How To Adjust your Lifestyle for Better Health with Cynthia Brace on The Healers Café with Manon Bolliger

Okay, I’m a little lost. I don’t know what to do. And you go through all these emotions, and it’s like, you know, I got to like, Okay, fine. You know what, I’m just going to do this myself. I’m someone who loves to learn. And so that’s what I did. I started to read all the books on hyperglycemia health and wellness and mindset. I took classes at the naturopathic college, I took Reiki, I took reflexology. And throughout this whole process, I had changed how I was eating, what I was eating, movement, I was changing my whole lifestyle. So, by the time I got to training to be a holistic nutritionist, I didn’t have hyperglycemia anymore. And even better the Asthma and allergies that I had before that even happened were pretty much nonexistent. So, all of these changes that I made in my lifestyle it blew me away how are different I felt so and that’s why I went into holistic nutrition to be registered holistic nutritionist because I was like oh, I want to help people with this because this is this is life changing.

 

Manon Bolliger 04:10

And I wonder how many people you know like you when you first started this journey you know you go thinking that the doctor who you know is basically trained to manage diseases not cure them, not get to the root of them, not you know talk about your, what you eat or how you’re made up or what you think and how it affects you and etc. Really just basically prescribing pills and more pharmaceutics to move you along a long management process that really has no end in sight, you know. So, I can imagine the way you said your story is like now what, you know? Um, but I wonder how many people at that point, you know, give up? Or do they then say, okay, are there anyone studying this? Or, you know, or how can I study it, you know, either or.

 

Cynthia Brace 05:15

Yeah, I have clients come to me, thank goodness, they don’t, you know, give up and they are angry. They’re angry that their doctors don’t know these things. And, you know, I, you know, I’m a come at it with love kind of person. So, I was like, Okay, well, you have to understand where they are coming from and where their training comes from, they are trained to do a specific thing. You know, doctors are great, too, for that specific thing. Right. But they’re not trained in, you know, the diet and the exercise and like, all of the, you know, supplements where a naturopath, you know, like you did for 30 years, you know, like, it’s a different training. So, the way I talked to him is like, Okay, try to understand where they’re coming from. So that you’re not angry, we don’t want to be in a place of anger, right? So there is amazing people in this world that can help you along your journey, you just have to kind of be a little curious and find the right people to work with.

 

Manon Bolliger 06:28

But it really shows how, you know, this, the prevalence of thinking that your doctor, you know, this white coat, you know, phenomena is supposed to have all the answers. You know, it’s like, we’re so ingrained without belief that it’s quite shocking, you know, and you go, Well, what is it that they study? I mean, they do not study health. You know, it’s, I mean, even the anatomy, most of all of that is done on, you know, cadavers, right? It’s not on functional anatomy, which is why if you go in from back pain or all that, besides anti inflammatories, they can’t really tell you what’s wrong, either. Right? You know, it’s just not what they study, but we are brought up to believe that they know everything that you know, about us, the body, the healing, and it’s like, I think that that has been broken a little bit more in the last few years. Thank God. And not against them. I think there is a place, but you got to know, you know, you don’t go to a butcher for a vegetarian meal. You know, it’s like, you got to figure out where you’re gonna go.

 

Cynthia Brace 07:51

I love that. That’s so good.

 

Manon Bolliger 07:58

Some of the most useful things they do is, is surgery. Anyway, sorry, go on.

 

Cynthia Brace 08:06

Yeah, no, I totally agree with you. And I find it depends on, you know, your age of how much you’re kind of relating to that to that doctor and the white coat? Because, yes, certain people were raised to say they know don’t argue with them. And it’s…and to me, it’s, it’s not an argument. It’s discussion. For me, it was like, This is my health, my body. So, I’m, you know, I can go and have a second opinion. I can go and have a second opinion from anyone on this planet. It doesn’t have to be somebody in the white coat. And, and I fully believe like, in my book, I have like, who’s got your back? A whole chapter on like, it’s a health team. Like, I’ll see a doctor, but then I’m gonna go see other people for their specialty. Right. So, it’s not just one person that’s going to help you with everything. It’s just not feasible.

 

Manon Bolliger 09:01

So how did you get the diagnosis?

 

Cynthia Brace 09:08

I just told her my symptoms, and she just said, this is what you have. There was no test done. There was, so I was like, Okay, well, let’s, let’s work with that. And, and I’m thankful. I’m thankful because I was able to take a journey that has led me to be here and to be able to help people create healthier lifestyles. And that’s, that’s what I focus on is lifestyle.

 

Manon Bolliger 09:38

Yeah.

 

Cynthia Brace 09:41

Yeah, I mean, it’s like that lifestyle is a funny word. Some people are like, Well, what does that actually mean? To me, it’s like, it’s unique to everyone, right? It’s your way of living. Right? It can be like, you know, how and what you eat, sleeping, exercise or not, you know whether you manage stress or not, can include your thoughts and your beliefs. So, it’s, it’s like your everyday habits, your everyday kind of way of living. And, you know, that can change like for me before I saw the doctor and after, you know, it totally changed. So you can have a healthier lifestyle or you know, you know what you’re kind of, you know, if it’s not working, then maybe it’s not as healthy as you’d like it to be.

 

Manon Bolliger 10:31

So, you mentioned like eight steps, right to reclaiming your health, I’m assuming it’s like your health and lifestyle that is connected, right? Is that something that you found applies to everybody and to different or lesser degrees? Or what are those eight steps? Or what would you like to share?

 

Cynthia Brace 10:56

Well, realistically, like I wanted to put in some steps that people can take. You know, when people come to me, sometimes they have some of these things down, like some people are, like, all about the exercise, they love to move their body, like they’ve got that down, but they just can’t figure out the other pieces of the puzzle. They can’t put it together to make their full healthy lifestyle, right. So, whether it’s like, I think I’m eating healthy, but I’m not sure, like, what’s wrong, why can’t I get to my goals, right? Or some people have that down, and they don’t know how to move their body. So, it’s like really pulling together all of these pieces. And a lot of the pieces, it’s like how your environment works, how you’re thinking, how you’re feeling, your thoughts and your beliefs. I spent more time on that probably than anything. Because your mindset is really what moves you along. The mindset, if you can tweak what you’re thinking, what your beliefs are, if you can even become aware of them. That’s really the starting point. So, every person that I see, there’s always a discussion, because you can hear like, Oh, I didn’t even realize I wasn’t aware of that. So, there’s a whole awareness process that kind of happens first. And we just move along, you know, what people need to work on. And yeah, as I say, one of my chapters is who’s got your back? So, it’s, you know, it’s finding that health team, because it’s not just one person that’s going to help you with everything.

 

Manon Bolliger 12:40

So, what do you, or from your experience with helping people, what’s the part that you find most people are most out of sync with?

 

Cynthia Brace 12:53

Ah, well, I mean, the diet industry is a huge challenge. Mentally and physically, right. I mean, a lot of people come to me because they want to, well just lose weight. Right? And, and it’s this whole mentality around it. And let’s be honest, diets are hard. They are not fun. You have to suffer through them, and you feel deprived. And the challenge with a diet though is you have a start date and an end date. And most people will do everything to whatever degree they can in between that timeframe. The problem with that is it ends. Right? So, a diet is like, have an end date, everyone’s so happy, it’s done. They’re excited, whatever results they got. Now I can like, take a little breather, I can stop exercising so much, I can go back to eating my favorite foods. And they go back to the lifestyle that they had before, which wasn’t working to begin with. Right. So that is the challenge. And you know, what people come to me a lot for it’s like, well, I’ve been doing these for so long, but I’m not getting results. Right? And that’s where it comes to be well, if you focus on your lifestyle, and learn how like what to do every day and every week and we’re tweaking those habits, and we’re taking away the pressure. Take away the pressure of a diet or losing weight. I’m like we’re not it’s gonna happen, but we’re not focusing on it. Let’s focus on being healthy. Let’s focus on the little steps, the things that we do all the time, our lifestyle to be healthy. Take away the pressure and the that a lot of my people have a challenge with the mindset around that, oh, this shouldn’t be hard. Vegetables shouldn’t taste good. Or I shouldn’t be eating this much. These are the things that I hear. But yet they do these things and they’re like, My pants are looser, tada, magic, and I feel better, and I sleeping better, and I have more energy, and I have no pressure. And now I know what to do for the rest of my life. Focusing on lifestyle is how you do that. And it can tweak, you can change, you can change, like, you know, you have certain goals, and they’ll change throughout your life. So, you just tweak what you’re doing. That’s why focusing on lifestyle is so much easier. In the long run. Right?

 

Manon Bolliger 15:51

Oh, yeah, I’m gonna mix. Plus, it’s as much as permanent as permanent and which is not. But, you know, it has a sense of, you know, you’re incorporating it. But so, let’s say, have you found that, because there’s lots of different lifestyle choice that people, right. I mean, there’s people that are literally carnivores, and have found that their entire, everything is better. And there’s…I don’t think I’ve met any vegans that are vegans that are totally healthy, so I’ll take them out. But, you know, there’s people who can’t, or say they can’t eat gluten. And others say that, you know, well you need to have some other assertive starches? And, you know, and it’s like, there’s so many different, you know, theories out there. How do you work with that with people? They obviously come in with a habit that doesn’t work, otherwise, they wouldn’t be asking for help. And I think, do they usually think that the habit is healthy? That’s what I mean. So, let’s start with, because, I mean, there’s people who eat junk food, and you tell them not to, and not to do coke, and they do much better. But those are easy ish. You know, I mean, it’s a mindset, but I’m thinking about all the, the well-meaning healthy people that still have Candida, and they have this and they have that, they’re like, What on earth? You know, how do you deal with those?

 

Cynthia Brace 17:42

I you know, and that is like, everybody’s different. Everybody has a different lifestyle and different health challenges. So, you know, somebody who you know, doesn’t like gluten, or is a vegetarian, I mean, you know, you hear vegetarians who don’t eat vegetables, right? I mean, some try vegetarianism. Like, hold on a second, wait a minute, you’re missing the point here. You still need nutrients? So yeah, I mean, you have to be careful with that. But yeah, I have clients coming to me who are like, I can’t figure it out. I’m trying to do all of these healthy things. And it’s just, again, if you’re not trained, if you don’t go to school to learn how to kind of put together the puzzle, it can be hard because a lot of people are listening to the media. And what they’re saying is healthy.

 

Commercial Break 18:38

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Cynthia Brace 19:20

Which changes all the time? You know, this is good for you. Oh, hold on a second. No, it’s not Yes, it is. So, it changes all the time. It can be so confusing. And then people use you know, the internet as their health coach, which is you know, there’s a lot of great information and again, not so great information and very confusing and not specific to them as a person. So you know, people like that, you know, if you’re seeing somebody if you’re seeing a health coach or you know, a naturopath or what not, they’re going to take a health history. They’re going to figure out, you know, what’s happened in your life. And what you know, going on with you what your health challenge hours are, what your goals are. And that’s kind of where we start. And I know, you know, I’m not a food tracker, I don’t, you know, think that people should track food for the rest of their life. But as an awareness tool, you have to kind of become aware of what’s happening right now. Because once we’re, once we understand, like, this is what I’m doing, this is what I’m eating, then we can look at it and say, Oh, interesting. I didn’t realize this was happening. I didn’t realize this. And that’s where kind of the learning comes in. And they’re like, Wow, I didn’t. And now we just make this one tweak. And they’re like, Oh, my goodness, really, it was just it shouldn’t be this, you know, easy, a lot of the times. Mm hmm. And it’s it. So, it’s awareness, like, what’s going on? And what do we need to tweak? And, you know, not using the kind of internet to kind of figure that out? Because the internet isn’t specific to you as a unique person.

 

Manon Bolliger 21:07

Yeah, so and when you mean awareness, you mean, like, noticing the impact of the food immediately, and the next day and the impact on your sleep and your digestion. Because not all foods have an immediate reaction.

 

Cynthia Brace 21:27

Yeah, no, absolutely. Some things can affect you, you know, a day later. And awareness is like, you know, how much you’re going to the washroom, because that has a huge effect on your health. And so, we do a little kind of at home test of what’s actually happening there. Awareness. So, the more that you become aware of things, like the physical things, and then we start to become aware of our beliefs and our thoughts. That’s where we spend a lot of time as well. So, it’s, it’s like, when I talked to somebody, so say somebody had constipation, and they’ve been constipated for, you know, most of their life, say 10 years or whatever. So, I’ll ask them, Do you believe that it is possible to not be constipated? Let’s start there. Right. And, you know, they think about it, and they’re like, no, no, I don’t I don’t believe it. And I’m like perfect. Great. Now we have a starting point. So, let’s, let’s come up with something that you do believe. Do you believe it might be possible? Maybe? Think about, yes. It might be possible, right? As long as we have that, as a belief that there’s a starting point, it might be possible. That’s your belief now, right? So, as we work, you know, together and move forward and things start to change. We check in with the belief until it gets like, whoa, hold on a second. You know what, I actually do believe it now, I believe that it’s possible that I don’t have to be constipated. Right? So, we have these beliefs. And sometimes we’re not aware of them. Right? Do you believe that you can, you know, fit into your sexy jeans without having to suffer? Without depriving yourself, right? Nobody wants that, you know, focusing on your lifestyle takes away that pressure. So yeah, it’s again, awareness of your thoughts in your belief how you’re talking to yourself. Because a lot of modern people are like, super mean to themselves when they talk about. So, it’s more of those internal thoughts and realizing what they’re saying, because if you said those things to your best friend, you wouldn’t be best friends anymore. So, it’s noticing those things and saying, okay, hold on a second. If I was saying this to my best friend, what would I say? You’d be supportive, you’d be loving you, you know, do everything you can to help. So, do that for yourself? Right. Put that turn it around. And that’s kind of you know, self-care and self-love.

 

Manon Bolliger 24:27

Ya, I mean, that makes it makes sense. Have you ever had to fire anyone?

 

Cynthia Brace 24:33

Oh, that’s a good question. Well, as you said in the beginning for motivated people, right. And I say that because sometimes, again, people are at different stages in their life. Sometimes you’re ready and sometimes you’re not. Right, and that’s where the motivation comes in. But if you think you’re ready You know, you can start working with somebody, and it’s like, okay, well, I thought I was ready. But this is I’m not there yet. And I’m absolutely on board with things like that. Because if you’re, let’s be honest, this takes conscious thought. When you’re tweaking your lifestyle or making any changes in your life, it’s going to take up brain power. Because right now you’re coasting on your subconscious. Your subconscious has full control, you get up in the morning, you do what you do, you go through your day. Most of the time, you’re half asleep, right? So, by doing these things, you have to kind of like pause. Oh, pause, I need to pause for a second to become aware. Oh, my goodness. Interesting. Isn’t that interesting. So, it takes a little more brainpower. So, if you’re at a time in your life where you’re like, Oh, I just changed jobs, and I moved and like, too many things going on at once. Now’s not the time to kind of be doing stuff, yes, start to eat healthier, try and do what you can. But it’s not the time to kind of really dive in deep on that stuff. Because you need to have a little bit of bandwidth, you need to have a little bit of headspace to do that. So sometimes I’ll say, you know, wait a month or two, come back, and let’s, you know, let’s dive in when you’re ready.

 

Manon Bolliger 26:22

And yeah, no, that’s a good, good, it’s your answer. I agree with it. No, because it’s not, you know, even though people feel like they want to, they may not be actually prepared to do what it takes, even if it’s not a diet. And it’s still, you know, like you say it takes some it takes brain power. Another question I have for you. So how do you deal with people’s it’s like, it’s a self-sabotaging belief, but where they actually have trained to believe that it’s self-care, that it’s really good, that they deserve something that really they shouldn’t be having, because they react to it, you know, this could be like, you know, a great piece of sourdough bread with butter, you know, it could be a glass of wine, it could be, you know, it could be any of those things or many more, right? Or it could be you know, I think sugar by itself, most people kind of know that it’s not ideal. But even that could be, you know, well, I deserve my token sweet or whatever. So, how do you deal with that? Because, I guess, complicated.

 

Cynthia Brace 27:51

Love this question. You know, I’m of the mind where you have to live your life. You know, it’s not about suffering, or depriving yourself, you know, people are gonna get there. And, you know, I work with people. And again, this stuff doesn’t happen overnight. So, I work with people, you know, on a long term kind of basis, I have a 12 week program that I start with, because it’s like, you need that time. And sometimes, you know, it takes a little while I’m supportive of people, and sometimes they can’t. Sometimes it’s a discussion we have more than once, until it, and then it clicks. And they’re like, Thank you for being supportive while I was working through this in my mind, to get there. Right. So, with things like, you know, if they want a glass of wine on the weekend, you know, unless there’s a reason where you’re honest, specific, and I don’t do this until later on, if we’re on a like a cleanse, and it’s like, you know, we’re focused on something specific. If you want a glass of wine on the weekend, have a glass of wine in the weekend, right? It’s more like, in my mind is, you know, sort of the 80-20 rule. 80% of the time, you know, do the steps do the things, you know, love yourself, honor yourself enough to give yourself that gift of health to take that time and, you know, effort and, you know, resources to do that. But you know, it’s your birthday, have your cake. Right? And, you know, if you’re on holidays, it’s like, you know, people are like, Oh my God, what do I get to, like get stressed out? It’s like, hold on, back up. Yes, you’re going on holidays, but this is your lifestyle. Do you think that your lifestyle is going to stop when you’re on holidays? No. You’re still going to go for a walk. You’re still going to have vegetables on your plate. You’re still gonna drink water? Sure, you’re going to enjoy yourself a little bit more, but nothing’s actually changing all that much just where you are in the world. Again, unless somebody has like an allergy or you know, where they really shouldn’t have something, it’s more of a discussion, like, you know, and as we work along, they usually make the decision themselves to change Oh, you know what, I don’t, I don’t really want that anymore. I don’t really feel that I, you know, I’m not going to have that all the time anymore. I might have, oh, you know what, I don’t even want it anymore. As we work along, it just it usually happens naturally.

 

Manon Bolliger 30:50

Oh, that’s true. The desires change as your health. So, you know, that makes sense. And another one for you. What was it that came and then left? Couldn’t have been too significant then. That was about self-sabotaging. I asked about that. Oh, I know. And yes. What about people who just don’t believe that exercise is helpful? Because there is, you know, there is schools of thought that, you know, we need to walk, but exercise is actually overrated, and blah, blah, blah. Right. So, what about people like that?

 

Cynthia Brace 31:38

Again, very interesting. Well, you know, I’ve had people say certain things that they don’t believe certain things are, you know, healthy or are needed or whatever? Well, usually, In instances like that, you know, certainly with drinking water, like, I don’t believe drinking, you need to drink all this water. Well, you know, we’re made up of 70% water, and we, you know, get rid of it in all these different ways. So, you, in those instances, a lot of the time you can go back to the science, right? It’s just like, you know, well, scientifically, you know, if you move your body this is what happens physiologically, this is what happens in your body, when you exercise, right? You know, it’s good for your heart. It’s, you know, your endorphins go up and actually makes you happier. But it doesn’t have to be in a way that you don’t like with regards to exercise, I always say, find something you like to do. I honestly don’t care what it is, you know, although for women, I will say, resistance train, it’s good for your bones. You don’t want osteoporosis. So, you know, I try and help navigate them along that path. But other than that, like do something you love, like try a belly dancing class, for goodness sakes, just you know, have a good time with it. Because it doesn’t have to be at a gym. It doesn’t have to be rigid. And it doesn’t have to be all at once. Like you can exercise throughout the day. Like I’m at my desk, I’ll get up. And I’ll do like 15 squats because I’ve been sitting for an hour. Right? That’s exercise. I’m moving my body. Right. And I’ll do I’ll go do some stretching. You know, if you’re making dinner, you’re waiting for something to boil. Hey, jump up and down, do some dancing, put on you know, some music. Move your body.

 

Manon Bolliger 33:41

Right. I’m getting invaded by sun. Okay, I think I’m on my typical questions that, you know, people come up with when I was in practice to suit them, including anyone you’ve had to hire anybody that you haven’t been able to help? Where you don’t think that they’re sabotaging you know or being untruthful to what they’re actually doing.

 

Cynthia Brace 34:24

No, not to that extent, like I’ve had people, you know, we take it so far, and then they’re like, I need no, no, that’s wrong, too. I mean, realistically, changing your lifestyle is going to change your life. Right? It’s just going to change how you feel. But sometimes, again, people aren’t ready for the change. They’re actually afraid of the change. I’ll put it that way. That’s kind of what I was getting to, because some people relate so much to their health challenges, that it becomes a part of them, it becomes a part of their story. So they’re afraid if that health challenge goes away how are people going to relate to me? How is my family going to relate to me? How am I going to relate to other people? So, there’s this fear around that. And that’s kind of what we kind of have to navigate around as well. It’s that conversation about like, what’s holding you back? What are the changes? I’ve had clients come back. And you know, we’ve had to work through that, because they kind of regressed a little bit, and they weren’t. So we had to kind of work around Oh, I didn’t realize that’s what I was thinking. So how do I change that? Right? So, and again, that’s based on each individual what their specific challenge was, but, you know, if it’s regard to your family, make them a part of the process, if you don’t feel like you’re gonna leave them behind. Make them a part of it. So yeah, everybody’s a little bit different. And it’s like, you know, working through what that challenge is, I actually have a really fun quiz for people if you want to check it out. It’s called What’s your unique health personality, and you can discover your unique strengths and creating a healthy lifestyle. So, you can check that out at cynthiabrace.com/quiz. It’s super fun.

 

Manon Bolliger 36:25

All right. Well, Cynthia, thanks very much. And you’re, you’re a good sport. I just, you know, ask away and off you go.

 

Cynthia Brace 36:35

Thank you. It was really interesting. I really enjoyed it.

 

Manon Bolliger 36:39

Thanks.

 

ENDING: 41:33

Thank you for joining us at the Healers Café with Manon Bolliger. Continue your healing journey by visiting TheHealersCafe.com and her website and discover how to listen to your body and reboot optimal health or DrManonBolliger.com/tips.