The Gut Goddess Show with Kezia Hall

Ep 202: 3 reasons your EXHAUSTED that you’ve never realised

This week we're talking about why you are exhausted - Three reasons why you are tired, fatigued, knackered, whatever word that you want to use. I'll share more about how energy is actually made in the body and why it is that you feel exhausted and therefore what you can do about it.

This isn't just some fluffy ‘Ooh, drink a coffee’ We are looking at what the system of energy production is and what can go wrong with it. When you know this, there's so much that you can do about your energy levels.

If you had more energy, maybe you would start growing some vegetables, maybe you'd get that second dog that you want, maybe you would go back and retrain for a totally different career, maybe you would start advocating for certain things, maybe you'd volunteer, maybe you would do up your house. 

Energy is such a foundational thing in our lives, yet for some reason, most of us are willing to accept crap energy.

We think of energy as like this outward thing like ‘I hope I get energy’ but energy is a system in your body, in your biology that you create. When you know the system, you can create energy. - It's not a limitless amount of energy, but you can really optimise the creation.

There is a reason why you are tired, and there's something you can do about it.

What is energy? How do we make it?

To get more energy we need to understand the system of energy. Energy is cultivated, it's created and it is the result of a very finely honed system within the body. 

To put it simply, we create energy in most of the cells in our bodies, apart from our red blood cells. You are made up of billions of cells and within each of these cells is something called mitochondria. Mitochondria is like your power plant - where you create energy. 

When we're talking about energy within the body, we're talking about something called ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) There is a whole set of reactions that take place all the time to produce this thing that is energy.

In order to make ATP, it actually costs us ATP - The process of making energy means that you need to spend some energy.

So, if you are exhausted, it means one or both of the following:

1. You are struggling to make optimal ATP - I say optimal ATP because if you are alive you are obviously making ATP.
2. You are wasting or overspending the energy you produce so you struggling to create more ATP.

I find with clients, it's probably a mix of both but for some people it is more one than the other, depending on their health, history and symptoms.

Maybe you have brilliant ATP - Production is optimal, but you are spending left, right and centre. It's a bit like money. You're really struggling to make the currency, so you're not even necessarily wasting it, but you've just not got it.

So, energy is a bit like money - I think about it like a currency. - It's something that we make.

It's not a limitless resource and that your body just has tons of it. It costs you to run it.

It costs energy to make money just like it often costs you money to get to work.

If you're exhausted all the time, it's kind of like the equivalent of you being in debt. (I call it energetic debt) You don't have enough to pay for what you're doing. You don't have enough energy to pay for what you're doing.

Now, this is metaphorical. It's not necessarily the exact biochemistry, but it's a really helpful way of thinking about it.

What we need to do is manage our energy, just like we have to manage our money. You need to manage your energy because it isn't limitless.

We need to prioritise where our energy goes. This is a part of the conversation but for some of us, there's also some real, biology wonkiness happening that we need to address as well.

Reason 1: Struggling to produce energy

So, if we think about that part, your cell is making ATP that can be affected by mycotoxins or mould, things like heavy metals inflammation, certain medications etc, fertility issues, fibromyalgia, cognitive decline, etc.

Mitochondrial dysfunction can look like lots of different things. What we really need to do is look at the actual energy production cycle.

Reason 2: Overspending:

Now, another reason why you could be exhausted is because you are overspending.

One of the ways that I see people overspending is by what I call the mental load. They are carrying too many things, juggling too many things - There is too much stuff going on in their brain.

It doesn't necessarily mean doing everything. It’s about having too much going on in your head all at once.

This is especially the case with women, because women tend to do most of the unseen, unpaid, let's be honest, unappreciated work in our society still. Fortunately it's changing, but it's generally the case.

This can be huge - and that doesn't just mean you doing the stuff.  Maybe you're in a partnership and your partner is really proactive but you're still the delegator. You are managing your household potentially and if that is a massive load to carry.

Another way to look at this is that you really struggle to switch your brain off. You might be thinking that you aren’t doing too much, but you are struggling to switch your brain off in the evening.

Ask yourself ‘what is my mental load? Am I carrying everything? Where can I get help? Where can I offload things?’

Being able to switch into a parasympathetic state, which can be really hard if you're somebody that just struggles to switch off and you're always prepared to be on the go and then just fall asleep.

That is not healthy for your biology, for your energy production, for your brain. It will lead to burnout or you will just slowly get more exhausted.

So, being able to switch off is really important.

Reason 3: Inflammation Leaks:

When I say inflammation leaks, I’m talking about food intolerances, mould, heavy metals, high sugar diets, or just a bad diet for your body, poor sleep quality, chronic stress or too much/too little fat for your body's ideal nutrient depletions.

There might be:

• Auto-immune conditions going on. Immune system dysregulation happens when there's poor digestion.
• Skin issues because of poor detox pathways.
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Taking a lot of medications that just have known side effects - that doesn't mean you have to change that - It's just knowing and being aware that that's maybe a plug or a hole in your bucket.
• Being chronically stressed.
• Poor sleep.
• Being slightly underweight.

These are all going to drain your energy and if you want to have more energy, you need to plug those things so that your cup can overflow with more energy.

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If you know that you are struggling with your energy and you have for a really long time, I am launching a brand new 7-day group program called Energise where I’ll be sharing the key foundations to double your energy, improve your sugar cravings and sleep better.

It includes meal plans, workshops, modules, email support from me so that I can give you some personalised feedback.

It's all brand new stuff and it's going to be phenomenal. So, if you would love to double your energy this month click here to sign up.

I would love to spend time with you, to support you and help you get more energy.

 

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 201: Doing this one thing is RADICAL & REVOLUTIONARY

In today's episode, we are looking at this one thing that is radical and revolutionary, and probably makes you uncomfortable, but is really integral for you seeing results in your body, your belly, your mind, your skin, and your hormones.

I want to tell you why and I'm going to give you a bit of a history lesson and I'm really hoping that this episode is eye opening and revelatory for you. It has definitely felt that way for me, as I've leaned into this in the past years and realised that this is why I've maybe ended up in the pickle that my health..

It doesn’t get talked about much on the internet - I feel like no one ever talks about it, but it plays such a massive role in your health and feeling good, in your hormones and your belly.

You don't have to agree with everything that I'm saying by any means, but I want to give it to you as an offering, because I really think if you soak this in it could really help you really help you see incredible results.

It might make you feel a little bit uncomfortable but from just being aware of this and taking a little bit of action on it is really going to serve you and you will see results.

I don't really see this talked about much, but it really makes a difference and plays a role in your health, in the speed of your recovery and the progress that you make.

This is something that I have struggled with. I found it uncomfortable to do, and I see my clients struggle with it a lot with the practice of getting support and allowing support in your life.

I see it impacting client's biomarkers because the idea of getting support and the practice of allowing yourself to have support can really feel uncomfortable. I really want to argue for the idea that it's really radical and revolutionary for most women.

So, as you know, I'm a holistic nutritionist - I am not a historian, but I want to go through what I know of history so far.

Women historically have been ‘the support’. - Not just women, other marginalised people too.

They have been the support of family, the support of the men in their lives, support of their children, support of their community etc.

You can see how, if you are expected to support everybody in your family and in your community and in your home and life there is this unconscious expectation that we are there to only support others.

We've been told this unconsciously time and time again - We know through research that the average female is doing about 20 hours per week of free labour in caregiving responsibilities and caring for other people that men simply do not always do or feel they have to do.

We unconsciously think that we don't need to be supported because we need to support everyone else instead. We might feel deserving of support but we often don’t take any action on this feeling and ask for that support.

This is often how we feel about our health and wellbeing. There is support out there - We just need to remember that it’s OK for us to ask for it.

 

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 200: Why you haven’t figured out your root cause yet…

In this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you 5 things that get in the way of figuring out what your root causes are. 

Solving the right problems means that you can see more results, make more progress in your energy, your belly, your hormones, and your skin with more speed and more ease.

So, I completed my first 10k race at the weekend. It was a trail race, so there was a fair amount of incline (a thousand feet) - I was so pleased with my time and I feel so grateful. -  My health isn't perfect by any means - I'm constantly working on it and I’m currently waiting on some lab results. I'm wearing my continuous blood glucose monitor, because I suspect I have a bit of reactive hyperglycemia and some blood sugar things.

So, everything's not perfect, but I'm really grateful for where it's at considering the last couple of years for various reasons. I just feel really glad that my body is and my brain are doing okay.

I really listen to my body, respect its symptoms and messages and I do what I'm talking about on today's podcast and figuring out root causes. I'm always checking in with it and asking ‘what are you telling me? How can I support you? How can I respect you? How can I honour your functioning and your systems even more? And this is what I want you to start doing too.

So, let’s dive into the 5 things that are stopping you from figuring out what your root causes are:

You didn't know you needed to figure out your root causes

As a holistic nutritionist and in this holistic world, it's a really different framework. It's a really different way of thinking and approaching your health. Within conventional medicine, the idea of looking at why you have the symptom you have is not a top priority by any means.

So, let’s say you suffer from headaches regularly - You might take some medication that makes the headache go away, but that process isn't actually solving the problem - It's numbing it.

The root cause of your headaches is not the lack of paracetamol but the paracetamol helps and it could really help your quality of life but it's just the way, that pharmacological system work (which, by the way, isn't bad - I do take medications) but that is the framework that we live in.

Our conventional medical system is a very broad thing. - There's always positives and there's always negatives to lots of big systems, but sometimes when it comes to figuring out our root causes, we just didn't know that that's what we needed to do.

You don't know how to figure out what the causes are

This is really common because it's a very new way of thinking. It's about us embodying a more powerful relationship with our body, our healthcare, our treatment, and our progress.

For example, our medical system here in the UK is very much hierarchical - We are used to doing what the doctor says and we don't really question it because we feel like we’re not really allowed. - We think that we don't need to think about why we feel the way we feel or why we have the symptoms that we have.

Being empowered around our health and our bodies and asking why is a new thing and we don't really know how to do it. - Where do we to begin? What does that actually look like? How do we figure out our root causes?

It’s the system you’re in

It can be really helpful to know the systems that we are a part - knowing the systems doesn't mean you're judging them or you're criticizing them, or even that you dislike them.

It's just about understanding that when it comes to figuring out your root causes, the reason why you probably haven't done it is because it's not the system that you've been brought up in.

We are used to the conventional medical system. This isn't about throwing shade on that. It's about understanding how that system works and how you fit in with that.

When it comes to root causes and it comes to figuring out and solving the right problem within conventional medicine, it's a system that is set up to serve millions. It has to work well as a system administratively but its goal is not a personalised approach to medicine. It's very much like ‘Do you have XYZ?... Yes you do… Here's the treatment protocol’

You haven't got any help with doing it

It can be really tricky when it's your body, your health, your energy etc know what to do and how to do it.

If there’s no support, where do you begin? 

With some help you can look at the bigger picture.

If you have other practitioners in your life like doctors, etc to lean on but oftentimes you may need to go and find it yourself.

You are not gathering data (or the right data)

If you are not gathering the right data, or maybe you just have no data.

Data points can be anything from results from medical tests like a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy that have come back clear.

It's kind of like when you're doing like a jigsaw puzzle… you might have three pieces in a section and have joined them together but you’ve got all the other pieces jumbled up on the floor. - You've not got the full picture.

Just making sure you have the right data really can give you a fuller picture.

You can get way more information than what you have right now, so you either need to collect some data, or collect the right data, or just collect even more data.

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If after this episode, you still feel like you don't know how to figure it out or feel overwhelmed or have tried and it's not worked, you can book a clarity call with me. 

The best way I can serve you is to work with you, get labs done with you and start to see some incredible results. Let’s really get to know your body and implement a personalised protocol. Please note, these are no pressure calls - the goal is that you leave with clarity.

You can book one here - I'd love to chat with you soon.

 

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 199: Is this stopping you from seeing results? (Hint it does with most of my clients!)

In this episode, we are going to be talking about a key pattern that I see getting in the way of so many of my clients. If this particular specific pattern is stopping you from seeing the results you want, there is a really subtle shift of your mind and your expectations that will either help you get results in your belly, hormones, skin and energy with more speed and ease, or make you get in your own way and see no progress over time. 

So, it's really important but it is actually quite an easy tweak to make. I think just being aware of it is really crucial. When you're aware of it you will think ‘Oh, this is that part of that. Okay, right… let's shift that really easy’ - I promise you, if you get this, you will see more results quicker, faster, and easier in your body because it's just more fun.

As a holistic nutritionist, I'm always looking at the patterns and the things that are getting in the way of my clients so that I can support people to where they want to get to so that they feel really good with more speed and ease and just makes their life easier - because we do often think that being healthy, is this really hard thing to do.

When I'm working with my clients and helping them see incredible results, one of the key parts of that is really about problem solving and figuring out what is really going on. What are some of the root causes and part of that problem solving is noticing patterns.

This pattern comes up with most of them, and it's a really simple shift to meek, but it can make a big difference because this particular, Pattern can really derail. I've seen it really derail clients progress if it's left unchecked.

I often asked clients to choose two key symptoms or key metrics that we track throughout the programme with me so that they can see and feel like they're making progress.

They're seeing those great results but then all of a sudden they hit this pattern where they think nothing is working for them. They're not aware of it being a pattern and they self sabotage which can be a massive setback because they have lost that momentum.

We have this very linear expectation of our progress and it's partly because our brain really likes that it feels safe and it likes to really grasp on to this linear idea of making progress but if suddenly feel like you are not making progress, you then don't make any. - If you allow this expectation to go unchecked, you will find yourself constantly in a vicious cycle of I'm making progress then not making progress because of those thoughts.

 

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 198: The two step process I am using to shift my body fat

Today I'm talking about the two step process that I use to shift body fat in both my clients and in my own life right now - I'm looking to shift a little bit of my own body composition and create a bit more muscle and lose a little bit of fat.

I understand that talking about body fat and weight and shifting it can be emotionally triggering but I also feel quite strongly that being empowered around your body means being empowered with the knowledge of how to create the body composition that you want and figure out what works for you. 

Yes, it's great to accept your body as it is because it's beautiful and worthy, whatever your size and whatever body composition you have, but you should also be empowered to know how your biology works, so that if you want to, you can shift your body composition to however you want it to be.

 

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 197: Is a whole food organic diet enough to see results?

In this episode, we are talking about if a whole food organic, healthy ish diet is enough for you to see results. The answer to this will surprise you but I think it's really useful because either you'll be making this mistake or you will just not realise that there's so much else you can do to feel better. 

 

I'm going to be sharing two different client stories focusing on what each individual needed, how they were different and to use them as examples to show you these different paths because sometimes we like to be black and white with food and health.

If you are wanting to see results in your belly and your hormones etc, it's not about this is right, and this is wrong for you - It's about that personalised approach. It's about what's going to work for YOU. It's about what is going on in your biology, in your body, your gut, your hormones, your brain, what is happening for you and having that personalised approach. That is how you see results.

If you are struggling, if you are bloated, if you are tired, there's so much that can be done for you to feel really good, even if you've been told everything's normal, but nothing can be done. There's so much room for you to feel better.

 

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 196: Why am I so expensive?

This week we're doing something a little bit different. We are talking about something that I get asked often when people are looking at working with me - ‘Why do I have the certain price point that I have?’ or ‘ Why am I so expensive?’

I wanted to talk about it on the podcast because the way I price is really strategic and I think this conversation and the five points that I share about why I price, the way I price, should really empower and help you in your own health and in your own life.

I talk about a lot of really geeky, biological, strategic things but also, it's really important that we look at how and why we make the decisions that we make and our behaviours and our psychology. 

I really think this conversation will equip and empower you for your own income and life and health and the five different reasons I share with you should be really enlightening.

Click above to stream and listen now.

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 195: How to heal & recover (a 1 year postpartum update)

In this episode, we are talking about the key foundations and pillars to really heal and recover. I'm using these in the context of recovering from giving birth to my twins just over a year ago but what I share would also apply to healing and recovering from long COVID or another viral infection to recovering from burnout, chronic fatigue, a surgery or a series of surgeries that you've had or an in-depth medical treatment that you've had.

 

I share with these with you in the context of my own recovery, postpartum journey, but the majority of these things would apply to you if you are looking to recover, heal, get your energy, health, mental health and body back to where you want it to be.

Click above to stream and listen now.

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 194: Mistakes I want you to avoid (And why my approach really unique)

Today we are talking about the four mistakes that people make that I really want you to avoid.

I'm going to be sharing how to avoid these mistakes and what to do instead. How my holistic approach and why the work that I do with clients is so different. So, you should leave this podcast with at least one thing that you know you can take action on.

Hopefully with the understanding of these four mistakes you can aim not to make them - it would be great if you can avoid them completely, because you'll make more progress if you do.

These are all mistakes I have made in the past and they really slow down your progress. They're frustrating and they just get in the way.

 

Click above to stream and listen now.

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.

Ep 193: Why…are your periods awful, pain, nonexistent or your hormones just a nightmare!

DO YOU JUST NEED TO PUT UP WITH PAINFUL, HEAVY, OR NONEXISTENT PERIODS? DOES MENOPAUSE NEED TO BE AWFUL? 

Are your periods and hormones just meant to be grim?

Cos sure - it is really common for women to struggle with their hormones but it is not normal.

Believe it or not - your hormones can actually really SERVE you and your life.

But if you feel like that is not the case then you need to figure out WHY.

So in this week podcast, I am sharing with you the 10+ reasons for WHY your hormones are unbalanced and a bit crazy! Because when you know why you know exactly what to DO to see results quickly and easily.

So if you fi​n​d yourself in ​ constant self-sabotage and other unhelpful loops, not making any progress in your health - listen to this podcast by click the play button above.

listen to this podcast then head to keziahall.com/blog to stream now or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show via Itunes

Click above to stream and listen now.

Want to see BIG results in your energy, belly, skin and hormones?

Then chances are you need some personalised support (hint – that is what I do!). Click here to find out more and to book your call with me.

Resources Mentioned

• Find out more about working with me here – and book your call.
• Find out more on how to deal with constipation – here and here
• Find out about the BIGGEST mistake people make in supporting their digestion here
• Looking for free-from recipes? Then check out all my yummy recipe here

Head to kezihall.com/blog to stream from there or subscribe to the Gut Goddess Show on iTunes and then it will delivered to your device every single week.