Welcome to the

Peak Revival Podcast.

My name is Vesta.

Today I'm gonna talk about

nutrition for successful women

who are feeling stressed.

So if you have asked yourself,

is it keto, is it low carb, is

it carnivore, is it fasting?

Is it, uh, detox?

Is it low calorie?

Like, what is the best

nutrition plan for

me to be following?

Because there's so much

information out there,

it's one of the questions

that I get asked.

All the time from women

where they email me

and I get it right?

Even I look at stuff online, I

think, oh my gosh, this is so

overwhelming, and it really

isn't that overwhelming.

Okay.

Because if you look at.

Diets or dietary regimes

or protocols throughout

history, they work, right?

Ketogenic works just

not for everybody.

Same with carnivore.

Low carb is good for

some, not for others.

Fasting can be really a way

to get to peak performance,

but for some it's exhausting.

So where do you start and

what do you need to know?

And that's what I wanna cover.

So you have to look at

where you are right now

because food is medicine.

It's not a one size fits

all, so you have to look at.

Where you are right

now and determine

what you really need.

so if you are exhausted,

you're not gonna do keto

carnivore, it's just gonna

push you further into fatigue.

Same with low carb, right?

Or fasting.

It's going to be

an absolute no-no.

So you have to look at,

well, I want more energy,

I wanna sleep better, but

I also wanna lose weight.

So what do I do?

If you are stressed, if

you are been feeling the

effects of stress, like

poor sleep and exhaustion

and overwhelm, anxiety,

this is where you should

start because any other.

Protocol is going to generate

more stress in the body.

The Keto fasting carnivore is

gonna create more stress for

you right now, and I'm gonna

explain why and when we are

in periods of chronic stress,

it disrupts systems in the

body that need to be repaired

and we need nutrients and a

certain number of nutrients

in order to fix that.

And thirdly, the other

reason why it's so important

is because your nervous

system needs to be regulated

and you need to be out of

fight or flight mode to get

your best kind of health,

wellbeing, mental health,

and metabolic health, right?

So if you are stressed

and exhausted and you are

trying to do keto, your

body's in fight or flight

mode, it's really gonna

struggle in that place.

Or maybe you don't struggle,

but you just don't see the

results, and this is why.

So the first thing I

look at is carbohydrates.

Because carbohydrates are

really important to switch

off the stress response.

It helps to regulate the

nervous system, and this

is why we crave sugar or

carbs when we're stressed.

Carbs will activate your

thyroid hormone as well,

particularly T three, which

helps to create energy, mental

energy, and burns body fat.

Carbs also regulate cortisol,

so having a nice natural

cortisol curve in the

morning, which is essential.

We want high cortisol in the

morning, tapers down, and

it's lowest in the evening.

Stress women, what we often

see is that it's high in

the morning, it can dip

and it comes up again at

nighttime creating poor sleep.

carbs will also help to

improve nighttime sleep.

Make sure that your body's

doing all the repair

work overnight and needs

carbohydrates for that.

And it'll balance

glucose levels.

When we have periods

of chronic stress, our

body finds it very hard

to maintain our glucose

levels and carbohydrates

will help with that.

And I'm gonna talk more

about, 'cause it's not

just a case of eat whatever

carbohydrates you want.

So normally when I talk

about this, people are

like, oh, I'm diabetic, or

I'm insulin resistant, or

carbohydrates are bad, right?

I am not saying eat sugar and

go out and eat pasta, right?

I'm talking about

cycling carbohydrates

in a very strategic way.

Small amounts, the right

dose at the right time

and the right type of

carbohydrate will switch

off that stress response.

And what that means is that

you are gonna have energy,

high energy all day long.

There's no 3:00 PM slump where

you hit a wall and you just.

Having coffee and more sugar,

it's going to regulate that

cortisol curve, so it's

gonna reduce anxiety and

overwhelm, and it's going to

balance glucose and insulin.

And prevent cravings and

give you energy for the

brain, give you a lot of

focus and concentration.

So Cy cycling carbohydrates,

even if you are diabetic or

you're insulin resistant.

I have a lot of women that

come into my programs exactly

the same, and what they find

is that because they're able

to relax that stress response,

get their system outta that

fight or flight or overactive

nervous system, it allows

their metabolic system to

do what it's meant to do.

Right.

You know, a lot of the, the

shaming of carbohydrates

you know, isn't directed

in the right way.

Because when you are in a

stressed state, we need to

shut that down, right, in

order for your metabolism to

do what it knows how to do.

So people come through my

programs, they type two

diabetic or insulin resistant.

They lose weight, they

glucose levels improve.

Some people have come off

their diabetes med medication

as prescribed by their doctor

because their metabolic

health has improved.

So the first thing.

Carbohydrates switch

off the stress response.

Stress response is very

important to switch off

before you do anything else.

Okay.

I really try to kind of hone

that in and, and drum that

into people in my work is

because when that nervous

system is overactive, things

get shut down, digestion

is shut down, hormone

production is shut down.

Prefrontal cortex is

shut down for, you

know, deep focus work.

Like our body is in

a state of trying to

survive, not thrive.

And so if you are wanting

then your body to do all

these other things like

lose weight and, and do

fasting or whatever, you're

asking too much because your

body is in shutdown mode.

Okay?

It's, it's in low battery

mode and it's only doing this.

Central functions

to keep you going.

And so what we wanna do is

get it out of low battery

mode or low power mode so

you have full function.

And then we can start to do,

do the repair work and get

your metabolism elevated.

And so once we look at, you

know, reducing that stress

response, getting the system

regulated, the cortisol

regulated, then you can

look at things like detoxes.

And that's what I do

in my work because.

Gut and liver.

When we go through chronic

stress, our digestion

is shut down so we don't

digest our food properly.

It impacts our microbiome

and it creates fermentation.

We start to create bacterial

overgrowth, so there's a bit

of a, a mess in the gut, but

then it also creates a lot

more toxicity and it breaks

down liver detox pathway,

so they need to be repaired,

We must relax the nervous

system first before we can

do that, because as I said,

cortisol is having this huge

impact or stress is having

this huge impact on our gut.

It doesn't make sense

to try and repair the

gut while there's all

these stress hormones

flooding towards the gut.

Okay.

I hope that makes sense.

So it's very strategic

in order and so.

When you do that initial reset

of the nervous system, you

can start to do the repair

work, the gut, and the liver.

So these things are

important for elevating

your mood because a lot

of our happy hormones

are produced in our gut.

You know, reducing brain

fog, having mental clarity

and concentration, and

deep work and focus,

and the liver detox.

Our liver repair is important

to remove toxins and

inflammation from the body.

It helps to activate

our metabolism as well.

So really.

Key features of these

systems, and these are

the ones that have really

affected during stress.

Now.

Next I wanna talk about

fasting because it's

definitely a hot topic.

I think it's kind of

had its peak and now

it's on the way down.

And particularly when we

look at women and fasting,

it's all very different

because our hormones look

for different things.

But fasting is a great tool

to get yourself into peak

physical and mental wellbeing.

I use it in my programs

at a later stage.

Right?

But it's definitely

a great tool.

' cause there's so much

goodness that comes

from fasting, right?

There's stem cells

being released, there's,

um, cellular cleanup.

Like there's all these things

that are happening that, you

know, we used to do fasting.

A century ago, do I

wanna say, I don't know,

probably, probably less.

Where there was religious

fastings, there was

less access to food.

Now we have 24 7 access, and

so there was more periods

of prolonged fasting,

which there isn't now.

And so I'm definitely a

fan of fasting because of

all the health benefits

that come with it.

And I really see fasting as

one of those tools that not

only for peak performance,

but as your health insurance.

Right.

Um, but I won't

go into that here.

But fasting cannot be done

if you are overtaxed, right?

If you are stressed, if you've

been in a chronic, if even

pushing yourself really hard,

even though you're probably

still pushing yourself, but

you are not sleeping that

well, you are feeling tired

and you are stressed, right?

You're getting set off.

And in that case, we

still need to relax

the nervous system.

And so women come into

my programs, they've been

fasting, they feel terrible,

they feel irritable.

They're not losing weight.

They're like, what

am I doing wrong?

Right?

Other people are

getting results.

Why am I not getting results?

And that is why the nervous

system is already stressed,

already overreacting, and

now you're taking away

nutrients that are important

to repair the nervous system

and the gut and the liver.

You're taking a certain

number of calories, not that

I count calories, but a, a

certain number of calories

needed with the nutrition

to do the repair work.

It's just not there.

And so therefore, the

system is struggling.

and so fasting is a

great tool, but it could

take months before you

can do fasting, right?

It could even take years.

It took me years to get my

body into a place where I

could do fasting, right?

And it's not even something

that you have to worry

about because if you are

feeling amazing, which, you

know, women come through my

programs and they're doing

the, the nervous system reset,

the gut and liver repair,

they feel amazing, right?

They're not concerned

whether they can do fasting

right away, but it's

definitely a tool long

term for peak performance.

And like I said, your

health insurance.

So just to rehash, you

gotta look at where

you are right now.

If you're stressed, and this

is what this podcast episode

is about, you're a successful

woman, you're stressed,

you're still pushing yourself.

I know, but you're really

starting to feel the effects

of that stress, right?

You're not feeling

like yourself anymore.

Then you wanna start with

carbohydrate cycling.

You do not wanna go low carb.

Then you wanna repair key

systems that are involved

during stress, the gut

and the liver, looking

at repair work there.

Then you can bring in fasting

or then if you wanna bring in

weight loss programs, right?

So I run a weight loss

program, which is focused more

on hormonal, um, nourishing

the key hormones that control

our metabolic burn rate.

So again, I'm not cutting

out carbs, I'm not cutting

out major food groups, I'm

not counting calories, right?

Really nourishing the

hormones that control

the metabolic burn rate.

things are a bit more

strategic than just, you

know, eat less and exercise

more, or anything like that.

The one thing I would say

though is if you're looking

at weight loss, again, stress,

you wanna address that.

You wanna do it in that kind

of order as I'm explaining it.

But if you do something low

calorie, your metabolism's

not really gonna forgive

you for it, right?

Because studies have shown

that as you reduce calories,

your, your body becomes

accustomed to living.

On a certain number

of calories, right?

So it's 800, a thousand,

1500, whatever it is a day.

And then when you go back

to eating normal amounts

of food, your metabolism

doesn't just go back

to where it was, right?

It stays, it's, it's

lowered itself to survive

on low calories, it

stays there, right?

And so this is why women

gain weight when they quit

these low calorie things.

So don't mess with

the hormones, right?

The body is quite,

very, very intelligent.

Um, but.

At this point, all I wanted

to say was you could bring

in either fasting or a

weight loss program after

you've done that initial

stress reset and repair work.

And let's talk about keto

and carnivore because I

definitely use these as well.

And it really is a

case by case basis.

I've used it with

women who, keto and

carnivore in particular.

If I see someone with a lot

of immune reactions like food

sensitivities, allergies,

as I look in their pathology

results, I can see that

there's just way too much

inflammation in there and

it's very hard to pinpoint

where it's coming from.

Something like

carnivore is really just

stripping back, right?

Taking out a lot of all

foods that are gonna create

a reaction and then we can

start adding from there.

So keto and carnivore

is something you can

do intermittently.

ketos better.

Carnivore is so, you know,

I think the carnivore

police will come after me

with this, but, um, I've

done the carnivore and it's

definitely a great, almost

like a detox because it's

getting rid of a lot of those.

you know, since foods

that can create allergens

and sensitivities and gut

issues and whatever, so

I've used them in chronic

conditions where people

have chronic gut issues.

They have very high

insulin resistance.

Okay?

So the fasting insulin's

very, very high.

But again, I still do

the pre-work of the nerve

system, reset the repair

work, and then that, okay?

So often I will have women

come into my program.

You are like, I'm

doing carnivore.

No, I'm doing keto and I'm

fasting and I feel terrible

and I'm not losing weight.

I just feel cranky

all the time.

Right.

And that's why it's

important to do in that

order as what I've said.

Okay.

So hopefully this podcast

is kind of cleared up a few

things 'cause it's one of the

things that I get questions on

all the time and I completely

understand how overwhelming

it is with all the little

tidbits of information

that you get online.

But nothing is comprehensive.

Nothing's a system.

Nothing's looking at

your pathology, nothing's

understanding where

you're at right now, and

nothing's a full system.

Okay?

It's just tidbits

of information.

And if you, if you follow

that, it can create more

harm than good, right?

I can, I've definitely seen

it for myself in my clients.

So I hope this

has been helpful.

If you are, like I said, if

you're stressed, if you're

feeling tired, you're not

sleeping that well, and

your anxiety or overwhelm

is rising, even if you

have weight to lose, you

still wanna start with

the carbohydrate cycling.

I'd love for you to

leave me a comment below.

Was this helpful?

Was this clearer?

Do you know where

to start now?

Um, let me know

in the comments.