Podcast Episode 12: Maintain Your Health on Vacation (with transcription)
Jul 19, 2022
Welcome to our 12th episode of True Health Solutions Podcast with Dr. Lonnie Bagwell and Brigitte Spurgeon.
Disease doesn’t take a vacation so how you navigate health decisions while continuing your healing journey is paramount.
Join our conversation on how we approach travel and holidays regarding mindset, nutrition and family.
Share this episode with your friends and family so we can start developing a healthy culture around holidays and vacations!!
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Brigitte Spurgeon (00:00):
Don't be embarrassed about your choices for your body. It is your body and your health. You're responsible for
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (00:06):
It. Welcome to the True Health Solutions Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, stress, inflammation, and functional health clinician.
Brigitte Spurgeon (00:12):
And I'm your co-host Brigitte Spurgeon Metabolism and nutrition expert. This
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (00:17):
Podcast is where we bring hope, truth, and inspiration for your holistic health journey
Brigitte Spurgeon (00:21):
Because the world needs the best version of you.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (00:26):
Welcome to True Health Solutions podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, here with my co-host.
Brigitte Spurgeon (00:31):
I'm Brigitte Spurgeon.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (00:32):
The Brigitte Spurgeon. And she is, Tell everybody where you're at right now, Bridget. Cuz as of the last recording, you are in a different country. So where are you now?
Brigitte Spurgeon (00:40):
Yes, I am currently in a little village called Donate in Ireland,
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (00:47):
Ireland. So halfway around the world we catch up with Bridget. We took a break from recording for, uh, for some time for travel. And now, uh, that became the theme of what we wanted to talk about today on the show. This time of the year, uh, people are traveling a lot more. So we got post covid crazy travel, uh, that got reignited. Um, we have end of the school year travel, we have summertime travel. Um, you're obviously doing a different kind of a travel. Um, but, uh, but even for me, I've been doing tons of different trips, whether it was this past 4th of July weekend to New York, whether it was trip out west, um, and, uh, we even have future trips planned already, you know, for the rest of the year. So the theme of today's show, the topic that we're gonna cover is what are the things that we do?
(01:31):
And this is gonna be more conversational today, but we're gonna talk about what are all the things that we do to have the healthiest travel experience, especially when it comes to food. We were talking a lot about food, uh, in new nutrition, uh, cuz that's tends to be the thing that just goes out the window for most people. And definitely the number one challenge that we hear patients talk about. In fact, people are willing to put like, you know, like recovery from serious illness on hold because they have a vacation coming up, right? Like, we have that conversation. Well, I don't know if I should start until, you know, three weeks from now. You know, And then we have to have that coming to Jesus conversation and say, Wait a minute. Like we have to go back through what we just, you know, clinically that would not be a great idea, right?
(02:10):
Um, but for everybody that's listening, um, you know, we're gonna walk through just our strongest mindsets and most common tips, tricks and strategies to have the healthiest travel experience when it comes to, uh, nutrition especially. And so, um, I'm gonna let you kick that off a little bit more, Bridget, cuz you're literally in transition right now. So you're actually walking it out as we speak. Um, but share with our listeners maybe your most recent experience, you know, with, uh, transitioning from Mexico to Ireland and maybe some of the, uh, strategies that you imp implemented, you know, even in the last week.
Brigitte Spurgeon (02:44):
Sure. It literally is polar opposite. Wow. You know, coming from from Mexico, the food is completely different. Uh, the, just even the quality of food. So I, I'm actually really excited about my food environment here in Ireland. It is, everything's local here, so local meats, local dairy produce. In fact, where we're staying, I have my own vegetable garden and herb garden. So, um, so I actually have it pretty easy, but I was just sharing with Dr. Bagwell that I, um, even had some, um, I guess some transitional microbiome, uh, flareups. So, and I think it was just because it was so, it was different and very, um, maybe like, uh, biotically rich. And so I was just enjoying some of, some of the local dairy and the meats and, and the cheeses and probably even like strawberries and homemade kombucha and things like that. So, um, I had, I had a little bit of stomach upset.
(03:49):
I think my body was just adapting to that. Interestingly, when we went to Mexico, I, I didn't have, I don't think I had too much of that adaptation. My, my husband had a little bit of the montezuma's revenge, but I seem to fare pretty, pretty well over there. So, but I'm, I'm doing great now. And for, you know, for me with travel, uh, I'm just so accustomed to having to adapt quickly and having to be intentional with finding grocery stores, you know, finding the places where I can get organic foods, where I can get good meats. That's very important to Sandy and I is, is just finding high quality fish and meats and vegetables. Those are gonna be the basis of our meals. And, um, and then also was even just finding like organic coffee. And I haven't been able to find good coffee in Ireland, so I'm, I'm just not gonna do coffee for, for two months. I'm just taking a break from coffee, enjoying some Irish tea, and I'm pretty excited about that. I'm just embracing shifting it.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (04:56):
Some words that come to mind as you're speaking there is like a adaptability becomes a critical ingredient part of the mindset. Like, and you, you just, you get, you get adaptable in your mind before you get adaptable in your actions, you know? So just being prepared to be, you know, adaptable. That was one word, um, that just popped into my mind. And, um, um, and the other word that I just can't shake just in our pre-recording, and then now you're talking again, it's just simplification. Most of the time travel is all about enjoyment and getting away from the day to day. And so, but when people go off the rails with it and they'll say, So I'm gonna be gone for a week and I'm just not gonna cook at all. We're gonna eat out every single meal for seven day. You know? Right. And I mean, that's very common that people would do that.
(05:41):
Um, and of course just there's a whole, we can do 10 podcasts on why that's not a great idea and so, or super expensive and, you know, I think, but the word simplify comes to mind. If, if we can have a simplified approach and we're adaptable, they seem to be two key ingredients for success with this. Right. And you're not sacrificing your, your trip. And, and again, when, where, where you're traveling right now is it kind of demands adaptability and simplification. But we can take that and apply it to our week long beach trip as well. Right? And so if we can keep it simple, then we will desire to prepare the food because it's easy and then we feel good, right? And, and it feels like it, you know, it's enriching our vacation to eat clean like that, and then we want to continue to do it right instead of just throwing all outta the window.
(06:28):
So anyway, that's popped into my head, um, that, uh, you know, as you were speaking, um, and it kind of went into right to, um, I guess kind of again, the adaptability thing. It really goes back to one of the things that was my first thing that I wrote down here, which was always starting with mindset. And I want you to comment on that too. Um, but I wrote down Know your season, which I think is something that you had mentioned too, actually. Um, and, and, but it's, it's, you gotta know where you're at before you go, right? And I, and I kind of broke it into two, I just made this up so, you know, this isn't something that we've taught before, but I broke it into two categories. I just said there's, there's like a season where you're in active physical recovery and there's not as much leeway, right?
(07:10):
And so this is where you might go into your trip and say, and I have examples of each of these for myself, but where you go into the trip and you're just gonna say, you know, this is the, nothing tastes as good as healthy feels mindset. You know, going into that vacation, going into that trip, it's like, you know, you, you don't have a choice. Like we just have, we have a diagnosis, you know, we just put you on an active anti-inflammatory protocol because of a diagnosis maybe, or severe symptoms that you're experiencing, but you still gotta go on this trip. This is not the trip to, you know, to, to go off the rails on, right? This is the one where you use that unique environment to actually give it more focus, to actually focus more on anti-inflammatory experience. Um, and I had shared with you beforehand, although you already knew this because you've walked with me through a lot of the stuff, but, um, my two biggest, uh, seasons of weight loss, you know, that the weight that I've been able to keep off for the longest time has been actually one, uh, weight loss season where I, I actually started the week of Thanksgiving and then, so my Thanksgiving in a matter of 72 hours before it just completely changed.
(08:11):
Um, and I had to eat ridiculously, you know, clean held opposite of everything else on the table basically. Um, and then, uh, and but that kind of, I guess doubling down on my commitment by doing it the week of Thanksgiving catapulted me into some of the best results I've ever gotten. And then, um, the other one was, uh, prema, and it was actually when we were developing some of the program that we do now with weight loss. Um, and I was like, I was committed to losing the weight. You know, we were testing some of this stuff out and I was like, now's the time. I, I know I'm going to Jamaica, but I'm gonna do it anyway. Um, and I did, and, and it wasn't absolutely perfect because I did try some of the cultural foods that I, that I, that were healthy, but maybe not perfectly on plan or whatever, but I think I lost like 17, 17 pounds, you know, while I was away.
(08:57):
And so, uh, and so anyway, so the, the, the knowing what season that you're in, so there's nothing tastes as good as healthy feel season. Or you actually could have, you may be physically recovered, you may have your be, you know, your goal weight having maintained that for three to six months, Right? Whatever. You can comment on that more. But for me, you know, it's like a, you know, you've come off of multiple medications, you know, now by immersing yourself in the culture, there is a healing that happens, right? We can measure, uh, healthy hormones going up. We can measure, you know, neurotransmitters that are improved ba and as far as their balance is concerned by immersing yourself in the culture and having that almost like a hyper self care experience, you know, by, by really letting go and, you know, and, uh, and just really experiencing the joy all that that trip has to do with your family or whatever.
(09:44):
And so, um, and so that might be the, the cultural immersion, like healing experience mentally and emotionally, you know, by just, you know, by, by eating, like we said before, by going to Italy and actually eating the pasta that tastes better than anywhere else in the world, right? Or tasting the Italian wine that, you know, and we, not for the purpose of this podcast, but we could certainly even break this down into specific plans on how you approach that. Like what the day of, what's the day after, right? All that stuff. But, you know, I just wanted to present the, the two simple kind of mindsets, um, that us all required before you even go on the trip. Right? And so, um, and so share with us a little bit more about your perspective on the mindset side of things when, you know, when it comes to healthy travel,
Brigitte Spurgeon (10:25):
It starts with mindset. Because, you know, the vacation strategy is not a one size fits all. It's all about the individual. And so, so I like what you said that there are two or three categories is what I would put them in. And the first category, which unfortunately a lot of people fall into this category, and that's obviously gonna be all of our patients because that's why they come to us, that that's why they're in our clinic or part of our programs. And that that's when someone needs, they need that time to heal. They, like you said, they're in, in active recovery or they're going through a period of restriction. So I'll, I'll just share, uh, you know, maybe this could be a self assessment to know if you are in that category or not. So, um, obviously come coming from the nutritionist and weight loss expert, if you are overweight, then you're in that healing category.
(11:19):
If you're on medications or have a diagnosed disease state, um, then you need healing. If you have a carb craving, sugar cravings, or an a, an appetite that is hard to control, then you need healing. Maybe you are following a detoxing protocol or, or you need a period of detoxing, then that will put you in that category. And then lastly, I just added, because sometimes you go through a spiritual season where you are going through, um, you've made the choice to restrict something or to follow a certain protocol that, I mean, that could be a Daniel fast, that could be, uh, water fasting or, you know, that could look different for everyone. That could be intermittent fasting or restricting meat or processed foods or, or something like that. So is anything you would wanna add to, to those Dr. Bagwell?
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (12:16):
No, I love that. And it's obviously we can't give every possible scenario. We'd love to talk to patients about these things and, and make more specific recommendations based off of their current state and their goals and, you know, the timeline of things. Cause everybody's on some kind of a plan. Um, I love, I love it. Just a good sampling of, of how we start to look. I, I hopefully people that are listening are just hearing like, Yeah, that is a different way of looking at this. And, you know, and the, the only thought that did, I guess come to mind is that, um, you know, what's your bigger priority to do what you've always done on vacation or to do this new thing that you've committed to and follow through with it, because that's the bigger priority than the vacation. And I think that sometimes, and oh, not sometimes, I'll say the majority of the time this conversation comes up, people's mindsets are the opposite.
(12:58):
It's this crazy poverty type mindset when it comes to vacation saying, Oh no, if I don't eat all the bad foods, I'm going to have a terrible vacation. And I'm exaggerating a little bit, but that's really the spirit of it, right? It's like, well, I can't cha I, I can't even consider eating differently on vacation because then my vacation is just gonna be terrible. You know? And that, that's just couldn't be further from the truth, right? Like, I mean, some of my best vacations are the healthiest ones. Like the ones where like, I come home and I feel great and I'm lean and I stayed healthy on the vacation, or, you know, or maybe I've even recovered. Well, like maybe I was injured before I went on vacation and it was a recovery season, but I didn't miss time with my family. That didn't change. Exactly. Time on the beach didn't change, right? All the, all the activities that the ocean didn't change or the mountains or whatever, we hiked the same trails, we had the same amazing conversations around the campfire, right? All the things that make the vacation are still completely intact. Uh, and I get the culture of food. I mean, you know, we can all day long, I could talk about the culture of food, right? But we give it so much value that it doesn't deserve,
Brigitte Spurgeon (14:00):
It asserts peer pressure on us. Um, and the, the same thing with holidays. It's like, you know, there's this mindset that the 4th of July is not the 4th of July without a hot dog, right? Or, or that Thanksgiving is not gratitude with your family if you don't have pumpkin pie or cri, you know, or Christmas mm-hmm. <affirmative> or December has to come with sugar cookies, <laugh>. You know, like we, you know, we, we have these, these self-imposed beliefs that are, that we attach this type of joy or the celebration to the food of the season versus the meaning of the season. And it's so liberating. There's such freedom in not being attached to those things and attaching to our family, to the experience, to the memories, to the reason for the season.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (14:51):
Season. Hello. And, and, and just in, I mean, I've told my story so many times that I, I don't like to repeat it cuz I always feel like people are gonna, I don't wanna say it multiple times the same people, right? But I will say this, I mean, like, I, if anybody can change a nutrition or if I can, then anybody can, because I can literally say like, my highlights of holidays when I was younger, like my favorite foods would be like, how many different pies can I eat? And I don't e I don't mean like try, I mean like whole pies <laugh>, like, like I could eat a whole pie, you know what I mean? Over like a four day period over Christmas break or something, right? And it was like, well, you better have six pies. I mean, just literally I was balking and getting big for football or whatever.
(15:25):
It's such a crazy distorted mindset that I lived. And now I will tell you that my favorite food that I look forward to is like, like the homemade cranberry, uh, chutney that my wife makes. Like I, my life couldn't be any different, you know, than what it is now from what it used to be to what it is now, right? Like, I want the fruit dish now more than anything, you know? And then, uh, you know, and now we've even learned we have to freeze cranberries so we can have it year round. But anyway, so I've changed so much, you know, and how I look at this stuff, and I, I promise anybody's listening to this, if you just do it once and you prove to yourself that it really wasn't about the food, it, it just, it br it's like, it just break opens the good Pandora's box of looking at this nutrition and travel thing so, so much differently.
(16:04):
And what you just said actually leads perfectly into the second thing. Not that you, we didn't do this on purpose, but it, the whole second thing that I wrote down is the culture around vacation foods. Um, because one thing that we've established is by just over 20 years just getting healthier and healthier, healthier ingredients, healthier recipes, then what's happened is, is now if I put my boys on this camera right now, and I said, What's the food that you look most forward to when we go to the beach? They're gonna tell you beach nachos, right? So we have a culture around the food that we eat certain places, but because we focus on healthier eating, I will tell you that those beach and os if I, I'm not gonna go through all the ingredients, but trust me, it's all ridiculously healthy. Yeah. You, yeah, yeah.
(16:41):
You have Adam, right? And so there the other C chips, so they're grain-free chips, right? If we, if we're putting cheese on, it's, it's a shredded goat, uh, goat mozzarella, right? So non non-inflammatory, um, you know, closest to our proteins inside our body, uh, non allergy foods, right? And it's just, and so it, it's uh, organic chicken that we chop up and put on there, Turkey bacon and it, I'm telling you, it's some of the best nachos that you'll ever have. And this is what my kids want. And we might do that a few times. And by the way, it takes about 10 minutes to prep 10 minutes in the oven and it, and you do a whole tray of it and it's a meal for everybody. So it checks off every single box, ridiculously simple, ridiculously healthy. And we have a culture around it.
(17:20):
So there's even an expectation over the years that we're going to make that food when we go to the beach, right? We called it beach nachos for that reason. Um, and same thing with Thanksgiving. Now it's like, I'm actually, every year, I will tell you that every year we get to Thanksgiving or Christmas, um, and I give credit to my bride for this, um, you know, all the way because she's worked hard to, you know, I was, we ate the unhealthy foods then my, all my holidays were around, can we make the healthiest version of the unhealthiest foods, you know, that we have, Right? It's like the compromise. And then now it's just like, I actually, every year I look around and I just think like, what an amazing meal. And it's at least 75% healthier than I ever, than anything I ever grew up with. And I don't care. I I like it better. Yeah. Right? Like, I don't wanna feel crappy for three days. You know,
Brigitte Spurgeon (18:04):
Real food tastes better, right? Cause it's, it's real food, real, real ingredients. So I'm happy to share, share some tips if you are in this category where you are healing or you are following a protocol, sometimes having that vacation or that certain holiday coming up can feel very daunting. And, um, and I love, you know, I love Dr. Bagwell sharing about, you know, col culture and the mindset and the, the big thing is just being intentional with your health, with your choices, with your lifestyle and, and planning. So being, being prepared. So if you are traveling, it might be taking some foods with you. And I know my husband and I, uh, or, and this section more for him than for me cuz I don't eat them. But you know, those epic bars, like we would always try, like if we're taking a road trip, there are epic bars in the car because we don't wanna be in a situation where, um, I mean we, we just, we wouldn't opt to stop at a subway or, or something like that.
(19:05):
That's, um, that's just not in our choices. And so it's just easy to grab then an apple, apple and an epic bar or, you know, have water with us in the, in the car. The other thing though, nowadays we have access to so many things like that, there has been a demand for clean food, healthier food. In fact, I was in the Heathrow airport and the restaurant right there was like a, a healthy fa I think it was called Healthy fast food or something. And it literally was all, it was all just organic clean food. It was amazing. And I was like, oh my word. The world has changed so much. Not like it used to be that it was the McDonald's was the option, but now we're, we, we have an abundance of good options around the world. So, um, we're losing those excuses act actually.
(19:58):
But just in case you are in a compromised permi, um, position, be prepared with some travel snacks. I mean, literally you can even buy like travel coconut oil, travel coconut aminos, you know, there, there's a condiments you can take, take with you. Uh, you know, the like jerky beef Jerky's a, a great one to do. And, but then the other thing is like, if you're somewhere for a week, it's finding a grocery store nearby. And these days most grocery stores have good foods. It's not just you don't need a whole foods, you know, it doesn't, Now I like to go to a Whole Foods, but it doesn't need to be a Whole Foods. You can find good grocery stores and then even just researching the restaurants, looking at the menu ahead of time. And then when you're ordering in the rest, the restaurant don't be, don't be embarrassed about your choices for your body.
(20:48):
It is your body and your health. You're responsible for it. And you know, I don't care what people, I don't care what a waiter thinks of me. I like, I like I I'm paying money there and, and I can ask for what I want. And so just a simple go-to is I will ask them to cook my food in butter because if you, if you don't, it's going to be cooked in oils. And so I will tell, I will say that I have a food allergy and I need my food. I can't have my food cooked in whatever vegetable oils that it needs to be cooked in, in butter or, or no oils at all. So that's something simple that my husband and I do. Another tip is, uh, incorporate intermittent fasting. That can be, and you can go both ways on this cuz sometimes it's, it may be appropriate actually to just blow intermittent fasting out the window.
(21:39):
Um, and I know you like to do like the small, smaller snacker meals, but sometimes it's actually, if you know you're going to have a fuller, bigger social event, a party, a wedding, something like that, it's like, well, hey, skip breakfast and lunch <laugh>, you know, and then enjoy, have the wine, have the, have the wedding cake. You know, like, well, no, no, not if you're on a healing protocol, but, um, but just close your window up and then you get at least the benefits of, of the intermittent fasting. And I, I, I guess lastly I will say is just take ownership of your own health and your choices. It's no one else's responsibility. It's your responsibility. And don't let others like pressure you into eating certain foods around a holiday or around round an event. Um, they are not responsible for, for your health. And don't feel like shame or embarrassment or anything. Like, just feel proud of yourself for making good choices and for following your path of healing.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (22:39):
Right on. I think that, uh, you know, people need to be told that it's okay to say no, you know, like that, that's okay. And, and people will honor that, have good boundaries around that. I think the other thing is, is, um, to, just to give people just a simple phrase with all the food allergy testing that we do, it's not uncommon nowadays just to be able to tell someone, you know, And, and, and I will tell you that there's not, there's no lying happening here when you say my body isn't reacting very well to, um, to trans fats. My body isn't reacting very well to different types of fat, you know, so I'm gonna have this dressing that I brought for my salad, you know, or my body, uh, you know, or, or I found out that I must be allergic to something that's in these recipes or whatever because my body just hasn't been doing great with that and I've been feeling really inflamed when I eat that.
(23:24):
And if you give a little bit of an explanation, they ha they have to honor it. Generally. It's not gonna lead into much of a conversation afterwards. And then you got away with it and it, you know, we should be able to just say no and be like, you know, no thank you. You know, and not be accepted. But I'm also not naive enough to think that all family members, moms especially, that have been cooking this food for 50 years, like nobody wants to be, just feel like they're doing something unhealthy for you or whatever, right? They don't wanna have that uncomfortable feeling. So just keep it on yourself. I don't like how my body's been reacting to that lately for some reason. It's kind of crazy, but I'm gonna stay away from it this trip and you know, I'll let you know how it goes, right?
(23:59):
Just, just something simple. Make it about you, you know, it's your loss, right? And then we're moving on, you know, with the alternative. Um, and then the other strategy that I was thinking about as you were talking is, I, and I just wrote it down simply here, is just rent, rent kitchens, right? We, we, we think about renting rooms like we, you know, we, we rent views, we rent kitchens, right? Like that's part of the plan. That's the pre pre pre-trip planning. Make sure that there's a real refrigerator and a real kitchen there. Um, and we've actually found that a lot of times it's less expensive, like to get those kind. I mean, well one, it's definitely less expensive when you can cook your foods. But also, uh, we have found many condos, you know, that are right on the beach or close to the beach and stuff like that, you know, And certainly obviously cabins in the mountains that are really great views and stuff like that, that are just the same prices.
(24:44):
If you didn't have 'em yet, you will save hundreds of dollars, you know, on eating out right, on a trip like that. And so, um, rent kitchens and then keep it simple. Keep it light. And we do choose, and I agree with you a thousand percent with what you were saying there. If we go to a conference, almost always intermittent fasting cuz you're con you're hustling from thing to thing, right? From room to room. You're, you know, I don't wanna run all the way back to my room and then all the way back to the restaurant and then all the way back to the conference. So like intermittent fasting, have more social time with friends, family, that kind of thing. Um, but we have found that on our trips, we do like the micro meals, like lots of different snacks. You know, it's a lot of, uh, like, uh, coconut yogurt and uh, gluten free granola, you know what I mean?
(25:24):
Like a lot of those types of snacks. And then by the, and then you end up eating ultimately less calories throughout the day and you're definitely able to, to micromanage what food you're eating, you know, by, you know, just kind of weaving your way through the day and working your way through the grocery bags, um, with all the little foods. So we end up tend to eat probably more, uh, variety or more, um, multiple meals throughout the day, but just keep it really light. Um, and that's a little bit of an adaptation for me because I'm definitely more in the intermittent fasting spectrum, you know, where I'm gonna have a big meal because I'm hungry and I didn't eat right as opposed to the, so actually I'll have a couple of, like, usually the first day I might do those small meals and I, and I'll prepare more food than I'm hungry for, you know, And then I settle into, you know, my, my regular vacation eating maybe.
(26:10):
So anyway, just another so good. Some other thoughts or perspectives on that. So, um, I love this. I think this is super helpful and I hope people, um, share this one because there's so many people right now that are just tanking their health, you know, on their vacations. And, and look back to the whole thing, like, if you're in a season where you need more mental emotional recovery and, and like, you know, you're gonna be with family and all that stuff and you know, like, then, then go for it. And don't feel guilty around it though. Like you can't beat yourself up over it and increase your stress, which by the way, decreases your digestion and actually causes the food to do more harm than it would've done, done had you just embraced it for that meal and then moved on to something healthier afterwards, right? So just be encouraged, like, we have all these good strategies and you know, again, nothing tastes as good as healthy feels if you're in recovery mode and anti-inflammatory mode or, or whatnot. But if you're gonna eat something, then do truly embrace it, right? Don't, don't dump all the extra stress on yourself.
Brigitte Spurgeon (27:06):
Remember, uh, diet variability and diet flexibility. That's exactly what Dr. Bag was talking about here. Like if he says, I'm normally fall into, you know, a six hour intermittent fasting window, but on vacation, I extend that into micro meals that is so healthy for him because he's, he is switching it up. Um, I've even switched it up where I switched to having breakfast and having breakfast as my main meal, where in my regular life I, you know, I don't eat until one or two o'clock or, you know, sometimes later in the afternoon. And I've done that actually for time zone purposes. And then, and sometimes you're in scenarios where maybe you get like this beautiful breakfast with your hotel or you know, with your accommodations. And so I wanna take advantage of the brunch, but then I'm, you know, then I'll skip. I remember doing that in Ghana actually.
(27:59):
Like I've made sure I had good food for breakfast, but I wasn't crazy about the access I had to food there, so I actually wouldn't eat the rest of the day. I just did like one meal a day and it was my breakfast meal and it felt ama amazing. Oh, because that, cuz I was speaking, I was speaking on stage at night, so I couldn't eat like before or at night. So yeah, it's, it actually worked, worked really well. So, so remember the flexibility and then that actually can be a great thing to switch it up because I feel like especially my really compliant and rule following patients, they want to stay in a box or stay between certain lines, but the benefit of vacation is actually switching it up.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (28:41):
I love it. I love it. So adaptability, flexibility, uh, keep it light, keep it simple, right? These are all the, and, and to have a vision for what that trip's gonna look like and for when you come back for recovery from the trip, right? And I, I'd said before, you know, people perish for lack of knowledge or you know, that what it that says that they, they cast off restraints for not being prepared, right? For lack of having a vision for, you know, what this trip's gonna look like. And so we want people to, um, to have a vision for what this whole, the, the 30 days around it looks like. Um, and you can have that excellent preparation prior to recovery afterwards, execution of the travel itself. Um, and of course, and again, and some people, you know, I, i just overwhelm is the word that comes to mind over and over again. Remember, just keep it simple. Keep it light, embrace the journey, you know it's gonna be okay. And once you kind of break the seal, if you will, on, you know, on doing this certain ways, now you really are developing your Batman utility belt, right? That diet, diet, adaptability, flexibility, um, where, uh, where really you can start to tackle all different types of travel scenarios. This is so good. I think this really could be a huge practical podcast for so many people listening, you know, and, and their friends and family.
Brigitte Spurgeon (29:57):
Lastly, I think I, I'll just add that, uh, you know, part of the mindset and part of those categories, sometimes there is the season to eat cake, to celebrate to, to honestly just throw caution to the wind and enjoy yourself. Now that, you know, when I'm talking to my patients, it's when they've, they've lost the weight, they've done the healing protocols, they've eliminated the carb cravings, you know, they feel like they're in control of their food versus the food being in control of them. And, and then like, in a sense, you've earned that type of flexibility where once again, you're, you're eating the wedding cake at your daughter's wedding, right? You're, you're having that glass of wine. Yeah. Or you're in Italy and you're enjoying the pasta and the pizza and the wine and the gelato. That's what living life is like. That's why we get healthy, right? You know, we want to enjoy and experience life and you, like, there are seasons where you just need to give yourself permission to do that and, and enjoy it. And that's what life is all about.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (31:03):
I love it. I love it. It is all about living well and living extraordinary, right? You just gave me a great memory, uh, that was awesome. Um, first year of marriage, I lost a ton of weight and you were saying eat cake. And I remember we, we, uh, you know, we uh, we thawed out our cake top, you know, you freezed that for the first year. And, uh, and we had a, like our super expensive sh expensive champagne. And, uh, we went to this country club out in Iowa, you know, and, and, uh, and we got to have that cake for the first time in a year or whatever. And like, that's a great example. You know, like literally a year of some of the cleanest eating exercise, all that stuff that I've ever had in my life, culminating with truly enjoying a good memory over a piece of one year old frozen cake.
(31:46):
So thanks for the memory, I appreciate that. But, uh, if you, if you enjoyed this episode today of Trail Health Solutions podcast, please share this with other people. Um, one of the best things you could do if you wanna really kind of, when it comes to family trips, is share this. Have people listen to it ahead of time and then have some conversations about it, right? Talk to your mom, talk to your sister, you know, your, your friends that you're traveling with and just say, Hey, can we make this one different? How, what are some ways where we can strategize around making this simple and light, you know, but really, you know, not coming back feeling terrible for a week or two, you know, and having to recover, um, and, uh, and then, and plan, you know, the different foods and stuff. So anyway, so if you enjoy the podcast, please share it. Make sure that you like and subscribe. Um, and so that you'll get all the notifications for when our episodes do roll out. We're putting out one per week. Um, make sure that you give us some feedback, let us know, uh, through a direct message if there's anything that you'd like to hear more about. And with that said, Bridget, anything you wanna say before we wrap this episode up?
Brigitte Spurgeon (32:42):
Uh, you know, part of the preparation is preparing your strategy when you return from vacation or after the holiday, so make sure that you remember that, be intentional and enjoy your vacations and your trips and your special events.
Dr. Lonnie Bagwell, DC (32:56):
Yeah, ma'am. Awesome. All right, We love you guys and we'll see you next time. Thanks for joining us today on True Health Solutions Podcast. Make sure that you click to subscribe. Also go to our website, www.truehealthcharlotte.com, where you can download any resources related to today show or any future shows. And lastly, if you search for True Health Center Group on Facebook, you'll be able to join our free health community. We look forward to seeing you there.
