Julie Kennedy is an integrative health practitioner and personal trainer who specializes in women’s hormones and cycle syncing. She built a successful business from her passion for fitness, but she is no stranger to battling over working out and under under nourishing her body. Eventually, those unhealthy habits led to her suffering from ovarian cysts, painful cycles and serious hormone imbalances.

Now she’s showing women how to honor their bodies by adjusting their diet, workouts, and social life according to the different phases of their menstrual cycle. What did that journey look like to heal her body and find new purpose as an integrative health practitioner? Julie’s on the Toxin Free Ish with me to sort through all the unhealthy habits that we can all relate to and how you can turn your health around by honoring what your body needs to be nourished with cycle syncing.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee (just make sure it’s not on an empty stomach!) and enjoy this chat with my friend Julie Kennedy.

JULIE’S STORY

I wanted Julie on the podcast because I knew that so many women could relate to her and would benefit from hearing her story. I know that I did. So many women are out there trying to live up to a body ideal that isn’t realistic by under eating and over working out. Julie’s story begins with lots of success as a personal trainer, but at a serious cost to her health. “I just thought I needed a 6 pack, I needed to have 15% body fat at all times. I am a personal trainer, I am a walking billboard, I am my business card so this is how I get business and don’t get me wrong, it worked great for business.” She goes on to say “I eventually dug myself into a really really deep hole and started getting very sick. I had constant ovarian cysts and hormone imbalances.”

After realizing how sick she had become, she explains how she started focusing on nourishing her body and fueling it properly. She wants women to know they don’t need to be scared of food. She explains “ I was doing CrossFit workouts twice a day and the days I wasn’t able to work out I would literally have anxiety, I would have panic attacks … I just thought I was going to like get fat or it was just my release, but I didn’t realize I was living on cortisol and adrenaline.” That’s when she changed her life and learned how to track her macros, fuel her body and honor each phase of her cycle.

WHAT IS CYCLE SYNCING?

Julie explains that women have 4 different phases within our menstrual cycle every single month and our body goes through a twenty eight day hormone cycle. In each phase, women’s bodies need a little something different, so adjusting our lifestyle, workouts, and our nutrition is an important part of staying healthy and and honoring what our bodies need. Fluctuations during a women’s monthly menstrual cycle play a crucial role in influencing our emotional status, appetite, energy levels and so much more. By giving our bodies what they need during those cycles, we can improve symptoms of PMS and balance our hormones, naturally.

MORE FROM JULIE KENNEDY

Join Julie’s Waitlist for her Menstruation Makeover Course. You can also follow her on Instagram @julieeekennedy

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