Rachel Stys Wellness

Sodium gets vilified, but is it really the problem?

You know your girl likes to bust myths!

Sodium (Na) is a major mineral and electrolyte in the body. It also makes food tasty 😋 But physiologically speaking, it’s a necessary mineral!

Every single cell in the body has a sodium-potassium pump, which controls the passage of nutrients and other items in and out of our cells, such as glucose for energy.

The problem (and where it gets a bad name) is when we’re stressed, the release of aldosterone triggers the kidneys to retain sodium and excrete potassium. Therefore, blood pressure rises since the increased salt increases water retention. But was it the salt’s fault? Not if we look at the root cause, which was stress!

But sodium’s crucial role at the cellular level is something we can’t ignore. If the cells can’t get what they need, we can’t effectively create energy. This is why the Na/K ratio on a hair tissue mineral analysis is the most impactful ratio I analyze when working with clients.

Want food to taste good and support your cells? Sprinkle that sea salt! Want to actually feel hydrated when you drink water? Sprinkle that sea salt!

What they didn’t teach us in health class- though far apart in the body, the thyroid and ovaries directly impact each other’s functions via the HPATG Axis (hypothalamus pituitary adrenal thyroid gonadal axis- say that 5 times fast!)

The truth is, thyroid hormone (TH) is necessary for ovulation. Ovulation is necessary for progesterone production, and progesterone stimulates TH production. This is why our basal body temperature rises in the luteal (later) phase of our cycle, because TH is up which means metabolism is also up. It comes full circle!

One potential problem out of many is if we don’t ovulate, the follicle that would’ve produced an egg doesn’t get to become the corpus luteum, therefore it doesn’t get to produce progesterone, which means additional TH isn’t requested. TH is also crucial to the liver being able to clear excess estrogen from the body, meaning estrogen levels remain higher while our progesterone levels are lower. Hello, hormone imbalances and not-so-fun symptoms!

And we wonder why women feel like crap when on the pill and their symptoms get dismissed! 🙄

At the end of the day, there’s so much we can do to support our HPATG Axis, such as working towards balanced blood sugar, eating enough (and that means carbohydrates too!), as well as addressing potential nutrient and mineral deficiencies.

Hi, I’m alive 👋🏻 and I’m creating a beautiful human currently!

We are so so so excited, and can’t wait to welcome home a wonderful new soul into our family 💕 but not gonna lie, I’m also super scared/anxious/nervous/all the feelings!

It’s been an adventure, and it will continue to be an adventure!

I know I’ve been MIA lately as I focused on my health, baby’s health, and frankly just getting out of bed everyday, but now that things are normalizing, I’m trying to ease back into the swing of things.

And that includes sharing awesome nutrition and body knowledge! Which will have its own fun spin now that I’m on this incredible new path!

So thank you all, and cheers to this exciting journey with the most amazing birthday present at the end! 🥳

It’s never too late to put your health first 💕 While the holiday season is about giving to others, you have to take care of you too!

That’s why your favorite small business is offering these deals:

🍳My cookbook, Nourish the Soul, is 15% off through Monday 11/28!

💪🏻 My upcoming course, Ditch Diet Culture, is on pre-sale today thru 12/9!

🍍 Andddd my 1:1 Nutritional Therapy packages are $50 off through 12/9!

All of these can be found at my link in bio ❤️ I’m looking forward to helping you feel amazing (and cook up some deliciousness!)

Every single recipe, every single item at the grocery store- none of them contain guilt 💕

This time of year can be very difficult on our body image and self-love. You may feel “out of control”, surrounded by “temptation”, or that dreaded guilt, all fueling negative self-talk and the urge to “work it off”.

But here’s the thing- you are allowed to enjoy food.

You’re allowed to enjoy time with friends and family.

You’re allowed another cookie because they’re freakin’ delicious.

And you’re allowed to go about your regular business before and after.

Food doesn’t have to have all that power over us. Afterall, it doesn’t contain guilt.

I know it’s easier said than done, but the more we practice, the better!

I hope you all can find self-compassion this Thanksgiving! 💕

Giveaway? Yes please!

My website is moving to a new platform this week, which means it’ll be so much easier to access my cookbook, workshops, and my upcoming Ditch Diet Culture Masterclass!

PLUS we have Black Friday coming up, which means I have a deal for you!

I’m dropping the 2nd edition of my cookbook, Nourish the Soul, later this week which features a new Fall-inspired dessert! 🍂

Any guesses what it might be? 🤔

The first person to comment below with the new dessert in the ebook will win a free copy!

Ready? Get guessing! 👇🏻

Stress affects so much more than just our mental health- it affects every single system in the body! So, when we say stress management is a must, it truly is.

During stress, the HPA axis works to release our stress hormones, such as cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These hormones have multiple effects on the body to help us fight or flee from the metaphorical bear, including:

❤️Cardiovascular - increases vasodilation so blood can flow faster; therefore, delivering oxygen and glucose to muscles faster. Blood pressure increases.

🥑Digestive - our sympathetic nervous system diverts resources away from digestive organs to our muscles instead to focus on fight or flight reflexes. This means digestion suffers. It also increases the permeability of our small intestine (aka creates a leaky gut on purpose), so macronutrients can get into our blood stream faster for fuel - though it's not done being processed and broken down yet.

🦠Immune - cortisol inhibits the immune system, because after all, we don't have time to get sick in the middle of a bear fight! But this does mean we're more susceptible to illness later while the immune system is stuck on the bench. Additionally, the leaky gut that was created leads to food sensitivities.

💕Reproductive - the sympathetic nervous system diverts resources away from reproductive organs as well, because who has time to get frisky or make a baby while fighting a grizzly? This is intimately tied to our thyroid function as well, which in turn, inhibits our metabolism.

Now stress once in a while is a good thing- it helps the body adapt! But the chronic stress makes the above issues much greater and greater with time. More and more dominos fall!

Any little bit of stress management we can do on a regular basis is HUGE! Because as much as food is medicine, so is self-care, movement, meditation, therapy, eating enough, and more!

What’s better than a giveaway? 🤩

To celebrate the presale of my cookbook ☀️Nourish the Soul☀️ starting on Friday, I’m giving a copy of my ebook to 1 lucky winner!

Do you have cookbooks collecting dust in your kitchen?

Ingredients are too complicated and expensive?

Don’t have time to search for recipes that are both nutritious and yummy?

Want to foster gratitude for food?

Then it’s time for Nourish the Soul!

So how do you join the giveaway?

1️⃣ Join the cookbook waitlist (link in bio) That’s it!
2️⃣ Bonus entry: share this post to stories and tag me!

The winner will be contacted via email on Friday when the presale launches! And you have to be on the waitlist to access the presale so…. head to that link in bio! 😍

Who’s excited for the book to drop??

Health is a journey ☀️

It’s always moving, like the sun across the sky

But even when it gets dark, we have to keep going

Because the light will come back ☀️

It takes time, but we’ll get there. We’ll learn along the way, and as things change, we’ll adapt

But to do that, you have to tap into what your body is saying. It’s innate wisdom

And I can’t wait to help you tap into that wisdom ❤️ Let’s go on a Nutritional Therapy Journey together! Ready? rachelstyswellness.com

Spoiler alert: smaller bodies aren’t automatically healthier bodies! 🤯

While you have every right to want to change your body, you also need to know that changing aesthetics in the name of “health” doesn’t actually address your health issues.

Sure, you could have abs, but are those non-stop cardio workouts causing irregular periods?

Are the crazy supplements stopping you up or creating a hot waterfall? 🥵

Are all the greens making you bloated and tired?

Are you needing copious caffeine to get through the day, and pre-workout before that cardio?

Is the lack of carbs giving you the worst brain fog and fatigue?😶‍🌫️

Yeah, none of that reads as healthy.

I challenge you to tackle the ROOT of your concerns. When we tackle the root, other things fall into place.

It’s like pulling weeds- if you don’t get the roots, it grows right back!

And that’s exactly what I do with my nutritional therapy clients- we pull those weeds, roots and all!! 🌱

Save this for when you need a reminder ❤️

I want to know- what are your non-aesthetic health goals?

3 steps- that’s all it takes!

Because honestly, the more complicated something is, the more stressful it becomes 😖 and that’s the opposite of what we’re going for!

The way we start the morning makes a big impact on the rest of the day, so the more we can set our body up for success, the better!

It really boils down to 3 things:

1️⃣ Breakfast first, then coffee and/or workout. This gives your body the energy it needs after going all night on reserves.

2️⃣ Make sure your breakfast has all 3 macronutrients present: protein, carbs, and fats. Starting the morning with just carbs like a bagel or cereal can cause a big blood sugar drop, aka less energy and more stress!

3️⃣ Get sunshine on your eyeballs ☀️ The sun modulates our circadian rhythm so we have energy during the day, then produce melatonin at night to fall asleep. Staring at our phone screen can hinder this process on both ends.

Anything else you add is just gravy! But these 3 items should become nonnegotiables.

What else sets your day up for success? ☀️

Shhh… can you keep a secret? 🤫

This Summer I’m dropping something BIG.
Something FUN.
Something DELICIOUS. 🤤

Coming this Summer is:
Nourish the Soul - Nutrient Dense Reicpes for Living Bright ☀️

This cookbook features my favorite recipes for any time of the day, from breakfast to dessert.

Pancakes? You bet!
Chocolatey things? Of course!
Colorful one skillet/pan meals? Yes!
The best guac ever?? Oh yeah!

But that’s not even the best part- we’ll also dive into the why behind the foods, how the ingredients nourish us and what they offer for our health so we can foster appreciation for our food ❤️

Basically, it’s amazing and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Want to see the behind the scenes, get sneak peeks of recipes, and access the pre-sale? 🤩 Then join the waitlist! (Link in the comments)

Tell me: What kinds of recipes would you love to see?

Big things coming this Summer! 👀

I’m always looking for more ways to serve you, so coming up we have:

☀️ a new e-book you’ll want to get your hands on (stay tuned for the waitlist!)
☀️ a free 10 day challenge
☀️ add-on services for my 1:1 clients

AND I have opened up more 1:1 nutritional therapy spots! 💃🏼 If you’re looking for someone to help you wade through the noise on how to bring your body into balance and feel better, I’m here for you! (Link in bio to learn more, or DM me!)

This is the summer of feeling better and finding food freedom! 🙌🏼 Who’s with me?

Did I put a 🎀 on top of a little smiling v***a? 🤣 I sure did!

But in all seriousness, health class didn’t do the female anatomy justice! How can we feel power over our own beautiful reproductive system without knowledge about it?

First, we aren’t fertile every day of the cycle. Ovulation is the main event, where we release an egg, therefore we are fertile for a few days before and after ovulation occurs. Outside of this window… game on 😏

Later, we get our period, signifying a new cycle. Instead of being celebrated for cleansing and renewal, we feel disdain because of the cramping, bloating, PMS, acne, and other symptoms. 😖 A 2012 study showed 84% of women experience cramps. So this tells us cramps are incredibly common, but they aren’t normal. It’s a sign of hormone imbalance, often times from excess estrogen & not enough progesterone. That can be fixed though!

You’ve probably been to the doctor about your period, and got prescribed hormonal birth control (HBC). But this doesn’t get to the root of the issue. 🙈 The big thing to know is that HBC stops ovulation, our main avenue for progesterone production. It also creates multiple nutrient deficiencies that need to be addressed, often why we experience other symptoms while on HBC.

You have the right to choose with informed consent though. Every single body and situation is different. My own journey involved the pill, an implant, and now I’ve been enjoying the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) since 2020, which is 93-98% effective. It’s important to find out about the options, their risks, and their long term effects to decide what’s best for YOUR body. After all, you’re the authority on you!

At the end of the day, our reproductive organs are intimately tied to the rest of our body, and therefore our overall health. 💕 If our cycle isn’t enjoyable, with strong ovulation, a strong libido, and easy peasy periods, that should be a signal to look inward for what needs to be rebalanced.

Want to learn more about what foods can support our cycles? 🙋🏼‍♀️ Then you better get on my email list by Saturday! Link in bio to sign up!

Brb soaking in all the sunshine and berry picking ☀️🫐

What’s your favorite part about spring? I love the renewed energy. Life growing back and blooming. The tiny buds on the trees, the baby animals springing forth… and don’t get me started on the sunshine!

Spring is a time to indulge in those yummy seasonal crops like berries, peas, and leafy greens. To try something you don’t normally eat and feel adventurous. To start soaking in the sunshine for not only (hormone) D production, but also mitochondrial health and that mental health boost! To get outside and truly smell the roses 🌹

Spring energy is something else ⚡️ And eating seasonal and following the sun (without burning of course! I use the D-minder app to track my daily safe sun exposure) are two huge ways to better your well-being!

Have you had an Adrenal Cocktail? 🍹 It’ll transport you to an island paradise!

If you’re constantly going going going with a lot of stress in your life, your adrenals are working hard to keep you going in response. You might feel completely zapped, sluggish, and don’t even mention that brain fog and irritability!

But you have to stop and fill your cup in order to fill others 💕 So in addition to our routines, our favorite workouts, and supporting balanced blood sugar by combining carbs with protein and fat, we can replenish our minerals! ⚡️

The minerals in the Adrenal Cocktail help fuel many different processes and reactions in the body, including our liver and adrenals. Additionally, the collagen and cream (or coconut cream) give us a source of protein and fat to complement the wonderful orange juice.

And when I say OJ, I mean that 100%, only 1 ingredient kind of OJ 🍊 Did you know oranges have more potassium than bananas? Plus it’s a whole food source of vitamin C, a crucial antioxidant.

Sit back, relax, and have a drink with me 🍹 And save this post for next time!

🎉Giveaway!!🎉

To celebrate the launch of my Nutritional Therapy Practice on March 11, I’m giving a free 3 month Nutritional Therapy Journey to 1 lucky winner!

That’s 3 months of diving into the root cause of your issues, no judgement, tons of support, fun recipes and education, and finding the power over your own health. 💪🏻

Maybe you’re tired of diet culture.
We can bust those lies!

Maybe you’re worried about your family history.
It doesn’t have to be your destiny!

So how do you enter?? Join my email list:

1️⃣ Hit the link in the comments
2️⃣ Tap on “enter the giveaway!”

That’s it! The winner will be notified via email & announced in my monthly newsletter on 3/11.

Let’s embark on your wellness journey, together 💕

Drop a ☀️ when you enter the giveaway!

I bet you weren’t expecting that from a fitness instructor… 🙊

If you follow me, you likely know the importance of movement for the body for lifelong health, strength, mobility, flexibility, independence, confidence, good mood, better s*x (pilates sure helps that pelvic floor!), better blood pressure, better blood sugar, and more. But it’s not often that we see talk about the opposite.

There really is such thing as too much exercise. In athletes, overtraining can result in the “female athlete triad” of amenorrhea, osteoporosis and disordered eating. Of course, the average person isn’t training for the Olympics, but the same ideas apply.

Exercise requires a lot of energy to not only perform but also recover from. If you’re doing tons of intense workouts without adequately nourishing yourself and allowing for rest and recovery between sessions, you can experience negative impacts to energy levels, mood, sleep, and more. Additionally, over exercising can mess with our hormones.

When I see a woman doing tons of cardio/HIIT workouts AND she struggles with hormone disorders, I see a recipe for disaster.

Additionally, we have technology that often pushes us and even rewards us for doing too much. Do you get thrilled when your watch tells you you hit an all time high for calories burned during a workout? Or that you’ve “closed your rings” multiple times in one day?

Or maybe this sounds like you- you do one workout, then decide to do another afterwards simply for the achievements, despite being so tired from the first workout and only giving half your effort. Does this sound healthy? I think not!

Again, movement and exercise is crucial for our overall health! But so is proper nourishment and rest. You might even find different times in your cycle call for different types of movement! There’s no right or wrong answer per se, as long as your workout helps you feel energized and uplifted in the end. 💕 It’s all about balance and honoring what the body needs today, in this moment.

Drop a ❤️ below if this speaks to you!

“But I have so much work to do”
“I don’t have time”
“I’m just not feeling it”

If you find yourself saying these things, your poor body needs some love 💕 Food is life, it is energy, and when we find ourselves in the most stressful situations, we especially need it!

When the body goes a prolonged period without food, such as overnight while we sleep or maybe when skipping lunch, our blood sugar starts to drop. The glucose in the bloodstream is taken in by cells to be used as energy to keep going. When blood sugar starts to get low, we tap into our stored glucose source, glycogen.

Glycogen stores are limited though, and when we run out, the body goes “oh $h!t!” Our pituitary signals the release of cortisol from the adrenals, a stress hormone that tells the body to create new sources of glucose. This could be from fat or protein. It’s not the easiest process.

But as you can imagine with cortisol being a stress hormone, we feel pretty… stressed AF when this happens. Maybe tired, hangry, and generally crappy. Add this to whatever life stress is going on (job, family, school, etc), and we have a recipe for a grade A meltdown 😵‍💫

How do we keep meltdowns at bay? By eating every 3-4 hours during the day with all macronutrients present- protein, carb, and fat. This gives the body the energy it needs so we don’t add the stress of creating energy to our already stressful day. You might even find you respond better to the craziness of life this way! 😜

When you’re ready to dive in more, 1:1 nutritional therapy spots open in March! Join the waitlist by hitting the link in bio! ☀️

That feeling when you let go of food guilt and allow yourself to nourish ❤️ That’s the game for 2022 y’all! Who’s with me?

I’m on a crusade to stomp out diet culture (with my studded Steve Madden boots of course 💁🏼‍♀️) and help people feel GOOD. Find the joy in food, find the HEALING in food and movement.

To become in tune with your body and the things it tells you and amazing things it does.

To enjoy being a human and living your best life. ☀️

I can’t wait to graduate from in March and really start helping people ❤️ Details about working with me 1 on 1 coming soon! And there’s an online course in the works too 👀

Raise your hand if you thought you could only eat the whites not the yolk 🙋‍♀️

Eggs are such an amazing source of fuel and nutrients that diet culture demonized for so long. You were probably told it has too much fat or cholesterol. But did you know consuming cholesterol doesn’t have a notable effect on blood cholesterol levels?

Better yet, did you know your body produces it’s own cholesterol? 🤯 It sure does! It’s the precursor to our s*x and stress hormones, as well as vitamin D!

On top of that, dietary fat is vilified as leading to adipose tissue, and therefore we get those low fat diets. But when we do that, we miss out on a vital fuel source (which your heart prefers fat for fuel btw) as well as fat-soluble vitamins!

Packed within that delicate shell is protein, fat, vit A, vit D, vit E, cholesterol, choline, selenium, and more. 🥚 So many nutrients your blood sugar and liver love.

Y’all know me, I hated eggs. But the more I learned how much they do for the body, the more I began to love and even crave them ❤️ So here I am, scrambling them up for breakfast!

What’s your favorite way to cook eggs? 🍳

I’ll keep shouting it from the rooftops 📣 we need to remove the shame and guilt from food! Eat whatever nourishes you today, in this moment, whatever that may be.

This is why I hate the phrase “you are what you eat”. It makes you believe if you eat even one donut you’re a crap person and don’t care about your health 🙄 Not to mention that everything must be in the name of weight loss, that your weight is the ultimate indicator of health. 🙄😤 It’s so not true.

On a strictly physiological level, this phrase should be “you are what you absorb”, because at the end of the day if your body can’t properly break down and utilize the food you give it, it’s not doing everything you hope it will.

When we’re stressed out from life (or even by food choices!), our body won’t be in a parasympathetic state, or the rest and digest state. Without that, our digestive system is missing the resources it needs to properly break down food into its usable components of macro and micronutrients.

Our body needs strong stomach acid to kill pathogens and break down proteins/other nutrients, bile from the liver/gallbladder to emulsify fats, enzymes from the pancreas, not to mention the absorption of nutrients in our small intestine and happy gut bugs in our large intestine… but in the presence of stress, these items can’t function as well as they should.

So how do we help? We go back to the basics of mealtime:

1️⃣ Put away screens
2️⃣ Take a couple deep breaths
3️⃣ Admire your meal’s colors, textures, smells
4️⃣ Chew thoroughly, 20-30x each bite

What’s even more amazing is that those steps are completely FREE yet crucial. Want to take it up a notch? Here are a couple more things you can try:

5️⃣ Eat/drink something bitter or acidic at the start of your meal (kraut, tea, water with a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, greens, etc)
6️⃣ Eat enzyme-rich foods like pineapple, papaya, and kiwi
7️⃣ Practice stress-management techniques daily

So rather than stressing over our food choices, let’s take the stress out of meal time and make it a zen-like ritual of nourishing the body!

It’s World Gratitude Day ❤️🌎 Stop scrolling and take this opportunity to think of 1 thing you’re grateful for!

A gratitude mindset does absolute wonders for our wellbeing, no matter how big or how small!

Drop it below 👇🏻 What are you grateful for today?

What is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner? A detective 🕵🏼‍♀️

What drew me to this was the drive to find the root cause. Not just cover up the symptom, but figure out why & take care of the source. I can remember asking multiple doctors “but what is the root cause?” and being told “you’ll probably never know”

Challenge accepted 😎

For example, we know we can use an antacid to make our heartburn feel better, but why was it necessary in the first place?

That’s where an NTP comes in. We look at a whole host of factors, even down to what’s required to make stomach acid. Everyone is unique, and will have a different reason for experiencing heartburn.

But what’s the most common cause? It’s actually not having enough stomach acid 🤯 Which could be from stress, hydration issues (too much water or not enough), mineral imbalance (where’s the zinc at?), or even a low protein diet.

I can’t wait to help more people get to the root of their health 💙 And don’t worry, I’ll drop lots of knowledge bombs here on Insta! Stay tuned~