In today's episode, Lana Kirtley talks about her passion for helping women to move forward on their empowered health journey. We talk about how your health and well-being are always your responsibility, and you have the choice to just treat the symptoms or to resolve the root cause of the problem.

Lana talks about how access to information about health issues, no matter where you live, is now available. However, the amount of information can be overwhelming. Lana shares how your PCP and general medical/family doctor may not have the depth of knowledge and experience you need to manage your health journey. Lana's statement, "That what you love you treat differently", starts with learning to love yourself and to focus on your own health. Taking control of your health journey is a step in treating yourself with love and compassion. Eating right, making lifestyle changes, and recognizing that you have control over your health is a freeing and empowering choices in your life.

Lana shares how she navigated her change in seeing herself and the importance of her health through the divorce and moving forward. What are your health goals, and what are you doing to take empowered steps in moving forward? Lana provides amazing insight to help you determine where you want to focus your energy and efforts.

About the Guest:

Lana Kirtley is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner who empowers entrepreneurial women to create their custom health plan and unlock the "near root" cause of their chronic fatigue health challenges. With her compassionate and matter-of-fact approach, Lana helps women take control of their health and create a vivacious and vibrant life. Drawing on her rural roots, Lana embraces the juxtaposition of jeans and business blazers and has a deep passion for helping women build an amazing, healthy life. Her approach is always tailored to the individual and is rooted in self-love and scientifically-based knowledge. Lana specializes in helping women dealing with exhausted fatigue, brain fog, and hormone imbalances, and provides real-world strategies for managing health, whether you're traveling by plane, motorbike or just living a "regular" home life. Lana is also the host of the "Empowering Health Journeys" podcast and YouTube channel, and her motto is "Awareness. Be Do Have. Transformation". Join her to create your journey to a vivacious and vibrant life.

To access Lana's free gift: How To Make Peace With Your Hormones

To connect with Lana:

Website: http://www.empoweringhealthjourneys.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lana.kirtley

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/ask/lv-app

About the Host:

Mardi Winder-Adams is an ICF and BCC Executive and Leadership Coach, Certified Divorce Transition Coach, and a Credentialed Distinguished Mediator in Texas. She has worked with women in executive, entrepreneur, and leadership roles navigating personal, life, and professional transitions. She is the founder of Positive Communication Systems, LLC.

To find out more about divorce coaching: www.divorcecoach4women.com

Interested in working with me? Schedule a free divorce strategy planning session.

Connect with Mardi on Social Media:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Divorcecoach4women

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mardiwinderadams/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divorcecoach4women/

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Welcome to the D shift podcast, where we provide inspiration,

motivation and education to help you transition from the

challenges of divorce to discover the freedom and ability

to live life on your own terms. Are you ready? Let's get the

shift started. Hello, and welcome to another episode of

the D shift. And in order to get this segment started out, or

this episode started out, I need to tell you all a story. I was

in an event about two years ago, an online event, a zoom event,

and there was like, a couple of 100 people on this event. I

think it was actually Jay besets JV ology event, which doesn't

matter what it was, but it's a group for entrepreneurs. And so

I get this breakout room with this woman. And I'm like, Geez,

that name sounds familiar. And gosh, that face looks familiar.

And we got to talk. And sure enough, I put something in

there. They said, Put one thing in that nobody knows about your

or nobody in the room knows about you. And I said, Well, I

used to play women's rugby. And this woman in the room puts in

this Well, I think you put in I used to be a bartender at Rugby

events. And, lo and behold, we got to talking and Lana Kirtley,

who is my wonderful guests. And I actually were in agriculture

at the University of Alberta. And we knew each other from our

universities. Some talk about a small world. So yeah, everything

comes full circle. So 30 years later, we randomly connect on a

zoom call with people from all over the world, we're on the

call, and we got stuck in a breakout room together and kind

of discovered each other.

It's all good. It is a universal thing. We're supposed to stay

connected in some way,

shape, or form is so weird. So so with that long story out of

the way, I want to introduce you to Lana curtly, and aside from

going to university together, we have bumped into each other and

at several live events. And I want to let everybody know a

little bit about you, Lana, and then you can take the rest away.

So llama is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition nutrition

practitioner, and I had to I had to look down to make sure I

didn't mess that what up. And Lana works with mostly women. Am

I right with that?

Yep, correct. Okay.

So why don't you tell us a little bit about your area of

expertise, because I know some of the work that you do in your

Facebook group, really supporting and helping women on

their health journey. So tell us a little bit about your area of

expertise and how you got how you got here.

The journey, the journey Well, and that's part of empowering

health journeys is enabling it. It's become my jam, to help

others to empower others on their health journey,

predominantly health journey. I'm a good cheerleader on the

sidelines for anybody when they're on the on their journey

of wellbeing and business and just the journey of life and

loving it and supporting it. So yeah, it's been a it's been a

interesting hop, skip and jump and more hop skips along the

way, in terms of the foundational belief that this

has always been my responsibility. my health, my

well being has always been my responsibility no matter what

I've done in life. Whether it's working admin at a local

manufacturing plant site, or whether it's doing tests for a

local oilfield company, because I live in rural Alberta and

absolutely love it. But I've also always acknowledged that,

with the beauty of rural living, comes limited access at time.

And that's been the beauty as we've aged, gracefully Muay Thai

is safe for both of us is that the access to information has

gotten huge, and it can get overwhelming. And I want people

to understand that there is help and support out out here out

there. And that as well being as well intentioned your local

medical system might be that might not be their zone of

genius, and you need to understand what their zone of

genius their zone of interest as it's kind of like saying, Well,

I've got a problem with my right shoulder and you're going to a

medical doctor whose primary interest is delivering babies.

He Yep, but there's no congruent, say there. And you

need to acknowledge what their specialty is, unfortunately,

well, we say well go to your family doctor first. Well, if

it's not your family doctor zone of genius, you need to take the

reins and manage your own journey as compared to always

handing it over. So the first one that I always talk about

within this process is I want each person to decide for

themselves, that they are worthy. That that which you

love, you treat differently, is that not true for all of us?

Yeah, if we love something, whether it's materialistic, or

whether it's another human being, that which we love our

children, that which we love you treat differently? Well, first

and foremost, make sure that you're loving this. And I

understand for any woman that's gone through divorce, that that

self worth can crumble. But that's the primary oxygen mask

you have to you, if you want good stuff to come into your

world, you have to be okay with yourself, you have to love

yourself enough to say I am worthy of health, I am worthy of

joy. And when you believe that and step into that, and whether

it's washing your hands, and that's something I always

advocate is every time you wash your hands, public bathroom,

private bathroom, whatever, you'll look yourself in the eye

and go, You are worthy. And I love you, I know you've got

this, whatever the hell excuse my grammar storm is going on in

life. We're okay with that here. Whatever storm is going on, that

one stops and acknowledges that you were worthy of love of

vivacious living, that's first and foremost. Because then you

will treat you differently. And stand in that space of I can do

this, I will figure it out. And I will find the coach, I will

find whether it's a health coach, or whether it's a fitness

coach, or whether it's a financial coach, or whether it's

somebody through a bank that can coach me or a lawyer or a Marty

that can help me with divorce and coming up the other side of

it with grace and dignity and self love. Yeah, that which you

love you treat differently. So that's always my primary first

step in journeys, is that one loves themselves. So

I think that's really you know,

that's the first one going up.

Thank you for pointing that out. Because I think a lot of a lot

of women, especially if their divorce has been ongoing, or

they've kind of you know, it's been a long separation or a long

decision to get to the divorce, you're just so beat down. And

it's hard to or if they have kids, you know, their energy is

all put to helping their kids through the divorce. And that's

super important. But I love that that oxygen mask if you can't

help yourself, you can't help your kids. So yeah, I like that.

And that was part of my journey is that standing in the middle

of my living room. Just having lost it on my son, who I'm gonna

speculate at that point in time was probably eight, nine years

old. And the realization of how much I disliked myself that I

wasn't playing nice that I was showing him what barely

surviving looked like. And I wanted to be I won't use the

epitome, but a good example of a woman that could strive, yeah,

that could stand on her own two feet, and thrive versus barely

surviving. And that was one of those, you know, you they talked

about drawing the line in the sand and saying no more not

going there. That was one of my lines in the sense is to say, I

gotta figure this out in some way, shape or form. Because I

want a great relationship, not a mum relationship. He's now in

his 20s I want to be able to make that journey of he knows

who his mom is. He knows. He knows I'm there for him, that

I'll also tease them and hold them accountable. And that I'm

good with me. I like being a woman and that I am worthy.

Yeah. And that was

and being and being healthy enough to enjoy life with with

your kids in their 20s 30s 40s. I mean, if you're not healthy,

what's the I shouldn't say what's the point that's wrong

because some people have have health issues that they cannot

control. So I'm not talking about people who I'm talking

about just letting yourself go and not focusing on your health,

which can contribute to a lot of disease, a lot of chronic pain

and all that kind of good stuff. So we do have some control over

our health.

Oh, well, then that's something that's part of this first aside,

is acknowledging that there is a difference between genetics and

destiny, it is destined genetically, that I will have

blue eyes. It is not genetically predisposed genetically destiny,

that I have diabetes, or that I have. What else is on my list at

the top of my head arthritis, or those sorts of things? 95% of

diseases are based upon the environment, we're predisposed,

we might have the gene for it. Right? But we are, but 95% is

what I'm eating, what I'm thinking, what I'm living in,

that creates whether that manifests or not. And some

people say, Well, no, all of my family have diabetes, or

cardiovascular disease is because you're eating like all

the rest of your family. But if you make the choice, that that's

not your journey, it doesn't have to be your journey. You can

be the one that says, No, I, I am worth way more than accepting

diabetes, that I'm worth more than the past or the the glasses

of wine every night or the bread constantly. I am worth more than

that. Because that's the journey that I do not want to take.

Yeah, it's interesting. I had a guest on a few weeks ago. Dr.

trir, Wyler, Dr. Ginni, and she talked about poison in it, you

either make up everything you eat is either one decision, it's

either healthy, or it's poison, and you make the choice. And

then you do it. And if you want to have that glass of wine,

that's fine. Nobody's saying don't have it. Heaven forbid, I

would never say no, don't, or beer or whatever you want. But

you have to recognize that if you make that a habit, there are

consequences to that. And it may not be instantaneous.

And when we go ahead, you know, I

just got, we got a bit of a delay, and that's, that's the

internet's fault. Not either one of our fault. Yeah,

that's fine. Go ahead. I know. But it's recognizing that, do I

want to be a donut? Or do I want to be a carrot? Do I want to be

a slice of bread? Or do I want to be a apple or chunk of celery

or what because what I'm eating builds this vessel. And so I

used to always tease. We already know that I've got a 20 plus

year old son. I used to say to him, do you put junk fuel in

your Lamborghini? Because he's a car kid. If he still is, yeah,

always well, but he loves that stuff. And they used to look at

me. And he goes, Well, no, you want the best fuel? And I'm

like, stop the junk food. And eat the good stuff first, and

then do if that's a dessert. That's a dessert. I'm fine with

that. But that is not your full meal. Yeah. And so yeah, it's

all part of that. But yeah, first and foremost, you need to

decide and then becomes a case of discovering that. Do you want

symptoms and bandages? Or is your goal real healing? Because

when you decide that you will discover what is root, and not

just go to the doctor and say, I have this symptom? What can you

give me for it? Because I always left? Marty, I know you're down

in the US. But you did us live here in Calgary, Alberta,

Canada. Yeah. That. Then here in Canada, and I don't watch.

Sorry, I'll rephrase that. I watch very little TV. But I

laugh when I look at pharmaceutical ads because

Canada gives so much US TV stations. I'm like, do you

really want to take a chance on any of those symptoms that come

about because of your drug? Yeah. And I'm like, yeah, no,

we're good. Like, they were I don't know. I don't want that.

Thank you very much this explosive diarrhea. Really?

Really? Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that's a good quality

option. But that's, unfortunately, our medical

system. And I do appreciate it. There's a lot, I do appreciate

it. But do you want the bandage? Or do you want to get lower? Or

as another phrase would be lower into this situation? Or further

upstream of this symptom? And figuring out what's really going

on? And how do I serve and support way upstream so that the

water flow just gets cleaner and cleaner and healthier and

healthier. So we know that water streams way upstream up in the

mountains are really high quality, typically water. Right,

let's make sure we get this high upstream as we can to figure out

what's going on for chaos. So that everything just tumbles or

flows. It's such a lovely because we're healing, not just

putting another bandage on the Dyker. Here's one finger over

here. And here's another finger over here, and I'll put it over

there. And it's like, nobody, right.

And that always kind of scares me because, and again, I've

experienced the Canadian and we're not here to compare

medical says Know what I do, I would one day we'll have to,

we'll have to sit and compare one day, but but one of the

things I do know is that it's not uncommon here for people, my

age, I mean, I'm I'm pushing 60, it's not uncommon for people to

have, you know, four or five specialists, a primary care

doctor, and then they have like three or four other

practitioners they're seeing and talking about this on another

episode where when it gets to the point that you go to the

doctors, and it's like they give you a page of all the other

medical professionals, you're taking all the medications,

you're taking all the symptoms you've had. And if you're

fortunate, I guess, like me, and I can go in there and say, No, I

don't have any symptoms. No, I'm not taking any medication.

People are kind of like, well, how can that be? Because it's

just everybody here is everybody is so focused on eliminating the

symptoms and not dealing with the issue. And, you know,

obviously, genetics does play in this, as we've already talked

about, but where do you see? Why do you see why do you think it's

so easy to just deal with the symptoms? Why do you think

people do that?

Because it's a fast, it's a fast answer. But in all honesty,

working with me as a health, Functional Diagnostic,

nutritional, it's not, I fully admit, you got to decide that

you're in 95%. Plus, you have to make that commitment that you

don't want this, my primary zone of interest is adrenal fatigue

or someone No, it is chronic fatigue, I now just call it

metabolic chaos. It's just a wheelbarrow coming out of the

barn of situations and symptoms that we need to address and deal

with. And I actually ironically, had the conversation with a

chiropractor. Why do we buy in? What Where did we get the

training, that just dealing with the symptom is all we need to do

and it becomes back to this. I don't want to do a bunch of hard

work. I don't want to have to think about it. So I'll just

remember to take my pill. Yeah, well, I can in no way shape or

form. You would think based upon some of the tests that I do that

I really don't mind doing Dr. bloodred taking my own, I don't

like it, but I do it because I want the answers behind it. So I

do it. I utilize my son as best as I can to help me with some of

that stuff. But it's that whole idea of I want long term. I'm an

old young mum, I want to go hiking with my grandbabies. Even

if they don't come for another 15 plus years. I want to go

hiking with my grandbabies. I won't do it won't be able to do

it. If I decide to I'll just take another pill. Yeah. I knew

that I didn't want to sleep on the couch, run him to soccer and

come back and have asleep on the coach because of a migraine. And

then run get them I wanted to be on the sidelines and cheering

and laughing and visiting. I wanted to I live less than two

hours from the Rocky Mountains. I want to go for height I want

to go for motorbike rides. I want to go paddling, whether

it's Kayak or paddle boards or whatever, I want those things as

long as possible into my senior years, yeah, well, that means a

deal with me now, versus taking another bandage another

prescription. And I'm more willing to put my money into

supplements than I am to rely on the medical system to cover my

prescriptions. Yeah, yeah, it's just the way it is, if you like,

or if you'd like a medical plan that just covers your

prescriptions, I'm not your thing. And I know that. But if

you're willing to step into your own power, then don't worry

about the medical, just invest in the proper supplements and

invest in the coach that will help get you upstream and get

things cleaned up so that you can go hike upstream.

Yeah, and I think one of the things that I was reading, and I

don't remember the exact numbers, and I'm sure they're

different based on where you are, and I know, there's people

listening from all different countries here, but one of the

things that I do know is that they're talking about the

average age of people that are going into assisted living

facilities, or that needs some kind of home health care

support. You know, it used to be people, you know, would would

not necessarily need that until they were into their, like,

early 70s, mid 70s. And up, now, it's dropped down to the point

where I think the average age for people getting these kinds

of services is somewhere around 63 to 67. That's scary. Um, you

know, that there's that many people that are still, I still

consider 63 to 67. Pretty young age,

that's just around the corner. I know. Just around the corner.

You know, and I did, I I'm with you. And I think one of the

other things, too, is Lana, I think people, people want to

have somebody tell them, Go ahead, you don't need to change

your lifestyle. You don't need to change your food, you don't

need to, you know, you don't need to moderate anything, just

go Go live your life, and we can fix it on the other end. And I

think that's part of the reason to,

yeah, and that's a really sad aspect. And, and there's some

amount of compassion within that phrasing. I get that because

home, oh, I'm gonna say 2530 years ago, how much hoopla was

there when a doctor, I just recalled this? The doctor said,

No, I will no longer treat you because you refuse to quit

smoking. Right? And part of me is laughing and going. He as a

doctor was trying to impart how important it was. And all the

hoopla. While it's not that simple. Well, he has the right

to say no. And now we've kind of created this. But let's

sugarcoat it. Don't worry about it. Miss Jones. It's all fine

and dandy. Just come back and see me and I'll find another

pill for you. Right. Right. Part of part of me says, who's paying

the bill from the pharmaceutical. And you know

what part of the lesson says, If I've got investments that are in

pharmaceuticals, I want to return on my investment. So what

is the pharmaceutical company? Do they go on for their promote

their drug, off label use on label use? Let's find more uses

for that sucker. So that and that's where I've decided that

my investments need to pull back. But yeah, it's a case of

they're not trying to do any wrong, but they're not gonna

stand there and fight with you anymore. It's kind of like

beating your head against a brick wall. Right? It feels good

when you stop if you don't want to change. Okay, come and see me

when you're not wanting another pill. Oh, you want to change?

Let's have a hardcore discussion over it. So

yeah, yeah. And I really think you and I think that sometimes

these conversations aren't easy, because there's always, you

know, you don't know who's listening. You're not really

sure what everybody's situation is so. But I do think that like

you said, I mean, there's a lot of research now that pre

diabetes and diabetes can take two can be reversed by most

people.

Ms. Ms can be reversed. I know I know it. But you gotta decide

that you're worth it. And that you will do the what I'll call

the protocol to reverse that and to get healthy, and not just

short term. You decide that it's a lifestyle thing.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think To a lot of, and I'm going to just jump

in here. And, again, we're just about out of time. But it, I

think that if you make that, you know, if you wait until years

and years and years into a chronic condition, and then try

to reverse, you've got a way bigger mountain to climb, then

if you start doing it, like you get the diagnosis, or you

recognize the symptoms, or you, you know, you reach out, you're

not feeling well, you're not really, there's nothing really

identified wrong with you, but you know, something's not right.

If you can reach out and get started, then you have much

faster and better results than if, you know, if you've been say

10 or 15 years diagnosed with a condition and then trying to

make the changes, right?

Well, I have an easy analogy is a leak in the roof of your home?

Do you wait until the ceiling is crumbling around you. And

there's termites and there's bugs and there's rotten and

there's mold to try and fix a situation or you go there's a

frickin leak in there and fixing it now, not ignoring it, not not

ignoring it. But I'm fixing that now. And I if it costs 100

bucks, now, that's saving me hundreds of 1000s of dollars in

another 20 years because I ignore it. And it's it's way

easier to make a little adjustment now in your lifestyle

and decide I'm no longer eating bread, I'm only going to eat it

at a special occasion or the processed sugars or a little

little to a lot less wine or whatever the case might be. So

that one can have that longevity. If a glass of wine is

worth more than your health than playing on the floor with your

grandbabies. Okay, that's what it is. But in my world, heck no.

I want to go skiing with my grandbabies. Yeah.

So Lana, you've covered a lot of information. And I think I think

you've spoken really, honestly authentically from the heart and

from your knowledge and expertise in this area. What do

you want people to remember when they go away from this

conversation and go about their day?

Oh, here's a quote or an analogy. Change can be scary.

But you know what's really scarier? is allowing fear to

stop you from growing, evolving and progressing. Step into this

scary step into the fear because there's a vivacious life on the

other side of all of that.

I love I love that vivacious life. I love the thought and the

whole imagery of that. Lana, if people want to learn more about

what you do, or maybe want to work with you, what's the best

way to reach out?

I'm empowering health journeys. Lamma curtly. Either way works

absolutely and for those that are listening on podcast, Lana's

LA and a really nice and simple curtly is a little more funky.

Que IRTLEY. I'm on Facebook, I'm on LinkedIn, empowering health

journeys. It's, it's at the heart of who I am. It it costs

nothing for a discussion, please know that a discussion is always

free and available to say, Hey, I heard you on Marty's podcast.

I want to better understand what's going on. Great. Let's

have that conversation. Let me understand here's some free

column quizzes for lack of a better but everybody knows quiz

or survey. And you can answer that and that helps give me some

idea of whether I can likely help you but first and foremost

know that you're worthy. Yeah, always, always always

wonderful. Lana, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I

know you've shared a wealth of information. And I just want to

remind everybody Tune in next week for another episode of the

D ship. Thanks for listening and supporting the gay Schiff

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