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Functional Health Group, 10571 Telegraph Road, Suite 140, Glen Allen, VA (2025)

12/23/2025

Day 11: Introduce Intermittent Fasting

Warning: Consult with your functional health practitioner before playing around with fasting if you suffer from more severe hormone imbalances and fatigue.

Introducing intermittent fasting can help offset the intake of carbs and sugars so the body doesn’t become over saturated, thus keeping your insulin levels more normal and promoting better hormone balance.

There are various philosophies around intermittent fasting and it works differently for different people. For example, women’s hormones and people who have more severe adrenal or thyroid imbalances are more sensitive to extended fasting periods, so I always recommend easing your way into it.

Here is what I do and suggest to clients as a way to intermittent fast from carbs or sugars specifically:

- Stop eating by 8pm (if wake up around 6am, if not adjust earlier or later)
- Fast overnight while sleeping into the next morning
- Have a bulletproof style coffee or matcha green tea with ghee and full fat coconut milk if you feel like you need something
- Have your first “meal” that includes carbs around lunch

This is approximately a 12-16 hour fasting period giving your body a break from carbs/sugars, yet the ghee and/or coconut milk will still give you some fuel.

Intermittent fasting 2-3 days a week helps your body become “fat adapted”- meaning your body will tap into fat stores for fuel and be less reliant on carbs for energy. Being fat adapted promotes better balance and utilization of the hormone leptin which regulates fat distribution and loss.

Intermittent fasting really doesn’t require much work at all, it’s just about being mindful of what you’re putting in your body. If you overindulge, give it a try to help keep your hormones happy this holiday season!

12/23/2025

Day 11: Introduce Intermittent Fasting

This one is my fav ya`ll. I'm a 6am to 2pm girl myself.

Warning: Consult with your functional health practitioner before playing around with fasting if you suffer from more severe hormone imbalances and fatigue.
Introducing intermittent fasting can help offset the intake of carbs and sugars so the body doesn’t become over saturated, thus keeping your insulin levels more normal and promoting better hormone balance.
There are various philosophies around intermittent fasting and it works differently for different people. For example, women’s hormones and people who have more severe adrenal or thyroid imbalances are more sensitive to extended fasting periods, so I always recommend easing your way into it.
Here is what I do and suggest to clients as a way to intermittent fast from carbs or sugars specifically:
- Stop eating by 8pm (if wake up around 6am, if not adjust earlier or later)
- Fast overnight while sleeping into the next morning
- Have a bulletproof style coffee or matcha green tea with ghee and full fat coconut milk if you feel like you need something
- Have your first “meal” that includes carbs around lunch
This is approximately a 12-16 hour fasting period giving your body a break from carbs/sugars, yet the ghee and/or coconut milk will still give you some fuel.
Intermittent fasting 2-3 days a week helps your body become “fat adapted”- meaning your body will tap into fat stores for fuel and be less reliant on carbs for energy. Being fat adapted promotes better balance and utilization of the hormone leptin which regulates fat distribution and loss.
Intermittent fasting really doesn’t require much work at all, it’s just about being mindful of what you’re putting in your body. If you overindulge, give it a try to help keep your hormones happy this holiday season!
P.S. DON’T FORGET TO SAVE THIS POST FOR FUTURE REFERENCE!
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12/23/2025

While you sleep, your brain switches on a powerful cleaning system that works like a biological dishwasher. Scientists call it the glymphatic system, a network that flushes out waste products that build up during waking hours. This process becomes most active during deep sleep, when brain cells slightly shrink and create more space for fluid to flow. That fluid washes through brain tissue, carrying away toxins and metabolic waste.

Among the waste removed are proteins linked to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. This discovery helps explain why poor or fragmented sleep is strongly associated with memory problems, brain fog, and long term cognitive decline. Sleep is not just rest. It is essential maintenance.

Brain scans and laboratory studies show that the glymphatic system works far less efficiently when we are awake. During sleep, especially slow wave sleep, the system ramps up dramatically. Think of daytime as heavy brain use and night time as a full clean cycle that resets the system for the next day.

This finding has reshaped how scientists view sleep health. Quality sleep supports memory, focus, emotional balance, and long term brain protection. Skipping sleep means skipping the brain’s only deep clean.

12/22/2025

Day 10: Turn Down the Intensity

Before diving into today’s topic let’s redefine the word stress. Typically we think of mental or emotional stress that we encounter from work, relationships or decision making when hearing the word stress.

But…

STRESS IS ANYTHING THAT CREATES A BURDEN ON THE BODY

Stressors can also be inflammatory foods, lack of sleep, toxins, and exercising too intensely when your body is already depleted.

Stress initiates inflammation - the root of all dysfunction, especially when it comes to hormones.

During the holidays we tend to overindulge in naughty and nice foods - eggnog, holiday cocktails, cookies or other sweet treats. The common response then is to “work off” all the indulgences. Seems reasonable right?

Intense exercise can stress the body even more when it’s already under a LOT of stress from traveling and holiday happenings. Hitting the gym hard after a late night, getting poor sleep, indulging in holiday treats or when dealing with a lot of emotional stress is actually the exact opposite of what your body probably needs.

Intense exercise when the body is already dealing with a burden of stress, can put more strain on hormones such as cortisol, estrogen, thyroid and testosterone and have the exact opposite effect of what you hope it would be doing.

Instead of running, hitting the weights hard or pushing yourself in a class, opt for some movement that is more restorative such as:

A nice long walk
A yoga class or pilates
Interval training with 1-2 minute breaks to recover between sets

Moving your body daily is essential for hormone balance too, just be mindful of what your body is capable of doing on a day-to-day basis depending on the collection of stressors you might have encountered over the last 24-48 hours.

So trust me and your body. Turn down the intensity, your hormones will thank you :)

P.S. DON’T FORGET TO SAVE THIS POST FOR FUTURE REFERENCE!
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12/21/2025

Looking for a holiday gift? We can help you do this!! ☀️🍽️🏃‍♀️🛏️💤

12/21/2025

Actually I DO feel refreshed !! 🤗
Teaching people how to do this is kinda my thing !! 😃 ☀️🍽️🏃‍♀️🛏️💤

12/20/2025

Day 9: Benefit of Bone Broth

Bone broth is a superfood for your immune system and gut health, where a LOT of hormone interactions take place such as...

The conversion of thyroid T4 to T3
Conversion of glucocorticoids to androgens (steroid hormones)
Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine production

Approximately 80% of your immune system is in the gut. The immune system cells also synthesize, store and secrete hormones, which are identical to the hormones of the endocrine glands (thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin hormones etc.)

Bone broth helps to keep your gut healthy and therefore your hormones healthy too. It’s rich in minerals for immune system function plus has healing compounds for the intestinal lining such as glutamine, collagen, glycine and proline.

Bone broth is different from your everyday chicken, beef or vegetable stock. Bone broth is made by simmering the animal bones (commonly chicken or beef) which is where all of the beneficial nutrients come from to support hormones!

Grab grass-fed, organic bone broth at any health food or grocery store, or snag the Vital Proteins or Ancient Nutrition bone broth powders online.

Here are ways you can incorporate bone broth daily to support hormones through the holidays:

● Drink a hot cup of it with added spices; ginger, sea salt, and cayenne are great!
● Use it in any recipe that calls for any kind of stock or broth (gravy!)
● Make a simple soup of celery, carrots, sea salt and pieces of chicken (boil then serve)

Bone broth also improves your overall gut health boosting nutrient absorption from other foods you’re eating to promote positive hormone balance.

Give yourself and your hormones the gift of bone broth this holiday season!

12/19/2025

Day 8: Sing, Gargle, Gag

Did you know that singing along to holiday songs can actually promote hormone balance? So can gargling water and initiating a gag reflex.

You’re probably wondering how in the heck these actions help balance hormones, but that’s what this 12 Days of Healthy Hormone Hacks series is all about!

Singing, gargling and gagging all stimulate and strengthen the vagus nerve which is the longest nerve in your body. The vagus rules important organ activity in the:

Brain (neurotransmitter hormones!)
Neck (thyroid hormones!)
Intestines (more neurotransmitter, thyroid and other hormone activity!)
Liver (excretion of excess hormones!)
Pancreas (insulin and related hormones!)
Kidney (cortisol and DHEA hormones!)
And reproductive organs (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone hormones!)

That’s a lot of organs producing important hormones and performing important functions in the body!

If the vagus nerve is weak it won’t be able to do a good job telling the rest of the organs in your body to do their job and therefore hormone production and balance will take a hit.

Your vagus nerve also translates information between the gut and the brain. If one of them is not getting the right signals, the whole ship can sink!

Don’t worry, it’s super easy to strengthen your vagus nerve strong, especially during the holidays! Next time your favorite holiday (or other) tune comes on the radio, sing your socks off to stimulate that vagus nerve.

You can also gargle water daily- your gargle should be long enough to make it feel challenging. Or the next time you brush your teeth, lay your toothbrush on the back of your tongue and push down to activate a gag reflex.

Missed the previous tips for the 12 Days of Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays series? No worries! You can catch the replays in this Facebook feed and comment with any questions you might have!

12/18/2025

Day 7: Incorporate Yoga and Meditation

My dear friend, Ruth Ann Dunkerly, introduced me to yoga and meditation. It has been a BIG part of my journey to finding balanced hormones again, healing from a fall, resulting in a broken wrist and elbow. When I was in the midst of physical therapy, Yoga Flow helped me strengthen the relationship with my body, my mind and restore my faith in my ability to heal.

Certain poses, mantras or parts of my yoga practice are designed to stimulate specific glands to remove blocks of energy and create space for positive energy to flow so hormones can be in balance. The Great Bell Chant meditation helps activate and heal the adrenal glands and the phrase “sat nam” activates the pineal gland which is responsible for brain activity, sleeping patterns, and the secretion of melatonin and serotonin. Some mantras or meditations involve a turning of the head which massages the thyroid.

The best part about yoga is how impactful it can be in such a short amount of time! You can do most of meditations in as little as 1-10 minutes and they will give you an abundance of benefits.

I incorporate different types of yoga modalities into my daily routine. I almost always start my day with a breath meditation to balance my adrenals and ego, and to lay the foundation for how I want my day to go. I challenge you to sit on your mat with The Great Bell Chant and have a wonderful, calming start to your day!

12/17/2025

Day 6: Bank Some Sleep

Sleep is the first thing to go out the window during the holiday season. We stay up late doing a variety of things this time of year…

Burning the midnight oil to meet last minute work deadlines
Wrapping presents when our kids or loved ones are asleep
Dancing or socializing the night away at holiday parties
Waiting for Santa or loved ones to arrive
Or by taking red-eye flights to save a few bucks

But you might have noticed that even when you get 8 hours of sleep or allow yourself to sleep in after a late night, you just don’t seem to wake up feeling as rested as you could if you had gone to bed at a more reasonable time.

That’s because every 1 hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest!

Our body is on an internal time clock according to the sun and moon cycles. Based on this internal timer, our body has specific times of day when it does some really critical functions to help keep our hormones in balance.

For example, in the window of 10pm-2am, the body releases human growth hormone which helps to repair damaged tissues or cells, and create new cells. During this time is also when cortisol levels are supposed to be at their lowest and melatonin hormone is at its peak to support restful sleep. And during the window of 2am-4am is when the liver and gallbladder get to work cleansing and detoxifying to release toxins which promotes hormone balance.

If we miss these windows of sleep, our body does not shift its internal clock on our behalf, we simply miss out on these important functions being performed as they should be, and our hormones take a hit as a result. Constantly staying up late can completely flip your cortisol rhythm, mess with melatonin production and disrupt the rest of your hormones as a result.

Obviously there are some very fun-filled and valid reasons to maybe miss some shut eye this time of year, but you can make up for lost time by banking your sleep on the days that you are able to get to bed at a more reasonable hour.

Remember that every 1 hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest!

So on the nights when you don’t have holiday obligations or commitments, aim to be in bed by 10pm or earlier to bank some sleep for late nights you might have ahead or to make up for the ones you already have.

Getting in good quality sleep at the optimal times as much as you can will help to keep your cortisol and melatonin in sync, and allow human growth hormone to get to work on your behalf so you can wake up feeling rested and make it through the holidays without your hormones getting completely out of whack.

12/16/2025

Day 5: Crush Some Cruciferous Veggies
It’s the last full weekend before Christmas and all through the town, Christmas cocktails are flowing… meaning estrogen levels are on the rise.

One alcoholic beverage can increase estrogen levels in the body for up to 24 hours, but this time of year there’s bound to be more than one drink had and with back-to-back holiday festivities, our bodies may not get a full 24 hour break for estrogen levels to fall back to normal.

Aside from alcohol, there is a whole category of toxins called xenoestrogens, such as certain plastics, that we are likely to come in contact with more frequently this time of year.
Alcohol and plastic can increase estrogen.

Constantly elevated estrogen levels from alcohol consumption or toxin exposures can lead to estrogen dominance which can in turn trigger thyroid imbalances, sleep issues and mood swings.

But don’t worry, you can still indulge this holiday season and not worry about every plastic you touch if you focus on crushing some cruciferous veggies when you sit down to eat.

Cruciferous vegetables are a staple in an anti-estrogenic type of diet or lifestyle. They contain a compound called DIM (3’3 diindolylmethane) which helps your body to remove estrogen through the liver.

DIM isn't the only reason why cruciferous veggies are anti-estrogenic. Most of them also contain chlorophyll (found in the green leaves) which is also aids in reducing estrogen through improved liver health.

Next time you go out to eat or cook at home, see where you can incorporate some of these cruciferous veggies...

● Arugula
● Bok Choy
● Broccoli
● Brussels Sprouts
● Cabbage
● Cauliflower
● Collard Greens
● Kale
● Mustard greens
● Radish
● Turnip
● Watercress

Some of my favorite holiday side dishes include different styles of roasted Brussels sprouts and kale salads. Brussels sprouts in general are a big trend these days for appetizers, so look to add them to your meal when eating out. Or double the benefits with some sauerkraut to get in your cabbage to lower estrogen AND promote better gut health.

Keep that estrogen in check by crushing some cruciferous veggies as we wind down the year!

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