Ep. 96 - Overcoming Chronic Pain and Healing Yourself Through Food and Nutrition with Jo Schaalman

 
 

Ever feel like you’ve been hit by a truck? Well, Jo Schaalman has and she is an expert in healing and recovery.

Jo was a state champion gymnast, a nationally ranked diver and a diving coach. While prepping for medical school she was t-boned by a semi-truck during a cross-country bike tour. As a result of the accident, Jo was told that she wouldn’t live a normal life, let alone become a doctor. Her recovery process was both physically and emotionally grueling, but through her healing she was able to unlock some universal healing principles that could not only help her, but other people as well. These discoveries became key foundations of the Conscious Cleanse. Because of her experience, Jo is driven to help people who think healing is out of their reach. Although she never became a doctor, Jo has been able to fulfill her lifelong mission of helping people heal.

Jo Schaalman is the co-author of the book The Conscious Cleanse, a best-selling, step-by-step guide to help you live your most vibrant life and the newest book, The Conscious Cleanse Cookbook. She has led thousands of people through the online supported cleanse with her accessible and light-hearted approach. The Conscious Cleanse program been dubbed “the real deal” by Bobbi Brown, founder and chief creative officer, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics.

On top of it all, Jo is also a mom of 2, ages 1 and 7 years old.

In this episode, Jo and I chat about

  • Her personal journey from getting hit by a truck to overcoming pain

  • How the conscious cleanse was created and the basis behind it

  • Three things to think about everyday when you're eating and when you want to feel better

  • Habits busy moms can implement to set themselves up for success around nutrition

  • The importance of changing our mindset around health and our body

** Jo will be launching a live 14-Day Conscious Cleanse starting on Jan 12, 2022. For More Programs Click HERE. **

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Ep. 96 - Jo Schaalman Transcript

Stephanie: Welcome back to mommy's on a call. So have you ever felt like you've been hit by a truck? Well, today's guest Jo Schaalman literally has, and through her trauma and recovery, she has become an expert in healing and recovery. I'll let Joe tell her story in a bit, because I definitely can't do it.

Yes, Jo's recovery process was both physically and emotionally grueling, but through her healing, she was able to unlock some universal healing principles that could not only help her, but other people as well. These discoveries became the key foundations of the conscious cleanse. Joe is the coauthor of the book, the conscious cleanse a best-selling step-by-step guide to help you live your most vibrant life and also the newest book, the conscious cleanse cookbook.

She has led thousands of people through the online supported cleanse with her accessible and lighthearted approach. And the conscious cleanse program has been dubbed the real deal by Bobby Brown, the founder and chief creative officer of Bobbi brown cosmetics.

So welcome Jo.

[00:01:51] Jo: Oh, thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here

[00:01:55] Stephanie: before we get started. I wanted to ask what's your biggest mom win of the week.

[00:02:00] Jo: My biggest mom when of the week, I mean, going for walks with my 16 month old in the morning, before I start working and really connecting with him and chatting with him is my mom.

When I love it, that just sets me up and I feel like a

[00:02:16] Stephanie: success. That's good. You get your workout and some bonding time.

[00:02:20] Jo: Exactly.

[00:02:21] Stephanie: How's that going with a 16 month old? They're finally in the talking phase cause mine's 19 months and all of a sudden it's like language exploded.

[00:02:29] Jo: Yes. I know. It's so fun. I would say this is my favorite time.

You know, our kids are like similar in age. We found out. And I have a seven year old and a 16 month old. And like we're yeah, we're entering this really, really fun time. It's like the dangerous, most dangerous time, but they're so cute and so fun. And yeah, I get, I get to actually hear what he wants and to give

[00:02:49] Stephanie: the audience a little bit of context.

I know you said you have two kids, seven and 16 month old. And tell me a little bit more about your family structure, you know, you and your partner, what are kind of the roles you play in your family.

[00:03:00] Jo: So my husband and I have been married almost a decade now. And we really look at what we love to do. And then we try to divide certain roles between us.

Like for instance, I actually, even though I wrote a cookbook and I love to cook and my life is about healthy eating. My husband does a lot of the cooking because it's something that he can do really, really, really well. And he loves doing it. And it's one thing that he can then provide for the family during the week.

That takes something off my plate and see you back. Oh yeah. Yeah. I'm like last night it was like page 1, 21 in the cookbook Turkey chili. And so he'll like, he'll like, so I do the meal planning and I do the prep and then he'll like execute, which is really nice to have that support because I think it's sometimes hard when it comes to like, Eating healthy to it, fall all on one parent.

So I think that's, that's something I hear from a lot of moms is that, you know, they're doing all of that, but yeah. So he, so he helps with that. And then we, do the child stuff is really divided pretty well. I mean, that's a really good question. I don't think anybody's asked me that recently.

[00:04:12] Stephanie: I was curious, cause you know, with the pandemic things have changed the role parents play also. And so a lot of people are working from home as an entrepreneur. I mean, I assume you've been working relatively from home.

Was your husband at home also, have you been able to, you know, you have a young, young kid, a 16 month old and throughout the last year, how were you able to kind of mom and also run this business, writing books and classes and all of this stuff.

[00:04:40] Jo: I got lucky in the sense that my husband's in, in education. And so he was at home and he was helping with our seven-year-old and then the baby at the time. And then we also had had a nanny and so our nanny was coming to help with the little one. And so that was like, I felt very lucky and very resource that we were allowed to like have that.

And then my daughter. Really didn't miss any school, except for in the first three months, she ended up at a school that stayed open and every, all the kids were healthy. And so, you know, I know that's not everybody's situation, but it still was stressful. I mean, don't get me wrong. Cause I had had a baby during this time, as you probably did, like, it was the beginning of the pandemic and it was so uncertain and you know, just learning to go from.

One kid to two kid, and then how that looked in my business and the amount of time and how focused and impactful I had to be when I was actually working became more and more clear to me, like all this other stuff, you know, I had to like cut it down to actually do things that moved the needle the most, and then leverage myself to do that with other people to, to not do those things that weren't.

[00:05:50] Stephanie: What do you think was the biggest shift from one to two? Because I have a six year old and my 19 month old, but I also have a three-year-old in the middle. So it was a little bit of a different shift from two to three during the pandemic, but for going from one to two, being a business owner and all of that.

What are the things that you think shifted the most, either personally or in your business or things you learned from that?

[00:06:12] Jo: You know, with my first I've always been really driven and I was going to go to medical school before I had. This terrible accident, where I was hit by a truck going 70 miles per hour, which I only want to hear about that you alluded to, but I think, I always say like, literally it took me getting hit by a truck to like B T to go into a different, you know, to kick me off my path into a different way of seeing the world.

But I still was also like very, very driven. And before I had my daughter to having my daughter, there was a transition, but then I realized the things that. I didn't want to miss with my son. I realized that like, Hey, this time is short and I'm willing to, you know, start my day in a different way. I don't have to like be super stressed out and strung out to have a successful business.

And I, I think I learned how to be more balanced, whatever that means, especially with the second one.

[00:07:10] Stephanie: So, what does that I guess look like in your day? So I know you mentioned your biggest mom, one of the week was that you got to go on a walk in the morning, but what is your typical then day look like?

[00:07:21] Jo: So I get up in the morning and we get up when he wakes up and my husband takes my daughter to school and we go for a walk and we it's like I power walk and I get a green juice and we, you know, he's awake and we spend time together.

And then I come home and my nanny meets, meets me here. And then I have my day, you know, where I'm like, all right, head down. And I have a team of people working with me at the conscious cleanse. I'm one of the co-founders. So I'm lucky that I have other people when I'm not on, they are on, so I have health coaches and then I have the tech people, and that really helps.

What I'm doing before. I didn't have that framework. And I think every single thing relied on me doing it and I still do so much, but now I really, really focus on when I'm working or at least I try to, although it's not so perfect again, saying like, I had a mentor say to me, most people are not successful in business because they spend 90% of the time doing the things that aren't important and that the things that are important, they spend 10% of their time.

And she's like, you just need to flip that and you need to like focus, eat the beginning of your day on the most important thing is because, and I still am not perfect at that because I'll be like, here are these five. Business development relationships. I need to reach out to today. And then it would always be like, oh, tomorrow I'll do it tomorrow.

I'll do it. And it would never, never happen. And so it's now like stacking that into the front of my day, not opening my email and really becoming aware of how do I move the needle. What's important. And I ask that to myself daily, what's important. And some days I do it and some days I don't, you

[00:09:02] Stephanie: set this up like the night before or do you go in that morning, you're like, okay, I'm going to sit down and do my to-do list. I've heard of, kind of that concept that I think someone once said it was like, eat the frog or something like you eat the first, like the most disgusting, the hairiest the thing that you need to get done first. And then you move on to the other stuff.

But how do you prioritize kind of what you're going to work on in then?

[00:09:24] Jo: Well, I've gotten better. And I have a software that manages my to-dos. We use a sauna, and I think by using that, it's really allowed me. And so at the end of my day, I'll kind of mark what I think is most important for that next day and move things around.

And so then I wake up, I'll look at that and assess. And that's super helpful, but it could just be like a plain old notes that you have, you know, and you, you rearrange things and you put things to the top of your list that are the most important. And then you don't, even though email can be important, you don't go to those things that just are like, I got to clear my inbox.

I got to like post a social. I got to do all the things to move, like to have the visibility and brand building, but it's not necessarily like moving the needle in the way you want it to. Right.

[00:10:13] Stephanie: Well, let's step back a moment and talk kind of about your personal journey, because this is getting hit by a truck.

Isn't exactly. You know, when I heard the story, I was like, excuse me, you got hit by a truck and you're standing gorgeous, like two kids, like yoga and all of this stuff. So let's start back from the beginning. And like what inspired you to go down this

[00:10:34] Jo: road of starting the conscious cleanse? Well, I always thought I would be a doctor from a very young age and I was about to go to medical school and took a trip, riding my bike across the U S with 12 high school kids.

And when I was riding across the country, six days from the end of this trip, I ended up getting hit by a truck going 70 miles per hour on my bike and broke my back in seven places. And that was, it was as if my life ended in that moment, because I was told that I would be disabled for the rest of my life.

And I went to. Doctor after doctor, after doctor. And all people could do was give me pain pills for my pain and Prozac for my depression. And nobody had an answer at that point. This was 15 years ago and I ended up gaining 40 pounds on my small frame. I ended up, you know, probably the worst I was in chronic pain at a level of a nine out of 10 every day.

But the worst thing is I was hoping. Like I had no hope. And so I had no motivation and I didn't think there was a different way for me to live. And that was, that was a really, really tough period. And I'm sure other people can, you know, maybe have not been hit by a truck, but can relate to being in really dark places and feeling depressed and not feeling like there's options in terms of like, how can you get through this funk?

Like, what's on the other side of this for me. And. Were you able to move at all or right, like

[00:11:55] Stephanie: afterwards or. So w I guess, was it, your entire body was paralyzed

[00:12:01] Jo: or wasn't paralyzed move, but I was in such levels of chronic pain that I could barely walk around the block. And I was taking all these pain meds that I was just kind of a shell of myself.

And what did your support system look like at that time? I was in my twenties. And I remember my mom, my mom was amazing, but most people couldn't relate to what I was going through. Like a lot of the lessons I learned then are lessons. I feel like I can really apply now in my life or even older. Like people weren't in there when you're in your twenties, you feel invincible.

Like you feel like nothing can stop you. And most people were there just like soaring in their career or getting onto these paths. And I felt like I was. Just nothing would ever happen. I was like, how am I going to get through this? I don't even think that I'll be able to live a normal life. And so my, my life was, was, was pretty bleak at that point, but I'm pretty tenacious.

And so I thought, you know, I've been. In this chronic pain, what I've been doing, isn't working there has to be a different way. And I was a yoga teacher before that, and I was always interested in health and nutrition because my mom had kind of instilled that in me and I was an allergic kid and she figured out from a very young age that I was having severe asthma attacks and my throat was closing up from food.

I was eating. And figure that out. And so, like, I was able to navigate the world in, in a way without inhalers and breathing machines. And I, and I owe that to my mom. And it's honestly helped, also define how I see things, you know, I, it wasn't working. So I felt, well, what can work? And I started looking at food as medicine and I started taking nutrition courses.

And I was able to do enough of that in a slow time-released way to start saying, okay, food can be medicine and, and what is possible for me. And that, that was a big shift. What

[00:13:57] Stephanie: was kind of the first thing you did or ate, or like, what was that first step after you took all the nutrition courses where. Was like, wow, this actually is

[00:14:07] Jo: working well.

I actually tried so many diets and programs and none of them did work. And I think I need to do a lot of things that don't work first, you know? And I think that's meant how we can learn. We can say that didn't work. So what can work and keep kind of focusing in that way. And I tried because I had gained 40 pounds and I had been an athlete my whole life.

I thought, well, if I just lose this 40 pounds, I'll be okay. And I got kind of fixated on weight loss and I tried shakes and, you know, I try, I went to meetings and did points and counting calories and even went totally raw at one point. And I did all these things that didn't work and they ended up backfiring.

And the reason they backfired was because it was the mental space. I was. One, it was like, food was still the enemy and I really disliked my body and it was all about going from something I didn't like to something I did like, like those before and after transformationals and I needed to shift the thinking in my head to love myself in exactly that moment without needing to change anything.

And so after going through the programs that didn't work, my co-founder and I who know each other through yoga, we're both teachers. We said, what if we put together a 14 day program just for. We didn't mean to start a company and let's make it. Veggies are the center. You can eat meat or you don't have to eat meat.

I eat meat. She doesn't, we took out allergens. We looked at digestion and food combining, and we put all these different principles that both of us knew and kind of had experienced and studied into this 14 day program. And in 14 days, my pain went from a nine to a five. And it was like, I was totally idiot immediately and nothing had worked over years like that.

[00:15:51] Stephanie: How did you, I guess, pick these things to put in the program when you were trying all these things in the past, like when you're taking bits of it that you're like, well, this is kind of work, so let's try this. Or, you know, how did you formulate this?

[00:16:03] Jo: Well, I feel like one of my specialties is absolutely allergies.

Like I'm really honed in and educated and. And Juul is my co-founder. She was like a raw food vegan. And she was really into like plants, lots of plants and digestion. And between the two of us, it was kind of our interests and focus, but also knowing that these things had huge impacts, we put them together.

So it was very kind of Serendip. That they were things that we both knew were important. And she had really never looked at allergies and I never looked at really plants and inflammation the way that she did. And, you know, she was eating super healthy, but she still had adult acne and gas and bloating.

And in 14 days, all of that went away. And so it was this combination. I mean, we, we, we always used to say, we got, you know, when we tell the story, we got chills because it was one of those moments that had to do with both of us coming together. At the right time. And it was very instinctive for us. And then when people start asking us what we were doing and they could see, it was like, I came back to life.

I lost 15 pounds, but it wasn't about the weight. And one thing led to another, we start taking, you know, a group of people through, and then we started taking, you know, hundreds of people through and thousands of people. And it just was kind of a, a natural business that grew from, from our experiences.

[00:17:24] Stephanie: What do you think for, for people who might have chronic pain and kind of what you did, was it the inflammation, do you think that was causing your pain? Like what about the food? I guess for her, I could see allergies, you break out and you get different things because you have reactions in your gut to different allergies.

For you what do you think was like the key components of the conscious cleanse or what you first put together that helped your pain?

[00:17:48] Jo: I didn't use to think. And this was a decade ago. I used to think, oh, I shouldn't eat gluten or dairy. But I would focus on an allergen free diet, rather than thinking about how nutrient dense the food choices I was going to eat were.

And I wouldn't think of how alive the foods that I was going to eat were how fresh, you know, so we like our conscious cleanse food plate is two thirds of your plate are veggies in any capacity. And then your other third is whatever else it is. It can be a protein, could be a non-gluten grain. It could be beans, it could be nuts or seeds.

And I think that. Thinking really made a difference. Like I used to eat oatmeal, a little bit of maple syrup and some nuts every morning, that was my breakfast and it's not unhealthy. Right. But when I went from that to having a green smoothie and that's like alive, that's like super nutrient dense.

That one thing made a huge difference. And then thinking about how I can get in more veggies throughout the day really was a big game changer.

[00:18:44] Stephanie: Interesting, because I think, I feel like I eat like the oatmeal or like the overnight oats with some fruit and like almond butter and think that's like sufficient, but I never really put the green stuff in my morning things.

And

[00:18:56] Jo: so it's okay if you don't, it's just looking though, like, how are you getting all that? Our body is thriving on the nutrition we get from the vitamins and minerals and the, our food that really is alive or alive and cooked and steamed, you know, like that's where we get the most health benefits. And I never saw that.

And so you could be getting a smoothie in the afternoon. It doesn't have to happen in the morning, or you don't even have to have a smoothie. You might be having a salad or a green soup, or, and it's, you know, dark leafy greens. Just powerhouses. They're so impactful and they can really shift your health.

[00:19:30] Stephanie: Yeah. It's so interesting how connected all of those foods are with everything going on. So I mentioned before this, I just came from the eye doctor and she looked at me and she's like, your eyes are really dry. And I'm like, okay. She's like, you should take more omega three. And she's like, this is like the quantity I suggest because it helps with dry eye.

And I'm going white. Like, I guess I just didn't correlate things like that. And she was like, yeah, it helps with the way your body processes, the oils and the way all of that works. And I was like, wow, it's so interconnected. And it's like, Look at what we put in our body as much like the food we, a lot of us love to eat, but we don't think about the actual nutrients in a day.

So is wondering 14 days cleanse. I've done a ton of different diets. I've tried different things just out of curiosity. And I'm wondering. My biggest issue is always with , sustaining something like this. So it's like, I do want to do this. Like

I need to feel better. And then after 14 days, or like I did the whole 30 after 30 days, it's like you fall off the wagon again.

So what are your tips to people out there to kind of in their day to day life? What are the top three things you would say to think about everyday when you're eating and when you want to feel better, if say, you know, you can do the cleanse and then afterwards, how do you maintain that sort of

[00:20:49] Jo: life? Yeah.

I mean, I think it's knowing what foods make you absolutely thrive, like getting that information and you might not thrive on a health food, like for instance, coconuts, coconuts, avocados. Do not thrive even non-gluten grains, not so much. So like learning what that blueprint is for you. So you don't have to work so hard because I think oftentimes we're like, what should I eat?

It's so confusing. And so what we do in 14 days is really hone in on the foods that work best in your body in a very personalized way. So I think that's important.

And then the second, the flip side number two would be finding the foods that are sabotaging your health the most. So. For me, I used to be before I broke my back and I, I still can't run to this day since I broke my back, but I'm still very, very active, but I mentioned this because I used to be able to try to out exercise my diet.

And I would have this concept that if I exercise enough and I eat a minimal amount, but that would equal weight with. And the idea was, and that idea actually is super, is really false. And it's really challenging for a lot of people. So people can work really hard, but not get results. And I used to eat gluten and feel like I gained 10 to 15 pounds overnight.

And when I realized that gluten was the thing and it made such an impact, I had the choice then to say, when I'm eating it and when I'm not eating it and when I'm not eating it, it's like. It's so much easier. It's just like, it's easier for my body to regulate and feel healthy. Gluten makes me depressed.

I literally get big dark circles under my eyes. And so it's knowing what foods are that sabotage your health and how it impacts your body?

[00:22:28] Stephanie: How, like for say a novice, who's just going into this who just like basically said, it's like, I feel like, I feel like crap, always, like, I don't know what it is. Like I eat all the different things and there's so many things in our diet.

How can we start to remove, should we like start from, I mean, I know it's in your cleanse, like, what should we like start with just removing gluten, removing, dairy, and seeing how that affects and kind of like journal every day on like how we feel or,

[00:22:54] Jo: well, I think there's the third thing that you were saying, what are the things, but I'm also this also, I think I'll answer that and then I'll go to the third thing is.

The question that to ask yourself to really find what's could be sabotaging your health. And everybody hates hearing this and it doesn't mean you can never have the food. I just want a breakfast. That is what food or foods do you love and crave the most. And that points you in the direction of foods that will give you.

You know, Ken really sabotage your health and we're not talking like, just like comfort food or cravings food. It's like food that like, oh, I got to have that food. Like I gotta have my coffee, I gotta have my wine. I gotta have this pastry. And then we can start saying like, okay, sugar could be running the show for you in a really big way.

And then really learning that. And, and most time people can't do it by them. And so the number of the number three thing is having community and support. And that's why we created our program. We have a book you've seen our book, but most people are not a DIY Mo we, we get 80% of change happens when people have social support.

And so that's why we created the program. We did, I remember feeling so alone. And you said who was in your corner? And I didn't have many people and I didn't feel like I had people to reach out, to could support me through my journey except for my mom who was amazing. But I was like, where are my people?

Where are the, and so I created essentially what I felt like I never had was a community of. That would cheer you on to success and get your back no matter what and help you through the journey because you can't do it alone. At least most people can't. And so like, long-term sustaining your results are about getting that support long-term and some people come in and out, some people stay long-term, but it's then knowing what food works and what doesn't.

And then you can eat in this 80, 20 way, which is 80% of the time, the way you thrive in 20% of the time, eat the foods that you love and crave, but it's not going to take you down.

[00:24:55] Stephanie: Right. I feel like the 80 20 rule is good in everything from business to wellness.

Like you need that, I guess, quote, balance or whatever that should mean.

But yeah, I like that the 80 20.

So for busy moms out there who , want to feel better and are trying to do this besides like the accountability, like we see our kids, you know, food or we're hungry, or what do you see as the common pitfalls that busy moms make throughout the program? Or like the things that derail them.

[00:25:24] Jo: Well, I think a lot of people get frustrated or feel like they're not successful if they have a lot of their kid foods around and they're like having handfuls of goldfish or like, you know, whatever it is that their kids are eating, that they normally wouldn't eat. But so it's around before you had kids, maybe this food wasn't even in your house.

And now it's in your house. You're like, how did I just eat that food? And you're stressed and you're hungry and you're tired and you're, you just need some mom time. Right. And then before, you know, you're shoving handfuls of whatever that is in your mouth. And so I think there are a couple of different things is that I, I think having your meals planned and not going long periods of time without eating in the sense not, I'm not talking intermittent fasting, I'm just talking about like letting your blood sugar tank so that you can't.

So it's easy to make decisions that are. Not as healthy. So I think that's, that's really big. And then it's also, if you make a plan for the week with food, even if you're going to eat, you know, foods that aren't, as, that don't make you thrive as much, you have at least plans for the foods that do make you thrive.

I think starting your day with a nutrient dense green smoothie, whether it has fruit or not. I do smoothies without fruit because that's how I feel best. I do more like keto cleanse. I it's. Keto vegan with chicken and fish

and chicken and fish. Yeah, exactly. It's like primarily plant-based plant-based, but no, but really low sugar and really low and lower carb. And, but still getting some meats as well. Yeah. Yeah. But no eggs or dairy.

[00:27:02] Stephanie: Okay. Interesting. You talked a lot about mindset was actually kind of the foundational principle behind a lot of your change and what you see, I guess, in others also it's besides like what you're putting in your mouth.

I see a lot of women or moms, their hesitation is like, oh, I'm busy. Oh, you know, I have this going on. And it's a mindset thing. Are there any tips that you can give based on your experience to help women kind of overcome their mindset, especially. They go into it thinking they want to lose the 40 pounds.

They was 15. And they're like, oh, like how, how can we approach our mind around changing the way our health

[00:27:40] Jo: has? I think there is this concept that there is a quick fix. Out there. And I think that is, you know, it's setting us up for failure because there is not a magic bullet. I mean, no matter what, even if it would be nice, right, there is nothing that's just going to make you immediately feel better and lose weight, but you can shift your health and make changes in a very short amount of time.

I also think that when we focus on weight loss and at least this is my personal experience, while weight loss will be a by-product of what you can do, if you focus on it, oftentimes it doesn't always work because then you're weighing yourself. You're looking in the mirror, you're focusing on that so much.

And my experience is when you focus so much on your weight, your weight fights you back and it almost becomes a stressor. So you have to think, like we tell people, ditch your scale. For at least two weeks, if not more and start. And we take on mindfulness practices about being in your body, feeling your body, connecting to your body, and really acknowledging the things that you do love about your body before you even shift at all.

And that mindset makes a big difference because when you start from a place of love, rather than a place of punishment, it's much more powerful.

[00:28:51] Stephanie: That's so true. What are some of the mindfulness things that you do for yourself

[00:28:55] Jo: during the day? So. Even just five simple breaths are really, really big for me when I'm in between meetings or I'm kind of on the go.

If I just close my eyes feet on the ground, five deep breaths, I get back into my body and it allows me to be more present. I love grounding where you are outside barefoot in the grass, and you really connect to the earth. I don't know if you've heard about this principle or this practice, but it's amazing and getting outside in sunshine, like 20 minutes a day. At least I like doing it for an hour. If I can and taking my calls outside, walking around the block. I think when you and I talked, I was like, I'm walking, I'm taking this, I'm taking this on the road. Like I really try to move my body as much as possible during the day and figure out how I can make moving my priority and then make my meetings work into my moving. Even if they're like, we're zooming, I'm like, okay, I'm going to zoom on my phone and we're walking.

[00:29:55] Stephanie: Sorry, we couldn't do that today. But

[00:29:58] Jo: yes, but I think those are the things you think I have to be doing it this way. And if it's not working for you, it's like, how can you make it work in a different way?

And I think, uh, sitting all day long, which I could do a lot of is probably one of the most unhealthy things that we can do first.

[00:30:13] Stephanie: Oh, I realized that even when my apple watch beeps at me to say, stand up, I'm still like an hour later. I'm like, shoot, I'm still sitting at my computer.

It's like hard to like, switch that on and be like, okay, I got to get up.

And then I get up and I'm like, where am I going? Like, what do I do? Walk around the room, sit back down.

[00:30:31] Jo: And as a mom, right? You're like, I just got to power through it, get shit done, because you are like, here's my work time. Here's my mom time. Here's my myself time, my family time. And it's like, you don't have any time to waste.

Right. Exactly.

[00:30:45] Stephanie: And I feel like I am running around when I am with the kids. So then I'm like exhausted from that. I'm like, I just want to sit. And so it's really hard to. Balance that all and make it work in your day. And sometimes I look at my watch, I'm like, oh, I had like, no steps today. Like I did nothing.

Whoops. Let's try it again tomorrow. Totally. Oh, wow. And you were mentioning that, you know, you go on a walk and you wake up when your kid wakes up, what time do you usually get up?

[00:31:11] Jo: I am not a morning person. And one of the things I like to share, because I think we all think that we have to get up at 5:00 AM and meditate and be that perfect person.

And in fact, my co-founder does that, but when she kept doing that and I kept thinking, I had to be that person, I was like, this doesn't work for me. So I get up at seven or seven 30 in the morning and that's like my clock. And it's how I thrive and feel the best. And if my little one gets up earlier than that, I'm like take the baby to my husband and he's a morning person, but yeah, that's, that's when I get up.

And then what I like to do is right away, kind of once my daughter's out the door is we just move, we walk and like that I hadn't done that until I had my son. I was, and that was, this has been a game changer in my health moving first thing in the morning.

[00:31:59] Stephanie: I think I'm going to have to take a note and try that I'm not a morning person either.

And a lot of the guests that I've interviewed on the podcast are the, I get up at 4:00 AM. I get up at 5:00 AM. You know, I get up at least an hour or two before my kids do. And when I do that, I physically can't function. Me and my husband always says, you just got to power through, like, you gotta do what you gotta do.

But I feel like my rhythm is not that, and I'm better at night and it's like, well, that's your problem. Like you're staying up too late. And I'm like, but that's like my cycle it's been that way my whole life. Totally.

[00:32:28] Jo: And you don't have to honor that, like, rather than make yourself feel guilty because there's this one way it's like of doing things the perfect way.

It's like when you put yourself to that standard, you feel guilty and you're like, gosh, what's wrong with me, but there's nothing wrong with you. You just have to honor your cycle and do the things you need to at the times, if you can. That you thrive.

[00:32:47] Stephanie: So then do you have any evening rituals to wrap up the.

[00:32:50] Jo: I do, because it takes me a little bit to get down. You know, it takes me a little bit to wind down if I can going for another walk at night, right before, like after dinner with the family, even if it's like 20 minutes before we put the kids in the bath that makes all of us just kind of calm down. Cause we're outside, the sun is going down and I think that's like a nice way to prepare just your internal clock for bedtime.

But I, I love hot Epsom salt bath, so I'll put like four cups of Epsom salt, you know, 10 drops of lavender, a little baking soda. And I make it as hot as I can. And I sweat my butt off for like 20 minutes. And then I come out of the bath and it's like this huge detox bath. And it's all, it's like a full body relaxation.

[00:33:34] Stephanie: Wow. What time do you usually go to bed?

[00:33:37] Jo: 10 30. 11. Yeah. I need a lot of sleep right now because my son is up every little. Two hours. It's really bad. We're not really bad. You know, cyclists is getting all these Mueller's and teeth and no matter what we do, he's really struggling. So I'm like give myself the best, like fighting chance possible when I go to sleep to get as much.

Got it.

[00:34:01] Stephanie: Well, thank you so much for all this great info to wrap it up. I have a couple last questions. One is what is your mom's superpower that you gained? Once you became a mom that makes you better? And either business or life?

[00:34:16] Jo: My mom's super power is probably feeling very deeply and feeling other people and feeling my children like what that is that they're they're, they're, they're really having in that moment and really connecting to.

Wow.

[00:34:31] Stephanie: And then where can we

[00:34:32] Jo: find you online? You can find me@consciouscleanse.com and that's website, but then you can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest and Twitter.

[00:34:42] Stephanie: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining today. I loved having you on.

[00:34:46] Jo: Thank you. Thanks Stephanie. Have a great day. Thanks.

[00:34:49] Stephanie: He was so much for listening to this episode of mommy's on a call. Your support means the absolute world to me. You can find the show notes for this episode and others. Over at mommy's on a call.com. And if you enjoyed this episode or have gotten value from the podcast, I would be so grateful if you could head on over to apple podcasts and leave a rating and review so that we can reach and empower more moms all over the world together.

Thank you so much again, mommy pod, and I will see you here next time.

Podcast, Physical WellnessStephanie Uchima-CarneyComment