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Made For Living Well

What if life wasn’t as complicated or difficult as we make it? What if health was simple? The Made for Living Well podcast is the place where you step into who you are and unlock health that is already inside of you. You no longer have to wait or work to arrive! Health is here, right now, waiting to be lived. This podcast is shaking up the health space, showcasing that you are closer than you think. Inside, Alexa shares tangible tips and hacks to help you live out health, breaking down complex topics into simple and easy to understand ideas. Along with sharing her health secrets, she interviews the best in the industry in candid interviews that will leave you changed. With a million downloads and counting, Made For Living Well is the place to revolutionize your life to stop waiting and start living—creating a life well-lived.
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Now displaying: Page 4
Mar 15, 2022

What is the metabolic diet? Is it right for you? Like most things, it depends on what your body needs. But more than a diet, the pro-metabolic eating lifestyle is designed to support metabolic health, the topic of this post.

If you haven’t heard of metabolic eating, which some call pro-metabolic eating, you will soon. It stands out against the traditional diets as a means of working with your body rather than working to change your body, a subtle but powerful difference.

The traditional model of health supports the idea that if you micromanage what you consume and how you live, your body will change in direct relation to what you do. This idea has led people to cut calories and eliminate entire macronutrients from their diets, hoping to see results that correspond.

But the new model is founded on how your body responds—shifting the focus of health from external things to how your body responds.

The pro metabolic eating plan focuses on nourishing your body based on what it needs. It is an approach that works with your metabolism, knowing how to support it moving your body from surviving to thriving.

Inside this podcast, I interview metabolic eating expert Fallon Danae to hear her story of losing her health and using the pro metabolic plan to regain health and what that looks like inside our lives.

Mar 2, 2022

Is intermittent fasting healthy? Or is it another sexy health term that puts health inside a new box? Inside this podcast, I interview Dr. Michael Breus, America’s Sleep Doctor to learn more about circadian living – using sleep to energize you to live.

There are a lot of healthy things the health space has taken to the extreme and made unhealthy. In some cases, I think that’s what has been done with intermittent fasting. We’re quick to hear it might help you lose weight so we go all in, taking the twelve-hour fast and pushing it to eight hours. If it speeds up results, why not?

But is it speeding up results? Or is it giving you quick but fleeting results?

Remember, health is not about pushing your body to the extremes. This leads to burnout and exhaustion. The answer to health has always been and will always be about energy flow. Creating a personalized tool that allows you to feel how your body is responding. How you feel, energetically not necessarily emotionally, is the easiest way to track your health.

Everything we do is working towards energizing the body or draining it. Not to say we can’t do both, but the key is to find a balance. It’s always about creating and sustaining a healthy flow of energy. That’s the importance of sleep, of the food that we eat and even when we eat it. Everything we encounter in life is interacting with our energy. It’s the key thread running through the whole of who you are.

Inside this podcast, we talk with Dr. Michael Breus, America’s Sleep Doctor on energy. How to use energy to change not only how you feel but how you feel leads to a change in how you look. It’s the outcomes we’ve all been longing for but created through energy flow.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/249

Feb 22, 2022

Let's talk about sexual wellness. I'm not just talking about sex, although that does matter to your health but the full spectrum including the pelvic floor, genital health, hormones, and even connection. Learn why you need a sexual wellness routine and how it can help your entire life. 

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/248

Feb 10, 2022

Nervous system regulation is a fancy way of packaging up a lot of annoying and sometimes painful symptoms. In my own life, it looked more like digestive issues that led to nighttime bloating, making others question if I was four months pregnant. When really, it was just the bloating.

It also came out in an overreaction to harsh lighting (a.k.a. sunlight), an intense sense of smell that led to dull yet constant headaches, and a systemic inflammatory reaction that made me feel like a walking zombie.

I tried to link symptoms to food sensitivities, poor sleep patterns caused by toddlers, and the dreaded hormone problems. But these are just surface issues that are easy to blame. In a way, it was tangible, quantifiable data that made sense of my issues without dealing with the root problem.

The real problem was my dysregulated nervous system. A system responsible for communicating bodily action, like how to digest food and what hormones to release. A system responsible for connecting your brain to your biology -- your psychology to your physiology.

Your nervous system is in direct communication with your brain and biology, including your enzymes, neurotransmitters, hormones, and subsequently your cells based on what it's experiencing in and around you.

Learning how to nourish your nervous system is a game-changer in your health. You can't get healthy without it.

Inside this podcast, I interview Jessica Maguire, an expert in Nervous System Regulation. We discuss why your nervous system is important, how it's creating your health and how to use your nervous system to get healthy.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/247

Feb 3, 2022

It’s fair to say I’ve generally been a skeptic of meditation. Getting my mind to a state of nothingness has felt more like a chore than an act of self-care. Trying to perform a task I’m not even sure I’m capable of all while spending time doing it. It seemed like a lose-lose situation until I learned what meditation is supposed to be.

When I was able to get outside my stereotypical idea of what meditation was and see it for what it was intended to be – I started to develop more interest in it. Surprisingly, I learn that I was already practicing meditation. I just didn’t call it that.

I know how critical creating mind-space is to my current self and future self. But it started by setting down my preconceived ideas about what meditation is and learn what it means. That’s what I hope we can all do today. To set aside what we think we know about meditation and learn what it really means.

Unlike common thought, the goal is not “nothingness.” It’s an act of shifting what you think—choosing instead to fill the mind with truth.

Understanding this gives meditation more substance. It makes it practical, igniting a desire within you to experience the benefits. Today on the podcast (and the third episode inside the latest series – 8 life-transforming health tips you need), I am interviewing the queen of meditation and founder of the Muse Meditation Devise, Ariel Muse.

Inside this podcast, you will learn common misconceptions about meditation, how to get started and why retraining the brain is the secret to health. This is your guide to meditation.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/246

Jan 27, 2022
You know you should get healthy, you even want it, but you fail to do it. The truth is, you’re not even lazy. Like most people, you’re struggling to pinpoint why you can’t do what you know you should – like saving money or getting in your devotional. This post has the answers you’ve been looking for to answer the nagging question, why can’t I do what I know I need to do?

The answer is, you’re human.

I know that doesn’t help you and it’s certainly not intended to be an excuse. But it’s the truth. It’s human nature to reject change, even good change, because change is scary. At least to your body and your mind. It’s the pattern of survival, to stay stuck doing the things that have kept you alive even if they’re not the best for you.

Things that your body has grown used to and created around. But also because some of these actions induce a reward, at least temporarily. In either case, it makes change appear harder than it is, leaving you running for the temporary fix.

It’s why we run to the candy stash mid-afternoon when we’re feeling a bit tired and overwhelmed.

Or why you feel like you deserve that midnight ice-cream binge.

It’s why you reset your alarm, allowing you to sleep in rather than wake up and move.

On some level, your body is exhausted, and the best place to get a boost, even temporarily, is from an immediate reward. But it doesn’t have to stay this way. You can do the things you know you should, the things you want to, but it has to be done with a different twist.

Inside this podcast, I interviewed a behavior change specialist, Dr. Heather McKee. Dr. Mckee’s work focuses on habit formation to help people make lasting change using research-driven methods to find freedom and joy in their healthy habits.

She answers your nagging question, why can’t I do what I know I need to do? And it’s one to listen to.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/245

Jan 19, 2022
What does it take to get healthy? Not quick weight loss. But actual lasting health? If you’re wondering this question, this brand new podcast series is exactly what you need. Eight life-changing health tips you need to know, starting with the question, how would you define health?

I hate cliche.

There is nothing more cliche than telling you I know eight life-changing health tips. While I don’t want to be one more health expert promoting blanket statements, I do think these eight tips that you personalize could answer a lot of the questions you’ve been looking for. Shifting the narrative from looking outside your body for answers and seeing your body is the answer.

Not to give you a spoiler alert, that statement could change the entire scope of your health.
Your body is the answer.

It’s always been the answer. We’ve just missed it in the process of hating our bodies. We’ve missed it because it feels so contradictory to find the answer in the thing you desperately want to change.

But you have to trust me on this one. Your body is the answer. It is the only way. It happens to also be why so few people have found it. Health will never be found in external solutions. It’s always and forever how your body responds to what you do – making your body the answer.

Inside this podcast, we kick off this series by redefining health. Twisting your original beliefs into true beliefs creates a solid foundation to produce the change you’ve been longing for. Listen to the podcast to see a new beginning in the first of eight foundational health tips you need.

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/244

Jan 6, 2022

Are you looking to take your health to a new level? Or maybe you’re just looking to gain a sliver of health. Wherever you are starting from, this simple practice will upgrade your wellness routine this year to help you live out of health.

What if things could be different?
What if things could be better?

A new year is here, and while there is nothing strikingly different about December versus January, it certainly feels different. The possibility of a new chapter a fresh start is invigorating and helps you think outside the norm.

This year, I want to do that. To help you think outside the box and get away from the “traditional” health ideas to return to your roots. Helping you invest in something that works for you by seeing yourself inside the equation.

The boxed approach to health and life hasn’t worked. At least not long-term. While I think it’s human nature to desire better, even strive for it, I don’t want you to spend another year looking for better while living outside yourself. The best is when you open up to who you were created to be, not an idea someone told you to be.

This year my dream is to help you live out of the real you, not create a new you. Because the world needs the real you, the passions and desires contained within the soul of who you are.

This year, it’s time to break up with the diet plans, the resolutions, the hard and fast goals, and start to live. I’m not talking about ‘keeping up with the Jones’ kind of living, but living as in learning, growing, adventuring, and unearthing the real you.

We don’t have time not to. And once you taste it, you’ll never go back. Inside this podcast, I share my health revelation that changed everything, and I want to share it with you. If you’re interested in your own health revival, check out this podcast.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/243

Dec 30, 2021

Your conscious mind is more powerful than you've been told. Learn how to use your conscious mind to create the change you desire with guest Leonard Perlmutter.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/242

Dec 9, 2021
Today I want to tell you to stop worrying because I believe God has more for you.

I’m a worrier by nature. I was born into a worrying family. To me, worrying was an act of love. If you weren’t worried about me or my five-minute trip across town, did you even love me? I had married the two together, making worry a part of my story just as much as love was. But I had to learn that worry wasn’t my intended design, and it’s not yours. It’s not giving you life. It’s stealing it.

I wonder what would change if we surrendered our constant need to worry and control the future and laid it at his feet—allowing us the space to fully step into his perfect design for our life and live that out. To finally live.
If you’re like me, you’re thinking, this is all too good to be true. It’s a good thought, but practically speaking, it feels impossible. Your heart says yes, but logic says that’s a terrible idea.

I know the fight is real. So far, logic may be winning. But today, I want to get your logical mind on board, allowing you to let down what is keeping you stuck and to walk into the promises God created specifically and individually for you.

Inside this podcast, I present you with a new way to see your life, not as an author but as a character in the greatest story ever told. Allowing you to set down your need to create your own ending and live in the peace that God showed us the ending and it’s perfect—creating room for you to live right now. The place where life is happening. Where memories are made, and change is created.

Let this be your permission slip to stop worrying because you know God has more for you.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/241

Nov 30, 2021

Everything you need to know about eating carbohydrates. Because you should be eating them, inside this podcast, learn what types of carbs you should be eating, how many, and at what times. It sounds complicated, but we’re making the carb conversation simple on this controversial topic of how to eat carbohydrates. 

The easy answer to health is to focus on external problems and will yourself into eliminating them. Clearly, we’ve watched it work over and over in the health space. Eliminating entire food groups in the name of health but for quick weight loss. The problem is, it works in the short term, but long-term eliminating an entire macronutrient group like carbohydrates has lasting consequences.

A long-term study that took a deep dive into the eating habits of more than 447,000 people around the globe found cutting carbs from your life, like on keto, might help you lose weight or feel great in the short term, but with long-term consequences. The study pushing in The Lancet Public Health showed that 25 years after the start of the study, those who ate the lowest amount of carbohydrates had the highest risk of death.

But I know, the arguments still exist. The questions still loom. And the appeal of quick weight loss still lingers. The truth is, food elimination is not our problem. The problem has never been about external situations or things that we encounter, but why our bodies are so sensitive to the things we consume?

And why do we overconsume them or crave the wrong ones. These are questions we should be asking, why is my body reacting this way, not what foods are good foods or bad foods. Of course, getting here takes time. Seeing food for what it does inside your body rather than what it contains is transformation in your health.

The short answer is, eat carbohydrates. Not too many, not too little, and in the right form. Inside this podcast I tell you how to eat carbohydrates, walking through carbohydrate cycling, fasting, how many is too many and all of the details in between.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/240

Nov 16, 2021

If you’re a carb lover, you’ve never felt so out of place in the health world. The low-carb diet is trending. Leaving you to wonder if you need to jump that train and how you’ll possibly manage. Because carbs are life. But today I want to tell you, carbs aren’t the enemy. In fact, they’re necessary. The enemy is the power you give food. Before we get into that, let’s break down why carbs aren’t the enemy.

Carbohydrates are surrounded by a great deal of controversy in the health space. No matter what way you swing the argument, you can find research to back it up. That seems to be a trend in the health space, increasing confusion and pulling the attention we should be placed on our body onto new systems.

But the truth is, this subject isn’t as dicey as the world has made it out to be. The better news, carbohydrates are a part of a healthy diet. In fact, they’re essential. It’s not the elimination you need, but the knowledge on what your body is doing with carbohydrates and how to tell how your body is using them.

Health is more than what you consume. It’s how your body uses what you consume.

Don’t focus so much on what you eat or what you shouldn’t eat that you miss what your body needs. In most cases, 99.9% of them, your body needs healthy carbohydrates to a certain degree.

On this podcast, we dive into the science on carbohydrates, why your body needs them, the process of ketosis, and the real cause behind your drive for another flash diet. It’s a good one and will give you arguing points to let go of the shame you might feel when you sink your teeth into that granola bar.

Making peace with carbs once and for all.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/239

Nov 9, 2021

 

We’ve all heard the definition of insanity. It is doing the same thing but expecting different results. While I know the definition, I’m no stranger to living this way, desiring change, even investing everything into it but living stuck in my old patterns. Of course, I don’t intentionally keep myself stuck. It’s an unintentionally subconscious response repeated when we fail to live aware of our drive to self-sabotage.

Let me define self-sabotage to give you an adequate description of what we’re talking about. Self-sabotage is when we actively or passively take steps to prevent ourselves from reaching our goals.

Most likely, you don’t go around bragging about your latest attempt to self-sabotage, but if we’re not careful or aware of it, self-sabotage will be the very thing that keeps you from moving forward. We all do it or have done it until we learn how to undo it.

Self-sabotage is the natural pull of life, but when we know better, we can do better. We can learn to overcome self-sabotage.

Today on the podcast, I talk with mindset expert, licensed clinical psychologist, and certified weight management specialist Dr. Candice Seti. We dive into the habit of self-sabotage and the key steps to overcome it. Trust me, it’s not as difficult as we make

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/238

Oct 18, 2021

The world tells you to write a new story and burn the old one day. But what if that old story, the one you've been trying to escape, is meant for good? Inside this episode, we dive into the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan and into the Promised Land and how we can relate to them. Learn how to stop looking over your shoulder, allowing the past story to keep you stuck wandering in the wilderness and how to face your Jordan-sized problem to walk into the promised. You don't need a new story. You just need a new ending. Let's write that. 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/237

Oct 11, 2021

You want to change, and you want to achieve health. But there is a right and wrong way to do that. We can't change one area of our body without recognizing how it's influencing all areas. Don't worry. This isn't another thing you have to do. Seeing all systems of the body creates simplicity in health. Instead of trying to change your body, try this approach. 

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/236

Sep 27, 2021

It’s time to shift your view of anxiety. Because it’s not what you think or what you’ve been taught. Learn the truth about anxiety and how to use it for good using my anxiety diet plan found inside this post.

I’m no stranger to anxiety. I’ve spent many years either pretending that I didn’t struggle with the beast I called anxiety or being so overwhelmed with it I thought I was anxiety itself. 

It sounds extreme, but I knew through my inner daily battle that the beast was terrifying. Always there threatening to overtake me, consuming me without an ounce of remorse. So I stayed as far away from the topic as possible, choosing to blame my inner pain, my inner beast, on outward things.

My best mode of protection was either distraction or blame.

The problem was, these things only worked part of the time. And the times it did work, it exhausted me, forcing me to sit in a place where I couldn’t stay busy in distraction, so I’d fall back to blame. Blaming everything for the pain, I was feeling. Fearing that if I looked inside to the real problem, I would give the beast credit I didn’t want it to get.

The problem was the blame, and the distraction only fed the beast. Allowing it to grow stronger until it started to control more areas. Until it started to control more of me. Pushing me to a place I hated. A place void of any joy, of any dreams, of any feeling. A place where I lived so scared I became numb, completely disassociating myself from the person I was.

But I’ve learned that while anxiety is a beast, one with great strength, there are many ways to tame the beast, and I can even see some beauty in it. I don’t want to say you make friends with the beast, but I think that changing how you view anxiety changes what you do with it and how much power you give it.

Inside this podcast, I work to change your view of anxiety. Not to get rid. of it, which is an impossible feat and honestly not one we want to do, but help you see the role of anxiety, making friends with it, so you no longer live co-dependent on it. And below, I share the anxiety diet that has allowed me to maintain a healthy relationship with it.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/235

Sep 17, 2021
Balance is one of those tricky subjects I wanted to believe in, and I even fell into trying to achieve on some level in my life, but the chase for balance only led to more stress, leading me to question if balance exists.

So I broke up with balance.

I declared it unrealistic, and I found approximately 350 google articles in support of my argument.

But like most things in my life, when I make a hard stance in one direction, I often make a full circle that brings me face to face with that reality. Of course, the case for balance was no different.

Ironically, as I've been embarked on a five-year healing journey, I quickly realized, my life not only needed balance, it required it. So how did the two meet?

In one obvious and distinct idea that allowed me to fall in love with balance again.

Here's the big point:

Balance is not a destination or another place you have to achieve or chase to arrive, balance is an action that you take.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/233

Sep 17, 2021
I remember the last time I wished for more self-discipline. I was feeling overwhelmed with anxiety as I sat with baggy sweatpants and my hair in a messy bun scraping the bottom of the bowl of cinnamon Chex. Wishing that I could somehow find the secret to self-discipline. Allowing me to actually do the things I knew I should be.

On that day, I opened up a journey of uncovering the true definition of self-discipline that took years of looking beneath a mound of my insecurity and shame that seemed to keep me stuck wishing but never living. What I realized is self-discipline isn't eluding you. It's not something you have to chase down, but it's a way of life.

One that has allowed me to enjoy many more bowls of Cinnamon Chex without the guilt and shame I used to feel. Inside this podcast, I share the secret of self-discipline and how to live that out. You're going to like this one.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/234

Apr 20, 2021

I’m no stranger to stress. In some ways, I thrived in stress, even though I hated it. It sounds crazy to crave the very thing you hate. But in some subconscious way, I would create stress if there wasn’t enough of it.


It sounds rather dramatic.

But I think we’re all subject to this. Living stuck in places we long to get out of because, in some way, they’ve become safe. They’ve become our home leading us to find stress when we feel like it’s missing.

Making us masters of our own misery.

But we know that stress is a leading culprit in the disease process. Throwing our bodies out of balance and neglecting the very essence of health inside of ourselves. That’s why this topic is so important and why I’m thankful to have stress-expert Trudy Stone on the podcast.

In this podcast, we dive into her guide to making stress work for you. Ending the co-dependent relationship with stress and helping you to create a life of thriving.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/232

Apr 15, 2021

Your brain is a powerful organ. In fact, you could say it's one of the most powerful organs and the energy it needs to run proves that. Your brain is responsible for consuming 20% more energy than any other organ. And a reduction in energy can lead to more than just brain fatigue. 

An energy-deprived brain can cause a range of debilitating diseases including depression. What was once formally thought of as a chemical imbalance, we now understand as an energy-starved brain. 

Inside this podcast, I interview Dr. Doug Pucci on brain energy and how to boost your energy flow to enhance your brain power. 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/231

Mar 23, 2021

Emotional energy or emotional healing is a hard topic. But what if it is the topic we need to be talking about? Of course, I do wish health was just a matter of what you eat and how much you exercise. I wish it were as easy as a calculation, even though I know my rebellious spirit could never get on board. 

But that's not how health works.

If you've followed any sort of calculation, you know it's not as easy as adding up the food you eat or inserting it into the app. There's more at play than an equation of calories in equals calories out, and that is what your body does with what you provide.

Making health more complicated than paying attention to only the external factors of health like how much you eat or how much you move.

But what your body does with what you provide is the key to health. And learning this can change your health for life.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/230

Feb 26, 2021

PODCAST



Alexa Schirm         
How To Get More Energy and Stop Storing Body Fat           
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Looking to feel more energized? Inside this podcast, I share the secrets you need to feel more energized and stop storing body fat. Take this quiz to pinpoint where your energy level currently is and how to get an energy fix.

If you’re feeling exhausted, you’re not alone. We can look at Starbucks stock and recognize this world lives on caffeine, and if you’re not tired, are you even human?

I get it. I remember the days of owning a gym and teaching the 5:00 am class with a toddler and a newborn. After waking up numerous times a night to feed the baby and a few times to put the toddler back to bed, it felt like I was a walking zombie for years.

I look back and wonder if that was even safe? And I certainly know it wasn’t healthy. But sleep deprivation was my life state. And the only way I could figure out how to survive was caffeine, food, and sleep whenever I could get a moment of shutting my eyes.

The truth was, everything in life felt out of control, from home life to my eating patterns and my mood. The exhaustion was real, and I thought I just needed to die to the reality that this was my new normal.

But I didn’t want to live that way. 

Luckily, I found the answer to exhaustion wasn’t another complex system but simplicity. It was more straightforward than tracking foods and more life-giving than being defeated by the number on the scale. Health is not as simple as a calculation. While it may seem like the easy answer, it doesn’t seem to work that way.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/229

Feb 14, 2021

How many carbohydrates should you eat? Are they good for you? What about protein and fat...
 
And the great macronutrient debate continues, but it's time to put it to rest. In this episode, I share what you need to know about macronutrients and how many you should eat. 

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/228

Feb 3, 2021
Health is a feeling. I know it sounds cliche but understanding this changed my health. It took a far off destination and turned it into something I could live every day. If you listen to no other podcasts, you have to hear this one. Because I believe you can experience health today and inside I show you how. 

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/227

Feb 1, 2021

If you're struggling to get healthy, you're not alone.
Health has been a hard thing to come by. It feels like all of the stars in the universe need to align at the perfect time and in the perfect environment for you to get close to living healthy.
It feels like a long lost dream.


But I've questioned, is this the purpose of health? Or have we made it more difficult than it needs to be? Inside this episode, I share the reason you're not getting healthy and how to fix it.

 

Learn more: https://thelivingwell.com/226

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