What I priortize daily to actually move the needle

Everyone would categorically say I was healthy. I was making my own food, my naturopath and practitioners said I ate well, I generally worked out and religiously abode by my supplement plan.

But, the lack of results said otherwise:

• painful periods

• foggy brain - (I would postpone meetings meetings because I couldn’t articulate my thoughts)

• wild mood swings, I wasn’t fun to be around

• only passing stool every 2-3 days

• tanking energy

• pimples and bumby red skin flare ups on my face

• couldn’t build muscle or see any changes despite working out

So I continued to try things for years on YEARS:

• Supplements.

• Medical practitioners.

• Saunas.

• Self-help books.

• Naturopaths.

• Blood work.

• Acupuncture.

• Managing my sleep.

• Research.

• More supplements.

• Even More supplements.

• Cutting sugar.

• Cupping.

• More blood work.

• Cutting carbs.

• Cutting coffee.

• Nutritionists.

• Programs

• Chiro.

• Adding veg.

• More research.

• More blood work.

• Reducing fat.

• Massage therapy.

• Gut testing.

• Increasing protein.

• Regular therapy.

• Hot and cold therapy.

• Even more research.

• Even more supplements.

It gave the appearance I was healthy, but little movement in my results.

In 2023 and 2024, I took a huge step back to learn: what moves the needle for the results I want. Let me tell you, the answer is not another green powder.

I focused on:

• learning how different foods drive different results,

• what type of movement and exercise matters for the results I want,

• how much sleep I need for me,

• targeted supplements,

• working with the right practitioners.

So here’s my bullet point list for what moves my needle:

• eating high quality protein and the right amount (e.g. I hit 120g protein. My protein comes from pastured chicken breast (we use this pastured chicken breast from a female-run farm in our wellness bowls), wild salmon, wild haddock, grass fed whey protein powder - Schnioussa vanilla protein powder is what I use regularly. For plant based protein powder, I really enjoyed the vanilla organic plant protein that HeLa gifted to my clients two weeks ago - I can ask the owners for a discount code if you are interested in buying - let me know)

• eating the right quantity and type of complex carbs (e.g. sweet potato, quinoa, brown rice, berries)

• healthy fats and not overdoing it (e.g. avocado, cold pressed evoo, tahini, almond butter, nuts, seeds)

• staying clear of added sugars of any kind (no cane sugar, no coconut sugar, no honey) I use stevia and monk fruit extract only.

• none of the following: dairy, gluten, natural flavours, gums, additives

• lots of plant variety (30 plants per week as per the American Gut Project = more diverse gut microbes = better functioning, more resilient gut)

• drinking 2.5L of water daily

• building and maintaining quality, fullfilling relationships

• building and improving upon a resilient mindset

• laughing deeply

• sleeping 8 hours (I aim for quality and quantity)

• lifting heavy weight following a plan (I use this app, here’s a free 12-week structure as an alternative)

• rest during the day

• 8-10k steps (I track via my Oura ring)

• I plan travel that excites me (Asia trip coming later this year)

• trying new things: I tried water skiing in Greece last year and crushed it - so fun!

• targeted supplement and treatment plan for my period pain

These are my results:

I build muscle faster. My days are energizing. My period pain is manageable. No skin flare ups. I’m better at handling hard stressful situations. My mood is much more consistent. I pass stool 2-3x per day regularly. My brain is sharp.

But, I refuse to paint the perfect picture because it’s not reality: I have days that are not fantastic DESPITE doing all the things that help. And that’s okay: Life ebbs and flows.

What I know for certain though: my wellness is the centre powering and letting me show up for a FULL, AUTHENTIC and BEAUTIFUL life. It’s why I’m relentless about what we’re doing here at Better Bowls.

Friendly reminder to order your wellness bowls before Friday 5pm: order here.

Reach out to me anytime - I personally reply to every message. You can even reply back directly to this email.

Caitlyn xx

Ps. a business update on one of our partnerships:

This Sunday, we are delivering wellness bowls for Melissa Cosentino’s 7-day holistic cleanse program. We are her exclusive meal delivery partner: wellness bowl orders have been flying innnnnn! PUMPED to get her clients these bowls.

Know someone we should partner with, let me know!