Listen to Your Body Talk: Biofeedback for Better Health

00:00 Thoughtful, progressive, medicated heavily; biofeedback forgotten.

05:09 Biofeedback: assess experiences as awesome or awful.

06:41 Individual experiences vary; personal compatibility is key.

11:01 New job improves sleep, reduces alarm interruptions.

13:59 Moody Sundays linked to past school stress.

17:41 Finding balance with intermittent fasting, avoid extremes.

20:17 Reflect on cravings: physical needs or emotions?

24:36 Cortisol down, melatonin up, food affects energy.

26:54 Discussing bowel health openly; vital for wellbeing.

32:03 Stretching and yoga help relieve body tightness.

34:00 Lower back pain may indicate other issues.

37:20 See show description for contact info below.

In this episode, you'll hear: 

1. SHMEC It Out! - Learn all about the SHMEC (Sleep, Mood, Hunger, Energy, and Cravings) check-in, a handy tool for understanding your body better. Remember, it's the little things that often tell the biggest stories!
2. Sleep Savvy - Discover how to improve your sleep quality using biofeedback and clever tips. From the power of morning light to winding down with journaling, we've got you covered.
3. Mood Matters - Let's tackle those mood swings with a healthy dose of introspection. We share personal stories and techniques to shine a light on underlying feelings and start each week with positivity.
   
   
   

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Amelia

• Website: https://www.thehelpfulplate.com/
• IG: https://www.instagram.com/thehelpfulplate/

Cam

• Website: https://www.camoyler.com/
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Midlife Mommas IG: https://www.instagram.com/midlife.mommas/

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Transcript

0:00

Did you know that you're your own best expert? We give away our power to others without even knowing it. Hi. I'm Cam, Holistic health coach, mom to 2 humans and 4 pets. Hi. I'm Amelia, Laboratory scientist by day and food scientist by night. Welcome to our show. Join us as we share our holistic approach to life after 50. You can expect real life stories with a dash of humor and a ton of truth. If it happens in midlife, we're going to talk about it. So hit that subscribe button and follow along. We're the Midlife Mommas. Hello, Amelia. Welcome to the podcast Yes. I'm so excited to be talking about biofeedback today. Yeah. So we're gonna learn how to slow down enough to ask ourselves better questions and really tune in to what's happening with our body versus giving away all of our power, all of our agency to random outside people. Yes. It's crazy how it happens. And unless you're really in tune to it, it's almost the sudden anxiety or the sudden feeling of unrest, and you're not even sure why it's there. Yeah. Or just being completely unaware that these things are happening to your body. That's how I live my thirties and forties. Like, I had no idea things were going on. And if I had paid attention, maybe I could have intervened a little bit earlier than I did. I don't know. No. And I think, Cam, just you know, we've talked about this before, and I love your journey and your story because you are so intuitive. And I think even with age, I would I would venture that it's even gotten better, but you feel things very deeply and you feel things physiologically even when it's a mental or an emotional thing. And I think more of us need to be in tune of what that feels like. Well, that's what we're gonna talk about today. And really, it's a chance to reverse engineer what's working and what's not working in your life. And we're talking about exercise, nutrition, relationships, all the things you can use biofeedback to literally guide your your way through life, if you will. Absolutely. So, you know, just for for starters, I wanna just unpack a little bit about what biofeedback is. It's definitely been a term I've known for a very long time because my dad suffered from clinical depression and anxiety disorder from my early childhood. And one of the suggested treatments or therapies that they they offered was biofeedback. And biofeedback bio meaning your body, so listening to your body and feedback is just what it sounds, actually paying attention to what your body and I guess your mind too are saying to you. Right. I feel like the mind is the boss and then your body responds to your thoughts, you know, or whatever. And I love that your father was part of this way back then. You know what I mean? Like, that's very progressive, I would say. I agree, and he was a very progressive thinker on a lot of fronts. Unfortunately, he ended up taking a lot, a lot, a lot of medicines over the ensuing 25, 30 years. But the idea I mean, I literally I thought about this before we hit record. I was like, you know what? I bet I've got a text called Biofeedback or on Biofeedback on a bookshelf that he gave me that I bet the copyrights from the late sixties if I went to look at it, but it's been a long standing, concept that I think we forget about. I do. I think we get so involved and we think, oh, the doctors are the authorities, so whatever they say goes. Yep. I agree. And just give our power all away and really truly ladies, we believe that you are your own best expert. You cannot just give away your power like that. And if the doctor says, hey, do this, I don't know. They don't really know. They're not in your skin. They don't know what's happening. Right. And and I think too, Cam, you know, to be your own best expert, you do have to look at your why sometimes and be aware of is is there a cause and effect here? Because there are situations where I feel like medical intervention could be applicable, but you have to know what that point is. You know what I mean? It's not just a this is wrong. I'll go to the doctor. He'll give me a pill and it'll all be good. That is not what we're talking about here. No. Because that's not addressing the root cause, and the pill is going to mask other problems, and then other things might pop up. So, yeah, really, what we're gonna do today is boil it down, give you some tactical tools, I guess, to help yourself slow down and be curious about what's happening in different areas of your life so you can ask yourself better questions. Or when you go to the doctor, you're prepared to ask better questions. You know how they ask, well, what are your symptoms? Exactly. I don't even know what my symptoms are. So anyway, that's what this is. Absolutely. And one of the very first kind of biofeedback hacks, if you will, that I love and we've talked about this a 1000000000 times and you've taught me this, Cam, is the awful awesome test. Will you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah. So biofeedback boils down to that and awesome, like after you eat, after you exercise, after you leave a conversation or a group of people, you can just pause and say, okay, was that awesome or was that awful? And we know what awesome feels like. We have good energy, our brain's working, we're not bloated, we don't have gas, all the all the things. We feel amazing. And you have zest, you have life, you have energy, whereas awful would be the opposite. You would be bloated, tired, drained, you know. Have we all had conversations and you're like, what the heck? I don't wanna be around that conversation anymore. Yeah. Absolutely. And I love the fact that this is applicable. The my favorite of those words to, the feelings we avoid is drain because whether it's, exercise or a heavy meal or a conversation or company, we know what that feels like and we don't wanna feel like that. I have to admit, Cam, the awful awesome test is great. I don't always feel awesome, but I do understand when I do feel drained or fatigued or in some way not nourished and energized by the activity, whether it's food, drink, activity, or company. And that's the whole thing. So you're bringing it to the consciousness and then you can consciously choose, is this for me or is this not for me? Last time I did this, I felt this way. Am I gonna is it worth it? Am I gonna do it again? Right. You know? So you're bringing it to your awareness, which again is the magical pill, if you will. Right. And what else I think is magical and beautiful is the fact that this is very individual. And, let's just take food for example because it's one of my favorite subjects. There are some foods that might sit fine with me, but not with you or vice versa. And so, you know, we can't give you, listeners, we can't give you a diet or an exercise program that we're prescribing for you without knowing more about you, so don't think that what we do is gonna be perfect for you because what feels awesome to me might not feel awesome to you. And here's the thing that I know about being in menopause for three and a half years now, it's continuously changing. And so maybe what worked last year is maybe not gonna work this year or last month even. So this is a skill set that you can carry with you forever and use it as you change. Right. And I love that you called it a skill set because you have to practice it. Skills you have to practice and this is something that in my opinion, in my experience, I should say, I have had to practice this to get good enough to recognize and ask questions of myself. Why is my heart beating faster right now? What just happened? Or why is my tummy kind of like not happy with me? Or why am I so tired? So I have to ask myself those questions, you know, it's not just about, just feeling it and disregarding it, it's about asking the question of why it's there. Yeah. And if you ask yourself better questions, you're you have to answer it. It's like one of those things. That's what my business coach says. If you ask better questions or if you ask questions at all, there has to be an answer. That's just how it works. And so that's exactly what it is. Well, let's get into SHMEC. SHMEC is stands for sleep, mood, hunger, energy, and cravings. It's an acronym. It's from doctor Jay Tita. He's a metabolism certification coach. And it just what is your SHMEC in check? It's just like a funny way. I love that. And when I read your acronym, I was like, how do you say that? Yeah. I was like, that sounds kinda gross. But, anyway, I love that it's a cool acronym. Yeah. And Sam Miller, who I've also taken courses from him, he teaches something similar. He has a different acronym, but it's the same idea. It's like something okay. How is this going? Okay. I'm gonna stop and think about this. It's just a funny way. That's all. So so cool. So let's start with the s of SHMEC, sleep. Yeah. So questions to ask yourself. Did you fall asleep easily? Did you wake up last night? Did you wake up in the morning feeling refreshed or wired and tired? If I wake up wired and tired, I know my stress levels are and I need to take some adaptations that morning. Oh, how about you? Same. And it's interesting, Cam, because in the last week, I've had some really good sleep. It wasn't that I didn't wake up at all, but I just felt rested and I knew that the sleep was deep. I've had a few little odd dreams here and there, but nothing disturbing, but having 2 or 3 nights of those in a row, and unlike you, I don't use the r ring, so that's kind of biofeedback in itself, if you wanna mention that, about how that works. Yeah. So the Oura ring or even a Fitbit, they track your deep sleep, your light sleep, your REM sleep, and it gives you, like, a quote, unquote score. And I do know from experience data, but also just how I feel. The things that definitely interrupt your sleep are alcohol, eating late, stress, like going to bed with your to do list, like, right in the front of your mind, late night exercise or something intense later in the evening, screens and blue light for, you know, from the computer or the TV, stuff like that or your phone. Those things. Very good. Very good. And we've talked about those before. I have a friend who uses an Oura ring, and this week, she posted that she her Oura ring gave her a 97 sleep score. Woah. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I was impressed. Is the is the top number a 100? Yes. It's out of a 100. And then there's also another tab called readiness. And so readiness, measures your resting heartbeat, like and that's you want that to drop earlier in the evening when you're sleeping versus if I drink alcohol or exercise late, it's not dropping until 5 AM, which is crazy because I could end at 6 AM, so that's not enough. Yeah. Yeah. That's really cool. You know, one thing I've noticed about sleep, Cam, is, I changed jobs, last year, so I've been in my new job about 9 months, 10 months maybe. And, my previous job, I had to be

there at 6: 11:15

30 in the morning, and now it's much later. So my sleep cycle isn't interrupted. Most days, it's not interrupted by an actual alarm. I set 1 in case I don't wake up in time, but my body clock has adjusted beautifully to this new schedule, and it is so good. And on the days I work from home, I actually do get exercise in before I have to start my workday. Now if it's a day I go to the office, I have to honestly say that I do set an alarm and get up a little bit earlier, get my exercise done before, but that's only one day a week and I have noticed such an incredible difference in the way I feel just because I'm almost never the alarm almost never interrupts a sleep cycle, and it's amazing it's amazing how what a difference that makes that I would have never guessed. That's amazing. We used to have some tips, you know, to help you with your sleep. Morning light is one of the things turning on turning off overhead lights at night. We don't need any sunshines in our in our family room when it's getting to be dusk. And this is a big one, making space between life and bed. Actually, had a client recently and she's going through some life stuff. And she was waking up and actually one of the things we implemented was journaling before going to bed and, like, getting it out of her brain. And then, and then she's almost immediately, she started sleeping better. And I was like, that's amazing. I'm so happy for you. That's an amazing did you tell her did you tell her to I mean, was that your suggestion? Oh, I love that. And so, basically, you helped her recognize some biofeedback that was helpful. I absolutely think that's a fabulous idea. Yeah. So she was waking up with her to do list and all this life stuff that was going on, and I'm like, well, let's try this. You know, what the heck? It can't hurt. Exactly. Exactly. Get it out of your brain, and then it's there tomorrow if you wanna look at it. But you don't have to even look at it. Just get it out so you can sleep anyway. So it worked. That is so good. And I could talk about sleep forever, Cam, because Mhmm. Not not, nominally because you've taught me how important it is, but sleep is a pillar of health. So I I love that we're starting with these questions to ourselves about sleep. But what is the next thing? What is the m of SHMEC? And that's our mood. And so I think women get a bad rap for being moody during our cycles or perimenopause, menopause, that old that old transition. But really it's a chance to ask, you know, how do you feel? Are you feel easygoing or do you feel irritable? And if you do feel irritable, that's an opportunity to pause and say, okay, what did I just eat? What did I just think? What did I just do? Because those are places to look and try to decide like what was it. I am guilty. I'm probably one of those people that folks talked about being moody, but I have begun to ask myself these questions and here's a a tail on me, Cam. Around midday on Sunday, maybe getting towards 3, 4 o'clock on Sunday, I feel a dip in mood, and I've spent a number of weeks months trying to figure this out and this is like it was almost an epiphany when I realized this is a throwback from my school days and I, like you, been to a lot of school, you know, after high school there was college and I went to graduate school and I've done certification programs, and the idea of Monday begins the stressful part of the week, it's almost like my body naturally has found this rhythm of a dip in mood on Sunday, and so I've had to do some journaling and coaching myself internally to say it's just another day, It's a work day, which is fine, and so we'll deal with those problems as they come. So that's been an interesting thing I've figured out about myself using biofeedback recently. I love that. I hope it's not recording the podcast. No. No. Not at all. It's it's definitely anticipating a Monday, and and you know, I mean, you know, Cam, changing jobs for me was very stressful. So for a very long time it was like, I'm going back to this thing I'm not sure I'm very good at, I don't know, and slowly I'm coming out of that, but I don't know if any of our listeners have a job that that you may love your job, but it may be stressful and maybe you have that dip in mood on Sunday. Yeah. When I taught school, there was definitely the Sunday game. In fact, we, after church today, we went to Costco and the place was a madhouse. School's about to start and I think all the parents were, like, frantically getting all the stuff for their kids. Yeah. And then they have to go back to work Monday. You could just feel it. It was crazy there today. So yeah. I'm sure. I'm sure. And, you know, some people have this issue when they're visiting family, so it may manifest more around the holiday season when you may see people that you love but they're not your favorites because let's face it, we all have family that we love but we don't like them that much or it may be around an event that's somewhat stressful. I found that I have less of a dip in mood around food. Definitely alcohol affects my mood, but I guess, I don't know, I haven't noticed a mood change with food. Well, I would say and for me personally, if I if we're you go through a spell and we're eating out more than normal, I would say my mood definitely is affected. And I know, you know, it's food that is alive makes you feel alive. I know that and it works for me. And if I'm not getting enough fruit that and vegetables that actually rot and go bad Yeah. Yeah. So that's just something I've noticed myself. Now I do have mood shifts about exercise, and it used to be that I was so driven to exercise that if I didn't get to because of a schedule change, it made me extremely irritable. Mhmm. And I have really let that go, and now it's just more like I get to exercise, I get to move my body. And so if I go a few days without it, I just miss it. It just makes me almost sad that I don't get to do what I enjoy. So I definitely feel some of that mood shift around exercise as well. Yeah. So it sounds like you're in touch, and that's biofeedback for sure. Exactly. Exactly. Let's move on to the h, which stands for hunger. So would you like to start? Absolutely. So, you know, we don't want to always be hungry or never be hungry. So it always and never in general are things we want to avoid because they're extremes. So part of the the magic and beauty of midlife is finding balance. I think it's harder when we're younger because we know ourselves less. So with hunger, I do, I know Cam has talked about this on social media recently, I do practice some intermittent fasting because it makes me feel better and sharper, but it's not extreme. So I'm not pushing myself to the point of hangry, if you will. So, you know, appropriately spaced out meals are good and by if if we go to the opposite of never hungry, that means we're grazing and snacking all the time and our bodies are meant to digest and then rest, so we don't wanna be grazing throughout. So I definitely subscribe to trying to avoid the extremes as far as hunger is concerned. Yeah. And another thing is if you're hungry again soon, that is biofeedback for sure. And then I would encourage you to go backwards and say, what did you eat? What was your last meal? Did it include fats, proteins, and carbs? For me personally, if I get hungry right away, especially in the morning, I would say, I was missing fat. Fat makes you feel satisfied. It's the grandmother of your hormones. You need fat in your diet, healthy fat. And, for me personally, if I'm hungry again early in the morning, like after a day would be eaten, that's what's missing for me. That that's really that's really good and I I agree with you. I do crave certain, even down to nutrient levels, Cam, sometimes I'll crave specific vegetables like leafy greens or carrots or, cruciferous vegetables, so I have very specific I've kinda dialed into that and definitely, I will crave protein when I when I need it. It's almost an accident when I don't have enough protein, but I know when my body needs it. Yeah. I went through a spell when I was only eating fish and I would just crave salmon, like, once a week, and I I took that as a sign that I needed more fat, omega threes, and more protein in my life. That's how I kinda read that. It doesn't matter if I'm right or wrong. Yeah. That's just what I think. I I think you're probably dead on, but we've talked about this before, But talk to us a little bit about, craving like those carby carbs. Yeah. Well, so we're gonna skip down to the c, which stands for cravings. So salty and Sorry. We we can we can go back if you want. No. No. No. It makes sense. Order. No. No. No. So salty and sweet. So if you're at if you're craving salty and sweet, ask yourself, what does your body really need? So if it's salty, that might be a sign of adrenal things, and I know that personally personally. And sweet maybe, like, maybe you had crummy sleep the night before and you're looking for energy. So if you just pause long enough to really, like, what what is this what is behind this craving? You know? Or is it an emotion? Because, gosh, that's also a part of cravings. Like, are you lonely, mad, angry, sad, whatever, bored? You know, are you just gonna eat the whole bag in your bed? You know, whatever. So it's a chance to look at that. Right. And I you know, for me, Cam, I've had to be very diligent about studying the biofeedback to unpack those things that you're saying. Yeah. I have less cravings now probably than I ever have, but very occasionally I will crave a pizza or a beer or something that maybe could I could have better choices and I have to admit that sometimes I I do give in to that because I really want it and I enjoy every bite or every sip and I don't feel guilty about it. But there's other times when I can identify an emotion when I'm like, this is emotional, and I need to fuel my body with something more healthy, and that works as well. Yeah. It's just being aware. It comes down to that. I do wanna share a french fries story that happened in my forties. McDonald's french fries, which I know is totally disgusting, and I recently found out they sprayed beef flavor or something on them. Oh, I did not know that. Oh gosh. Yeah and here I was a pescatarian at you know and I was eating a large McDonald's french fries like weekly for a while and this was in like my mid career of as a Crossfitter and it really when I look at it, I was craving the salt. So that was the beginning of my adrenal stuff, hypothyroidism, and, also the fat. And those were that's really, like, when I look back, that's what I was really craving. I wasn't craving the McDonald's french fries even though I gave into it all the time. It was really fat. Wow. Wow. And I and I actually do love french fries myself. And this is kind of a side note that that we have to also pay attention to things that might hijack us and here's the example. There is a grocery store chain and I honestly can't remember which one, which pipes the smell of cinnamon into the, like, the little foyer where you go to get your grocery cart. Mhmm. This chain pipes the smell of cinnamon in there to to entice you towards their bakery. And I didn't realize it at first. I was like, oh, well, they're baking cinnamon rolls today. And no, that is a completely calculated thing. So some of these cravings I feel like can be hijacked. I look at commercials all the time, Cam, and those are visual. I can't wait. We tease all the time. I was like, at some point, there's gonna be smell TV and they're gonna be able to pipe into your living room what these things smell like. But, you know, I've tried to be cognizant of, do I really want this or is this the power of suggestion? Yeah. And it's just, you know, pausing long enough and asking yourself questions. Am I hungry? Am I mad or angry boards? Whatever. You know, it's a that's it. Yeah. Let's move on to energy because this is a big one for me. Energy is how you feel like throughout the day. So do you have good energy through the day? Do you have that slump at 3, 4 PM? That's my normal time I would say. Mid afternoon slump is interesting because, you know, when I taught school you'd come home and you'd want to eat the whole kitchen after school is done. Or you think about your kids when they were younger they come home from school and that's what they wanted, a snack. And so it's like this mid afternoon snack, is it a habit or do I really need energy? What's going on there? That's a really good point. And, you know, I used to just a year ago,

I I had that going on when I would leave work at 3, 3: 24:05

30. And what's made the biggest difference for me with regard to sustaining energy and not having that slump is adjusting my sleep and able to, get up at a little bit of a later time with my and, like my circadian rhythm is more matching the sun's path now, and that's really helped. I very rarely feel depleted until maybe an hour before sunset now, and I feel like that's an appropriate time to be tired. Yeah, that's right, because then your cortisol is going down, your melatonin is going up and you're in sync. That's good. I think also, like, you can use the awesome awful test in this way easily. So how do you feel after you eat? Like, are you bloated or do you feel great? Is your brain working? Are you gassy and you wanna go crawl in your bed? So obviously if you're having foods that feel amazing and awesome, what are those foods? What combination of food? What order did you eat those foods? Were you sitting down? Were you chewing? Were you, you know, being patient or were you shoving it in your face as you drove somewhere? You know, all of that matters. So energy after you eat is, gives you a lot of clues. It does. Have you ever kept a food diary so that you can unpack some of this stuff? No. Just mental. It's all upstairs. Yeah. How about you? I I did. That was a slippery slope for me, because having a weird relationship with food in my twenties, I I wouldn't go so far as to say I had disordered eating, but I definitely was hypervigilant, and so I did do a food diary for a bit of time, and it's helpful for a while and then it becomes almost an obsession, so I quit doing it. Yeah. But I think if you're new to biofeedback, just like you're had your client journal before bed, I think this could be helpful. You've just got to again use the biofeedback to kind of realize is this helping me or is it not? Yeah. And then and then you'll come up with a list of foods or food combos, like I know I can eat avocado toast with scrambled eggs at First Watch, for example, and feel amazing. Now I have to eat the eggs first to give my and then I'll eat the bread and the avocado, which is the fat and the carbs, and I don't have a blood sugar spike and I have good energy the rest of the day. So it's just it's just learning what works for your body. So Right. Exactly. And so there's a couple of other things that we can actually see that are biofeedback, that are instant, and those are your bowel movements and your urine. Those are actually visible signs of your kind of, your metabolic health. Yeah, absolutely. And I just wanna say that you should be going poop every single day, making sure that you are taking out the recycled stuff and getting it out of your body. Yeah. Absolutely. This goes back to our, Instagram lives of what your mama didn't tell you. I don't know. I talk to my kids about poop, I don't remember my mom talking to me, but, it is a necessary function, every creature does it. So you know paying attention, I mean my husband and I talk about it, he'd probably kill me if he heard me tell you all this, but I mean, that's his favorite question, did you poop today? I mean it's such a vital part indicator of health, so frequently, was it difficult to pass? I mean as Doctor. Will Cole says, you should have 1 to 2 snakes a day, and I love that saying. Yeah. So this is also a point you can get on doctor Google and look up the Bristol stool chart, and I think there's 7 ish, types of stool, and it can give you indication of, like, what medically might be happening. So if you have rabbit poop, for example, I think that's a one on the scale, and that would be a sign of constipation. So treating constipation, number 1, would be hydration. Are you drinking enough water? Number 2, fiber. More veggies, get more veggies in your life and see what happens, right? Absolutely and for anybody that really wants to know, we've done an entire episode on poop. I was gonna look it up to see what it was so people are like, oh yes, I definitely need to hear more about this. Don't know how I don't know how popular that episode was, Cam, but I thought it was fantastic. I'm like, yes. Everybody needs to know this. We will link that in the show notes so you can learn about poop. Okay. Absolutely. Absolutely. And just, a sad note, this one's not quite as gross, your urine color, you want your urine to be light yellow. Clear is probably your, what we used to call over hydrated, you might need some electrolytes in your life, and of course if it's very dark yellow or brown, that's a sign of pretty severe dehydration. Right and also in the in the CrossFit world, people that would do a 100 pull ups in a workout, they would get rhabdo, which stands for what's the science word? I don't I'm not sure something something it is. It is. Yeah. That's right. Well, basically, your muscles are tearing when you're doing such volume and your kidneys can't process that. Right. And so the urine turned like a Coca Cola color, and I know 3 people yeah. It's not good. 3 people that have had it. 1 person did have to go to the hospital for it. So, anyway, you know, take a look when you pee and poop. You're getting some info. And there's a couple of other things we can notice, Cam, about our physical being that may be the the biofeedback of of our metabolic state. What is what are one of what is one of those? Well, I've been very transparent about my skin. So, I chased acne cures or my I don't know. They they didn't really cure it until I think I healed my gut. I think that really was what cured it. But, acne. So if you have acne, the location on your face will actually give you some indication of what might be going on on the inside. For example, if it's related to hormonal, it's usually the chin area. We also also be on the lookout for chin hairs because that is also a little bit too warm. But yeah. Yeah. So you can Google, like, different face maps. That's an Ayurvedic practice, so it gives you ideas of what organs might be affected and, you know, take it for what it's worth and say, oh, that might be it or it might not be it, but it gives you some clues. Absolutely. And I love that. I mean, I feel like my skin looks better than it has in a long time, but Mhmm. You know, it's been work to get myself there. Mhmm. Yeah. I can always tell when I'm not eating enough fresh veggies. I feel like that really makes a difference or sleeping. Those are the two things. Oh, and alcohol. I guess there's 3. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What is it that you talk about softening your skin from the inside out? Yeah. It's the omega threes. And so, yeah. Taking omega threes, I feel, squeezes up your your joints and all that. It helps with inflammation on the inside, but also it helps your skin on the outside. So it it when I changed brands, I guess it was a year ago, I had went through a change. I'm like, what's going on? But anyway, so that's something to think about. Definitely. Definitely. And also, you know, even in our fifties cam, we're designed to remain to be sexual be beings. So midlife is a time to take a look at your libido, whether you're in a relationship or not. This is not something that just typically goes away. I mean I think it wanes somewhat for some people, but that's another thing you can look at. That's another piece of biofeedback, especially if you're in a relationship and your sex drive doesn't match your partner's. I think that's something that we can look to or look into as far as biofeedback. What is your sex drive like? Are you experiencing vaginal dryness? There's many symptoms to low estrogen, and there may be some help for that. Right. And so going through perimenopause and menopause, it these things are probably gonna change for you at some point. And so just paying attention to what's happening is, you know, that's helpful information. And then when you do go to your doctor, you can have a conversation. Well, they these are the things I've noticed, and paying attention's awesome. Yeah. Absolutely. And, you know, with Our physical body is made up of a whole ton of things. Maybe you carry stress in your shoulders or your hips, and so stretching could be helpful, yoga if you're a yoga practitioner. Just there are certain poses that you can again use Google to figure out, like I love a hip opener. I seem to always have, not hip issues that would be a gross overstatement, but my hips are tight. I mean, I drive 3 days a week, an hour to my office, So just doing movement to kinda open up that hip area is very helpful. Yeah. And so I know a lot of women have hip issues and it seems like women tend to store, I'm gonna say their emotions more in their hips and also shoulders. Personally, I think I was breathing through my shoulder, my right shoulder, all through my forties. It was jacked up to my ear. And ladies, you're not supposed to breathe with your shoulder. You're supposed to breathe with your lungs. So anyway, yeah. So it could be all of those things. Right? It could be something physically going on like over exercise or sitting too long or it could be emotional. I I think it's worth looking at as well. Yeah. I mean, I had to a year ago, I'm thinking or was it 2? I can't remember. I had to go to pelvic floor physical therapy because I learned that my pelvic floor was both tight and weak. And so it sounds kinda almost like how can it be both of those things, but I was kind of constantly stressed and constantly bracing for life instead of embracing. And I had to learn how to relax and contract my pelvic floor and that's a huge big deal. This whole and we've got a whole episode on that too. If you sprinkle a little bit, if you need to wear a panty liner because when you sneeze or cough, you're sprinkling, that is not normal. And pelvic floor weakness, that's another piece of biofeedback that may require some work. I love that. Absolutely. This is another thing I saw I always saw that happening at the gym. If we were jumping, box jumping, or jump roping, that was gonna happen. And all the women left to go to the bathroom before we did it. But this is another thing I wanna point out. Sometimes, if your lower back is aching you, you may have a lower back situation, but did you know it could also be your adrenals? It could be from stress. So that's something, when you get up from the ground and you feel dizzy that's a sign of adrenal stuff. Craving salt, I've already mentioned. But also from a physical standpoint, if your lower back is bothering you, ask are you constipated because it could be that. And it could be your glutes and your hamstrings if you've done squats or dead lifts or something like that. The way our bodies are designed typically it's upstream or downstream and that's pulling on the area that hurts. Now sometimes it's the area that hurt you need to smash out or smash out or stretch or foam roll, but oftentimes it's above or below that. So for example, if your lower back hurts, the first thing we would do is stretch your hamstrings and your glutes using like a softball and sitting on it and really smashing those out. So I just want you to be curious just because your back hurts, it may be something else. And I just named a whole bunch of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. And the other thing I found is, I've had hip issues as a result actually of my feet. So I have bunions. They're not horrible. I'm not planning on having them operated on, but I found that my balance was poor because of the bunion, and that made me not so when I was standing straight up, the balance was not squarely on my feet traveling linearly up through my knees, hips, and onward, and so I've had to learn how to compensate. And actually, Cam, I've had to learn how to use my feet more effectively to create that balance. I love that and I totally agree that everything starts with our feet. And a lot of times the shoes that we wear are hiding what's really going on. I work out 99% of the time barefoot. I usually don't have shoes on, so I leave the house. But, yeah, we just don't know what's going on. And and for me, I would lift my big right toe, and I I had knee surgery on the right side, 2007 water skiing accident. And I'm like, well, why? Like, I would always break through the top of my my shoe would break through. Oh, interesting. I was like, well, do I just walk around life with my toe up? What is going on there? So, yeah, you just never know. That is really interesting. I don't think I knew that about you. You. Feet, a lot of people have like issues with feet. I love feet. I mean, I'm so grateful for my feet of all the parts of my body. My feet are not beautiful, but I love them so much because they've carried me for all of these years. Yeah, exactly. And they keep you grounded. Yep, I love it. Absolutely, absolutely. So you know, there's a lot of forms of biofeedback, we've gone through so much and, you know, this is a sensory exercise, it could be how you feel, what you think, what you see, what you hear. So all of the senses feed into biofeedback and it tells you something about yourself. Thanks for listening today. You can find us on Instagram@midlife.mommas For all of our other contact info, check out the show description below, and we will talk to you next week.