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Ever wish you had a mentor to help you become who you were meant to be? Crystal Ware is redefining what it means to become your best self, in business, life, and love and sharing everything she she knows to get YOU there faster.
Are you stuck? Feel like you are meant for more but not sure how to breakthrough? Every week, we will explore all of your questions on building a path to true happiness, achieving success and creating our dream life. Brick by brick, we will work through the issues and mindsets that keep us stuck, dive into finding our passion and how to take ACTION. Clarity (vision) + Confidence (Owning your worth) + Courage (to live life on your own terms and become your own CEO) propels you to your destiny. And the good news it: its all within you!
Each week, host, Crystal Ware, will bring you all of the practical wisdom to grow every aspect of your career and life including mindset, vision, goal planning, social media management, financial acumen and so much more. You'll also meet top business leaders, entrepreneurs, mompreneurers and innovative thinkers who invested in themselves and found their way success and happiness by leading on their own terms.
You were made for more, so start living like it today. Join us as we take action, grow together, and get inspired to reach for your dreams.
Haley Fountain 0:00:06
I have so many women come into my practice who are doing all the quote unquote right things. They're eating well, they're exercising, and they're still not okay. In fact, their symptoms are getting worse. I believe it's stress, and that is really deteriorating our health at a really rapid level.
Crystal Ware 0:00:22
Welcome to Get Clear with Crystal Ware podcast. The place where we get clear on our goals, own our worth, and learn to be the CEOs of our own lives. I'm your host, Crystal Ware, lawyer and former Fortune 500 corporate leader who found the confidence to say goodbye to a lucrative career and start my own business. Now I'm opening up the playbook and sharing everything I've learned to get you there faster. It may not be easy, but it will always be worth it because you are made for more. So put on your big girl pants, jump on board, and let's reach for the stars. Are you ready to get clear? Today we have an amazing special episode. Because it's my first in person live episode, usually we're recording virtually, especially when we have guests on the show who come from all over the country. But today, I have another guest from right here in Houston, haley Fountain. Haley was introduced to me by a mutual friend, my tennis instructor, whose name is Rachel and is so amazing. And Rachel and Haley have modeled together and been friends and gotten to know one another, and she said, you've got to talk to Haley. Haley has so much interesting topics and information to share with your guests. And so we connected. We hit it off, and we're making it happen.
Crystal Ware 0:01:41
Haley is a certified integrative nutrition health coach and also has an advanced accreditation in hormone health specifically. In addition to that, she is a certified yoga and meditation instructor. So when it comes to balancing our insides from the spiritual perspective, from the mindset perspective, and from the health and hormone perspective, she has it all colored. So, welcome to the show. We're so excited to have you today, Haley.
Haley Fountain 0:02:08
Thank you, Crystal. I'm so excited to be here.
Crystal Ware 0:02:11
Yeah. And so just give us a little snapshot before we dive into all the information that I want to talk about around hormone health and what that can do for people. Give us a little background on how you got here because I know you did not set out when you graduated high school to be where you are today. So give us a little background about your journey.
Haley Fountain 0:02:30
Yeah, I'll try to keep it concise as much as possible, but I think, like most people in this space, I had a lot of health issues that modern medicine couldn't solve for me, so I get out to figure it out myself. And I've always been very interested in natural holistic remedies and stuff, and so I kind of just went down the rabbit hole and never came back. I'm just Alice in Wonderland in the health space, I guess so, yeah, I went the corporate route when I graduated university and was working in corporate sales at the same time. I was noticing a lot of health issues. I was having a lot of gut issues. I stopped taking the birth control pill and my periods just went away completely for months. And it was really scary. And I just remember thinking at one point, I was taking so much medication, I was taking more medication. I went to visit my grandma, actually, and I realized I was taking less pills than my 75 year old grandma. And I was like, this just isn't right. Something's not right here. I'm too young to be having all these health problems. So just through trial and error and then through the rest of just learning, I started to improve my health naturally. And then I started a blog, my blog and my business name, Holistic in Houston. I started that in 2017.
Haley Fountain 0:03:50
And then during COVID I decided to go back to school and get certified as an integrative nutrition health coach. And I just kept getting more certifications because I became so obsessed with learning. And I am a constant learner, so I'm always learning and always pursuing something. And in the process of sharing my story and sharing what I was learning, people started reaching out to me, asking for advice and asking for coaching. And so I started taking on clients and I got my certifications and it's just kind of grown from there. And my journey has followed, like starting with nutrition, but then really understanding that we ware so much more nutrition is very important to our health, but there's so much more than that. And really what I've learned through my yoga and meditation experience is that nervous system regulation is at the root cause of everything. And that's something that I constantly address in my own health and with my clients. So constant learner. And I love learning about Holistic health and sharing it with my community. So that's in a short way, my story.
Crystal Ware 0:04:53
Yeah, I mean, it's like such an appropriate time because I found that in the modern world that we live in, there are so many things that drain our system, our hustle culture, all of these things that are factoring in and then you seem to have outcroppings of that at a younger age. But what I see is that a lot of people start figuring it out in their mid thirty s to forty s that, oh my gosh, I cannot live the same lifestyle that I've been living and what can I do and how can I get back on track? And obviously, the sooner that we can take our health and our mental well being into our own hands, the better. But it's really great what you're doing. I mean, I think there is such a need in the world that we're living in, and I think that there's a few practical things that we can be doing that can shift a lot of that. And so what do you think kind of got you on the trajectory? What do you think was really the biggest offender that kind of flared up the issues that you were having to start with?
Haley Fountain 0:05:59
Stress? Honestly, it all comes down to stress. When I first started in my own health journey, I was like, I did all the thing that most people do and I changed my diet. And that does really I mean, we need to eat nutritious food, obviously, but if it was just about nutrition and exercise alone, we wouldn't have all the issues that people are still having today. I have so many women come into my practice who are doing all the quote unquote right things. They're eating well, they're exercising, and they're still not okay. In fact, their symptoms are getting worse. I believe it's stress. I think there's other things, chemicals in our environment, all the things that we hear about that are important. But stress is the number one thing for myself and that I see with everyone else. That is a major issue and that is really deteriorating our health at a really rapid level.
Crystal Ware 0:06:46
Wow. And so when you start working with people ware, you addressing the hormones first, the stress first, the nutrition first, like kind of what order or what's the pecking order in which you start addressing issues to get on the right path?
Haley Fountain 0:07:01
It really depends on the person. So I think nutrition is usually the place I start with women just because with my clients, because that's just a really easy way to feel like you are making an impact and you can usually see results when you change your nutrition, however, it really is a little bit of everything. And we just slowly but surely start to incorporate new habits into their lifestyle. Introducing herbs and supplements in a really strategic way, but I would say starting with nutrition. But very shortly into that, I'm introducing meditation and mindfulness practices because although everyone kind of not everyone, many people seem to kind of like, oh, that's just a little woo woo. The reality is studies don't lie. Like some of the happiest healthiest people in the world, they're meditating, they're doing mindfulness practices, and then there's plenty of clinical evidence to show that that stuff really works. So it is an integrative practice. So to answer your question, it's a little bit of everything, but usually I start with nutrition, but very shortly after that, we're introducing a lot of mindfulness and meditation techniques.
Crystal Ware 0:08:09
That's awesome. And when you're going through this, one of the things I like to speak to regularly is happiness. Just because I think that's really the goal of like, of course, do people want to be rich, some people want to be famous, all those other things going on. But I think at the core of what people are looking for is really to find happiness, true success and fulfillment. And so I always start there. And some people have a natural disposition towards kind of negativeness or unhappiness. Do you think that with a mindfulness practice and mantras or meditation and really utilizing positivity words and happiness that that can be a trigger to turn maybe a naturally negative person to a more naturally happy person?
Haley Fountain 0:09:04
Absolutely. I wouldn't say that. And that alone is the only thing that can impact that. But certainly, I mean, many of us are predisposed to a more negative outlook on life. Unfortunately, that's just how we're born. Or maybe it's the way that we are raised or so many other factors as well. But that being said, you can definitely impact that stuff through positive affirmations, through meditation, learning to be present and be happy in the present moment, because that's really all that we have. That coupled with doing things that make you happy. Because something I find with a lot of my clients is they're talking about how unhappy they are and the things that make them happy. They'll make a list. I say, what things make you happy? What activities and things spark joy for you? And they give me a list of that and then I say, well, okay, now what does a typical week look like for you? And they're not doing any of those things. So it's not very surprising to find out that people who are generally happier prioritize doing things that make them happy.
Haley Fountain 0:10:06
So sometimes it takes a coach or a therapist or someone to reflect that back to you, to realize that it's like sometimes we're just way too in our own heads to see that when we're inside our own life, if that makes sense, even I have to do that. I have to have coaches and therapists reflect things back to me. But certainly meditation and mindfulness can help with what my therapist calls the ants automatic negative thoughts that many of us are predisposed to have, whether that's just how we were born or some sort of conditioning from our family or environment. And becoming aware of those things and kind of rewriting those narratives in our head can be so helpful for us. Finding peace, creating joy and happiness in our life, and just feeling more balanced.
Crystal Ware 0:10:54
So if you don't listen to the rest of this episode, which you sure should do, because this is just going to scratch the surface of what we're going to be talking about today, you already have an amazing takeaway. Look, just first of all, having the realization that you're having these ants, these automatic negative thoughts and stopping the process and reframing, I mean, that's a huge point that we can start working on today. But the other one of the exercise of just writing down what makes you happy, how much time am I spending on this? Have you seen when you're working with people on this that they're very shocked to see that. I love these things. These are the things that I really, truly enjoy in all of my being. And I'm doing none of this. I mean, are people shocked?
Haley Fountain 0:11:38
Absolutely. I think that it's so interesting because sometimes we become our own worst enemy in a way, because I see people that I'm a big believer and I try not to complain about things because when you complain about things and don't do anything about it, then you're not really getting anywhere. And with myself, I don't have a lot of patience for myself when I do things like that. And I try to encourage others, same thing. Like the things that you're complaining about, what are you doing about it?
Crystal Ware 0:12:05
Right?
Haley Fountain 0:12:05
And yeah, people will look and they're like, oh, my gosh, I've been complaining about how unhappy I am. But I work 60 hours a week. I barely see my spouse or my partner. I just put my kids to bed, and I don't get to spend a lot of time with them. I haven't picked up an instrument or gone for a run or whatever it is that makes me happy in months. Like, no wonder I'm so miserable. So, yeah, people are very shocked. And you'd be surprised at how impactful it can be to just spend 15 minutes doing a hobby or something that brings you joy and just taking that time for yourself. And that's a whole other topic, but a lot of people aren't they put themselves last, especially women, especially moms. We put ourselves last. I say we I'm not a mom, I'm a dog mom. But moms put themselves last and then they don't have anything to they don't have a cup to pour from. It's completely empty. So, yeah, people are very shocked by that, and they can make a huge impact by just spending 15 minutes a day.
Crystal Ware 0:13:05
And I would like to pause right there and say something that may make some people unhappy in what you were saying. Because when you're looking at the time and time value of money and what you're doing and where you're spending your energy, what I think is one huge problem that has kind of been fixed since COVID and more work remote. But people move to the far ends of the earth to get bigger houses, and they're not realizing that then they're commuting for 45 minutes, 60 minutes, sometimes an hour and a half each way and taking away from the slivers of time that you have, especially once you have kids and they're in activities and sports and everything else going on. You don't have any time. And part of that could be remedied by being okay with a smaller house closer to where you work and or where other things hubs of your life are going on. And I have found that it's being fed to us in social media, on the TV. It's like keeping up with the Joneses that is getting prioritized over what do I want to do with my time and my money and my energy. And by the way, when you have a bigger house and a bigger yard, it also comes with more stuff to do. So I don't think anybody on your list is sitting down, writing down I love cleaning, I love fixing things around my house, I love pulling weeds out of my yard. So those are all the things that people have to think about when they're making these big life choices.
Haley Fountain 0:14:42
Yes, and just to add to that, you're exactly right. A lot of people ware thinking about what they think is going to make them happy versus a lot of the work that I do with my clients is very values based. And what I mean by that is I actually in a previous life was a headhunter. So I coached a lot of people on their careers before I coached people on their health, which is all related in a way. But what I found was people would when I was trying to especially like younger people who are just coming out of school trying to figure out what they want to do with or even seasoned people who are trying to make a career change. A lot of people pick a job based on how much money they want to make or the status or of the job in their social circles or whatever it is. But I always tell folks to pick a job based on the lifestyle that you want because maybe for example, I know people who love photography and they want to become a wedding photographer but they really value their time, freedom and they really value their weekends with their family. Well, if you're a wedding photographer, you're going to work probably Friday nights and Saturday nights and you're going to be up late on Sunday editing photos, trying to get them to the very anxious bride who wants to see her photos. So that as much as you love photography, that's not going to be a good job for your lifestyle, the lifestyle that you want and something that matches your values so you can still do photography as a hobby and same thing. A lot of people will pick these jobs where they're making a really comfortable six figure salary, but the travel involved doesn't relate to the lifestyle that they want or whatever it is. But really thinking about what is the lifestyle I want first? What are my values and then picking your career and your partner and picking all those things around that, yeah, it's so important.
Crystal Ware 0:16:35
And it just came to me now. I mean, I'm sure somebody else has had this revelation and talked about it or even tried to implement something, but what if we offered three to five sessions with somebody like this for people that were juniors and seniors in high school? What would the trajectory of people's lives be if they had that thought process and recognition. I mean, I know we all evolve a lot from 18 to 25 to even 30. There's a lot of evolution in there. But I think one of the exercises I've done is think back to what you love to do in elementary school and how did you get away from that. Because the world tells you, this isn't a job opportunity. This isn't a career path. This isn't something you're good at. If we get back to the basics and think about those things, then what would that do? Because people just aren't talking about those things. I mean, I know when I graduated high school, those were not conversations I had. And certainly when I graduated college and thought about graduate school, those were not things that we talked about. And I think if people spent time and it's something that I care so much about, I'm, like always filing it away in my brain, filing it away to talk to my kids about, because I think it makes a huge difference in the lifestyle that you have or these things that you choose, how you're spending your day. And if you do love working in an office, but you also really love being outdoors, how do you fit that in?
Crystal Ware 0:18:07
And it's definitely not going to fit in if you're driving an hour and a half each way. And those are the really important things for people to start talking about, prioritizing and making decisions around 100%. So when it comes to hormone health, specifically, what kind of things do people need to be aware of if they want to start looking at that, if they're having issues that are unidentified in other areas, or they just feel like something's off? What is kind of like the starting point of where women can start thinking about that, researching, looking into what the causes may be. And we'll start there, and then we'll talk about the solutions.
Haley Fountain 0:18:57
There's so much just even in that question. And I will be focusing exclusively on women's hormones. I'm trained in both men and women's hormones, but I focus my work with women. Yeah, there's so many places you can start, but in my opinion, the best place you can start is with your own body. I mean, we live in a world where we have outsourced our health to others. And doctors, health coaches, everyone has they have a body of knowledge, but only you have knowledge of your body. So very important to start, the best way you can start paying attention to your hormones is simply by paying attention to your body and how you feel. Our hormones just to define what a hormone is. Hormones are chemical messengers that are released in our body that tell every cell, every organ, literally everything in our body, what to do, when to do it, how to do it, where to do it. So the best way you can check in and see if you have some things going on with your hormones, obviously through lab testing, but in a more simplified way, just to become ware is just notice what are your energy levels like during the day? Your hunger cues are also regulated by your hormones. Your menstrual cycle is a fantastic place. They're now calling the menstrual cycle the fifth vital sign.
Crystal Ware 0:20:10
Right.
Haley Fountain 0:20:10
You can tell so much about what's going on in your body based on your period and based on your menstrual cycle, whether it's regular, even the color of your menstrual blood, like, so many things like that can show you where your hormones are at. Noticing the way that you sleep. Also sleep and our sleep wake cycles, those circadian rhythms are connected to our hormones as well. Our hormones tell us, tell our body when to start winding down, when to fall asleep, and then Cortisol wakes us up in the morning. So I think the best place to start is simply just paying attention to your body. And then from there, well, I'll stop there for a moment because there's so many directions we can take that.
Crystal Ware 0:20:50
Yeah, well, one of the things I know we've talked about outside of this was the menstrual cycle issues. And I would like to pause there and talk about that a little bit because I don't think that gets enough discussion, to be honest. And I was just thinking about that for myself after we talked about it. I started my period shortly thereafter and was totally hyper ware because we had been discussing that about the days before and how much kind of energy I didn't write notes, but I think I had a couple of days where I woke up extra early and I was like, raring to go and work out. And then I started and then it plummeted. I was super tired. And then all of those kind of things that go along with it. And I know one of the things that you and I had talked about was the sleep needs change. And that that's a big issue. So can we dive into that a little bit more? And like, what are things that people should be aware of and maybe if nothing else, just having awareness and saying it's okay if you feel this way? Because again, back to hustle culture. You kind of feel bad if you're not 100% not ready to go, not all on top of it, and giving people the permission and understanding of where they are and why and why that is for sure.
Haley Fountain 0:22:16
Yeah. So I practice something called cycle thinking, and this is something that I walk my clients through and educate them on. Simply what this means is paying attention to and honoring the differences in your hormone levels throughout your cycle. So there are four phases of the menstrual cycle. You have day one of your menstrual cycle is the first day that you bleed, first day of your period. That's your follicular phase. Then you have the ovulatory phase, which is really just one day, but the days around it we include in that phase. And that's whenever your body is actually releasing an egg, and then you have the luteal phase, which is right after you ovulate up until your period. And then, well, I should say there's three, but four ish because I count menstruation as the fourth phase. But really menstruation is part of the follicular phase anyways. But the reason I'm sharing that is because you have different hormone levels and different needs and different parts of your cycle. And the challenge with this and why no one talks about this is because we live in a very patriarchal society that's based on a very archaic 40 hours work week. Men's bodies ware, they run on a 24 hours cycle. They are cyclical beings as well, but it's a 24 hours cycle. Women's bodies run on a 28 to 33 ish day cycle, right?
Haley Fountain 0:23:34
We run on a monthly cycle. So we're both cyclical beings, but it's a little bit different. And so the modern world has been built for a man's body, so it's a little different for us. But to share a little more about that when you ware in the first part of your cycle, whenever you're kind of gearing up towards ovulation, you're going to notice that you have more energy, and that's a better time to be out and about. It's a better time to do more intense workouts right around the time of ovulation, those few days before and after you ovulate, your testosterone is the highest that it's going to be in your menstrual cycle. So that's when you're going to have not only the most energy, but the most confidence. And it's actually really interesting because they've done studies on this where they found that waitresses who ware, not taking any sort of hormonal contraceptives and were cycling naturally got more tips whenever they were ovulating, because not only are you more confident, you're also giving off stronger pheromones. And your estrogen is at the highest point that it's going to be throughout the month. So your features are going to look the most attractive, your skin is going to be a little brighter, your lips and your breasts are going to be a little bit plumper, and you're just going to be more confident and radiant. And then you're going to be giving off those pheromones too. It's really cool, actually. So I always try to plan important meetings, podcasts and recordings when I'm ovulating. And then same thing. As you get into luteal phase, things start to wind down a little bit. You start to get ready for that menstruation, so you'll start to notice that your energy levels are a little slower.
Haley Fountain 0:25:08
It's a better time for yoga, long walks, things like that. And then whenever you have your period, everyone's different. I personally am only walking or doing very gentle yoga. I'm trying not to schedule a ton of things on my calendar and just make time for an extra hour of sleep as much as I can. And just more restful, nourishing activities, more nourishing foods. And you can look at the phases of the menstrual cycle, like the seasons of the year. Follicular is spring, ovulation is summer, Luteal is fall, and then menstruation is winter.
Crystal Ware 0:25:42
Wow. That's honestly so fascinating. I feel like I learned so much more about everything that I knew before. It's just so fascinating. And what I heard you say about the testosterone levels and what that can do, it makes total sense, right? Because that's like your body saying, okay, come and get me. I'm ready for a baby. You want to be looking attractive, and that's like primal things going on in your body. But if you were really being strategic and like female founders that are going out to do fundraising or other things like that, it may be interesting to see a study around people doing, like, sales initiated or fundraising activities, because I'm sure that that would track very similarly. But that is super fascinating.
Haley Fountain 0:26:34
And just one thing to note. I don't mean to interrupt you, but obviously, for anyone listening to this, you obviously cannot plan your entire life around your mental psych. As much as I wish I could. Maybe one day, but even just 20% to 30%, if you can, the things that you have an impact on, obviously we have jobs, some people have families, responsibilities. Like, you can't plan everything. Sorry, boss, I can't come to that meeting today because I'm menstruating. Maybe one day we'll get there. There are some companies that are doing that now, but 20% to 30% of your activities that you can plan around your cycle can have a really big impact on your energy levels, your productivity, and your overall happiness and how content you are with your life.
Crystal Ware 0:27:17
Yeah, it's a real thing. And I think it's also important for women to just be aware, because when you think about testosterone, it's kind of like a horrifying thing for a lot of people. They think, oh, my gosh, it's going to make me hairy, it's going to make me manly, it's going to do all these other things. But obviously we run on testosterone just like men do. We just haley different ratios, and testosterone is our friend. I've gone through all the process of doing all the testing for myself, for hormones and well being and just overall health and longevity. And that's one of the things that I talked about with the functional doctor that I see is about testosterone. And testosterone for women is what helps your sex drive and keep other things that are important for your relationship going. And so women should not be afraid to talk about or have testosterone. You need to understand how that works in your body, just like all the.
Haley Fountain 0:28:16
Other hormones and the right levels. Yeah, the way I describe it in you. Know, with my clients is it's kind of like a cocktail, like, you know, I think of it like a dirty martini, maybe. Like, you know, I like my martini. My dirty martini is extra, extra dirty. Lots of olive juice. And if there's not enough, then there's too much gin. And then if it's too much, then it's just like olive juice.
Crystal Ware 0:28:33
Crazy.
Haley Fountain 0:28:34
And if it's, like, not the right type of vermouth or too much or too you know what I mean, you got to get the right formulation. And so men have estrogen just like women have testosterone. We just have it in different levels. And yeah. It's going to be peaking when you're ovulating, because your body, whether or not you choose to have children, our bodies, we are biologically designed for reproduction. Your body wants you to have a high sex drive around the time that you're really fertile. Right?
Crystal Ware 0:29:01
Absolutely. Yeah. So in attacking these and trying to figure out how this works for me and what might be going on and what can I do? Do you have a quick hitting three, four, five things that women could do to naturally help align their hormones in a more healthy way if they're seeing some negative impacts that could be due to hormones being unregulated.
Haley Fountain 0:29:30
Yeah. So there's a few things that I would recommend. It's really going to depend on the person and the issues that they're having, but at a very high level, I think it's a really good idea to when you're having weird symptoms, keep a log, like dates, times, things that are happening. The reason for that is whether it's on your own or with some sort of health coach, health practitioner, whoever it is, you can kind of connect the dots. And that's a big part of what I do with my clients, is they might have like, when you go to most I don't want to say all doctors in modern medicine, it's like they treat each symptom separately. But when you work with a holistic practitioner, they're going to look at all the symptoms you're having and then try to figure out where those dots connect. Right. So really good place to start is just keeping track of what's going on and then again, researching on your own or working with a practitioner. I believe that and many other people in the health space believe that sleep is the foundation of health. So I've always said there's nothing that a good night's sleep can't cure. I'm sure there are things that it can't cure, but I think that everyone should be focusing on getting good quality sleep because your body rests and repairs and restores and digests and does all those things when you're sleeping. And I always tell my clients, I would rather you skip a workout and get enough sleep than the alternative. And also, same thing. I see a lot of people who are not eating the most nutritious diet and maybe their lifestyle isn't great, but they do get eight or 9 hours of sleep a night and they're okay versus all the people who are stressed out, out of their minds. And they're eating really well and exercising, but they're not sleeping at night.
Haley Fountain 0:31:05
And that will just deteriorate your health so quickly. So those are probably the two things. And then for women's health, again, I feel like knowledge is power, and body awareness is so important. So I think every woman should be tracking her menstrual cycle whether or not she wants to have children. A lot of women only really pay attention to their menstrual cycle when they're deciding to have kids, which is really beautiful that they're paying attention to that. But I believe in starting as soon as possible. Like whether or not you're sexually active, whether or not you plan to have children. Pay attention to your menstrual cycle, because, again, it is the fifth vital sign. You can tell so much about what's going on in your body by the symptoms you haley and keeping a log and keeping track every month. Okay. Around this time of the month, I have this symptom every month or this symptom I've never had before. This is out of the blue. Let me keep an eye on this. So, really just awareness and keeping track of what's going on in your body and then working with a practitioner to figure out what those things can mean or doing your own research if you don't have the means to work with someone.
Crystal Ware 0:32:03
All right. And so, when you're talking about tracking your menstrual cycle, I haley to ask, love it or hate it, what about birth control?
Haley Fountain 0:32:15
So I'm not a fan of birth control. Actually, I should ask you, do you want to know about taking birth control or tracking your menstrual cycle and not taking birth control or both?
Crystal Ware 0:32:26
Both.
Haley Fountain 0:32:26
Okay.
Crystal Ware 0:32:27
Because I think especially if you're not taking birth control, because that regulates you so much. Unnaturally if you're not. You definitely need to track, figure out where things are and what's going on so you can figure out other natural ways to prevent getting pregnant. But in general, when we're talking about hormones, I think in the last couple of years, there's been a lot of data out there, and by no means am I a doctor. Haley is not a doctor, but I think for me, the overwhelming kind of health guidance seems to say it's not.
Haley Fountain 0:33:05
That great for you. Yeah. So it's going to depend person to person. And, yes, I am not a doctor, so everyone listening should definitely talk to their healthcare practitioner. But what I will say is, from my research and all the findings I'm seeing is that long term use of hormonal contraceptives, I compare it to, like, a car. So when you take birth control, what this sort of message around birth control has been is that it tricks your body, and it's almost like your body is pregnant. Like, it mimics that, but it actually is more like your body's in menopause is the more appropriate way to describe it. The birth control pill cuts off communication, and any hormonal contraceptive cuts off communication between your brain and your ovaries. You think about a clear if you just didn't drive your car for two years, you might have to give it an oil change and whatever, but it'd probably be fine. If you left your car in the garage for ten years and never drove it, do you think that it would be drivable again?
Crystal Ware 0:34:00
Yeah, it might be rusted out. There may be some things that just aren't working anymore.
Haley Fountain 0:34:04
Yeah. And that's what I like to compare it to. I'm not going to say birth control is bad. I took with control in college, and I'm really grateful that I did, and I wouldn't change that. I don't believe it's good for long term use, however, every woman has to. Again, this goes back to what I said. Healthcare practitioners have a body of knowledge, but only you have knowledge of your body. For some people, that's the more appropriate choice. If you're concerned about preventing pregnancy and you don't have the time or energy to track your menstrual cycle and all the other options out there aren't appropriate for you, then it might be the right option. But my only recommendation to everyone, and again, I'm not a doctor, but if it were me and anyone that I care about, I would say don't take it for very long because long term use is where, at least from the data that I've seen, is where the major issues are.
Crystal Ware 0:34:52
Yeah. And I really hadn't thought about it, and I had never taken long term birth control anyway, but I'd never really thought about it until I had a friend whose mother died very young of breast cancer. And then she went and did all the gene testing and all that, and then she dove into it. And she is a doctor, PhD doctor, not a medical doctor, but obviously trained in the way to research. And she was telling me how terrible she felt it was. And once she started reading these things, she got off of birth control immediately. And her concerns around what it could do for breast cancer and other sexual organ type cancers, that was enough for me to start reading a little bit. And then I would have to say my functional doctors also, they're not going to tell you not to take it, but if you ask their opinion, they probably shy away from it as well. And all of their readings and findings and their whole focus is on longevity and having being centrians and living a healthy life and being active and mobile at 100, because that's my goal. That's what I want to do. I want to be fully functional, working good, doing my little five pound weights or whatever when I'm 100 years old. I just think that when we're talking about hormone health, I think it would go I'd be remiss if I didn't ask people's opinion on that, at least to open eyes. I'm not here to judge or tell somebody because I think the alternatives are very difficult. There's not like great alternatives, although I know that what is that thing called?
Haley Fountain 0:36:30
The copper IUD?
Crystal Ware 0:36:31
Yes, the IUDs. They were kind of demonized for years. And then I think people have realized in the last five or ten years that they're not as bad as what people said. Like there could be nothing is risk free, there could be an issue in your ability to conceive later on. But I think that the instances that the rates are so low compared to what they thought they might be, but that's, if I'm not mistaken, a low hormone or no hormone alternative. So there I just think people really need to educate themselves. Obviously I already have kids and I'm married, so I don't have the same strong concern, although I definitely do not want to get pregnant now. But I think you got to think about the overall long term. And if you've been on birth control for years and years and years, ask yourself, is it make sense to take a pause? And what do I need to look at from my health perspective? I think all of those things around our health are important. And we started off the conversation and you said it, and it's seriously exactly what I think and what I tell people all the time, body of knowledge versus knowledge of your body. Doctors are very smart. They have a lot of information to share. I'm not saying we should ignore them, but we know stuff if we tune in that other people won't know.
Crystal Ware 0:37:56
And I think that's what we have to think about when we take into consideration the family planning because it is for otherwise healthy female it might be the only thing you're taking, right? And then why? So hopefully maybe there's some smart people out there keep thinking about what other solutions are there for ladies that want to do family planning but don't want to take hormones.
Haley Fountain 0:38:22
And the other thing too that I want to say because I work with women that take birth control and so I don't demonize it. And as I said, I am very grateful that I had it at a time when I didn't know any different and didn't know that I could track my cycle to prevent pregnancy. And I found ways that have worked better for me now at the phase of life that I'm in now. There are a lot of nutritional things that you can do because the birth control pill, I don't know specifically about the hormonal IUD. They have their own issues, but the pill specifically can cause certain nutrient deficiencies. But there are things that you can do. There ware, foods, you can eat supplements you can take like B Twelve for example. That can help. Zinc is another thing that it can cause a deficiency in. You can supplement with those things while you're taking it. So again, it goes back to knowledge of your own body and educating yourself on the pharmaceutical products you're putting in your body. Because the end of the day, the pharmaceutical companies are they're for profit organizations, right? So they want as many people as possible taking their products and so they're not hiding the adverse effect, but they're certainly not putting it on a billboard, right? So anything you're putting in your body, take responsibility for your own health and not outsource everything to others and just maybe understand. And again, if you choose to make an educated decision on what you're going to put into your body, I guess, is where I'll leave that.
Crystal Ware 0:39:44
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it goes with anything and it literally is everything. I'm definitely not on a soapbox about birth control by any means. It's really not even something I think about 90% of the time. But when it comes to modern medicine, I am pro modern medicine. But I think we have to ask questions too. And you hit the nail on the head when we talk about holistic food as medicine. Nobody is out there paying advertising fees and making record, making profits from holistic nutrition broccoli, right? But people are for medicine. So we have to ask that. And we have to think about that weighted issue when we're talking about it. Because as we've gone into modern society, we've gone away from the natural practices that we had for hundreds and hundreds of years. And lo and behold, since the 1950s, our health has declined significantly. I could go on and on and on about that topic, but we'll keep it to the hormone fronts. And suffice to say that a balanced diet is going to help you.
Crystal Ware 0:40:59
And that's where working with a health coach, if you've never been intentional about it, never thought about it, that small tweaks that you make along the way and that's what I do for myself and my family, is I'm busy. I have three kids, I work. My husband has a massively busy schedule also. But I make, you know, conscious decisions and tweaks. It doesn't mean that we don't go to McDonald's or Chickfila sometimes. It doesn't mean that my kids don't have snow cones and cotton candy and things like that. But I make decisions along the way to feed and teach my kids that we're looking for stuff that's from God, from the earth, basically. And those are the best ways to eat. And once we start with that, the hormones help. And then if we think about the environmental factors and everything else, there are certainly ways to stay on top of things.
Haley Fountain 0:41:54
And the other thing I want to say on that too, and I love that approach because you have to find balance, right. People come to me and they're just so extreme on the nutrition stuff and so obsessed with all their labs and all their hormonal stuff. And sometimes the stress of trying to be healthy can make you unhealthy. So really important to be mindful and find that balance. And it's hard and it really is trial and error and just seeking out help when appropriate to find that balance of doing things that bring you joy. Maybe a slice of cheesecake brings you joy and every now and then you can have a slice of cheesecake and it's not a big deal. But obviously eating cheesecake for every meal every day is not a good option and that can apply to every area of our life, right. Same thing with the sleep. Sometimes staying up late and going to a concert for a band that I love, like, you know, I'm going to be up late for the Taylor Swift concert coming up in a few weeks. That's worth it. But if I do it every night, that's not helpful to my health. Right. So it's like finding that balance of healthy, taking care of ourselves and not stressing out about our health to where it makes us unwell.
Crystal Ware 0:43:02
Absolutely. And it's so important, I mean, just overall for your happiness, for what you want to achieve in your career and in your life, we have to be healthy. You're not going to continue forward. And I'm not for Hustle culture, but when you're busy and you have things you want to do and you want to accomplish and you have goals and stairsteps that are building up to this massive life dream that you have. You can't be weighted down with unhappiness or mental fog because you're not healthy or your hormones are off. And so that's why these topics are so important to us, especially when we don't want to just live and subsist. We want to thrive and build this amazing once in a life because we only get one life. It's all once in a lifetime for us. It's once in a life. You get one life to live, to dream and to work hard and blow it up and be whatever it is that your heart desires. And this is really an important part about it because you're not going to feel confident, you're not going to be owning your worth. You're not going to be feeling like you can go out there and conquer the world if you're ailing. And so that is why I bring these kind of topics up to you guys, because it's all part of the pie. It's all part of the puzzle that we have to solve in getting from point A to point B all the way to point Z. And that is our deep, deep satisfaction and happiness and joy and success in life.
Crystal Ware 0:44:31
So, Haley, I know we have so much more to cover. We are going to bring you back another time to talk about another topic that resonates so much living in the feminine versus the masculine. I can't wait to talk about that because honestly, I'm feeling that I live in one more than the other and I want to know and I want to be your guinea pig to talk to the audience about how we move from one to the other and shift and what that can do for our lives. But thank you so much for being here today and talking about hormone health. We will drop everything that we have on you in the show notes so you can find Haley. Follow her at Holistic in Houston on Instagram and she has lots of things coming up and in store in the next twelve to 18 months, so you definitely don't want to miss out on all of that. But remember how important it is to take care of yourself, to put you first and make sure that you're prioritizing your health. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer anything that I've done personally for myself and share any of the tricks, tips, all of that practical wisdom that I have on living a healthy, purposeful life. So feel free to DM me, email, whatever it is until next time. And until we get back to Haley on feminine versus masculine, just remember, get clear, own your worth. You are made for more, so start living like it today. Until next time, circle back. Don't forget, like us. Leave us a review. Follow us.
Crystal Ware 0:46:00
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