In this deeply validating and empowering conversation, Lindsie sits down with fellow nurse and holistic practitioner Kirstyn Ali, creator of the Body Harmony Protocol, to explore what true healing really looks like—beyond symptom management, restrictive diets, and the “eat less, move more” mindset women are constantly handed. Kirstyn shares her powerful story of gaining 80 pounds, struggling with chronic fatigue, losing her period, and being dismissed with oversimplified advice—until she finally decided to take healing into her own hands. Through the addition of nutrients, nervous system regulation, stress management, gentle movement, and a Mediterranean-based approach to nourishment, she reversed her hypothyroidism symptoms, lost 100 pounds, restored her period, and reclaimed her energy and identity. This episode is a must-listen for women with PCOS, hypothyroidism, or chronic fatigue—and especially for healthcare professionals who feel torn between their clinical training and the intuition that their patients need more.
• The turning point that pushed Kirstyn toward holistic healing
Waking up at 25 feeling like she had the flu every day—aching joints, exhaustion, weight gain, and frustration with “calories in, calories out.”
• How nurses are uniquely equipped for integrative health
The blend of science literacy, holistic assessment skills, empathy, and understanding of pathophysiology.
• Nutrition as the foundation (not restriction)
How Kirstyn shifted from “what do I cut out?” to “what does my thyroid need to function optimally?”
• The Body Harmony Protocol framework
Nourishing first (nutrients, inflammation reduction, thyroid-supportive foods)
Nervous system regulation
Gentle movement & reintroducing exercise slowly
Layering in labs, detox, and deeper protocols once the foundation is solid
• The underestimated impact of stress and sleep
Why healing can’t happen in a body stuck in fight-or-flight—and why cortisol regulation is critical for thyroid and hormone health.
• Movement as emotional and mental therapy
How walking, cycling, yoga, and low-impact strength training can rebuild trust and connection with your body.
• How to know when you’re truly healing vs. just managing symptoms
— Labs trending toward optimal ranges
— Better digestion, cycles, energy, mood
— Feeling like yourself again, connected and embodied
🔗 Connect With Kirstyn Ali
Learn more about The Body Harmony Protocol
Connect with Kirstyn on LinkedIn
(0:00 - 2:23) So instead of asking what do I need to cut out to lose weight, I started asking what do I need to eat so my body, especially my thyroid that's giving trouble right now, can actually function optimally. And I knew that when my body would become supported and balanced, weight loss would just naturally follow as a byproduct of that healing. Welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered, Nourish, Heal, Thrive. I'm your host, Lindsie, a former ER nurse turned health coach helping women with PCOS and hormonal imbalances find healing through mindful eating, movement, and self-awareness. Today's episode is extra special because my guest knows exactly what it's like to walk both sides of the healthcare system. Kirstyn Ali is a fellow nurse who, like me, reached a point where she realized that traditional medicine, while powerful, wasn't telling the whole story, especially when it came to women's health, thyroid issues, and chronic fatigue. After experiencing her own health struggles, Kirsten began exploring nutrition, movement, and lifestyle as true medicine. She now helps women restore balance through her Body Harmony Protocol, which focuses on root cause healing for hypothyroidism and hormone imbalances. In this episode, we're talking about what it's really like to step out of the conventional healthcare mindset, the emotional and professional challenges that come with it, and how women like us, trained in science, are leaning to integrate the art of healing back into the science of medicine. If you've ever felt caught between your training and your intuition, if you know there has to be a better way to help women truly heal, or if you're just starting to explore holistic health yourself, this episode is for you. As a reminder, the content shared on PCOS Unfiltered is for informational and educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are not intended to serve as medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or treatment plan. The information shared is based on personal experience and expert interviews and is not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Now, grab your tea, take a deep breath, and let's dive in.
(2:30 - 2:45) Welcome, welcome, welcome to Kirstyn. Oh my gosh, we have a very similar background, similar story, so I'm super, super excited for this episode. So let's just kind of dive right in.
(2:45 - 10:25) So can you start by just sharing your journey, you know, both personally, professionally, from, you know, your nursing journey to discovering your path of healing through nutrition and movement and just lifestyle change? Absolutely. First of all, thank you for having me on this podcast. I'm super excited for what this conversation is going to hold and in the insight that you have as well. But really, I've always had a deep passion for helping others live healthier, more vibrant lives. And I was just the kid that loved science so much. I was always completely fascinated by how the human body works. And that passion led me to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in biology. And then I furthered my education to become a nurse in internal medicine. But over time, I realized that, you know, true healing does not just happen in hospitals, right? It starts long before the illness ever shows up. And that realization pushed me towards a more holistic, preventative approach to my own health. So today, I'm a certified health and wellness coach. And I specialize in helping women with hypothyroidism and other hormonal imbalances find their balance and their energy again. And my passion really, of course, it came from my expertise in healthcare, but it really came from my own personal struggle. During my first degree, I gained 80 pounds in a year, my grades dropped, I could barely keep my eyes open. And when I looked for answers, I was told to just eat less, move more pills were kind of thrown at the problem. And the harder I tried, the worse I felt. So eventually, I gave up and decided to find another way. And once I discovered what, what truly worked for my body, everything changed, and I managed to lose 100 pounds, I reversed my symptoms to the point where I no longer rely on medication for hypothyroidism. And now I live that high energy fulfilling life that we all deserve as women. And I'm able to now show up for my patients as a nurse, and for my clients as an owner of a health and wellness company. And that's exactly why, why I'm excited for this, this conversation, too, because I know you're here to do the same. Yeah, yeah, I think so many people can relate, you know, I mean, I've shared my story throughout, you know, episodes and stuff, but, but hearing it even from another person, I mean, I think so many people can relate to what you went through. So what would you say with that kind of, when you gain the weight, and like you said, your grades are dropping, was that kind of your like, rock bottom or turning point that you would say where you really said, something's got to change? It definitely was, it was interesting how I started, because, you know, most people, when they plan to start some form of health journey, they'll say, I'm going to start Monday or after the holidays, I'm going to start and I had no plan. I remember just waking up one day, it was like a Wednesday in the middle of July in the summer where there's 1000 reasons to carry on and not do any form of health journey, but I woke up and I felt like absolute garbage. You know, I was dragging my body through the mud, my joints were achy, I was waking up after 12pm. I felt like I had the flu all the time. And I thought to myself, like, if I feel like this now at 25, what is 3040 and 50 going to look like, like, it's only going to get worse as I get older, and forever just felt like a really long time to feel this way. And so deep down, I knew something had to change. And, you know, I tried to implement those traditional approaches that I've been told. And clearly, they weren't working. And it didn't mean that I needed something that was more complicated. But obviously, I needed to, to do something to tackle it from a different lens. And honestly, it didn't start with some grand plan or perfect routine. Like I said, it was just this random Wednesday afternoon when I woke up. But one day, I just, you know, I was still living with my parents at the time. And they had this exercise bike in the basement, that I had to literally dust off. And I'm obsessed with the show friends. And so I put on the show, and hopped on the bike and just pedaled as I was watching. And after that 20 minute episode, I was like, you know what, I feel I feel a little bit better, I'm going to continue and I'm going to start nourishing my body as well. So that's really how it all started. Yeah, yeah. I mean, so many good things from that. Because yes, you just have to take that first step and break the cycle. Like I tell that to all my clients. I mean, I've said on the podcast before, it's just that one little thing to break that that cycle that they're in, I think is super, yeah, super, super important there. As a nurse trained in the conventional healthcare system, how did you reconcile scientific training with this more integrative and functional approach? Right, that's such a good question, because it can be it can be a challenge, as I'm sure you can relate to being a nurse as well. I actually see them more as as complimentary rather than conflicting, like my nursing background. It taught me the importance of evidence based care and critical thinking and understanding the human body from that physiological standpoint. But then over time, what I realized is while conventional medicine excels in acute and crisis care, like in internal medicine, or the ER, like where you worked, it often falls short in addressing why a condition even develops in the first place, like what was happening long term, to potentially bring them to this crisis, especially with chronic issues like hypothyroidism, or PCOS, diabetes, liver failure, cardiovascular disease, right. So instead of rejecting science, I chose to really expand on it. And so I started diving into functional lab markers, nutrition, of course, stress root cause healing for my own health, and, and now for the health of my clients. And it's all still grounded in evidence just viewed from a broader lens, but like, still without being so fluffy, people don't like fluff, they like, they like, it's still backed by science a little bit. So it is really, like it is integrating that art of healing back into medicine, because it does use both both data and intuition to support the person as a whole, right? Not to just manage symptoms. Yeah, yeah. It's, and I have to catch myself sometimes, because I can, I don't want to say I'm bad, I don't want to bash the healthcare system. But, but unfortunately, the reality is, I mean, I feel like, you know, even as nurses, but physicians, they're trained more, they specialize. And so they're trained on one system, when we should be looking, like you said, at the whole body, you know, everything functioning together.
(10:25 - 12:32) And so that is where someone like, you know, us as health coaches can come in and complement, you know, what, what they're doing, what that that patient that client is doing in the traditional healthcare system. Yeah, good. Yeah. Did you ever have any internal conflict, or maybe even criticism from your peers while you're exploring, you know, the nutrition and lifestyle changes that you were and trying to incorporate, navigate all of that stuff? Right? Absolutely. There was definitely some internal conflict at first, like we've, we've all been trained to follow protocols and labs and prioritize pharmaceuticals, right. So when I started healing my own thyroid through nutrition and stress management, part of me definitely questioned like, if this was legitimate, because it didn't fit the standard medical framework that we've all been taught to follow. But then when I began to see the outcomes of what I was implementing, my doubt began to fade. And something that I've also realized, too, and I'm still seeing now is that many healthcare professionals quietly feel the same way. We're all kind of frustrated by the limits of conventional care. And we are curious about a more integrative model. So instead of seeing it as being against medicine, I think it should be seen as like evolving medicine, like we're bringing compassion and, and prevention and personalization back into care, and obviously the care of our own health as well. But yeah, there was definitely, there still is conflict sometimes, right? Again, it can be a very, very fluffy way of looking at things, but we do need to look at all systems. And that's where my, my business name comes from, too, like the body harmony protocol, everything. It's not the thyroid protocol because everything in your body needs to be in harmony for it to work. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
(12:33 - 13:12) What advantages do you think health professionals, especially nurses, bring to the holistic space versus those coming from the nonclinical backgrounds? That's another really good question. I, I think nurses bring something really special, like we are trained to see the person in nursing school, honestly, like not just the disease, nursing is holistic at its core. It is about listening, observing, educating, and supporting someone's healing process on every level when they're in their most vulnerable state.
(13:12 - 17:03) And that lens, I think it translates beautifully into functional and integrative work. And because of our clinical experience, we do understand pathophysiology and lab work and the red flags that might show up in our health. So we can blend that scientific literacy with, with empathy and real world experiences. And we know how to kind of bridge that gap between a diagnosis and the lived experience of that condition. We're not just following a textbook per se. And, um, you know, most importantly, I think we bring trust, like patients and clients know we've been on the clinical side. And when they see us, not just nurses, but any healthcare practitioner advocating for nutrition and lifestyle as a form of medicine, it helps legitimize that movement showing holistic care is, is an anti-science. It's like, it's, it's an evolution of science really. So, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think, I think we, we as nurses, we get into it to help people, you know, I mean, most of us, I hope that's the case all of us, but, but, you know, that's, that's definitely why I got into it. Um, and it just, it, it changed my, my view of how to help people change. Like you said, kind of going back to the root, you know, root cause that I didn't feel as being addressed, especially from the ER side. Unfortunately, I liked the adrenaline rush, but it is fun. Like for lack of a better word, the adrenaline rush of that side. But then sometimes when you're, you're handing all these pills and pushing all these meds, kind of thinking, you know, this is really not, you know, I, I always tell my clients too, and, and what I preach is the hospital is, is great, but it's not designed to be your first line of treatment. So much has to come before that. So exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. How did you arrive at your current framework? Uh, like what were the first changes that made a difference for you? Um, so honestly, the biggest barrier for me and a lot of people these days is the information overload. Like there's so much conflict there. So, um, I kept it really, really simple. Um, so it could be something I could stick to. And, um, actually I listened to your one podcast of adding before subtracting, and it really resonated with me because I very much took on that same approach. The first thing I focused on was, was nourishing my body. So instead of asking, what do I need to cut out to lose weight? I started asking, what do I need to eat? So my body, especially my thyroid, that's giving trouble right now can actually function optimally. And I knew that when my body would become supported in balance, weight loss would just naturally follow as a by-product of that healing. And so, um, I did start looking at, at common nutrient deficiencies in women with hypothyroidism. So B12, vitamin D, selenium, zinc were the main ones. And then I also learned that an anti-inflammatory gluten-free approach would help with Hashimoto's, which is the cause of my hypothyroidism. And so the simplest way I found to bring that all together and kind of dumb it down was, was a Mediterranean-based diet, right? So, um, lean proteins, healthy fats, legumes, colorful veggies, herbs, complex carbs, and then it's still actually delicious too. Like I'm, I'm a total foodie. Any of my friends and family will tell you I am such a foodie. So like whatever I did had to taste good.
(17:03 - 22:56) Otherwise it wouldn't work. And, um, so I didn't really start with the fancy lab testing or protocols. Like those all came later. I focused on the basics and stayed consistent with that. And then once nutrition, um, became second nature, I started working on balancing hormones through, through lifestyle. So stress, sleep, um, reintroducing movement, like I was mentioning on the exercise bike. Um, you know, I used to do in my previous attempts, I would do like intense hit and cardio, which completely burned out, burned myself out. Like I wasn't going to the gym at all and then would try going six days a week. Like it just wasn't feasible. So, um, I started small and one thing I told myself that really helped me stick with that is Kirsten don't go more than three days without moving your body in whatever capacity that was like, that was my rule. And to stay consistent with that rule to myself helped me build discipline. So, um, you know, I would, if, if it was a walk, it was a walk, the walks would turn into jogs, the jogs would turn into runs. Um, eventually I developed some form of confidence to do low impact strength training. And, um, you know, part, partly because it's what I felt confident doing, but partly because this was what was best for supporting thyroid hormone levels, um, in my metabolism. And then over time, I progressively challenged myself. Um, and, and now obviously I go to the gym a lot more, uh, because I love it. You know, I'm addicted to the gym and into working out, which is something I never thought I would say. Um, but you know, once all those habits were fine-tuned and I built that foundation, that's when I introduced the comprehensive lab testing, the Dutch test, the full thyroid panels, like the inflammation markers to do all those at the beginning. Um, it can be, can be good if you know, to find root causes in that, but if you can't even get the basics down, it's no point. You're just going to get overwhelmed. Um, you're not going to stick to it. It requires very tedious protocols. Um, and it's, it's meant to fine tune what you've already built. Um, so that was kind of my framework to first nourish my body, balance my hormones with sleep, stress management, and exercise, and then go into really just healing from the inside out with gut protocols and lab testing. Yeah. Yeah. It's good to like get a baseline sometimes, but I mean, you knew something was off, which I think a lot of us know. We just don't always listen, you know? So yeah. So as you were progressing, then you were able to, to kind of double check that stuff. Um, I do love what you said about, you know, with working out, especially just kind of it becoming who you are, because that's also part of what I talk about with my clients. And instead of saying, yes, I have to have the time or I have to have the money or whatever it is to do X, Y, and Z, or I'll wait until, you know, Monday or after the holidays or whatever. My goal is for them to just make it part of their identity so that it's just, yeah, it becomes a lifestyle. It's sustainable. And does that happen overnight? No, not even close. Right. I mean, I'm sure you can, yeah, you can relate to that. So, um, but I love what you said, you know, for that part too. Um, how do you prioritize among all the possible interventions, you know, diet, movement, sleep, stress, detoxing, um, environmental factors, and which do you find kind of often gives the greatest leverage when you're working with clients? Um, Oh, that's a, that's a tricky one. Cause they're all so integrated and there's so many pieces to the puzzle. Like there's so many moving parts that happen at once. Right. But I would say with what I call the body harmony protocol, as I was mentioning, which is the framework I used on myself and with my clients is I always start with foundation first, which means like focusing on what the body needs most urgently to regain stability. And more often than not, that means nourishment and nervous system regulation. So nutrition and stress management often I find creates the biggest ripple effect when you feed your body, the right nutrients to support hormonal balance and blood sugar stabilization and calm inflammation, um, everything else, the sleep, the energy, the metabolism, they start to improve naturally. And then from there, I lay layer in detox support, environmental changes, um, which are a little bit tricky again to navigate, but are possible once you have that foundation set. And, um, you know, but if the body isn't adequate, adequately nourished, or you're constantly in this fight or flight flight mode, it can't really heal. Right. So no matter how perfect the supplements are, like so many people I talk to, um, that come to me, they're so quick to say, Kirsten, what's the best supplement to be on for your thyroid health? Well, how, first of all, how are you eating? You know, like a supplements cause called a supplement for a reason. It's to a good nutrition protocol, a good lifestyle. And that's what I think a lot of people are missing as well. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, same thing. We're right on the same page.
(22:57 - 23:43) I'm like, yeah, what exactly are you supplementing for sure? Um, but yeah, I mean, in general, everybody's different. Definitely agree with you. I know the first like couple of weeks of my program, same thing, focusing on nervous system regulation, finding some connections to food that they may not realize are there. And then just starting to really flood the body with nutrients before we even start taking anything away, of course. So makes sense. And I think like stress stress too, and nervous system regulation, like it's only now coming to the forefront, but a lot of people, including myself, it's probably the hardest thing I have to work on for myself, but it's something that everybody underestimates.
(23:43 - 29:53) Everybody underestimates the impact of stress on chronic conditions and chronic illness, um, that could bring you to the hospital eventually, which you and I have both seen. Um, and yeah, it's just so important to implement again, those strategies that might sound fluffy, like journaling or meditating. Um, but they're really actionable strategies to lower your cortisol and get your body in a state where when you're eating and you are having those nutrients, your body is in a position to absorb it and use it at optimal capacity. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, you know, you know, from working as a nurse, I mean, it's a different kind of stress. Um, and then when we had the gym, it was like a really different kind of stress. I thought like I was happier because I like was, this is my baby and I was doing something I was passionate about, but yeah, come to find out I was just stressing my body out even more, um, until I had really, excuse me, really prioritize all of that stuff. Definitely. Next question. I love this one. How do you define true healing, uh, versus, you know, symptom management and what would you say are some key pillars to always consider in that? That is a good question. Um, symptom management, you know, I think is, is more reactive. So a true healing is proactive and it's root cause driven. It means asking why does this imbalance exist? Is it nutrient depletion? Is it poor gut absorption? Is it unmanaged stress, environmental load, and it's addressing it from within. And so, um, you know, the pillars I always consider are of course nutrition. So giving your body the raw materials for hormone production and nourishment, and again, for all your organs to be functioning at optimal capacity, right. And, um, movement I would say is another pillar of course, and this doesn't need to be any extravagant, um, gym program. It could be just walking outside. People underestimate the impact of just going for a 20 minute walk after your meal, a 10 minute walk, um, after, after your meal and to control blood sugar regulation there and sleep, you know, sleep is where hormone repair and detoxification happen. Um, that people don't realize. And I always say to my clients too, I forget where I saw this quote, but, um, it was rest. Isn't taking your foot off the gas. It's putting fuel in the tank. And I think, yeah. And I need to tell myself that sometimes, cause I'm a person that's always go, go, go. Um, and I struggled to sit still sometimes. So just for that sleep and stress regulation, it's a really good thing to keep in mind. And then, um, one thing that I think is probably the most important is that having that mindset and self trust, um, you can't heal a body you're constantly at war with, right? So when all those pillars kind of align your body starts doing what it's designed to do. And we underestimate the intelligence of our body. Like when we give it the tools it needs, it can, it can actually heal itself. Yeah. Yeah. Um, for you, like, how did you know whether either maybe personally or for your client, how did you know when you were actually getting into that, you know, true healing versus just kind of managing, you know, improving your symptoms. So how, what does that look like either for you or maybe for your clients? Um, yeah, so I would say I look at three markers for both myself and my clients. Um, so one marker would be like physiological. So our labs moving towards optimal ranges, not just normal, but you know, better improved T3 balanced cortisol rhythm, better blood sugar control, things like that. Inflammation markers is a huge one. Um, functional would be, uh, which is a big one would be like improved digestion. Uh, you know, bowel movements as nurses, we always care about the bowel movement, you know, the beer steadier energy, like our, our, my clients needing a nap to get through the day or are they, are they able to, you know, have the mental sharpness to perform better at work without having a nap in the day to, to just get through it? Are there relationships better in their lives with their spouses or their kids? Um, better cycle health. How is their, um, how's, how's their period? I, I didn't have my period for like 11 months when things were out of whack and once it started getting regulated again, natural and, you know, I went off the birth control and all those things and let my body naturally get back into the rhythm it's supposed to be in. Um, that was a huge marker where I'm like, okay, things are kind of recalibrating again. And then, um, you know, the feeling of embodiment, having that confidence and connection with your body when you're, when you do have a chronic condition, you know, PCOS hypothyroidism, especially like any sort of hormonal disorder, especially that gap between your mind and your body can be so large that you feel this disconnect and it can be very frustrating when your body isn't doing what your mind and heart are telling it to do. And that obviously creates an out-of-body experience.
(29:53 - 31:38) You don't feel yourself, you're not comfortable. Um, and it's just a horrible, horrible feeling. Like I, you know, nobody really knows that feeling unless they've experienced it themselves, but, um, getting rid of that feeling and feeling back into your own body and confident again is, is a huge marker. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I do, I hear that from a lot of women. They just, they don't feel like themselves there, you know, whether it's they're more moody, they're more tired. They just know something is off, but can't like figure out what it is. And yeah, that's, I think that's a huge one. Yeah. So we've talked a little bit about the, the exercise, you know, and movement piece, but I want to dive into that a little bit more. So what role did that really play? You, you know, you said you started off, you know, on the bike, but what role did that really play in your healing journey? Yeah, it's, um, you know what, it was more of a mental and physical, or sorry, a mental and emotional role rather than a physical. So like in the beginning, it just really helped me get out of my head and reconnect with my body. That's all it was really for. And again, I was just walking or like hopping on the bike to watch friends. And, um, now I move, I honestly move more for the mental clarity and emotional, emotional balance. And, um, it's become a way to ground myself and, and release stress and remind my body that it's, it's capable of these things. It's, it's a feeling of empowerment for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I don't incorporate a whole lot of, well, I should say really don't incorporate exercise, incorporate movement into my program.
(31:38 - 36:37) Um, because yes, especially I think in the world that we live in today, you know, we're all behind computers all day long. A lot of us, um, you know, even as nurses, I mean, you're still charting and using a computer all day long. And so we, we just, as a society have gotten, you know, lazier to some, some aspects, it's just not natural for us to move. And so yes, like I do talk a lot about movement. And so how do you adapt, um, exercise or use exercise and movement into like, you know, your program, especially for those that are maybe just starting off and kind of that fragile, like low energy state, you know, how do you approach that? Yeah, this one was a, for sure a challenge for me. I had to completely change my approach to movement because, and it was frustrating because I would see my friends having a much larger physical capacity than I had. And it, it made me feel behind and like, why can't I do that? But my body just wasn't responding well to the intense workouts. So like I said, in the past, I would tell myself, okay, you're going to the gym five, six days a week. And every time I tried that it backfired, I couldn't sustain it. I hated my workouts. And then I ended up more fatigued and more sore and, and symptoms were just worse. And so this time I really had to find patience, which a character flaw of mine is I'm very impatient. So this was a challenge. I had to start slow and really slow. And again, that rule of, of not going more than three days without moving my body. Um, so that might've meant a short walk or light strength training, again, super simple. And over time, those small steps built consistency and trust with my body again. And, um, eventually I began incorporating more structured low to moderate impact strength training. And then as my energy and resilience improved, I was able to progressively lift heavier, which is always the goal with strength training. Um, but even now I still honor that principle and I definitely prioritize recovery and mobility days, which I didn't in the past. And, um, turning 30 this year, I definitely find it's important. I'm I'm feeling it. So, uh, but, but yeah, my stubbornness gets in the way sometimes even, um, in the, in the, uh, summer I was doing a little bit more hit training than I had been doing in the past. And even at this point in my journey, I felt that backfire quite a bit with my hormones and my energy and even my mood, things like that. Aesthetically great. I was getting compliments, but I mean, it was just how I felt in my overall wellbeing wasn't the best. So I knew I had to kind of take a step back and slow down again. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think, I mean, I think it looks different for different people too. Right. I mean, I don't know if you see that because some people just may not be into lifting weights, you know, it might be more yoga, you know, practice and, or maybe even just sticking with body weight stuff, but, or more cardio, but I think they have to still kind of honor what serves them or what they actually are into and feel best doing. So yeah, you see that, you see that with your clients probably too. Exactly. And yoga is such a good optimal form of movement for that reason. And it, it strength trains and builds muscle while preserving your joints and your energy and all those things. So it's something I highly recommend. And I mean, you can always switch it up. There's no specific protocol that you have to do in terms of movement. It's whatever you're in the mood to do. There's like in the summer, I do like to go for walks or run a lot more like it's, I mean, you're in Florida, so it's nice on your ground, but I'm up in Canada. So in the summer, I'm taking advantage of whether to do more things outside and do more resistance bands or free weights as opposed to going to the gym. Yeah, it's whatever works for you. My, the key thing is to keep it in general, low to moderate impact in general. If you want to mix in one hit class a week or something to challenge yourself, great. But if you're doing hit in high intensity all the time, which is what I eventually found myself doing recently, that that's what can kind of backfire for us. Yeah. Especially if you're not giving yourself those recovery days and really honoring the breaks that your body needs for sure. Yeah. I've been there, been there too. I just get addicted to it and jump.
(36:38 - 38:43) Exactly. You want to challenge and push yourself and then you're like, Oh shoot, that's too much. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk more about the, you know, kind of stress sleep recovery piece as well. So how do you see stress sleep and emotional health interacting with the nutrition and movement you kind of touched on already, but how do you see that interacting with someone's healing journey? Oh gosh. They're like, they're completely interconnected. Like you can eat perfectly and move daily, but if you're constantly stressed, sleep deprived, emotionally depleted, the body stays in that survival mode and the healing just can't happen there. Like it just can't. And so stress and poor sleep, you know, they affect thyroid function and hormones and metabolism. So again, calming that nervous system is first and foremost will allow everything in the body to start working in harmony again. How powerful is that? I love talking with women who've walked that same bridge from traditional medicine to true healing. Kirsten's story is such a beautiful reminder that we don't have to abandon science to embrace wholeness. We just have to widen the lens. If this episode resonated with you, take a screenshot, share it on Instagram and tag us. I'd love to hear your biggest takeaway. And if you're a nurse or healthcare professional who's feeling the pull toward more integrative work, let this be your nudge that it's okay to evolve. You can honor your medical background and still embrace the healing side of health. You can learn more about Kirsten and her Body Harmony Protocol with the link in the show notes. And as always, if you're ready to take the next step in your own journey, shoot me a message on Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear your thoughts and requests for future episodes. Until next time, keep nourishing, healing and thriving. From the inside out. You got this.