the first time right after it’s cooked and I don’t like it after it’s been chilled and reheated; but that being said, I did not care for either of those when I added them back to my diet.
The two gluten-free grains that I’ve really; or I should say 3 that I’ve really found I enjoy eating and I feel really good with are steel-cut oats, white rice, and then also organic corn in a much lesser quantity, the corn. White rice is probably the thing that I eat the most of right now in terms of gluten free grains, followed by the oatmeal and the corn.
So I only really added those to support the type of activity that I’m doing. In terms of body composition for me, I know that my body composition will actually respond a lot better to less carbohydrate and a different type of training. So for the most part I’ve actually sort of shifted what I’m doing to be a little bit lower in some of those carbs instead of having as much of it as I was having before. I’m having a slightly lower amount, and I’m training a little bit more, just kind of lifting and sitting in between. And some small, I don’t know, small is not the right measurement there. Shorter, or just not as high intensity Crossfit style workouts. I’ll do a Crossfit style workout, but it’s not with the clock running. So I’ll do a round of whatever it is, and then I’ll sit. {laughs} And then I’ll do another round and then I’ll sit. So I’m doing the work, I’m just not kind of pushing the same glycogen demand as I would if I were going for the really high intensity intervals. And that’s something you need to be aware of, too, in terms of carbohydrate need and load that you would get in your diet.
But, as far as tolerance and digestion and all of that, I have felt fine with the addition of those things. I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I do think starting with something like white rice would be a great place to go. It’s mostly just starch, so depending on what kind of issues you have; if you have food intolerances to certain grains and it’s because of the proteins in them, then that’s one of the reasons why white rice has been called a “safe starch”. It’s because it’s really low in proteins that could be inflammatory for some people.
What you’re going to get with corn and steel-cut oats are going to be a little bit more in terms of the proteins, because steel-cut oats are a whole grain. So white rice is slightly refined; obviously, we removed the outer portion of it that would have some of that irritating property to it. So, honestly, there’s not any specific nutritional benefit other than carbohydrate. It’s carbs for the sake of carbs; it’s starches for the sake of starches.
A little bit potentially of a digestive response giving a little bit more starch to the bacteria in my gut versus not. Also, I’m just not that big of a fan of sweet potatoes that often. I just don’t get that into them. I can eat them a couple of times a week, but I don’t want to eat sweet potatoes every day. We do eat white potatoes pretty often, as well. So if you follow me on Instagram, or Snapchat, or wherever and you see what we’re eating, you can get a pretty good picture. I don’t filter what I’m eating in a certain way to only show certain things, so as much as you can see there obviously I’m eating more than is always pictured. I don’t take a picture of or Snapchat every single thing I eat, but it’s a pretty good reflection. So if you’re like; ok, it looks like she eats this about this often, that’s it. But there is no formula for; here’s exactly how much will work for you. I don’t even have a formula right now of how much I’m eating. I’m eating what feels good for me.
The one other thing I did notice is that if I did not eat enough carbohydrates in a certain day based on the activity that I did, I have felt so insanely; that’s not even the right way to start that thought. But the positive response my body has physically to a portion of steel-cut oatmeal {laughs} it’s unlike even eating rice or a potato or anything else. But if I’m heating up, I guess it’s about half a cup or something, of this cooked oatmeal. I’ve been getting; there’s one from Trader Joe’s, it’s not even organic, but it’s a frozen one that I like having it in a pinch, because steel-cut oats take a while to cook. If I eat that portion, it’s about 30 grams of carbs; I literally can feel my muscles {laughs} almost refilling with the glycogen.
I know that sounds crazy, but if my body just feels insatiable and I can’t get my appetite to quit, that portion of about 30 grams of carbs, I’ll just be like, let me have a bowl of this oatmeal. And instantly, not only does my body feels satiated, but I can tell that any anxiety that I had because of the hunger; because I will get kind of anxious if I’m hungry, and I don’t think that’s so rare. It all just calms down.
And so for me, it’s about being very intuitive, listening to my body, paying attention to, one of the things that Mark Sisson brought up last year at PaleoFx; he’s like, this whole paleo template is not about being as restrictive as we can be and staying as rigid and eliminating as many foods as possible. What we should be doing, and I was like, yes! Amen! {laughs} When he was saying it, but what we should be doing is figuring out what can we get away with. What is the broadest variety of foods that we can eat and still be healthy for us? And it’s different for everyone.
Liz and I are in a similar situation; and this way neither of us do have an autoimmune disease. So we are not in a place where; if we post eating something gluten-free and you have to be really strictly grain-free, don’t look to what we’re doing as, well what we do must be ok for everyone. Because we are very; both of us are very much intuitive, we do what works for us. We’re very conscious of the fact that we’re teaching you guys from what we’re doing, but we’re also very deliberate to make sure we share this information in a way that’s like; look, we’re not sending this down as gospel, you know. This is not do everything that I do. It’s just not how we want to operate.
And I know there aren’t a lot of things that I will speak for Liz on {laughs} especially in an episode where I guess your voice is a little bit quiet. But I know that’s something we both agree on; we’re not here to say exactly what we do is right for everyone. But that’s kind of my thought there.
In terms of it being a permanent thing; for as long as my body feels good eating what I’m eating, I’ll do it. And if something doesn’t feel good then I won’t do it. I’m not religious about anything, so I guess asking what I’m going to do for forever will never be a question that I can answer in one day, right? It’s always going to change. So there’s that.
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7. Increase in bruising [51:07]
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, this next question is about bruising. This listener says, “I’m an avid crossfitter with a very clean diet, and I’ve noticed something strange in the past 6 months or so. I bruise really, really, really easily; noticeably more than in previous years. Pretty much whenever I do heavy cleans, my thighs are covered in bruises. Deadlifts; my shins get bruised, and whenever I run into furniture, countertops, etc., I end up with nasty bruises.”
I’m only sort of laughing at this because I feel like I run into countertops and tables often, and I’m like, what am I doing? Where’s my body. Anyway. “I eat a clean, whole foods diet, and I take fish oil, vitamin D, turmeric, minerals, and glucosamine chondroitin supplements daily. I eat a zone 40/30/30 95% gluten-free diet; AKA, I occasionally cheat on GF once every few weeks, but I’m pretty good.” So I guess she eats gluten every few weeks; translation.
“In the past year I’ve really cleaned up my diet and eliminated wheat almost completely plus added the supplements, and over the same period I noticed the bruising. Thanks in advance for your perspective. Lately I look like I got beat up after my really tough workouts, and I feel like I have to cover up my legs when out in public.”
Oh, Liz, what’s your take on this one? I have one thought on it, but after you give us your take.
Liz Wolfe: You’re not going to have a thought after I say my thought.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}
Liz Wolfe: Because I only have one thought; and that’s stop taking fish oil. We can’t even establish a baseline until we know that it has nothing to do with the fish oil and in my opinion it probably does. The end.
Diane Sanfilippo: Ok.
Liz Wolfe: If that doesn’t help, we can check iron levels and stuff like that, but I would bet; I don’t know. I would bet my voice on it.
Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Yeah, and we’ve talked about fish oil in the past with things like presurgery prep, and usually doctors will tell you to stop taking it if you are taking it. But one of the reasons there is just the way that it affects your blood and the way that it affects circulation and everything else.
Well, the one thing I was going to say, which actually seems like; I don’t know why it even occurred to me, but it’s totally possible. She could be lifting a lot heavier than she used to.
Liz Wolfe: Could be.
Diane Sanfilippo: And so…
Liz Wolfe: Or maybe she started lifting more and taking fish oil because those coincided, you know.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: With her adoption of Crossfit, who knows.
Diane Sanfilippo: But if you were cleaning, and I know exactly the bruises she’s talking about. But if you were cleaning, and you weren’t lifting as heavy and you started lifting heavier, then that barbell could just be a lot heavier than you’re used to, and maybe in another few months you won’t bruise the same way from that weight. I mean, that’s another possibility. But I’m with you; my first note was, stop taking fish oil.
Which we’ve talked about fish oil a lot on the show; we don’t recommend that people are taking fish oil all the time. In another couple of years, I think it will finally be a statement of; everybody needs to just chill out with the fish oil, but I guess we’re not there yet.
Liz Wolfe: We have lots of shows where we talked about that, so you could go back and check out what we might have said already. I know fish oil is a really popular supplement in the Crossfit community. I understand why because we’re talking about feeling better and recovering faster and all of that stuff, and I guess fish oil can kind of feel like it’s giving you that capacity. But really, a lot of times not only is it leading to other issues just as over flooding your body with polyunsaturated fats, which I do not believe are good in almost any amount from supplements, but you’re also stopping an inflammatory process that is actually important to building strength and getting healthier. So there are some nuances. But look at the stuff we’ve talked about in the past for some more insight.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I’m noticing too in the archives, it was episode 34 we talked about fish oil versus cod liver oil, for example. Although I’m not sure we’ve gotten into a ton on; there’s a little bit more on omega-3 supplementation. If you go to the podcast archives by topic, it will be under supplements and protein powder.
But the one other thing I want to say there is, for anybody who is like; well then how am I going to get my omega-3s? Diane’s salmon bowls, baby. {laughs}
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Just eat fish a few times a week, you guys. We do not need to be taking supplements for all of this stuff. It just gets a little crazy. We need to pull it back to real food.
8. Try this at home: swapping conventional body care products [53:39]
Liz Wolfe: Alright, so we have a try this at home segment. And we’ve talked; obviously in the last few shows we’ve talked about Beauty Counter, but not just that. We’ve talked about nontoxic products in general. I’ve been an advocate of nontoxic self care, or at the very least less toxic self care for years. My Purely Primal Skincare Guide has been out for, oh man, at least 3 years now, maybe more than that. And what we’re talking about is cleaning out your home of products that use unnecessary and potentially toxic industrial chemicals. And I think a lot of people get overwhelmed with that. They think it means they’re just going to have to ditch just absolutely everything they’re using currently and just, they have no idea where to start.
So let’s just ask of ourselves that we change maybe one thing. Start small, break it up. You don’t have to start out by going from VO5 or Pert Plus to baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash your hair. Not whatsoever. You can just make a lateral shift. You can buy a cleaner shampoo; a cleaner conditioner, a cleaner body wash. You can try what Beauty Counter has to offer, or you can go to Natural Grocer’s and get a $6 bottle of Dessert Essence and see how you do with that. Just make little shifts; you might be spending a little bit more money, but I do think it’s important, with the types of things that we use to take care of ourselves and our home. It is a repeat exposure situation. These are things that you use every day, every week, every month, and over time exposures to chemicals that are not necessarily safe build up. So I think it’s really important to pay attention to these things.
Diane made a shift recently by shifting her makeup from whatever she was using before; who knows. {laughs} To a few Beauty Counter things, and I think it’s going well for you, right?
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. I mean, in terms of performance, definitely. But you know, I was going to say a couple of things; the two things I can think of product wise that I shifted earliest in this whole journey that were really easy shifts for me, and I think could be really easy for everyone is, number one instead of a moisturizer for your body all over to use coconut oil. That was one of the first things that I did. Because I was thinking in terms of what stays on your skin, you know?
Liz Wolfe: Mm-hmm. Yep.
Diane Sanfilippo: As number one. Deodorant, we talked about already in this episode. And for a long time, I was pretty much using nothing, and then coconut oil or coconut oil and baking soda. And I’m always kind of tinkering with that, but a lot of times I either go without or use an organic one that I found. So I think coconut oil, instead of a moisturizer for all over the body. And you do have to give yourself a minute {laughs} before you get dressed so that it can absorb a little bit.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: Don’t put like a satiny/silky shirt on right after you just coconut oiled up your arms.
Liz Wolfe: {laughs} No.
Diane Sanfilippo: But I also like, and you can tell me what you think, Dr. Bronner’s soap. Is that the castile soap?
Liz Wolfe: Yes.
Diane Sanfilippo: Multiple uses. I use it as a body wash in the shower a lot, we’ll dilute it a bit and have a smaller bottle of it, like the almond scent. They do a peppermint too, but I like the almond scent. I think that soap is pretty; I don’t know, it’s an easy shift. You can find it in a lot of places, you can use it for a lot of things, and I’ve been using that for a long time. Those are two that I think were really big, easy shifts for me to make. I think because the performance of them is a little less tricky.
Like, shampoo, I’m still not there. And makeup I’ve just recently made the shift and I am really liking the products a lot, so yeah.
Liz Wolfe: I think one thing that might be the most important, just on the deodorant topic from earlier; if you are just convinced that you stink so bad if you don’t use the stuff with aluminum, whatever the heck it’s called. It’s aluminum something or other. Maybe just don’t wear it unless you absolutely have to.
Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.
Liz Wolfe: Maybe get a little bit more familiar with how you smell, and maybe what kind of dietary changes can impact that. If you don’t have to wake up every day and put on deodorant; don’t. Don’t make it just part of your routine that’s just on autopilot. Maybe take the weekends off. You might stink, but maybe you need to get through it; stink a little bit and it will get better. {laughs}
Diane Sanfilippo: And you can wash your armpits.
Liz Wolfe: Yes!
Diane Sanfilippo: When I was; I actually remember thinking I was detoxing from deodorant because I feel like wearing it for so long it made everything worse.
Liz Wolfe: Yeah.
Diane Sanfilippo: And now; you know, I actually didn’t wear almost anything for years and years, and then recently with a one-day event or something like that I have used a regular deodorant now and then for an event like that, but I don’t use it every day. You really; most of us don’t have that strong of a smell that extends beyond us. Sometimes it can, when you’re in the beginning stages of going through; I do think there’s just a normal detox period for that. But at a certain point, if you’re showering regularly or you just want to give your pits a little rinse, and then yeah, I’m with you. Save it for a different day.
So why don’t you guys tell us, either in the show notes on the podcast post over at BalancedBites.com or if you want to hop over to RealFoodLiz.com, I’m not sure exactly when all the posts go up, but if you have specific questions or comments for Liz, that’s a good place to post them. And also post a picture to Instagram of something maybe that you’re swapping out so we can see it and so that our listeners can see it. Make sure you tag @BalancedBitespodcast in the photo, and in the caption so that we can find you. I think it will be really fun to see what you guys are swapping out.
Liz Wolfe: Well, that’s it for this week. Thanks for sticking with us. You can find me, Liz, at http://realfoodliz.com/ and find Diane at http://dianesanfilippo.com. Join our email lists for free goodies and updates you don’t find anywhere else on our websites or on the podcast. While you’re on the internet, please leave us a nice iTunes review. See you next week.