Welcome back to The Inspired
Living with Autoimmunity podcast.
I'm your host, Julie Michaelson, and
today's guest is Alison Samon, functional
nutrition and lifestyle practitioner
who helps people redesign their health
and lifestyle so they can get fit,
energized, and pain free in ways
that are easy, fun, and sustainable.
In today's conversation, Allison
shares her journey recovering from 10
years of chronic pain and her healthy
later in life, pregnancy at age 42.
That illustrates the body's
remarkable ability to heal.
Alison, welcome to the podcast.
Thank you so much for having me.
My pleasure.
I am excited for our conversation,
so I always love to ask.
I know you, like most of us,
have a story and a journey.
I'd love for you to share with us
how you got to be doing what you're
doing, and I'm sure you'll share.
Particular things I can't
wait to ask you more about.
So,
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, once upon a time in another
life, , I struggled with unexplained
chronic pain and it was in my
lower back, but, and foot and so
sitting was excruciating walking.
Oh, I also, my knee, I didn't
say my knee, so my knee.
So I couldn't walk but sitting cuz my
butt and my lower back had so much pain.
And so basically for about 10
years I was pretty miserable.
Just a pretty miserable person.
Hard to imagine, but I get it.
Really well because at that time
I just, I blamed, you know, when
you're in misery, you start to look
for excuses why this is happening.
And so I would blame the furniture,
I would blame the bus, the commute.
Cause I had a long commute into New
York City and I just, the work schedule,
just everything, this chair is so bad.
And so at work, I, they, they got
me a, a foot stool because my feet
were like numb when I would sit.
and when I would walk,
my knees would swell.
And when you're in New York City,
everything is up and down stairs.
And I used to think of myself as
this healthy, active person, but I
suddenly couldn't walk up the stairs.
I, you know, I was that one who
would walk by you on the escalator
and now suddenly I'm the person who.
Who is like, I can't do it at,
or, you know, there weren't
really elevators at that time.
Now there there's more elevators,
but there weren't, and like
there's little old ladies passing
me and I was like, this is crazy.
I was in my twenties and so I
was very unhappy and around that
same time, so I started seeing
a neurologist for chronic pain.
And around that time my dad died suddenly
sorry.
and he was.
And if you looked at him and
lined up a a hundred men his age,
you would never pick this man to
suddenly die without any warning.
And, and it turned cuz he looked perfect
on the outside and it turned out that he
had severe heart disease that none of us
knew he had because he looked perfect.
And so I too was of that mindset of,
if you're not fat, therefore you're.
Meanwhile, I had all this pain that
my dad was driving me to neurology
appointments before work in the morning.
And so I started between the grief of
like, how could this happen to my dad?
Who was fit, who exercised?
He didn't drink, he didn't smoke.
How could this possibly happen?
So the devastation of that, I
was already experiencing chronic
pain, and when I first went for
it was my knee that started it.
and the doctor was like, Hmm, you're
young, you're athletic, you're fine.
And I was like, well, I don't feel fine.
And so I kept, I, I kept,
just kept looking for answers.
And there was a part of me that
was like, oh my God, what if
this is an early warning sign for
something that we missed in my dad?
Yep.
And so then we're starting to look
at like lupus and scleroderma,
like all of these things.
And I was like, and now here I am.
I'm, I'm 24, 25, thinking
my life is half over.
I'm gonna die soon.
And I don't know what's wrong with me.
I'm miserable.
I'm not, I'm not getting to socialize.
I'm not getting to date, I'm
not doing all of these things.
And at the time I was in my dream
career, I worked in television, so
it was everything I ever wanted,
and yet my body and life were crapp.
And so I was just on
this journey to be fixed.
It was Fix me.
What's wrong with me?
Fix me.
What's wrong with me?
I didn't have a diagnosis.
Is it this?
No.
Is it this?
No.
Is it res?
Maybe I had some res, but what is it?
And how come nothing is working?
Nothing.
You know, the physical therapy
and the medications, and one
of my medications that I.
Was eventually recalled
for causing heart attacks.
Yeah.
And there's heart disease in my family
that we previously didn't know about.
And so it just, it was like
misery on top of misery.
Like it started with the pain,
the pain started getting worse
and spreading to other places.
There was the, the, the emotional pain.
The mental pain, and.
you know, misery loves company
and you just sort of get into
that, that miserable place.
And so when I wasn't getting the
diagnosis that I want and I saw the
best, the, the best orthopedics and
and physical therapist, Michelle Kwans
guy and Wayne Gretzky's guy and like
all the sports people and the best
of the best and they didn't know.
And when one of them said, I wanna
do exploratory surgery, and I was.
Explore.
You don't know what is wrong with my knee
cuz they did scans and my pain wasn't
consistent with where there were some
tears, but it like, it wasn't consistent.
And I was like, something
that doesn't feel right to me.
And again, at the time I thought
I was a healthy, active person.
I knew nothing.
I really knew nothing.
Flash forward, I knew nothing.
But there was something in me that
was like, that doesn't feel right.
thank goodness.
Yeah, and I didn't do it.
And there was one orthopedist who
I went to who said, you know, we
could do surgery or you could try to,
and I was like, or you could try to
strengthen the muscles around your knee.
And I was like, okay.
I like that.
I like that.
And so I'm still on this journey.
10 years go by and I'm still
on the medications, going to
all of the therapies, missing
activities, missing work.
Everybody thinks I'm a.
Pain in the ass because I had beat my ass.
And it just, it just was,
was that kind of existence.
And then finally I was introduced to a
guy who did alternative therapies and he
actually asked me about what I was eating.
Nobody else had, nobody
else had in 10 years.
And he's like, well,
why are you eating that?
And I was like, well, so at the
time I was eating a healthy cereal.
A glass of orange juice.
Sorry about that.
That's okay.
A glass of orange juice
and a multivitamin.
And that's because I, that's
what I grew up on and that's
a healthy breakfast, right?
I don't even like orange juice, but I
drank it because my mom wanted me to have
the vitamin C and I've always drank it
Me too.
to take my vitamins.
Right.
That's, that's the Healthy
American breakfast.
And he.
Have some glucose with your vitamins.
Absolutely.
And yes.
And so he's like, well, why
don't you eat an orange or have
strawberries or broccoli to get your
sea instead of having orange juice?
And I was like, what?
I don't have to have orange juice, really?
And so the first thing I did
was take out the orange juice.
Oh my goodness.
and I didn't have pain.
The next day.
I was like, what?
? And of course there was
more to it than that.
It wasn't like that wasn't the, but
it opened my eyes to, I didn't think
that anything I was doing was the cause
of my pain, not the self-medicating
with sugar, because that was my
drug of choice, not that the more
miserable I got, the more candy I ate.
It made me.
my body.
Very unhappy,
right, temporarily happy, made
me feel temporarily happy,
Yes.
And so, but this light bulb started going
off and when I limped into his office, and
this is, this is a takeaway that I have,
and this is what I use in my own practice.
He said, hi Alison, my name is Andy.
I hope to never see you again.
And I was
I say that too.
If I'm any good at what I do,
you don't need me forever.
That's not the goal.
Yes.
And I, I just, I, I, that was a very
new experience because it was always
come back, we'll see you next week.
We'll see you next week.
We'll see you next
We'll try more meds.
We'll try.
Yeah.
more therapies, but that's not working.
We'll do this.
You need to come back.
You just,
Yeah.
and it helped me to see that
actually stronger, healing faster.
I limped into his office.
I walked.
and I started seeing him weekly for
about three months, and then I think it
was spread, it started to spread out a
little bit more, and then it was like once
every six months, and it was once a year,
and now I haven't seen him since 2009.
I think I maybe went for a tune-up.
It's been that long and I'm old now and
my body works now, and I'm able to do all
the things I couldn't do in my twentie.
I don't have the constipation.
I don't have the joint pain,
I don't have the migraines.
So all these things that
I took medications for.
I don't have the hormonal imbalance.
I don't have the skin issues, so
you listening on audio, when she
says she's old now, don't buy it.
She's younger now than she
was in her twenties for sure.
that is for sure . Thank you for that.
But
Uhhuh,
I feel that way.
Honestly, I felt like a little old
lady in my twenties and now in my
forties, I, which is not old, but old.
I'm as old as I've ever been.
Thank God.
Yeah.
Yes.
And, and I feel better than I ever.
which is amazing, and we share so many
similarities in including geographic.
I don't know where you are, but
I, I grew up in New Jersey, so in
I did too.
including the originally Short Hills and
then went to high school in Bernardsville.
So
I grew up in Freehold.
okay.
Let's see.
I also grew up drinking
orange juice in the morning.
I also suddenly lost my dad completely
unexpected in his early fifties.
And we knew the difference was we knew
he had heart disease in his family.
Oh.
And so I know that feeling like I, I
can feel your story cuz I've been there.
I remember in my forties
so declined on 10 meds.
Life was so small.
And I thought I'm never
gonna live to C 50.
Like he seemed healthy and,
and I'm so far from healthy.
So I, I just a sorry for your
loss, but, but can relate to that.
you know, there ha that this,
and obviously we know now
there has to be a better way.
There is a better way.
And, and I'm so glad that it, it starts
with like connecting one dot right.
For you it was the OJ like, If one
simple change, and, and I'm sure
you're, it's the same with your clients.
People get so overwhelmed cuz they think
like they have to change everything.
And it's like, okay, let's just, let's
just get the needle to move and then you
get hungry for the, what else can I do?
And oh my gosh.
You know, if orange juice is bad, how's
the candy I've been eating, you know,
That became my addiction
was like, well, what else?
How does
Oh yeah, Uhhuh.
this crazy newfangled concept of
nutrition that I'd never heard.
It was like the best kept secret
that like food makes your body
feel good, and sometimes it makes
it hurt, and which one is which?
And I like the one that
makes my body feel good.
Yeah.
I had no idea
You're younger than me, but like
I also went through, I'm sure we
all have part of this process.
I love where, where you're
like, you know, and I thought
I was, I was fit and healthy.
I thought I was smart, and all I
did was take the meds for 11 years,
and never look for another way.
Right.
I thought I was doing everything.
And so I, I think we go
through as we learn, I was.
Like when I realized that part of my
issue was living on a low fat diet, you
know, for years and years and years, I was
pissed, . I was like process through and
I've let it go cuz it's not healthy, but
Yeah, but that was part of it.
Honestly, it was the fat.
Of the nineties.
That was the downfall for my dad.
And because I was the know-it-all
healthy person, cuz I worked out right.
I wore a little bikini on the
beach, so I knew everything.
I made us go fat free because
that's what everybody said
what we were told.
Yeah.
My dad, we, I grew up, we were
in the dairy business and we ate
margarine because it was supposed
to be healthy instead of butter.
Come on.
in the dairy
And we were in the dairy business.
Yeah.
Disgusting.
Ew.
Yeah.
We, no, we were margarine,
we were fat-free milk.
I switched us and all the lean
and the snackwells cookies that
you can eat the whole box so easy.
Yes.
Yeah.
So been there, done that
Yeah.
I mean that's, that's, that's the beauty
of it that I, I did get to get older
and that with the wisdom of hindsight.
Yeah.
and knowing what we know now so we can do
better because we didn't know we thought
we were so, like there was a part of me
that also went through all of this like,
oh God, like we could have saved him.
Like we didn't
Yes,
like we, everything we did.
And I have to be careful how I
say that cuz my mom doesn't want
us to feel like we, like it's our
it's not though you, you did
the best you could with the
information you had at the time.
Really, really a and so you know,
it's not, there's no person to blame.
It's just, it's, it is, it's so
frustrating and unfortunate and, you
know, we don't get to know, like,
would it, would it be different
right?
You know, and you are helping people
and, and doing amazing things.
Obviously you've shifted careers.
And I kind of, cuz I got excited
about like all our parallels.
I, I interrupted your journey
because you, here you are, twenties
into thirties, life is getting
smaller and smaller and smaller.
And then all of a sudden you
start realizing, wait a minute.
I can feel better and better and better.
Some people may think, okay, well
if you were that sick into your
thirties, you might have missed
a lot of opportunity in life.
But I know, I, I know you have a family
I know that you didn't miss at all.
So tell us a little bit about, you
know, once you started healing,
what did, what, what happened?
I loved having a body that could move
Yeah.
I mean, that's just an incredible
feeling and it was, you know, when
you are living in pain, you forget
what it feels like to not be in pain.
And I remember, so at this time
I had moved out to California.
That's where I am now.
And I'm still working in television,
but I was already on my healing journey.
And so everybody who I worked with
here didn't know that I was sick.
Girl.
Everybody in New York knew me as
the girl who sometimes needed to
be carried up the stairs in our
studio because I couldn't do it.
And they're like, how come she has
more energy than everybody else?
Well, I wasn't drinking.
Coffee or soda.
I wasn't eating what they
were eating and I don't smoke.
I never did.
But somebody actually told me when I
first started working in television
that like, you're never gonna make
it in this business because you don't
drink coffee and you don't smoke.
And I did make it, I won an Emmy, and
then I was like, okay, I kind of am
addicted to this feeling of feeling good.
and helping people feel good.
And there was something to
everybody kept asking me like,
how come you have so much energy?
What are you, what are you drinking?
Water.
was just eating food and
Real Food
real food and it was
just a complete shift.
Cuz honestly, my sugar
was my energy previously
Right.
And
I related
a short ride that sugar energy.
that's why you eat so much.
Right,
because you crash and you need
more, you crash and you need more.
And so it was that cycle and
then all of the other health
problems that came along with it.
And I just was on this
wheel, hamster wheel.
And so I, I'm, I'm here and people
are asking me and I, oh, so I'm
sitting in my apartment and there was
a knock on the door and I stood up
to go answer the door and I went, oh.
I just got up to answer the door.
It wasn't like, you know, the, the,
Uhhuh.
the CREs and the, all that
and sort of like, I liken it.
So like when you have a fever and your
head is so heavy, it's like an anvil.
And then when you don't have a
fever anymore, you don't feel your
head, you, you're aware that it's
on your body, but you don't feel it.
But it's so heavy when you have a
fever or a headache, you're like, Ugh.
And so I did, I forgot what it was like to
just be able to stand up and walk to the.
Yeah,
and it was because I was on
this, this healing journey
that I continued when I moved.
I started, so then that was sort of the,
Hmm, maybe I'm supposed to do something
different cuz everybody's asking me.
And so my, the actors on the show I
worked on, and some of the crew became
my first unofficial clients because I
was like, well, here's what I'm doing.
Maybe I should actually learn what I'm
doing, like know how to do what I'm doing.
And I went back to school for nutrition
and then I became my own Guinea.
And so every different
dietary theory, I tried it.
I'm like, Ooh, maybe this, oh, maybe this.
Oh, that's why I struggled
with my skin for so long.
Oh, that's why I had hormonal imbalance.
I was on the pill for I don't
know how many years over,
well over 10, 15, 19 years.
A really long time because I was told
if I went off of it, my body is gonna
do what my body always does, which was
not get my period sometimes for three.
well now I'm 35 and I go off
the pill cause I'm like, I
shouldn't be on this anymore.
And I do wanna have kids one day,
not today, but I do wanna have kids.
So I gotta like, let's see if all the
work I've been doing has, has moved
the needle and 28 days later I got my
period and I actually ovulated for the
first time that I know that I knew.
Cause I was like, that was the
most excruciating pain because
Middle SCHs,
Yeah, but I had never felt that before,
and this was extraordinary because
I'd been numbed to it for so long.
I have goosebumps.
I'm wearing a big old, warm, fuzzy
sweater and I still have goosebumps.
And the body is so miraculous.
The, we could do a whole episode and
we won't, I promise, on just the pill.
But the fact that your body.
Was like, thank you for stopping
that, and I'm just gonna work
like I'm supposed to now.
You know?
Wow.
stopping of it, it was all of the work I
sure you did all the things to balance if
you had just done those things earlier.
Different trajectory, but then we
wouldn't be so passionate about
what we do because I know it's,
it's our story that, that drives us.
So you start playing with actors and
friends, kind of you know, making
them Guinea pigs along with you,
yes, yes.
and.
I went to school and yeah, and then
I just, so then it, then it just went
from there and I was like, okay, this
is, I think what I'm meant to do.
This is why I can't explain why my dad
died and died so young and suddenly,
but now I understand what was going on.
and the things that we should have looked
And this is not okay.
Yeah.
And so now I can help
other people to not die.
I can help other people to not struggle
for 10 years and miss the prime of
their life going to appointments.
And so we can do it in a lot less
time, three to six months, sometimes
a year, but like not 10 years.
Yeah.
then, you know, bring back
the, the fertility piece.
I was like, . It's something I
wanted to do, but not right then.
And then it was, I got busy with,
I went to school, then I started a
practice and you got busy all Val.
And I was like, uhoh, I'm 40.
We forgot to have a baby.
We forgot to have a baby
I forgot to put that on the calendar.
Oops.
Yeah.
And so then I was more like,
okay, well use the tools that I
know and just make sure, cause I
didn't know what was gonna happen.
Cause everybody says
conventional wisdom, your.
35.
After 35.
Ooh.
It's gonna be tough
Rotten eggs.
You have rotten eggs.
Yeah.
So not true.
yeah.
Your geriatric or advanced maternal age is
is so the geriatric pregnancy.
Just those two words together.
If you don't, they don't
sound wrong to you.
Yeah.
let's, let's not all
pregnant women geriatric.
Let's just not
yeah.
So I worked on.
My husband, I worked on me for a year
just focusing on like hormone and
like fertility and before we even
tried and then within three months
of trying we got pregnant and I was
like, and not something, this is a
body who didn't get her period when
she was, was in her early twenties.
She's in her early forties and she made a.
and I had no complications.
I had no trouble getting pregnant.
I had, it was just the best, and I
didn't know that was gonna happen.
Honestly.
not.
But you, like
It was all just like
you did all that groundwork
and I love that you included
and I was working on him too.
Cuz we tend to forget that part that
like this is also important that that
takes two to make a healthy baby.
and you know, it, it's almost like the
men tend to be kind of an afterthought
if things aren't going as planned.
So I love that you were like,
you know, cancel me twice.
We're both gonna get healthy before
we pull the trigger on this process.
Absolutely, absolutely.
old is your son?
He will be before next month.
Aw, sweet baby.
Yes.
amazing.
Yeah.
So I'm proud of that.
Traject trajectory and how I'm
just a completely different
person than I was then, where I
couldn't even see the possibility
of having a body that didn't hurt
Right.
and having a baby in your forties
like that sounds just insane or not.
Not at all.
Now I'm like, of course you can.
Why not?
Right?
Well, when you, when you feel younger, as
you age, it makes having a baby in your
forties, you know, a totally different
Yeah.
story than when you know you're
in your forties and you feel like
you're in your sixties or seventies
Well, that's what they also tell us,
right After 40, it's all downhill.
Right.
No, it's not
No, I don't feel that way at all.
I feel like it was an
uphill climb to get here.
and you know, now I'm like,
yeah, this is pretty good.
This is pretty good.
I like what my body does and it's also
something that I, you know, I spent a
lot of time learning about my body, the
body, like the physiology of the body,
but also how every body is different.
Yes.
know, that's the functional approach.
And so, you know, there are, are.
truths about how the body works,
and then also like your body is
gonna work different than my body
and maybe have different needs.
Right, right.
Different, different things that
need to be addressed to get it
back into balance so it can do
the wonderful things like heal and
Yeah.
get younger and I love that.
So for me, it was my thirties and
forties that were super rough.
Okay.
and I can tell you cuz you're gonna
be looking forward to it Anyway,
my fifties have been amazing.
Like I, you know, I learned to scuba dive.
I now live on a farm taking care of for
talk, you know, do the, the doing the
things that I would have never imagined.
It used to be so hard just to
change the sheets on the bed.
That was what I was thinking of when you
were talking about like, I got up and
you know, wait, like that didn't hurt.
I got to the door.
I remember the first time I changed
the sheets and wasn't exhausted just
from changing sheets on bed and I
was like, oh my God, I forgot that.
Like people change the
sheets all the time.
It's not a big deal.
No, I, no,
I mean, going to the bathroom was a
problem for me because you have to sit,
they, you have to bend your knees to go
to the bathroom, and so like thankfully
in public bathrooms, they had those grab
bars and I would like lower myself down.
It's kind of incredible, isn't it?
To like look over your shoulder
and think back to, yeah.
It, it's just, and even having lived with
that for so long, like, look at you now.
It's, it's, so, I love that.
That's the whole point of this podcast.
To give as many examples to people
that, you know, the body can heal.
We can all heal.
It's a never too late.
It's a never too early it,
long as you give it the right tools, the
tools that it needs, it wants to heal.
yeah.
And that's what I think we forget or we
don't listen or we get so stuck in the
pain of it and that's the only thing we're
hearing and not what your body is saying.
Help me fix this.
Well, and
in this.
Please do you see this?
That's that I'm telling you like
that that rash means that there's
something going on in here, or you
know, that ache and pain, that's, that's
It's information, it's, we forget that.
And, and as you know and I know,
and so many listeners know as
well, well, we don't figure it out.
As the body is whispering, it will
get louder and louder and louder.
. And, and so I love that, that
you're like, no, I love that.
It's, it was, you know, that one,
that's all it takes one win, right?
Like the one, all right, maybe
I won't drink the orange juice.
I thought that was good.
It's, you know, it's
orange , it's vitamin C, right?
. So I, that's amazing.
I know.
So I know food obviously
played a big role.
But I know much like myself, you really
underscore the importance of mindset.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
tell me a little more about that.
A about using mindset for healing.
Well, it I don't, I honestly don't know
what the, was it divine intervention or
like what it was, because, you know, the
crying all of the time wasn't helping.
and everything else, you know, the meds
weren't helping, the therapies weren't
helping, and, and at some point I
realized that there has to be a better
way, and I was determined to find it.
And when I stopped looking for what
was wrong with me instead, and I
was looking for a label to be fixed,
so instead, instead of what's wrong
with me, How can I feel better?
What do I need to do?
Because I know that I can, other
people feel better, so can I.
And, and so I, I stopped identifying
with being a sick person cuz
that's what I was, and you know.
Hi, how are you?
Oh, I feel I, my knee hurts.
Oh, I can't, like that's what you say.
You identify with that and I just, I
became like, I started to be sickened by.
, you know, I just didn't
wanna hear that anymore.
I was literally sick and tired of
feeling sick and tired and, and then,
so like, my mission was different.
It was more a proactive, rather
than fix me, feel me, what can I do?
What's wrong with me to, oh, I
can do that and I feel better.
Can I do that?
And I feel better
else?
What else could
yes.
And I kept, so it's, it's like instead of
going down, it was like up, up, up, up.
. I really liked that feeling of,
yeah, I actually feel better when
I do this and I, yeah, I think we
just, we get it's the blame game.
Looking for something to blame and
there wasn't anything, I feel like it
was it, well, poor diet, I would say.
Poor diet,
Right, right.
Unintentionally you were following the
advice of the quote experts at the time.
And I love that you said that I, it's
one of the first things I usually do
with people that have diagnoses, , is
to let's start unraveling that
identify I was there for a long time.
I, I identified with rheumatoid arthritis.
Like that was who I was.
instead of all of the wonderful
things, I, I am, you know, it was,
I have our, everything was under
that umbrella of I have ra right.
Therefore I'm tired and I'm in
pain and I'm, I'm, I have ra.
I can't.
I can't.
I can't.
I can't.
Yeah.
And so I love that you were like, no,
I, you know, we need to not identify.
Whether you have, whether
you have a diagnosis or not.
I sometimes say, I think it's a gift
when you haven't gotten one yet,
Mm-hmm.
Cause then we don't have to,
you know, totally shift that.
But like you said, even without,
you're still identifying with
the pain and, and you know, that
inability to live the way you wanted.
Yeah, I was just con,
you know, consulting Dr.
Google all of the time
no
you know, and you know, what
do these illnesses mean?
Looking for a diagnosis instead of
how do I help these pains go away?
Right.
What is my body really telling me?
oh, I can by myself, make
my body go feel better.
Like what a concept that I didn't need
surgery and I didn't need medication,
and I didn't need more therapies.
I needed guidance, that's for sure.
I needed a plan.
I needed the education,
you know, the tools.
Well, and like you said though, you
made so much progress on your own,
much like I did, but it took me.
After 11 years of not doing it
the right way, it still took
me years of trial and error.
I love that you said you,
you became a Guinea pig.
Like I, I'm still a Guinea pig, like . I
think once, you know, I, and I love
this with the, with the clients I work
with too, once we feel well, You know,
then it's like you just start to get
into that up level, up level, up level.
You know?
What else, what else, what else can I do?
Mindset, which is how we
feel younger as we age.
I don't know.
It really is
You start to vision yourself
as the higher version.
And I say this with my clients all
the time, like that's part of my
job is to, is to hold you high.
This vision that I see for you.
And then when you get there, because
it's hard, like sometimes you
can't see it cuz you feel terrible.
And it's like, okay, well, Borrow my eyes.
I see this for you.
I know what's possible for you.
And then when you get there, are
you just content to stay there or do
you wanna reach for the next level?
Because once you get to that
vantage point, you get to that
part of the mountain, you're
like, oh, this view is awesome.
Wait, I can go
What's higher?
Right, right.
like it.
It's so true.
We were, we went hiking last weekend.
We tried to go s snowshoeing cuz we
still had a lot of snow where I live.
And we went up to one of my favorite
hikes with the dogs and the snowshoes.
And for some reason there wasn't
really, there was mud, there wasn't.
So we, we hiked instead and.
As we, and it was really quiet,
like the parking lot at the
lake had maybe three cars in it.
And just as we were about to get out of
the car, this woman in her, she had to be
in her mid seventies, got out of her car,
she was alone, grabbed her fishing gear.
Trekked her way across the lake
and still, you know, fished.
We, we went on our hike and we passed
her on our way back and chatted with her
for a few minutes and I was like, yes.
Like, you know, it's, it, it's one of
those like, amazing, she can do that,
but also it's because she's doing that
like it's, you know, it's cyclical.
I'm old, so I can't,
She's not sitting in her chair like,
oh, I wish I could still fish, or,
you know, it was, it was just you
know, I think of all of the, she got
in the walk, she got, in the time
in nature, she got in the fishing.
She just, you know, I'm sure there's
not much she can't do, if anything.
And I'm like, that's what I wanna be.
I wanna be, you know,
hiking in my seventies.
Yeah,
Why not?
Absolutely.
I mean, that's the thing,
age, I, I don't fear age.
Like the closer I get to 50, which, you
know, that does, that is a scary number
because of what happened in my family.
Yeah.
And also I don't feel like
I'm on that same trajectory.
I very easily would have been.
And so part of it is like
if that didn't happen, I.
I feel like a lot of people, you
could have a heart attack and then
get an opportunity to change your
diet and then you go the other way.
So I don't know why that
didn't happen for my dad.
Like why couldn't he
just have a heart attack?
Like his first warning sign was death.
Yeah.
But even still back then, the,
that's the whole thing, right?
Like my dad, hi, his father passed away
at 60 from his second heart attack.
Hmm.
And so that was one of my dad's biggest,
you know, careful what you call in,
he probably put too much attention
to, you know, changing trajectory.
But So what did he do?
He went low fast, you know, he, he
did what he was told at the time.
Same.
And so, you know, it, it's,
you know, the beauty is you're
creating a different reality now.
You reminded me of something my dad said.
So his mother died two years prior and.
She didn't go.
It was, she shouldn't have died.
She just, something happened.
She was miserable and she
basically stopped eating.
And my dad was like, if
you don't eat, you die.
And that's ultimately what happened.
And my grandfather who beat cancer,
died basically of a broken heart.
A year later after my grandmother.
He just couldn't live without
her over 50 years together.
And, and so he like went
crazy and then died.
And my dad.
Had to take care of him a little
bit when he was sort of, he
was just not himself anymore.
And I remember him saying,
it sucks getting old.
Don't let me get old.
And that's not what he meant.
I don't
No, but
what he
that's what the universe heard.
Yeah.
So he didn't, he died young and
in his prime playing tennis.
Well, he died doing what
he loved, so That's good.
That's always the, but yeah,
and, and that's that we need to
shift, that's why we have these
conversations, you know, because it
doesn't have to suck getting old.
And the things we think of as
aging are all just inflammation.
So the, the more we get under
the, you know, reverse that
inflammation, we don't have to feel.
Yeah.
And I always say age is just everything
you've done to yourself up until now.
Right.
And so we can undo a lot of that.
We're resilient.
I mean, that's, that's the beauty.
It's not like, oh shoot, we got that
wrong , you know, maybe next lifetime.
No.
As we learn, we can shift and
correct, and our body will do things
like make healthy babies at 42.
You know, it's really wild.
It will.
No, it, it wants to heal for you.
It wants to heal for you
I love that.
hundred percent.
amazing.
So what is one step, I know I
warned you this was coming because
there's so many and I love that.
You know what, yes.
You gave us the, like, there are things we
all need and then there's the individual
healing functional medicine approach.
But, but what is one thing
people listening today can, can
do to start to improve health
Well, I would say yeah, there, there's
always so many, but you know, you have
to look at what your, these are what
we consider to be non-negotiables,
and so looking at, are you pooping?
Are you sleeping?
Are you pooping Reg, like regularly?
Not once a week.
I, yeah, that's a good fair
because I used to poop two to three
times every two to three days.
I thought that was okay.
Cuz I didn't have time.
And that was your Nor
you know that, oh no.
That's normal for me.
No,
And when I, when I went to an
acupuncturist for my chronic pain and
he looked at my tongue and he's like,
How often do you go to the bathroom?
And I was like, oh.
Like two days ago.
And
I have to
yeah.
I didn't think that there
was anything wrong with that.
I didn't wanna have to go at work.
Nobody and nobody talks about that.
Yeah.
So,
except for us
yeah, I talk about poop every day.
Poop and
Me
pee and gas, poop, pee and gas every day.
And so looking at.
and your sleep and your digestion,
and so like those, those three things.
And so where, what area
do you need the most work?
Maybe it's all three, but look, just pick
one of those things that you feel like,
well, yeah, I, I, I don't poop every day.
It's every three days.
Okay.
So that's the thing that you.
first, or maybe no, I, I sleep horribly.
I wake up in the middle of the
night or I go to bed at 2:00
AM I mean, I hear that a lot.
I'm just like, oh my God.
I don't have time to sleep.
, Uhhuh,
I've heard.
I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Well,
Yeah.
Well, yeah, you will soon.
soon enough.
Yeah.
So the sleep thing, cuz again, I, I
get it because when I was working in
television, I was on set at 6:00 AM So
I'm up at 4, 4 30 in the morning and I'm
coming home at nine o'clock at night.
right.
And so I, I didn't sleep very much.
I was used to four hours
and now No, I can't.
I cannot function on four hours of sleep.
You just become, it's just, it's
just, it's, no, it's unacceptable.
yeah.
That alone will create illness over time.
So that's, I'd love that, that you
are sharing the parts of your story.
People sometimes look at me and they think
like, . I just was born this way, right?
Eating well, sleeping all the time,
drinking enough water, pooping, you
know, regularly and, and it's like
no, the like, we're always looking
for like the big fancy thing.
So I really love that.
Although, haha, you're one thing,
wasn't really one thing, but , but
you got around it really like
beautifully but it's it's basics.
Like people, you know, somebody asked me,
I had a doctor recently asked me, what's
your favorite detox protocol to use?
And I'm like, water
Yeah,
poop, urine, sweat, breath.
Like, like, let's we, you know,
we're always, again, that's still
kind of that men mentality of
like, what pill is gonna fix me?
Like, let's, are we
doing the basic things?
Because the reality is
it's not just one thing.
It's not just one thing that got you here.
And it's not just one thing that's
gonna fix it, but there is one place
that you can start and where that
is might be different for everybody.
And actually, no.
I'll give you the one thing.
The one thing, cuz it ties to both
of the three things that I said.
Well, the two other things that
I said, it's your digestion,
Okay.
That's fair.
Yeah.
because if that's not functioning,
you're gonna have poor elimination,
Yep.
have poor sleep because you probably
have blood sugar dysregulation and the
poor digestion is gonna manifest in skin
issues, hormonal imbalances, headaches,
low energy, like so many things.
And so that's probably
the best place to start.
How is.
Digestion and then the checklist
of all of those things.
Well, no, my digestion is good.
It's fine.
I don't have any gas or or
diarrhea or constipation.
Okay.
Well, do you have these other things?
Well, yeah.
Okay, so let's back it up and there
are things that we need to fix.
Maybe you're not absorbing nutrients.
Maybe that's what the issue issue is.
There's some kind of
kink in the system here.
So there you go.
There's your one thing.
I love it.
And I know you so
generously offered a gift.
For listeners, which is the roadmap
to, to chronic illness recovery.
And we'll have links to that in
the show notes, unless you wanna
tell them now how to get it.
We'll, both
yeah.
Well, you can go to allison saman.com.
It's Saman like Matt Damon, but
with an s allison saman.com/roadmap.
And it's basically what I
took 10 years to figure out.
And you can start right away and.
You know, I always say when, when you
work with me within two weeks or sooner.
So there's gonna be some kind of
shift, and if you follow the roadmap,
you are going to see a shift.
So whether that's in better sleep,
better poop, better feeling, after
you eat better energy, one of those
things is gonna happen, right?
I love
I can like almost guarantee it, which
we're not supposed to guarantee, but
I can almost guarantee it if you,
if you follow that will happen for
Fantastic.
And we'll have links to all
of your, all of your things.
But for people listening on the go,
where is the best place to find you?
Yeah.
So I would say at Health Alley
on Instagram, come say hi.
Yay, Allie, thank you so much.
You have shared some amazing gold with
us today, and your story is so inspiring.
Thank you.
I appreciate being here.
I, I think your podcast is wonderful
and does a lot to inspire and educate
people, so it's an honor to be here.
Thank you.
That's why we're here.
Yeah.
Yeah.
For everyone listening.
Remember, you can get the
show notes and transcripts by
visiting Inspired Living Show.
I hope you had a great time and
enjoyed this episode as much as I did.
I'll see you next week.