Joy and Full: Healthier with Sarah Wells, MD

How we round our our days can really make an impact on how we sleep at night. And as I've talked about the last couple of episodes,  how we sleep makes a huge difference in our long term health and weight.  Today's episode examines the evening routines we have in place that either help or hinder sleep. I'll address shutting down work activities in a way that offloads our minds. I&ap...

The impact of our sleep quality is so far reaching, ranging from the obvious ways we know we function better on a good night sleep, to the impact of sleep on our very cells and DNA, as discussed last week's episode. This week I'll dive into some very practical ways to support your circadian rhythm and sleep better! I'll talk about how to optimize light exposure, how to time eating t...

Today's episode is all about sleep. Getting good quality and quantity of sleep has a watershed impact on so many areas of our functioning and health. Without good sleep, we won't be able to restore the metabolic health we need to see lasting weight loss and maintenance results. I'll cover some of the data surrounding these metabolic impacts, on weight management,  other dieseases, a...

We make so many decisions each day about food! This decision fatigue that goes on tends to wear many people down so that by the end of they day, all their healthy choices have gone by the wayside.  In this episode, I describe the competing parts of the brain involved in food decisions, and how to put the RIGHT part in charge more consistently. I'll introduce one of the most powerful tools the...

Once you get started exercising, how much should you aim to do over the long term to be sure you are maximizing your health benefits? How much is too much? And are there ways to maximize the fat oxidation (or burn) to set yourself up for better metabolic heath? I'll cover all this and more in this episode.

Deconditioning, or physical INactivity, if it was recognized as a disease, would be more common than Diabetes or High Blood Pressure. And its has been identified as the 4th leading risk factor for death worldwide. Yet it is preventable!  But if you haven't exercised before, or in longer than you can remember, how can you overcome all the barriers holding you back from starting. And how would...

Many ask: If exercise doesn't help lose the weight, why bother?  Let me tell you why! From your head to your toes there are wonderful impacts. From longevity to bone health, from decreasing pesky abdominal fat to the helping the linings of your blood vessels, exercise benefits so much. Not only that, but recent research has unveiled a new hormone released by exercise (named after a Greek Godd...

It's time to rethink how we look at exercise:  Instead of seeing it as a punative activity, to "burn off" some food indulgence, or as simply a way to lose weight....let's talk about all the things exercise can ADD to our lives.  This episode focuses on the amazing impact exercise has on our brains.  It has the mental health benefits of decreasing anxiety and depressive symptoms...

Science has revealed in recent decades that the brain is trainable and physically changes in response to training. This is called neuroplasticity.  This episode will cover what it is and how understanding how the brain functions in this way can help us improve our health building habits. I'll also give three specific tactics or strategies you can begin using right away to begin training your...

How can we address the urges we feel to eat when we are not hungry? In this episode, I present a tool in the form of a simple series of questions we can ask ourselves to help decide. I use the acronym "THEEFFF"  to help make these questions easy to remember.  It sounds like 'thief" for a good reason. When we follow our urges to determine when and how much to eat, we are being r...

The decisions we make about what to eat are different than the decisions we make about how much to eat. This episode continues to explore the decisions we make about how much to eat, and how to optimize our ability to be guided by our physiologic hunger. This episode delves into the environmental cues that can interfere with our ability to make the right decisions about food volumes and portions....

In this episode, I use the analogy of dealing with a clutter filled house to help illustrate ways we can handle manage our emotions without using extra food. How can we think about emotional eating? How do we stop doing it? When we stop eating extra, and there are more feelings to feel, how can we approach managing them?  Are we missing opportunities for personal growth when we eat extra, instead...

Last episode discussed the benefits of waiting for and honoring hunger signals to help decide when and how much to eat. But what kind of things can interfere with those signals, and thus sabotage our efforts to improve our health? In this episode, I talk about common disruptors to our bodies' hunger signaling systems. When these are addressed, our decision to listen to our hunger and eat acco...

Of all the habits we may chose to cultivate as we aim to improve our health, there are some that are foundational. They will impact our success at all the other health habits we work toward. One of those foundational habits is that of tuning in to true physical hunger signals and cultivating consistency in the way we honor that true physical hunger. Using hunger as a tool to help us regulate our f...

One of the processes that drives obesity and chronic disease is chronic inflammation. But what is it? What is it doing in our body to be such a problem? Is inflammation ever necessary? And how do we deal with it? What foods drive inflammation up, and what foods drive it down? And what does this have to do with the extra weight we would like to shed? I'll answer these questions and more in thi...

One strategy that makes incremental habit changes for health more likely to succeed involves swapping a not-so-good habit for a better-for-you habit. In the case of a candy or sugar habit, swapping it out for a dark chocolate habit instead may offer some real advantages. In this episode, I review the evidence in favor of dark chocolate's health benefits, as well as details surrounding HOW to...

This episode is what I call a "sermon to myself." I'll discuss why we still have a drive for perfection, even though it isn't necessary for health improvement. How we were made in the Image of God. I'll talk a little about gluttony, grace, and Jesus. http://www.joyfullweightloss.com

Let's talk about antioxidants . You hear about the everywhere. But what ARE they? How do they work? Why do we need them? I'll start with a simple analogy to help describe how human cells work. Then I'll explain what oxidation is, and how something called oxidative stress occurs. Finally I'll describe why antioxidants are so important for health. Understanding what is happening...

We have just passed the date many describe as "Quitter's Day" when it comes to New Year's Resolutions and goals. One thing that causes many to throw in the towel? Perfectionism. In this episode, I discuss the harm of perfectionism, how it inhibits progress, and three ways to combat it. http://www.joyfullweightloss.com

In this episode I talk about how to maximize food enjoyment while promoting health, weight loss, and building better relationships with those we love. http://www.joyfullweightloss.com

This episode describes why calorie counting alone misses a BIG part of the picture in weight loss. I'll talk about the history of the calorie. Why are we still using something that was a measure of fuel burn in steam engines to decide what to eat? Food impacts our hormones, and those hormones have a huge impact on our cells. They determine if  we keep fat in storage mode, or burn it for energ...

In this episode I talk through something that has been a GAMECHANGER for me and for many others.  Let's approach goal setting in a way that better drives health and weight results! http://www.joyfullweightloss.com

In this episode, I'll give my thoughts on popular approaches to weight loss and health that you may be considering as we start 2021. I'll give you 12 Hallmarks of healthy approaches and plans that could drive good results. I'll then share some Red Flags and Hallmarks of not-so-good approaches and plans that will likely frustrate you while making your wallet thin. Finally, I'll...

Introducing the Joy+Full Weight Loss Podcast! http://www.joyfullweightloss.com