Thinking About Your Weight as a Part of Your Overall Health (Part 2/2) Featuring Dr. Mikala Albertson [Podcast Transcript]

Title: Thinking About Your Weight as a Part of Your Overall Health (Part 2/2) Featuring Dr. Mikala Albertson

Podcast Date: January 10, 2025

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Description

Heather continues her conversation with author and board-certified physician, Dr. Mikala Albertson. In part two of this two-part interview, Heather and Mikala discuss why women feel so much shame around weight and BMI and how what's most healthy for some women is going to be to not focus on weight loss, especially if they have a lot of stress, grief, or change they are experiencing. You'll appreciate Dr. Albertson's honesty and genuine encouragement as she talks about the nuance of weight, health, and the pressures Christian women feel in this arena.

 Ready to join us for the 40-Day Journey? Learn more here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/40-day-challenge

Learn more about Dr. Mikala Albertson and check out her new book here: https://amzn.to/3W6PqtS

Read Dr. Albertson's open letter to anyone who's been body shamed or similarly hurt by the medical community: https://www.mikalaalbertsonmd.com/blog/im-sorry

(Amazon affiliate link - a tiny portion of your purchase goes to support ministry of Compared to Who?)

Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript is AI-generated and has not been edited for accuracy or clarity.

Heather Creekmore [00:00:02]:

Life audio. Hey, friend. Heather Creekmore here. Thanks for listening to the Compare To You podcast today. True confession. The beginning of this year has been just confusing for me, and I almost forgot to post this episode. I almost left you hanging with a part 2, so my apologies if you were up early looking for that. It's a little late today, but, maybe you felt the beginning of the year back into routine stress confusion too.

Heather Creekmore [00:00:34]:

Oh, friend. I get it. And if your body image or what to eat or how to exercise or how you're supposed to pursue your health goals, if all of that is part of your frustration and confusion at the beginning of this new year, Can I encourage you? Hey. I've got a webinar I did January 2nd you can access at improve body image.com. Watch it anytime on your own schedule. It may encourage you with some healthy tips. And, also, we started the 40 day journey this week. It was amazing.

Heather Creekmore [00:01:00]:

We had 2 great calls, morning and evening sessions are available. You can watch a replay, and you can still join us. We do it for 6 weeks. You've got 5 live sessions left if you join today or before Tuesday. Hey. We'd love to have you along. You can find a link to that in the show notes, and everything else you need or want to know is at my website, improve body image.com. Just order your copy of the 40 day body image workbook on Amazon today, and then you can join us whenever you're ready.

Heather Creekmore [00:01:30]:

Hey. Today, I'm giving you my conversation with doctor Michaella Albertson. We go to some good places today, really talking about health, maybe how the medical community has gotten it wrong in some places. And, overall, it's just an encouraging conversation where we can be real about the struggle it is when we want to be healthy, but culture is pressuring us into a certain definition of health. Mikaela just does such a graceful job as a medical professional. She's been a board certified doctor for more than 20 years, just leading us in that. So I hope you enjoy today's episode. Also, brand new thing.

Heather Creekmore [00:02:08]:

Starting next week, we're sending out a resource kit once a month. So every month has a theme. This month's theme is health, and you will get an email from us once a month with other episodes that are related to the topic, blog posts, YouTube videos, you name it. So you can really dig into our topic of the month if you want to. So make sure you go to improve body image.com. You can sign up for our list. It's actually the webinar promotion now, but that'll get you on our list and you'll get that resource kit. Are you brand new here? I am so glad you're here, and I don't wanna overwhelm you with all the things.

Heather Creekmore [00:02:42]:

So So just go to improve body image.com and go to start here, and that will be the best place for you to begin. Now let's get to today's episode. Welcome to Compare To Who, the podcast

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:02:58]:

to help you make peace

Heather Creekmore [00:02:59]:

with your body so you

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:03:00]:

can savor God's rest and feel his love. If you're tired of fighting body image the world's way, Compare To Who is the show for you. You've likely heard lots of talk about about loving your body, but my goal is different. Striving to fall in love with stretch marks and cellulite is a little silly to me.

Heather Creekmore [00:03:16]:

Instead, I want to encourage you and remind you with the truth of scripture

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:03:20]:

that you are seen, you are known, and you are loved no matter what your size or shape. Here, the pressure is off. If you're looking for real talk, biblical encouragement, and regular reminders that God loves you and you're not alone, you've come to the right place.

Heather Creekmore [00:03:36]:

I hope you enjoy today's show, and, hey, tell a friend about it.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:03:42]:

So I went for my wellness exam and actually decided I was not gonna look at the scale. I was just gonna hop on there, and I just kept chit chatting to the nurse and talking to her about whatever because I felt so good. And I was just doing great. Like and the whole appointment went great, and she said, you're doing great. My blood pressure was at goal and, you know, all the things. Got my blood drawn, but then I got my little printout at the end. And printout.

Heather Creekmore [00:04:08]:

Yes. Dang it.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:04:10]:

Yeah. And so I got my printout and, like, you know, it tells you this is your weight and this is your BMI, and it even had, like, a little color code.

Heather Creekmore [00:04:20]:

Oh, yeah. The red. And I'm like,

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:04:23]:

well, I don't wanna know that because then the whole drive home, I just thought, oh my gosh. You're in the red. You can't be in the red. Like, what are you doing to yourself? This is a terrible idea. And I went back through all of that stuff. So I'm so sorry that you have had that experience, if you've had that experience. And I can 100% empathize with that experience, and I think we're doing that wrong. I think we're missing that part in medicine.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:04:51]:

And I'm sorry that it is still that way.

Heather Creekmore [00:04:53]:

So how would, like, you walked yourself through it mentally. I mean, I've I've done the same. I think it's challenging for those of us who have, I'm gonna use this terminology, like kinda trusted others to tell us how our body should be for so long. Right? We've kinda given away our agency. Right? Like, if you're an influencer, who's got a great body, you know more about bodies, you know more about my body, how it should be than I do. So I'm gonna do what you tell me to do, and I hope that I'll look like you. And I think we do the same thing when we go to the doctor. Right? Like, we may have turned off all this influencer voices, but it's like, but my doctor I mean, my doctors their responsibility to tell me whether or not I'm healthy.

Heather Creekmore [00:05:37]:

And it sure does sound like they're telling me I'm not healthy. And then it's just this confusion, which you just kind of named. But, you know, before we got on today, I was just kind of thinking about for me, my reality is, like, I eat 2 breakfasts now. I mean, I will eat when I wake up and then I eat 3 hours later because I've just found for blood sugar regulation, it's better for me to eat every 3 hours. But like that's an anathema to me because I was the, you know, I was the person who didn't eat till 12. You know, if she can make it longer, that was like a crown I was gonna get in heaven for not being able to eat very much. Right? But reconciling, like, I feel so much better now that I'm eating. Mhmm.

Heather Creekmore [00:06:18]:

And then the doctor's telling me, no. You're unhealthy. Like, like, what do we do with that?

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:06:23]:

Yeah. And

Heather Creekmore [00:06:24]:

because the answer isn't don't trust doctors.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:06:26]:

Right. And I do think that there is this balance of, I wonder. So here's my maybe I don't know is my first answer to that, and it's really hard. I do think it's really good to be very, very honest with your provider and to find someone who fits for you. We do that with a therapist. Right? We wouldn't keep going to a therapist who makes us feel crappy every time we go see them.

Heather Creekmore [00:06:50]:

Right. But you can

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:06:51]:

it is okay to say, I didn't mesh very well with that person, and I'm gonna try someone else. Like, that's okay to do. Yeah. But I think saying, hey. I've really struggled with eating in the past, and I you know, this has been an issue for me, and I wonder if we could work together on that or, you know, just to let them know to be very to just to be a little more sensitive around that. Yeah. I will say that I don't know what my answer would have been if my cholesterol was high suddenly or my blood sugar was high suddenly. And so I had this, like, confirmation that, oh, look, I'm eating.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:07:30]:

My weight did this. That made me unhappy. But then when all my labs came back, like, all my internal parameters looked pretty good. Like, I'm not prediabetic. My blood pressure is okay. My cholesterol is okay. So I don't know quite where I would be if I fell in that, if that makes sense. It does.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:07:49]:

It does.

Heather Creekmore [00:07:49]:

I guess so I would ask you then as a doctor. Right? Aren't there other things that could drive some of those internal parameters of health other than just my food or even my food and exercise. Because I feel like so so my intuitive eating journey didn't really start that much, you know, more recently than than years. I'd say I'm probably, like, 3 or 4 years in. Yeah. And so did the pendulum swing to, like, the foods and then, like, oh, maybe we need to eat a little bit, you know, be a little bit more conscientious. Right? But around the same time, like, my cholesterol, it went up, and I was one point away from that prediabetes line. Mhmm.

Heather Creekmore [00:08:35]:

But my doctor was kinda like, yeah, but you're also entering perimenopause and cholesterol rises as estrogen lowers. And she's like, I'm not gonna freak out about any of this. Right. And then like a year later, blood work was better. And then also just thinking about, you know, stress. And so in addition to hormonal changes and perimenopause and all the things, stress, you know, life changes, all those things. So I just I just wonder if you're in this scenario, you go to the doctor, and the blood work isn't awesome. Is that when you're like, absolutely, you better try a low carb diet, or could there be a bigger picture there too?

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:09:16]:

Yeah. I think there's a bigger picture there, but it is the time to say, hey. Let's look at how you're feeding yourself. Let's look at are you getting are you moving every day? Are you getting some exercise? What's your sleep looking like? Yeah. Do we need to do a sleep study? Do you have sleep apnea that can, like, drive some of those numbers up? And so I I just wanna say that when we do bring up some of those issues, I hope it can come in a way of, let's look at this big picture. Let's look at all the healthy lifestyle kind of scenarios. Yeah. And let's see if we could make some small changes in any of those.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:09:50]:

We don't need to hone in on, well, time to lose £20, and bringing up those because I have seen I have been sitting with a woman when her face sort of falls, and it's like, I know. I know. I gotta do better. I gotta eat better, and it's not meant necessarily to be a criticism. Yeah. Let's look at these things and where could we work together on some of those things? Yeah. Because I know it does feel like I know I haven't been doing those things, and what a loser am I. Right? And that isn't the intent to say, yep, loser.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:10:25]:

You gotta lose weight. Right? Like, it's how can we work here? It's the same phase that I think I've seen mothers have when they bring their children in for a well child check. And we are going through some of the, oh, are they you know, can they bring 2 blocks together and pass from hand to hand? And they're like, no. I mean, it's not a criticism. It is just, hey. Here's I know where kids should be. And if you're not there, that doesn't mean anything is wrong or you're a terrible person. It just is kind of some general guidelines that we're looking at.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:10:56]:

Right? Right. So in the same

Heather Creekmore [00:10:58]:

way, like we read the shame into it. Yes. Because of our expectations for ourselves.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:11:05]:

Well, and maybe we've heard it before because maybe it has come with shame or, you know, we've definitely heard that before. Yeah. But I think there is a way to work together with your provider in a way that that has no shame. But I think it also takes you being really honest and saying, this has been really hard for me. I'm very you know, I need help here in a little bit different way. Yeah. Like, when I go to the dentist, and I tell the dentist to treat me like I'm 10 years old when I have a cavity because and he really does. Like, we put cartoons on.

Heather Creekmore [00:11:37]:

Uh-huh. And

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:11:37]:

I put the earphones on because I'm like, please. Hilarious. I just I don't like to come here. And he and he does he's very sensitive to that.

Heather Creekmore [00:11:46]:

So yeah. I love it. I love it.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:11:47]:

I think it's okay to say, hey. I've had this happen before, and it was really hard for me, and it made me not wanna come to the doctor.

Heather Creekmore [00:11:53]:

Yeah. And yeah. Well, you had a really beautiful story in your book about the woman who had a lot of trauma going on in her life, and she's still smoking.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:12:04]:

Mhmm.

Heather Creekmore [00:12:05]:

And you made the statement something about, like, addressing her smoking cessation was probably not, like, the highest priority because she already knew she needed to stop smoking. Right. And there's other stuff going on. And I just felt like that translated could translate, I guess, I should say Yeah. Perfectly to everything. Right? Can you can you fill that out a little bit more?

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:12:27]:

Yeah. So, Yeah. I this particular woman was, had a lot of childhood trauma, then went on and got married to someone who was also abusive and had really just lived in trauma her whole life. And she was very new to, living on her own and sort of, you know, earning her own salary and taking care of her daughter and doing these things. And she came to see me because she was having her yearly exam, but she was so excited and was telling me about how they bought this old camper. And they had been camping all summer, and they just loved it. And she was just beaming. Like, she was just so excited, like, oh, doctor Robertson.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:13:09]:

I can't you gotta hear what we did this summer. And I just thought, I just wanted to tell that story because this is a woman who was thriving in her body with her experience. And was she the pillar of health? No. And is that the time that I should say, well, that's really awesome, but you should probably also be losing weight and quit smoking and do all these things. Right? Like Yeah. It just wasn't. And I've had that experience multiple times where someone's like, I know I gotta quit smoking. Like, what can we do? And then when we talk about it, it's like, well, gosh.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:13:45]:

You're going through a divorce right now, and you're, like, in between jobs, and you've got all these things going on. Like, I don't know if quitting smoking is your top priority right now. And maybe it's okay to, like, give yourself the grace that I'm gonna think about that for a while. Yeah. And I'm gonna maybe, like, put in place some other things that could be good support and then kind of push that off, and let's talk about it again in 6 months and just see where I'm at.

Heather Creekmore [00:14:11]:

Yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:14:12]:

So it doesn't mean, like, no. You shouldn't quit smoking, but, like, why decide that that's the time to do this other thing when it is likely a setup for failure. Right. And not just say, hey. Like, I know I wanna do this, but currently, that's not my top priority. Yeah. And so let's revisit it again Yeah.

Heather Creekmore [00:14:32]:

Later. Which yeah. It feels like that applies perfectly to dieting too. Yes. Right? Right. I mean, you know, there are just certain things we walk through, right, where we have to give ourselves grace. Like, you know, you lost a family member or you are moving or there's some other trauma in your life. Yeah.

Heather Creekmore [00:14:56]:

Like, I mean, is that even healthy for our bodies to restrict them the nourishment they need or really ever? But, like, especially when we're going through stress. I mean, can you speak to that at all?

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:15:07]:

Yeah. And I don't think that means that you shouldn't think at all about what you're eating. Just overdo and binge and all those because

Heather Creekmore [00:15:17]:

that's not gonna feel good.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:15:17]:

Right? That's not gonna feel good either. But I think it's taking away guilt and shame and just really looking at yourself with some compassion and saying, this is what I need right now to feel good. Yeah. And I think that can apply to really anything. You know, maybe you need to drink more water. And is it really, like, gonna be good for you to decide I'm gonna drink 64 ounces of water every day, and I'm gonna have this thing. I'm gonna measure it, and I'm gonna watch it go down and put the mark at the top. And, you know, there's all these things we do.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:15:51]:

Or, like, maybe just go get a glass of water right now. Right? Or exercise, like, oh, I gotta come up with this big elaborate plan. I'm gonna sign up for this race, and I'm gonna do it down the road. And then and then you sort of fail at it. Right? Like, because you've set up this big expectation when really, like, you just are like, you

Heather Creekmore [00:16:09]:

know what? I'm gonna go for

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:16:10]:

a 10 minute walk right now. Right. I I just think we need to take away the pressure, and the the stress of it all. And and I think self compassion is like the best way through any of those things.

Heather Creekmore [00:16:25]:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, you have you talk about kind of self compassion, but maybe kind of where where we learn not

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:16:34]:

to be compassionate with ourselves, perhaps

Heather Creekmore [00:16:37]:

in your book, in the chapter on on body image on loving the body actually have you say, we were taught nothing about health from the inside out, nothing about intuitive eating or trusting ourselves to think critically about how to care for our bodies with a reasonable exercise in a variety of foods in moderation without guilt or shame. And instead, we were we were repeatedly blasted with comments our parents or neighbors or teachers or friends made about their bodies or even our grown bodies alongside marketing ads featuring ideal bodied, eternally young women with firm thighs and smooth foreheads. Those ads peddling retinols and ceramic ceramides and replacement shakes and cool sculpting all the name of beauty and wellness. For many of us, it became terribly distressing that our own bodies were such an ordinary disaster. Oh, what a great line that was, Mikaela. And I think that that's the heart of it. How do I believe that my body is not an ordinary disaster? How do I change my belief around that? And then, I mean, that's what we walk women through here with all the programs we do compared to who, but then it's like what seems to happen is they hit this wall, and it's like, yeah. But if I believe my body is not an ordinary disaster, I'm going to be unhealthy.

Heather Creekmore [00:18:02]:

But that's just not true. Is that?

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:18:05]:

Yeah. It's just not true. I and I wish that we could say instead I I just how do we change that? I I just even hearing that, I'm so sensitive to it still because I have a little girl now. So my youngest, is a girl Okay. And she's 8. And it's just been interesting to notice what happens at around 8 or 9. Right? When when, like, suddenly, I think you're sort of aware of oh. And just to watch her experience it, and I just so badly want it to be different for her than it was for me Yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:18:41]:

Around body image and weight and beauty. Mhmm. And I just think people are so beautiful, and it has nothing to do with their weight. Mhmm. It's just so you know, have you ever just seen this, like, striking person that you're just like, wow. I just how do we change that for our girls? I don't know. Yeah. And I do want her to be healthy.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:19:09]:

And there is, like, this little piece of me that's like, maybe she won't have this problem. Maybe she'll just be one of those, like, thin people that just never has to worry. Right? And then I'm like, no. You're you're still doing it. So I think it's something we wrestle with our whole lives, and we will come up against. We will butt up against that exact messaging that I just wrote about, like our whole lives. And I think remembering healthy bodies look all kinds of ways, And healthy bodies are the kinds of bodies that eat food and exercise for fun and pay attention to our cues. Like, what does my body actually need right now? Oh, like, I have to go to the bathroom.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:19:48]:

I should run-in and go to the bathroom, or, oh, I'm a little bit cold. I should go put a sweater on. I was like the queen of ignoring all bodily issues.

Heather Creekmore [00:19:56]:

Me too. Me too.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:19:57]:

Yeah. Like, because I didn't matter. Like, what mattered was all the work and all the things and that I was doing, and I was always, like, dead last. Yeah. But I think we sort of learn to change that and learn what real health is when we are paying very close attention to those bodily cues and responding to them in a loving and compassionate way. Yeah. Yeah. But, again, I think remembering that, gosh, this is not yet another goalpost that we arrive at and then we stay at and we've that we've reached the finish line.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:20:30]:

Right? It is kind of an ongoing process, and it is okay to fall back and say, hey. You're doing that thing again. That thing you just said about your daughter and wishing she could just be a thin person and, you know, not ever have to have this struggle is exactly that same thing again. Right? Right. And then saying, oh, okay. So I I think it's just something we'll work at always.

Heather Creekmore [00:20:52]:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think maybe the way to summarize that is it's gonna be messy. Yeah. Right? And I think that that's one of the lies of diet culture. Is diet culture tells us it doesn't have to be messy. All you have to do is just follow these 5 rules, and then you're gonna have this body and life's not gonna be messy anymore. It's gonna be perfect and awesome and sunshine and rainbows because you're gonna have this body and things are gonna open up for you, girl.

Heather Creekmore [00:21:19]:

Yeah. Then you can rest. Right? But it's like, no, it's just it's just me, you know? And I mean, I I, you know, I work with the CrossFitters who, you know, go so intense for so long and they get the body until they get the knee injury from squatting so heavy. And then they can't do anything for a year. Right? And then they're like lost because that was that was their thing or, you know, I mean, so many different variables in life. Right? You're following the plan. You're eating awesome. And then tragedy happens, and you don't have that kind of time or capacity to, you know, meal plan, like all of those things.

Heather Creekmore [00:21:59]:

And it's it's not sustainable because life is unpredictable. And Yeah. I I think giving it giving space for life to be messy. Yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:22:11]:

That sounds healthy to me. That sounds healthy. And, actually, it is really beautiful in those spaces. And sometimes, like, the messiest, hardest, most terrible parts, like, this little bit of beauty comes through, and it, like, takes your breath away, I think. And you're kinda missing that if you're not just right there in it. And I don't know. I hate I hate that and I love that all at the same time. You know?

Heather Creekmore [00:22:38]:

Absolutely. Because I'm thinking about it from the perspective of my controlling friends. Because I was in that camp solidly. And it's really scary to think about life being messy and not being in control and things being unpredictable. Yes. But but then, like, that's reality. Like, we're just kind of fooling ourselves. We think it's any other way.

Heather Creekmore [00:23:01]:

Like, you actually wrote it out. I've heard it said this way, like, draw a circle around everything you can control. And it's like, you just draw a circle on yourself.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:23:09]:

Yeah. Pretty much. But but

Heather Creekmore [00:23:10]:

even in that, right, like, I can't make my thyroid work better. Right. I can't be like, hey, heart. Could you, like, chill out and not beat so fast sometimes? Like, I don't have that connection.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:23:22]:

That circle is small. So, you know, like, you don't control your family history.

Heather Creekmore [00:23:28]:

Right? My genetics. Right.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:23:29]:

Control yeah. So there are a lot there are a lot of things, there even that you can't control. I always think it's interesting that thoughts gets put in there. Like, you can control your thoughts.

Heather Creekmore [00:23:41]:

I don't know.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:23:41]:

That's something that I've worked with my therapist a little bit on because you can and you can't. Right? So she's always she's been so good at teaching me, like, first thoughts, those automatic thoughts Right. Are kind of uncontrollable, and it is okay that you have those. Like, it doesn't mean because I get so frustrated thinking, why do I do that? Why do I jump to that so quickly? Why is that my first thought? And she'll just say, because it's I don't know.

Heather Creekmore [00:24:05]:

Those are your first thoughts. You don't have a

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:24:07]:

lot of control over those. But what you do have control over is, like, when you realize them Yeah. And you sort of name them and talk about them and move on. So Yeah. That's good. Yeah. Yeah. That's what we talk

Heather Creekmore [00:24:16]:

about too. It's yeah. What do you do with the thought is really what matters. You can't maybe stop it from coming, but what you gonna do when it comes? How do you treat it? That kind of thing. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. That's good.

Heather Creekmore [00:24:27]:

There's one thing that came up in the webinar that we did 1st week of January, where I was kind of talking through some of these strategies to just be healthier in the new year. And one of the things that came up was stress. And I just kinda mentioned very casually that I just read your book, and you talked about completing the stress cycle, which is something I hadn't heard of before. And I know it's someone else's research.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:24:51]:

Yeah.

Heather Creekmore [00:24:52]:

But I would just be remiss because I mentioned at the webinar, we had lots of questions about it. Can you just kinda talk about that for just just a minute here? Yeah. Well, I'm gonna just talk

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:25:00]:

about stress as, you know, it affects all organ systems of our body. And stress can be good. Right? And our response to stress can sometimes be good. It is there for a reason. It has, like, a function. Right? But we don't wanna get caught in, like, chronic stress. And so completing the stress cycle really comes in in that chronic stress that we're in. People are loving talking about cortisol and cortisol hormones these days.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:25:27]:

Cortisol face? Yes. Cortisol is actually one of the it's necessary. And so it has a function. It it does this throughout the day. It goes up and down. You have a second high and then, you know, you're you're supposed to have some cortisol. Right? Anyway, but I'm gonna give all the credit to that beautiful book called burnout by the Nagoski sisters, and they write about completing the stress cycle and they write it in such an approachable, just such an accessible way, that that's why I wanted to mention it in the book. And so basically, when you're in a stressful situation, let's say you have a boss that you don't like at work or something happened at work and you can feel yourself stressed.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:26:07]:

Right? And your body does all the things it's supposed to do in response to stress. Your blood pressure rises and you sort of divert away from digestion and all of those things. But if you're unable to sort of complete that cycle, that's where the trouble comes when you get kind of stuck there. And so they're awesome at explaining how to complete that cycle. And it's really easy things that we can do. We can go for a walk after work and really get our arms pumping and just sort of fume about it a little bit, just go work it out. Spending time with friends, actually venting or talking it through can actually be really helpful. Different modes of creative expression can be really helpful.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:26:50]:

So maybe that's music or maybe it's painting or writing or art or something like that, and so, I just love the idea of being conscious of. Again, I think it comes back to those cues that your body gives you that feeling you have after work or whatever it was that you were in contact with and saying, I am feeling this way. How can I complete the cycle and sort of move through it? Yeah. Because probably, that same boss is gonna be there tomorrow, and it's gonna be back again. So that was the other great thing they just talk about in their book is, like, this isn't a one and done thing. It's sort of a pattern that you have to set into your life, to be aware of and to kind of complete those loops whenever you need them. Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:27:36]:

So, again, there's no finish line, but there are these tools available to us, to sort of to get there. So, yeah, it's a wonderful book. I would recommend it to anyone.

Heather Creekmore [00:27:47]:

Yeah. I'm gonna have to check it out. That's really good. Well, I'm just being, like, we have so much data about ourselves. Right? Like, we are

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:27:53]:

Yeah.

Heather Creekmore [00:27:53]:

So self aware. Right? I can tell you things about my personality. I can but I could also tell you, you know, like, what my heart rate is now and I, you know, can do an EKG on myself with my Apple Watch and, you know, I can tell you all these things. But, you know, you mentioned it a couple minutes ago. Like, I had the same journey where I was like, I was going to the kitchen when I had to go to the bathroom. Yeah. Because I knew something like I knew I was unsettled. I knew I had to get up from my desk and go do something.

Heather Creekmore [00:28:20]:

And it's really just been through my intuitive eating journey that I've actually been able to realize, oh, I go to the kitchen when I have to pee because I'm like, I go to the kitchen to, like, okay, eating is gonna calm down and solve whatever it is. But then it's like, oh, wait. No. That's not gonna it's not gonna solve that. Right? So, like, listening to my body and then listening when I'm stressed, and, I mean, I found so much, I don't know, comfort slash relief in the naming concept. Right? Saying this is, oh, I'm stressed because of x, y, z, and just even naming it. Okay. Now I can breathe because now that I know what it is, it's like I can see it, identify it, and it's like, oh, well, that's not a scary tiger.

Heather Creekmore [00:29:06]:

That's just a bark. Yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:29:07]:

Or the permission to say because I think we're often like, why am I feeling like this? I shouldn't be feeling like this. It's not that big a deal. Like, you come here every day. He's always like that. Right. But to just say, oh, like, there's the permission. Yeah. He is being kind of a jerk right now.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:29:21]:

It's okay that you feel that way. This is a normal bodily response that you are having Yeah. To what was a stressful situation. Yeah. And then then what are you gonna do about it? Yeah. Mine is, I eat when I'm really tired.

Heather Creekmore [00:29:33]:

Mhmm.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:29:34]:

So at night, when I probably should just walk up to bed and lay down and go to sleep Yeah. Like, I feel like I need something. It's probably food. You know? Like, I learning to name what it is you're actually feeling and the cues that you're actually getting Sounds like it should be really easier intuitive, but it's actually not. No.

Heather Creekmore [00:29:54]:

No. It's not. And, you know, I do that in the afternoon. Like, I used I think I used to just power eat through, like, that little slump I would have in the afternoon. And instead, I'm like, I'm gonna go lay down for 10 minutes. Just, mhmm, 10 minutes. And it's like, oh, okay. Now I can go on with my life.

Heather Creekmore [00:30:11]:

But yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:30:11]:

Yeah. That afternoon slump actually does follow your cortisol levels. If you actually look at what a normal cortisol does in the day Uh-huh. You have, like, an afternoon slump in your cortisol, and then you have a slow rise in the evening. And we feel that exactly.

Heather Creekmore [00:30:23]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Oh, yeah. Because I think by 5, I'm like, oh, okay. I heard all these things now. It's a shame I'm not working now. I can get so done.

Heather Creekmore [00:30:33]:

Yeah. That's good. That's good. Well, this has been so good. There are so many different other things. I probably could talk to you for hours.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:30:43]:

Yeah. I feel that

Heather Creekmore [00:30:44]:

too. But your book is called everything. I want to hold it up from a YouTube audience. Everything I wish I could tell you about midlife, a woman's guide to health in the body you actually have. And so if you are a woman in midlife, it's a great book. I mean, you've got you've got the technical stuff in here that I think for some people is gonna be super helpful. Right? I mean, I always, you know, I get cycle stuff mixed up all the time. I'm like, oh, is it luteal? Feel like, I don't know which phase is which phase, that kind of stuff.

Heather Creekmore [00:31:13]:

But you've seen you've got some of that stuff in here too, but you also just have some really beautiful stories and your own story is just really beautiful. And it's just it's an encouraging book that I think will leave you feeling like, oh, I'm okay. I'm okay. Yeah.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:31:31]:

That was my hope. Yeah. And I hope that you can read it all the way through once, and then you can sort of just keep it as a reference. So then when you do go to the doctor or something comes up, you can sort of turn to the technical things and be like, what you say about that? Oh, yeah. That's what that is. What, you know, what is my what are my hormones doing? So, you can sort of pick and choose from those parts what apply to you or what you need. Yeah.

Heather Creekmore [00:31:53]:

Yeah. You did a great job with it. I loved it.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:31:55]:

Thanks so much.

Heather Creekmore [00:31:56]:

Well, thank you so much for being on the show today. Will you tell everyone where they can connect with you? I know we can get the book wherever books are sold, but what's your website and where can they connect?

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:32:05]:

Yeah. The book is everywhere. I have a website, mikaylaalbertsond.com, and that's probably the best place to find me. I love sending out my little monthly love notes with a little bit of a story and often a podcast episode. Recipes, I like to include there just for fun and books I'm reading. So that's probably the best place to find me. I'm over on Instagram and Facebook at Mikaela Albertson MD as well.

Heather Creekmore [00:32:30]:

Awesome. And I'll put all those links in the show notes too. Awesome. I think I wanna link to that apology you mentioned. Oh, yeah. I think that would be good. So I'm gonna find that.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:32:39]:

That too.

Heather Creekmore [00:32:39]:

Oh, that's great. We'll put that in the links too. I think everyone would like to read that.

Dr. Mikaela Albertson [00:32:43]:

Yeah. I was like, oh, it's hard to be the the patient. It's really hard to be the patient. So Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry.

Heather Creekmore [00:32:54]:

I think that'll warm some hearts. So thanks for writing that. Well, again, Mikaela, thanks so much for being on the show today, and thank you for watching or listening today. I hope something today has helped you stop comparing and start