Ep. 2 IIN Unique Theories, Bio-Individuality, Circle of Life
Hello everyone and welcome to the launch of my newest podcast. This year, 2018, I have committed to a one-year course to become a certified Health Coach. The podcast, with episodes released weekly, will cover the material we are learning, my own personal growth, and hopefully some other students on as guests.
Please let me know what you think of the podcast or if you are also interested in becoming a Health Coach!
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00:00 Hello, hello and welcome to the podcast all about becoming a health coach. I'm Megan McCrory, an aspiring health coach and an expat living in Switzerland. If you are just joining me for the first time, welcome. I am so glad that you found me. You might want to go back and start from the beginning so you can hear the whole story, just a suggestion. If you are in a health coaching program currently and please contact me, let me know and let's see if we can get you onto the podcast so we can do an episode where we can compare and contrast the different schools. I think that would be a really awesome thing to do if you are not in school yet, but you want to be just drop me a line at becomingahealthcoach@gmail.com and let me know and see if you have any questions.
00:54 Let me ask the questions because if you have questions I can answer them in the next week's podcast. I don't know much yet or let's say I'm only in week two, so let's see. Okay, so let's dive into week two, module two. Module two was a little bit slower for me even then module one, as I mentioned in the last episode, I was kind of a little disappointed. We didn't like hop right into some coaching stuff, but okay, we have a whole year and I did know beforehand, some people had said that there's probably some stuff that they could have been skipped and maybe they could have condensed this. The class I'm a little bit more so I was expecting it, but I know the syllabus now for at least the ten first 10 modules. So I know some, some other good stuff is coming.
01:48 So what did we do? So in the first module, or sorry, in module two, I'm our objectives. We went through the Integrative Nutrition's unique theories. So I'm in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, IIN, we went through their unique theories on Primary Food of bioindividuality, a geographic proximity and fitting out. So we talked about that. There's also a tool that they use called the Circle of Life, and this is 10 different areas of your life and you kind of go through and analyze how you're doing in each of these areas and see, okay, is it balanced or is there something that needs to be worked on. We also went through and did it. They talked about the effect that food has on health. And this is for me, after reading several books, a very interesting topic to talk about considering most medical doctors do not have any kinds of nutrition training, which when a layperson hears that, you're like, no, no, no.
02:58 They knew everything about the body, not so much with nutrition. Nutrition is not really part of the main medical fields curriculum. So we talked about that. Then there was a little bit on modern versus postmodern nutrition. And again, this is the, IIN’s take on this or Joshua Rosenthal was take on, on what that means. And then, also they have a, I mentioned it just briefly, the Primary Food. So Primary Food and how that works. And I'll, I'll get into what primary food is in just a minute. Um, how primary food affects our health and happiness. And whatnot, and then also really, you know, my journey as I mentioned in the first two podcasts, and I'll probably keep mentioning it, um, this is not just about me learning how to be a health coach, but also, uh, you know, a year of self discovery for me, a year of learning and, and, you know, it's, it's all about me.
04:01 No, it's not, but I mean this is a good, good thing for me. And, and, and I liked that the program incorporates that you learn more about yourself and then, and how dietary and lifestyles can shift and, and, you know, giving yourself self care. So I do appreciate that about this school. So let's dive in a little bit more about each of these topics and just to note that there was no guest speakers in module two. These were all from Joshua or from the, what they call the education department. So other people in iin talking. Um, but no, um, let's say highlighted guest speakers this week. So the integrative nutrition theory, they have a lot of good theories. Um, I think they're great. I think some of them are better than others, but I think they're all pretty good. So one of the things that they do is they do teach all the different dietary theories is a library that you have access to that kind of just gives you a very quick summary Snapshot of about, they say over 100 different dietary theories, everything from Atkins to breatharian where you just breathe.
05:14 So yeah, so that's really cool. Um, and they say that there was the only school in the world that really does that. So that's really cool. Um, they also, their theory is the primary food override secondary food. And so what primary food is, is all the things in your life that are not what you put in your body through food. So secondary food is really food. Primary food is your relationships, your career, your spirituality, and your exercise or your movement. So, um, if you are not good in any of those areas, it doesn't really matter what you're putting in your body. It's not going to health, uh, the full level of healthy that you could feel. So again, I think that that's a good way to look at things because the, some, somebody could be a having a personal trainer and eating all the right foods, but be completely stressed out at work or be in a horrible relationship and they're not going to feel 100 percent.
06:20 So, um, you know, I think that's a good theory. Um, the next theory was how the Diet should be based really on the individual. So this is this bioindividuality which they get into a little bit more and I agree with also with this, because I was reading a couple of these books by Gary Taubes, uh, why we get fat, which is a really great book to understand why, why we get fat and the case against sugar, which is also by Gary Taubes. And he goes into really, you know, each person and the hormone levels and their genetics and all of these things are so complicated. It's, it's really interesting how anybody could think that any that, you know, all, all one type of food could work for everybody. You know, dairy for example. It's not there, you know, some people are gonna handle dairy better than other people.
07:16 Some people are gonna be, you know, I mean it's just like a food allergy, right? But it's not as hard as the food allergy, so really understanding each person and that you really need to know more about that person and Taylor for this person and that's it. You can only ever have like a steady case of one because there's only one you. So that's interesting as well. Um, another good theory actually I really like all there is to tell you the truth. Another good theory is called crowding out. So this is where you add good things in that eventually crowd out the bad things or let's just say in the way, if they're deficient in something, let's add it in before. Let's before trying to actually remove something that's bad and so crowding out. Um, another theory they have, it's called a basically given, given half a chance, the body will heal itself by itself.
08:14 So I think that's an interesting theory as well. Um, I think you see this mostly when people don't slow down when they get sick and then they're sick for three weeks, um, whereas if they just took two or three days to bed and just really let their body have that time, they would be over at much faster. Um, I see it in myself personally and I know through trial and error, what works for me when I get a sinus infection, what do I need to do? I have a routine. Um, if you get sick in general, what can I do to allow my body to heal? I think that's really, really great. And a lot of people don't allow themselves enough time, uh, when they get sick, but also they don't allow themselves enough time to heal by, by not sleeping enough, by not resting enough.
09:11 So there's a lot of different ways that the body can heal itself if you let it. So, um, the next theory that the integrative nutrition, um, school has, is to listen to your body's messages about cravings. So if you're craving something, why? So I'm hoping that they do a lot more on this later because when they say just like deconstructed cravings because I don't really understand how to do that yet. So I'm very, very curious how they will teach us to understand if you're craving a doughnut, what are you actually, what is your body actually deficient in that you're craving a doughnut other than the sugar, like, you know, so how to, how to say, you know, is it a sugar addiction that we're looking at or is it we're. The body is deficient in some mineral somewhere. So I'm curious about this one. Um, I don't understand really.
10:17 I see, uh, the d evolution is natural. What goes up must come down. I think I might have to go back and look at the video again because I can't really remember what this was about. And then the last one was the same diet and lifestyle changes will help everyone, which seems counterintuitive to the first two. The one of their theories based on individuality. But I see how they're saying is basically if all you do is move more and eat more whole foods, it will help everyone, not what exercise and which whole foods depends on the person. So not every person's going gonna have that same thing going on. So, but their point is, is that if you incorporate certain things into your lifestyle, those certain things will help everybody regardless. So I think that's also interesting. So after they reviewed the, the theory, which I would be very interested in, anybody who's listening or watching, if you have any thoughts on those theories, please let me know.
11:23 You can email me at becoming a health coach at Gmail Dot Com and let me know what you think or I think you can even put some comments at my website where the, the podcast is hosted. It's, I'm my best self.fit. And leave me a comment there about the theories if you have any, uh, I'd like to hear your thoughts. So, um, some of the other things I just touched on was the bio individuality. So one person's food is another person's poison. And you know, we do, we don't eat the same all the time, you eat lighter in the summer, you eat heavier in the winter, you eat different foods when you're older versus when you're young. And, and if you're sitting at a desk all day, you eat different than when, if you're working in a factory all day. So it's, you eat differently all the time depending on, on your own, what's going on.
12:18 So I'm one of the big things that I've learned in the past year, you know, probably more than that is really how to listen to my body. And so that's where the bioindividuality thing comes in, is if you're working with someone as a health coach, you know, teaching them how to listen to their bodies. So I ate this food and now I have, I have later in the evening I have a headache. So how do we make the connection between the food and what you're feeling in your body and, and really understanding what's going on. And, and you know, you know, my hair seems shiny or okay, did I change him? Him, my diet for example, I just, I quit caffeine two weeks ago for as an experiment for my myself and I didn't have any cramps in my period this week. Are they connected? I think so because I typically have cramps, so it's one of those things is like, okay, maybe I would have to do a little bit more studying or maybe you know, let's see next month if this, if this was a fluke, but that's exactly what I think people should be doing with their, with their own body is to do these little mini experiments and then that will help them listen to their body.
13:36 If they're actively thinking about what's going on it, what are they putting in their mouths, what are they, you know, how is their work life? Are they stressed out at work, you know? Or did you have a stressful day at work? So if you had a day stressful day at work and two days later you get sick. Could it be that the amount of stress that you had that one day just lowered your immune system enough that something floating around got you sick. You know, so there's a lot of, a lot of ways that you can look at that. So I think that's really interesting. Another thing that we're learning is really about food, and I'm hearing this from a lot of different angles, not just the school, but really the connection between food and your mood and how your food affects your brain and your body chemistry and everything else and how everything is tied together. So I'm really hoping we get more on that um, soon. That would be good.
14:43 So the next thing that they talked about, are they in Joshua's doing? Most of these is the modern versus postmodern nutrition and I wasn't really. Yeah, okay. I get it. It's basically modern modern nutrition is the sad diet standard American diet or modern American diet or whatever and, and what you hear and he's talking about postmodern nutrition, which is really like, I'm like, let's get past that to the point where we're talking about the bio individuality and how not all, you know, it's really hard for like a, like a American health association to put out something that's a blanket statement for everyone. I think that's the point, you know, I think these big places want to say yes, nobody should be eating red meat. Well, okay, that's not necessarily true. Um, some people, you know or, or whatnot, but maybe maybe that's not a good example at any rate.
15:47 So I'm a little curious of more about modern versus postmodern nutrition, but um, or let's just say I'm curious to see what else he has to offer for that. Um, he talked a little bit about the law of geographic proximity, which is again, something like, you know, you might have a tendency like all your ailments are in one part of your body or one side of your body. It didn't really. He talked about Shakara and I know that this is something Indian forgive me for my ignorance because I don't know, but I do have a note in my notes that I need to research more about Chakras. So I know it has something to do with energy flow in the body. Um, but again, I'm not very familiar with that. So I did point out to, I should look at that and he talked about fitting out.
16:44 This is another part of their theory fitting out basically. I mean, I guess that's basically be yourself, be authentic, be true. Um, don't try to fit in because trying to fit in is going to take more energy than just accepting who you are and shining like the bright little unique star that you are because everyone is a bright, unique star and um, yeah, so just don't, don't make yourself crazy trying to fit into something that you're not supposed to fit into it. Just a fit out. Apparently. The last one is primary food and we talked specifically about health and self care and what is self care and what does it mean to me and you know, how am I, am I satisfied with my, with my version of self care. I think I'm about 50 percent. I have some self care. I take care of myself in a way that I allow myself time and.
17:48 But I think I could probably do a little bit more, you know, it's one of those things, maybe I just tried to do something a little bit more like, you know, a massage once a month. That would be nice. Uh, I did look at, I thought about looking into Thai massages on the German side of the border, but I haven't done that yet. Maybe that's something I should put on my list. So those were all the topics that we talked about in the course or that were presented in the course. And as always, there is some assignments at the end. Um, the assignments this week, we're about the circle of life. I mentioned that in the podcast already, which is kind of looks like a little pie chart where there's a different parts of, um, 10 different areas of the circle of life and you want to put where you are in those areas.
18:39 Now we did that already in the pre course material, but now they want you to create a vision board inspired by your circle of life. I have yet to do that. Um, that might be something I do tomorrow. Again, it's one of those things, it's like, no, I like the circle of life. I'm not sure if I really need a vision board a, I do have it on my monthly things to do. So every month go to the circle of life and you know, do a fresh one without looking at my previous one to see, okay, how do I feel about each areas of this life and, and, and then I can compare it to the previous month and see, did I grow somewhere, did I fall somewhere? So that's how I'm going to reflect on the circle of life. I think it's a really great tool.
19:30 Um, so that's going to be a monthly thing for me. The next assignment was really to explore our own bio individuality, which, you know, basically what do you need. All right. So they want you to take a couple minutes and write down how I could adjust what my primary and secondary foods are to support what I need. I'm a little struggling with this because I'm, I think I'm, I think I'm pretty clean. I could be more clean, you know, every once in a while I, I buy a bag of tortilla chips and I just devoured the whole bag and I'm not talking to use US size bag. It's like a US size small bag, which is a European large bag, so it's not like the end of the world. Um, but like for example, they said like if you drink several cups of coffee each day, maybe you should feel better with less caffeine.
20:23 Well, yeah. So let's see. Um, but I do like the idea of thinking outside the box. Um, they talked about like if you do a certain exercises all the time, maybe try doing a new exercise. So I think I will, again, I will do this in my journal, uh, and, and, and try new things every, every week. Uh, the last assignment that we had was observed how food changes everything. So, um, you know, what you eat, you are what you eat, right? Really, literally. Um, so basically they want you to track and journal what you're doing. So like when you eat, how much you eat, what you ate, how do you feel right after eating it, how did you feel? A couple of hours after eating it. So I'm, I'm already tracking my food with my APP, lose it, love it. I love the APP, lose it.
21:21 Um, and then they want you after three days to answer, you know, how did you sleep, what were your energy levels? So I think this is actually a really great exercise to do and I will do this next week. So starting on Monday. And so during week three or module three, I will be doing a this exercise on a much more detailed about mealtimes and I need to set something up in my journal so I can track this. And I'm really actually excited about this assignment to see what comes out of it. Um, so yeah, excited about that one. I will let you know how it works and module three or four depending on when I get done with that and when I do a, the next, a podcast when I record. So that's about it for this week. Those are the things that we learned. I'm personally, again, I was, I still had to, was still watching the broken brain series by Dr Mark Hyman this week and also, uh, still watching the essential oils by Dr Eric z as Dr Eric Zielinski.
22:34 Um, so watching those two things on the side. Yeah, I still had too much to do in the evenings this week and next weekend I already have too much to do in the evening. So I am trying hard to structure and be way more structured about when I do things. I mean typically I would just come home and do it because I don't have very many obligations in the evenings. Um, but now I think, you know, for next week I really did a lot of blocking out in my calendar to prepare like, okay, I really have to sit down and do it there. Um, I do use a, yeah, a kind of a bullet journal, uh, for my personal stuff, but I do have a passion planner as well. Um, which I purchased for this project for the year. And um, my passion planner is, you know, it's not pretty like everybody else's, but, you know, blocking some time out and next week I have some better blocks here.
23:43 So that's, um, yeah, that's how I'm doing it. Blocking really blocking so I can get my exercise in and I'm also the side hustle school. Um, so those are the courses that I'm taking right now. So in the Iin for health coaching and a side hustle school society by Chris Guillebeau. Again, another podcast if you're listening to podcasts and you want to see about a side hustle, I love it. And one of the other favorite podcasts that I listen to is happier by Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft. So those are some of the places that I go, uh, to get information. And uh, I think I'm doing a pretty good job of gleaning information. The one thing this week that I should say the last two weeks that I learned most about myself is I just need to, uh, the, the, the phrase production over perfection and you know, just to do it like, like the Pod, this podcast.
24:46 So I had another podcast and I had lots of production value. I did, you know, did lots of editing and it was really good. I love it, but it took so long to make one podcast, I would get kind of bogged down with it. So now for these I'm far less, I'm editing a lot less and, and hopefully keeping them a little shorter, although so far I was hoping to 10 minute podcasts so far there are always about 25 minutes. So, um, yeah. Let's see. Maybe it is, maybe it is a longer one but I'm not going to edit it so I apologize for any editing mistakes and whatnot, but I need to get this out. I need to record and get it out. So with that said, um, thank you for listening today. If you have any questions, please email me@becomingahealthcoachatGmail.com. Give me some questions. If you have questions I'd love to answer some during the podcast. Um, if you are, like I said, interested and becoming a health coach, please email me. Or if you are a health coach training specifically right now, I would really love to have you on the show so we could compare and contrast the different styles of the schools. Yeah. Okay. So until next week a thank you and live a healthy life.
