Wellness Secrets That Work

Speaker 1: know this. There's not a miracle diet out there. I will be open if research comes up with anything that's miraculous, but there's a $65 billion diet industry for a reason that everyone wants that one thing. I'm Melanie Bar.

Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Sheila Tip podcast, your go-to place to empower you to live the life and business that you crave. I'm here to talk about everything from having the courage to make life and career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively, create successful teams, implement strategies for growth, and infuse tech innovation. I'm here to celebrate your wins and navigate through your challenges. I live in the city now, but I grew up in a town of a thousand people. I've navigated major life leaps, a senior level corporate career, worked in professional sports, and now as a successful entrepreneur who loves business, technology, family, and making meaningful connections with you and the She Built It Community. I also love a good workout and dose of self-care.

Speaker 1: Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy. So, turn up the audio, open your favorite notes app, grab your favorite drink, and here we go. Welcome to the Shivala podcast. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Lions. Tell us what led you to launch the Lion Share Wellness. Thank you for having me on the podcast. Very excited to be here. The short version of the story is I was fine in my career. Looking back, I realized I was at rock bottom with my health, but I didn't honestly know it at the time. I went to Harvard for undergrad. I got a management consulting job out of that.

Speaker 1: It was a good job that everyone wanted and I liked it and it was fine. But I was working a lot, 80 plus hours, which is a lot different when it's not your baby and your passion at that time doing it for someone else and traveling 48 weeks a year and all of that. I was also overtraining, overex exercising, and under fueling. And I had my own hormonal crash. I had sex hormones drop below post-menopausal levels in my early 20s. I had adrenal dysfunction. I went on this journey to heal my own health. And back in those days, there wasn't chat GPT. There wasn't the easily accessible information that we have these days. So that required a lot of digging of going to conferences and reading books and talking to people and all this stuff. And it was a few process. But after going through that, I just could not help but share it with other people. So I stayed in management consulting for another couple years and then in 2014 left and took the pivot into this job and I don't even feel like it's a job. I haven't looked back since. Yeah, it's our life and we want to feel good and we want to feel healthy and have energy. Yes, that's so right. Many people don't even know what that means. I certainly didn't back then. Everyone's tired.

Speaker 1: Everyone feels like junk all the time. No one can get good sleep and I didn't realize there was another side. I hope people are waking up to the idea that there is another way and energy is so important. You have an impressive background. You mentioned Harvard McKenzie board certifications in clinical and holistic nutrition. Often high achievers struggle with burnout. We were talking about that a little bit. What is one mindset shift that helps you maintain high performance without sacrificing your health?

Speaker 1: Once a high achiever, always a high achiever. So, I learned to manage it really well now and wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't turn my brain off if I could just with a switch. I love that part of me, but it does require managing in order to not have repeated series of burnouts like I've had before.

Speaker 1: I plan everything. And almost to the extent that to some people it looks stressful to plan this way, but it gives me so much peace of mind to know when I'm going to do each thing. Even if it's 4 months from now, I know it's on the calendar. It's right there. I look at my schedule for today and I know whatever is there is what's going to get done and whatever is not will not get done. So my to-do list will never be empty. I used to almost yearn for that feeling every single day of a blank to-do list. Everything is crossed off. That still feels alluring to me. It still feels amazing, but it's not going to happen for high achievers, especially for business owners. There's always something to do and that needs to be okay. So, I've found a little bit of a gift in looking for joy of missing out instead of FOMO, fear of missing out.

Speaker 1: Those things that aren't on my calendar aren't going to get done. And that's okay. I love how you say be okay with it because sometimes we look at it and we think, "Oh, we have so much to do." But the unrealistic expectation of trying to get nothing there is just never going to happen. Nope. Not until maybe I'm 95.

Speaker 1: Hopefully not even then, but for sure not in the next decade or two. And that's okay. And I'm a twin mom and so I always was a very planned person. But when the twins arrived and it things got really busy, we were traveling and had a lot on our plates. The more planned I could be, the more relaxed I was.

Speaker 1: Totally. The more planned I can be, the more relaxed I am. And I don't have kids. I have eight nieces and nephews who are amazing and I spend lots of time with them. And through my siblings, I've experienced a lot. And obviously most of my clients have kids. For them, it can feel sometimes, oh, now I can't plan anything. But everyone can plan something. Maybe you can't plan every hour of the day, especially with twins, their kids really of any age. You can't plan every single thing and rely on it, but you can always plan something. And grasping that one, if it's five minutes for yourself when the kids go to bed or starting small can really be empowering for people. Yeah. Those five minutes after they go to sleep, really important.

Speaker 1: after a busy workday and juggling work and life and everything else. Yes.

Shifting from survival mode

Speaker 1: Business leaders are often juggling a million priorities. What advice do you have for shifting from survival mode to thriving mode when it comes to our health? Oh wow. I definitely started this business thinking it would be a lifelong soloreneur endeavor. I truly didn't want to have other people on my team after managing people in my previous career. What a gift to just do this on my own. So, I ignored the signs for way too long that I needed help. Definitely drove myself into the ground and didn't serve my clients as well trying to do everything myself. Maybe for the first couple years it was fine by myself, but eventually there was a time when I needed help and I ignored it. It's only been in the last third of my time as a business owner that I've brought a lot of members onto the team. And every time I do, I feel so grateful.

Asking for help

Speaker 1: So, asking for help in business, bringing members on your team, asking for help from family, friends, we're all in this together. It's not a sign of weakness. We've all heard that. But sometimes, even when I hear that, I'm like, "Oh yeah, that's for other people. That's not for me. I can do everything even if everyone else can't. But I can't do everything. Neither can anyone listening. We're all in this together. And asking for help is okay. It's so interesting because when you're building a business, too, you have to step back and say, "Am I working in the business or on the business?" You had to feel so different in building a team around something that you're truly passionate about and in a way that you wanted to build your team. So, I would assume that that would look and feel differently than what you were doing before. Yeah, that's totally right. I love serving clients and I hope to never stop serving clients myself as a practitioner. I wasn't able to work on the business at all, which leads you to a vicious cycle downwards of more and more clients, doing less and less of a good job with them, not taking care of the business.

Speaker 1: It's a speeding train going nowhere good. So, it certainly wasn't optimal for me. And I didn't think that anyone out there had the same passion that I did, could care about our clients as much as I did. I didn't think they could do as good of a job as I could, which I think a lot of people think as business owners. But I absolutely was wrong. There are so many qualified people out there in almost any field I can imagine. Absolutely in my field. The teammates that I have are better practitioners than I am in many aspects. and we learn from each other continuously. So, it was such a gift. I think about it in that way, too. It's like there's an abundance of people and you just have to find the people that love to do what they're doing. You know, if you find that person, they're going to keep giving back. And I certainly understand you wanting to be by yourself after coming from the corporate world. So, I worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers and I was around thousands of people and so being alone was great. Yes. So, I was thinking about what you were saying. You probably welcomed that just being alone for a while and then maybe you thought, "Okay, I've been alone. That's been great, but now let's bring on a great Yes. I remember we used to live in this townhouse and it had a roof deck and the first couple of months of being by myself. My husband was actually still working in management consulting, so he would travel Monday through Thursday and I would go sit on the roof deck and be like, "Oh my gosh, no one's here. I don't have to report to anyone." And it was like this goosebumpy feeling like this is so cool. And then like you said it changed after a while but it was cool at the beginning. As a nutrition expert you've worked with thousands of clients.

Food and performance myths

Speaker 1: What's the biggest myth about food and performance that you wish people knew? I think people know this but they don't want to know this. So I'll just say it like it is. There's not a miracle diet out there. I will be open if research comes up with anything that's miraculous, but there's a $65 billion diet industry for a reason that everyone wants that one thing. My dad, when I was little, he ordered cases of grapefruit juice from who knows where because he read that if you drink grapefruit juice before every meal, like you magically can't gain fat or something like that. So, I'm sure he's like chugging a grapefruit juice and eating McDonald's or something like that and he's gotten much healthier as the years have gone on. But that kind of thing is so alluring. If only I do this, then everything will be fine and I don't have to worry about my health. So, people will continue to sell books. They'll continue to put on social media. They'll continue to fearmonger, which is so unfair to the consumer because everyone's confused. Unfortunately, the more health-minded people these days are the more confused because they're actually doing the research. They're listening to the podcast and reading the books and all this stuff and there's one person over here saying A and there's the other person over here saying Z and both seem credible and both have research. So, what in the world do we do? It's taken me a lot of degrees and certifications to realize that the basics are always going to be the most important. Every diet in the history of diets that have worked have less processed food, less sugar, less alcohol, more nutrients from whole foods, however you choose to get it, more macronutrient balance, which is protein, fat, and carbs, good sleep, adequate hydration. All the basics are the commonalities across all these diets that have worked. And so I encourage people to start there. Even though that doesn't feel sexy or magic or anything like that, that's the stuff that works. Yeah, it's so true. And when you're on Instagram, if you're looking at something, then all of a sudden you're inundated with all these different things. It can be completely overwhelming. And I've started to talk about I just got the treadmill desk and pretty obsessed with it because I have mine right over there. Oh my gosh, it's amazing. Someone just asked me, "Is it hard to think while you're doing it?"

Speaker 1: And obviously if I have to think about something, I sit. But for things that you can juggle and maybe you're not moving super fast, but you're not sitting as much. I totally agree. I'll do it if I'm ever attending a webinar or if I'm just answering random emails or doing admin type work. That kind of stuff is great for the treadmill desk, I think. And client sessions, I don't do it. There's one client I do because she does it as well, but in general, I don't do that. And we don't have to be walking 24 hours a day, but we also don't need to be sitting for 14 hours a day, which most of us are. So, a little bit of movement, whether it's the rebounder or the treadmill desk or even 10 squats in between Zoom calls, something like that are little goals I give my clients, they really make a difference. Yeah, it really does. And it's interesting because with my daughter, she plays soccer and she's very athletic and I realized the other day that she's not fueling her body with enough food and it made me think about myself and what I'm doing throughout the day. She had an hour class and then she had an hour in between and then she played an hour and a half of soccer and all of a sudden I thought that's 2 and 1 half hours of constant activity. when you mentioned overtraining and then not realizing it.

Speaker 1: She's 11, so I don't think she's realizing it. But then I thought, how am I fueling myself throughout the day? So, it's interesting what makes you think about that. It really is. And I hear that repeatedly from people who think about it through their kids' eyes. Oh, no. I would never give my kid that for lunch, but you're eating that for lunch. It's different. We prioritize different things for our kids. And I'll tag on to that by saying the vast majority of women, especially high achieving women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s that I see are undereating as opposed to overeating. Even if they want to lose weight, they're undereing on the real nourishing foods. And maybe then they're grabbing like 28 handfuls of three M&M's or something like that, which feels very small, but that's causing the blood sugar roller coaster. and then their meals are a spoonful of cottage cheese and a blueberry or something like that.

Speaker 1: It's not enough for an adult human. So, a lot of the wrangling that I get to do is encouraging people that they're going to be okay to eat more protein, more fiber, more of these really nourishing foods. It's so incredible how that stimulates our metabolism, supports our hormones, all of that good stuff.

Evening routine

Speaker 1: We talk a lot about morning routines, which I've recently been thinking about this a lot, but if you flip the script, what's a game-changing habit that sets people up for peak energy and productivity the next day? I love morning routines and have been doing that for 13 years consistently. The evening routine, I would say I really didn't do it. I used to just work work crash and then there came a time where I was like this is not working anymore. I actually need that transition time to wind down. So I started very simple for myself which I recommend most people start simple. The first thing I did was set a consistent bedtime. Treat myself like a child. Like a child has a bedtime. I need a bedtime too. Because if we don't have that bedtime, we're likely to fall into that trap of trying to get our whole to-do list done, which I already talked about and we know it's never going to get done. So then we push often we get that second wind, which is really a drop in melatonin cuz your body thinks it's not going to go to bed and then your cortisol skyrockets. So that's not good. A bedtime is really helpful for that. So then I went to foam rolling before that bedtime. So maybe 5 minutes of foam rolling really just loosen my body. That's super helpful. Of course, technology. So I do my rule is 30 minutes before bed without technology. It's optimal to do 2 hours, but I'm not there yet. I reflect on the day. I plan my day for the next day. I do a little mini gratitude exercise, brush my teeth, wash my face, and then I read a novel in bed. Nothing stimulating, nothing educational. a true beach novel kind of thing. I've been thinking about my nighttime routine because like you said, foam rolling at night. My morning routine is I'll do a five minute meditation and I foam roll while I listen to that meditation. And I love that. Yeah, it sets me up for the day. And recently I was like, okay, I've got my morning routine down to what I do. I need to do this at night. And for me, after the kids go to bed, I need that few minutes to myself. I find myself sometimes watching too much technology cuz I really need to let my mind go and I have to try to stay awake until they're asleep. But I was like, why don't I do a meditation and foam roll at night or what? And I'm trying to get away. My series on Netflix is about to end. And when it's done, I'm like, I'm reading after this. I'm not going to get into another show. But it's amazing how much the nighttime routine can really help. It really does. I measure all the things with my wearable devices and my deep sleep in particular, which is the really good stuff that raises human growth hormone and helps physical recovery. It's noticeably different when I'm working straight until bed or doing something stimulating like blue light devices versus if I do even just this 30 minutes. That's all it is. And that includes brushing your teeth and stuff like that. It's not that much. It makes a huge difference for me. If someone listening is feeling completely overwhelmed with their schedule, their health, and stress, what's one simple action they can do today to start feeling better immediately? The simple is the most powerful. Hit your water goal. So, I think the best goal is half of your body weight in pounds. So, let's just for ease of math, say someone weighs 200 lb.

Speaker 1: half of that body weight is 100 and then add 16 for every hour of exercise they do on average. So if that person is averaging 30 minutes of exercise per day, we're adding 8 ounces. So that's 108 ounces of water per day. What this is going to do, obviously it hydrates you, which everyone knows is quote good for us, but it's going to increase your energy. I am so much more energized when I'm drinking water. It's going to help us reduce caffeine, which I know people think, "Oh my gosh, no. Don't make me give up my coffee." You don't have to give up your coffee. Just get your water in there and you will be more energized.

Speaker 1: It's going to improve digestion, reduce your cravings, help brain fog for sure, help skin. So, if they were going to do one thing, that's where I would start.

Speaker 1: Interesting. You're making me think about how much water I drink throughout the day. And I've also been thinking about how to drink clean water. I was just telling someone this morning when I first got into drinking more water, I used to carry a case of plastic water bottles in my trunk. Now, I live in Dallas. It's 180° it feels like in the summer and plastic in the heat is not optimal. That plastic is leeching into the water. But I thought I was doing something great for myself by just like guzzling that all day. So, if that's someone listening, great. That is a good start. And then I've learned since then how to upgrade it. So, one thing I do is drinking from glass. This is even a glass straw right here. Do I drink from plastic? Sometimes if I'm traveling or something, of course, I try to bring my bottles, but no one has to be perfect at anything. At home, though, and whenever I can, I drink from glass or stainless steel. I personally use a Burky filter, which I believe is the best filter out there. It's a carbon filter that filters out all of the heavy metals, toxins, pharmaceuticals, like fluoride, all the junk that's in our water, but it does not filter out the minerals. So, the fancy ones are the reverse osmosis filters, like the whole home filters. Those are awesome, but they take out the minerals along with the other stuff. And so, people who have those need to be remmineralizing their water with electrolyte drops or something like that. The Berki is not as fancy and it is a pain. I literally carry giant bowls of water over to my Berky multiple times a day and fill it up. But I'm just so used to it, it's not that big of a deal. If someone's just starting out, any filter is good. Any filter is better than no filter. Whether it's a Brida in the fridge or the fridge filter or whatever, just start somewhere and then see where you can go. Thank you for sharing that because recently I was like I need to eliminate plastic because you're seeing people talking about pans and cookware and glasses and so I'm recently started to think about how can we cut back on processed foods or any processed foods and also plastics.

Speaker 1: Amazing. And with both of those it's an ongoing journey. I started working on plastics many years ago and of course there's still plastic in my home. I don't think anyone can honestly live in 2025 without touching plastic ever cuz everything comes in plastic. But I gradually changed out my Tupperwares to glass snap wear and my glasses to actual glass and things like that. It's just like a gradual process. Don't put pressure on yourself to do it all at once in one day because you'll drive yourself crazy and then you'll quit.

Finding Joy

Speaker 1: Magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy. We talked a lot about your work life today. What is one thing that you do to make sure that you're finding and living your joy? I actually am fortunate to do a lot of things per day that bring me joy. And I've built that in really intentionally. I wake up at 4:30 every morning, which sounds loony and would have baffled me 20 years ago, but it is genuinely my favorite part of the day. I truly love that. I also have positive quote calendars sprinkled all over my house, like in my bathroom, on my desk, in my morning routine, by my Berky filter, by my coffee maker, like all these places because I believe intentionally planting that idea of joy in your brain has so much power. So, one more thing that I'll do regularly, many times a day, is I'll just step outside. I'm in my home office right now and I have a door fortunately to the outside and I'll just step outside there and breathe and look at the green trees and grass and be like, "Wow, life is pretty good." And that doesn't mean there are no problems or challenges. Just reminding ourselves that life is pretty good. I think that's all it takes to have some joy. Yeah. So true. You hear people say, "Step out and put your feet in the grass. Feel planted and grounded." Yes, it's so true. There is a lot of actual science behind that with the negative ions coming up through the ground and we're so disconnected by that, especially with technology. If you can put your feet on the ground, the door from my office happens to be on a balcony. So, I don't put my feet actually on the ground when I step out multiple times per day, but I do often go out in my backyard and just put my feet on the grass. It's really powerful.

Speaker 1: Yeah. And the sunlight has to be so nice, too. Yes, it really is.

Where to Find Dr. Lions

Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us today, Dr. Lions. Please share with us how and where we can find you. Absolutely. The lionsshare.org. It's l yo ns share s h a r e r. You'll find my podcast, where to work with me, and my team blog. I've been blogging every week since 2013. So, there's tons of free information on there and lots of fun freebies if anyone wants to check them out. Thank you for joining us today. I'd love to hear from you. Reach out to me at hell@ shebiltit.com on our shebiltit website or at shebiltit on social. Thank you to my editor Rich Duffolino who always makes us sound good. Until next time, let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that