Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.

Health Hacks That Won’t Break The Bank ft. Jessica Sepel

Sally McMullen

Alexandra Hourigan

Posted: 11 October 2022 6:15 am

News

Image of Jessica Sepel of JSHealth against a pink gradient background for the Two Broke Chicks podcast

From night walks to digital detoxes, JSHealth founder Jessica Sepel shares how you can lead a healthy life while on a budget.

JSHealth founder Jessica Sepel joins Sal & Al to share her top tier health and wellness hacks that are kind to your body and wallet.

Plus, Jess talks about the breathing exercise that can help prevent bloating, manifestations to improve mental health & how her strict nighttime phone ban has changed her life.

LISTEN TO EP#304

Sally McMullen
Hey chicks, I'm Sal.
Alex Hourigan
And I'm Al.
Sally McMullen
And this is Two Broke Chicks, the show that shares life lessons for the gals, from the gals. And in today's episode we are chatting with Jessica Sepel, the founder of JS Health.
Alex Hourigan
Yes, JS Health Vitamins, you've probably seen them all over the gram, they're one of the most popular vitamins brands. And today we're gonna be chatting three ways that you can prioritise your health without breaking the bank-a-rooney.
Sally McMullen
Mhmm, that part. Plus Jess shares some incredible life lessons that she's picked up from her own health journey. From the rollercoaster of fad dieting, relatable, in her early 20s, to finding balance with food and just embracing self love and her body. But before we get into our chat with Jess, what's your life lesson of the week, Al?
Alex Hourigan
Okay, my life lesson this week is short and sweet. And it's something that I read recently, that if you're listening to this right now, I want you to tell yourself every day, but you were put on this earth to have fun and love people, right? And how fun is that? Like we are literally living our lives so we can have fun and love each other. So if you're having a moment that you're stressed about work or things you need to do, or if you need to do chores, or clean or wash your clothes, or put that basket of laundry that's sitting in your room away for the last two weeks. Just stop because you're literally on this earth to have fun and love people.
Sally McMullen
I love that.
Alex Hourigan
Everything else is just noise.
Sally McMullen
That's the meaning of life right there. Into it.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, I wrote it on my mirror.
Sally McMullen
Cute! That's such a good idea.
Alex Hourigan
So I love you and I'm having fun right now.
Sally McMullen
Living the dream! Okay, my life lesson is a little bit less deep. But it's a hack for if you are buying new furniture and trying to figure out what will look good in your place. So my sister is going through this at the moment and she basically created a template in Canva, where she puts a picture of her living room or whatever the space is, and then gets pictures of the furniture that she wants to buy and layers it over over the top to see how your new furniture will look in the space and with your existing pieces. So you don't end up buying a piece of art or a couch or something and then you're like, like, this doesn't match anything else.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, that's so good. Especially if, because some sites do offer that like virtual reality thing that you can see how it looks, like I think Kmart does that. But yeah, you know, if you're shopping with you know, a bit of a smaller business or like an Instagram brand, or whatever it is, that can be a bit tricky to tell. Facebook Marketplace.
Sally McMullen
I was gonna say, Meg buys a lot of her furniture from Facebook Marketplace and Etsy. So it works perfectly for little stores like that. But God I love those virtual shopping experiences, even just to play. But yeah, that's my life lesson. So let's get into our chat with Jess, shall we?
Alex Hourigan
Let's do it. Well, hello!
Jessica Sepel
Hello! Good morning!
Alex Hourigan
Thank you for joining us on the poddy!
Jessica Sepel
Thank you so much for having me.
Alex Hourigan
So excited to have you in the studio to just finally find out how we can be healthy, you know?
Jessica Sepel
I think you guys are healthy.
Alex Hourigan
Sure! Let's go with that. Yeah.
Jessica Sepel
No, you look well!
Alex Hourigan
Good. We're still kicking. But whether or not we're making the healthiest left choices is another story.
Sally McMullen
That's where you come in.
Jessica Sepel
But it's all about, but it's all about balance.
Alex Hourigan
Thank you. I don't know if we've got too much of that right now. But it's fine. I'm like my Saturday night would disagree with everyone.
Jessica Sepel
I also had lots of grapefruit gins on Saturday. Not so many. Two to three is my cap.
Alex Hourigan
Sure. Yesterday, I just spent like, I think I watched three different TV shows on Netflix yesterday. And I was like, "What have I done today?", and I was like, Oh my God.
Jessica Sepel
But I'm, I have a literal fear of hangovers.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah.
Jessica Sepel
Like I can't like my
Sally McMullen
The hangxiety.
Jessica Sepel
It's just too much like for an anxious personality like me, perfectionist, anxious personality, no, doesn't work for me.
Alex Hourigan
Same. And I didn't even go to bed that late. I'm just a loser now.
Sally McMullen
You needed to switch off. It's okay. It's all about balance. Well, on the theme of balance, we wanted to talk to you today about healthy hacks that don't break the bank and busting some of the myths in the health industry. So can you run us through some of your favourite health hacks at the moment?
Jessica Sepel
Literally, it's so true though, I was thinking about it this morning that some of my favourite health hacks really are the ones that are for free. I mean it, when I say that, like I love my vitamins and I love healthy food. But for me, it's like as simple as waking up to a two minute manifestation or meditation practice. Literally I sat on my balcony this morning and I put my arms out into the air and I like I do this weird woowoo thing where I like call in what I want and push away what no longer serves me. And it is so powerful, the days that I do that I have a much better day. And like sleeping for me like eight hours of sleep, it is just the thing that gets me through my days. If I have my seven to eight hours of sleep, I can get through my day in a really functional way. Drinking water like yesterday, we had no food in the house because we're travelling this week I had a little bit of brown bread, I had a can of tuna and I had aoli from like, who, god knows where, I'm actually, I actually said to myself, don't look. And we made the best, on it was like this beautiful gluten free charcoal seed bread that I just I don't even know again from when, and I mixed up this tuna with leftover pickles from the fridge and aoli it was the best lunch ever. So wholesome, so nutritious, didn't cost me anything. So some of the best, the truth is is like the simplest parts of the healthy life are the best you know, and it's all you need. Keeping it simple is the way to go, because it's so easy to overwhelm yourself and feel inundated by the health industry and it looks very expensive and glam from the out, on the outset.
Alex Hourigan
It can be as well.
Jessica Sepel
It can be for sure. And I'm being honest about the fact that I will spend every last dime on anything healthy. Like me going into health food store is scary. I don't buy clothes but I spend on health food stores. So I'm admitting to the fact that I want to spend my money on health items, but you don't need to. You can keep it super, super simple. The other day we did a shopping tour for JS Health for the JS Health on Instagram through woollies, and it's amazing, like the things you can buy to make healthy food on a budget.
Alex Hourigan
And it is so much cheaper. I'm like the worst at that. Because I can't be bothered to go grocery shopping. It's just like the bane of my existence.
Jessica Sepel
I also don't love it.
Alex Hourigan
But then when you do it, and you get all these meals and you like go to the checkout, you're like, Oh, I really should be doing this more often.
Jessica Sepel
Actually a really good hack is leftovers. I think like, no one has like dug that enough in this world. Like I made a big batch of bolognese. I make, I do make a good bolognese. I make a good bolognese and a good soup. I think that was my two favourite things to make. And I made them both on a Monday, last Monday. And they lasted me the entire week. And I thought in my head. Wow, that pack of pasta was $4, that bolognese mince was like whatever, 10, 9 or $10, nd it lasted my husband and I like, and that soup also must have been very inexpensive, with some delicious seed toast and avocado like, okay, maybe the avocados expensive. Leave the avocado out. But it lasted me the whole week. So I really like I know that the healthy life can look expensive, and it can be expensive, but there are ways to absolutely navigate it in a budget friendly way. And I grew up in a wholesome, healthy household before the healthy life was trending. And there were all these cool super foods and vitamins and formulas and protein powders. Like I remember my mum literally just bringing us up in a healthy way from taking things out of the fridge and pantry and whipping up a wholesome meal. That was simple and definitely budget friendly.
Alex Hourigan
Mums are so good at that.
Jessica Sepel
I have one other, sorry quick, obviously this is when we start I can't stop when we talk about the healthy life, night walks.
Alex Hourigan
Night walks?
Sally McMullen
Ooh.
Jessica Sepel
It's changed my life. It is the best circuit breaker to date. My husband and I come home from work at like 7:38, we have dinner, and we put our phones away, switch them off and we do a night walk.
Alex Hourigan
I love this.
Jessica Sepel
It is annoying when I say because I can't give it justice until you do it.
Alex Hourigan
Do you know what, I can totally see
Jessica Sepel
It breaks the whole day, it breaks the stress and the chaos and anxiety of the day. There's something about the stillness of the night, the stars, the moon, the quiet the peace, no people. And you go for a walk around the block, maybe 10 minutes could be 40 minutes and it is, it does something to your nervous system that actually allows you to also fall asleep and stay asleep better.
Alex Hourigan
Okay, I need this in life.
Jessica Sepel
So that's a free, incredible hack that my husband would honestly tell you it's changed his life.
Alex Hourigan
It makes sense because Sal and I've always said this, now after, like we work from home most days now, that when we don't go into the office and don't have that, like transition to going home, that's when you would get like a second wind of energy. When you were like leaving the office to go home.
Jessica Sepel
Then yeah, it's like you don't feel like it's a circuit breaker.
Alex Hourigan
It's like a boundary of being like, okay, now the workday is over and you get like a little spritz of energy back in your step. And whereas now when you're working from home so much, you just are like okay, logs off computer, but your couch is there.
Jessica Sepel
Yeah, like what do I do now?
Alex Hourigan
But yeah, there's no like break to the day.
Jessica Sepel
That's why the word circuit breaker I think it's something like I've been doing this for so many years and like being in the health industry for so many years. But I think, I think that most trend is like a circuit breaker, like, how do you like, mental well being is as important as eating your greens. Like taking care of the mind, especially during this time working from home, the stress of the last three years, people are so angry and frustrated and emotional at the moment. What are we going to do like for me when you guys asked me what are the health hacks I'm like, the first thing I'm thinking in my head is how do we take care of our mind because everyone is struggling right now and some of the best things to do to take care of your mental health are the ones that are for free. And as I said like waking up to a meditation manifestation practice having a night walk, three deep breaths morning and night to calm down the nervous system, having a bath or shower with some lavender oil. Biggest health hack of all right now, boundaries with the phone. And it's gonna be the next big thing but seriously, I had this crazy rule, people think it's crazy, that I switch my phone off every single night by 8:30pm and I delete the social media apps, I delete emails. I literally delete the apps, I delete my email icon from my phone, I delete everything. Because I will not have a deep restorative sleep if I if I don't do that. Because the truth is when we get onto our beds, we end up scrolling, it's an addiction. We don't realise that and endless scrolling, we I think the research is going to come out and ready has been how that affects our mental health and well being. So switching off my phone, and so I set a time. So mine is eight to 8:30pm. I delete the Instagram app, I switch my emails off my phone, I don't have Facebook on my phone anymore. I delete WhatsApp a lot, a lot of the times I just have iMessage and then I do the do not disturb.
Alex Hourigan
So then will you redownload them in the morning?
Jessica Sepel
I redownload them in the morning when I'm at my desk. So then another free thing is I have my wholesome morning routines. I have two must-dos. And I'm just me I'm not like a routine type person. But I have to have a 30 minute morning routine and a 30 minute nighttime routine. And my 30 minute morning routine cannot include my phone or scrolling on social media because I know how that affects the rest of my day. Like how you start your day determines the rest of the day. It's like the note that you started on. Is it going to be a peaceful, calm, wholesome note? Or is it gonna be scrolling on Instagram, comparing yourself, feeling anxious? Like how you start your day matters.
Alex Hourigan
It sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Jessica Sepel
It sets the tone for the rest of the day for sure.
Alex Hourigan
With your two minute meditation manifestation session. How do you choose, you know, what you're putting out there? If you know someone's new to this, for example and they're like, "What the fuck do I ask for?". Like, what what am I asking for? What am I pushing away? Like what are some examples that people could use to get started if they wanted to incorporate that in their morning routine?
Jessica Sepel
Yeah, I have to say manifestation though, is something that's taken me 10 years to perfect because when you're someone who's brought up, like I wasn't brought up in a way that I believed in manifestation. My husband's the same like, I've had to do the work that hard worked, and I'm worthy of my dreams, to learn how to manifest, to learn how to feel okay, with manifesting, you can actually feel really uncomfortable. Being saying, like, "Thank you for my successful career", like those words can be really difficult to say and like believing in your dreams is actually more difficult than we realise. So I've done the work for 10 years. So manifestation is a long process because you have to believe you're worthy, you have to learn how to speak to yourself with kindness and in the present, you know, the present moment like, "I am, well, I am healthy" and manifestation must be in the present moment. And the feelings associated with your manifesting matters. So if you feel if you're manifesting from a place of fear and anxiety, it's not the right energy for that manifestation. Whereas if you're manifesting from a feeling of excitement, and happiness and gratitude, it can change sort of the way that that dream manifests. Obviously, it's hard work with manifesting to make our dreams come true. But what I do is I just pick three things that I'm wanting to attract into my life. And they can be so simple, this morning was, I had a bit of an anxious week, I'm blaming it on the full moon, was just "Thank you for my, thank you for a peaceful week ahead". This week is going to be peaceful. "Thank you for the health of my loved ones and my family members. And thank you for the strength and growth of JS Health Vitamins." Like just three simple things. And I just say thank you, because thank you is in the present tense and it's also that energy of gratitude as opposed to fear or anxiety. And then sometimes I use my arms and like I just push away what no longer serves me like whether it be fear or anxiety or just, you know, someone who's maybe has upset me. I just like push it away and just say "That no longer serves me". There are lots of different ways you can manifest to as I said, it's your language, how you talk to yourself, it's doing different practices, like meditation manifestation practice, like Dean and I also stick our dreams all over the house. We write it on little post it notes.
Sally McMullen
I love that.
Jessica Sepel
And qw literally just stick them around the house.
Sally McMullen
That's beautiful.
Alex Hourigan
People will come into my room and just like see pictures of Henry Cavill. And I'm like, "I'm manifesting".
Jessica Sepel
No it comes true, I'm telling you.
Alex Hourigan
It's gonna happen! Me and Henry!
Jessica Sepel
But I also think manifesting becomes easier when you do the hard work. Like I'm in therapy every single week. I'm the daughter of a therapist soI'm lucky we're in the way that therapy has been part of my upbringing and it's something that I believe is almost an absolute must and essential to living in this world. In this day and age, we're living in a really hard, scary world full of stress and anxiety. Being in therapy is an essential so but being in therapy has taught me or I guess, strengthened up my inner core, and you know, and to know that I'm worthy of things which therefore helps the manifestation. Like manifesting isn't very easy when you're self doubting or not feeling like you're good enough. So I would say start with that. Building up your self worth, building up your self esteem, that inner core. When inner core, I mean like, you know, the emotional inner core, it's hard work, taking care of ourselves. It's hard work, going to therapy, seeing a psychiatrist, eating healthy food, making sure you do a morning and nighttime routine.
Alex Hourigan
It's overwhelming as well.
Jessica Sepel
Saying no to people, social media boundaries, having eight hours of sleep, like it's all a lot, it's hard work. But we've got to do it. Because if we don't do it, it manifests in the wrong ways.
Alex Hourigan
So like, even then with you just listing those things, I was like, Oh, it is a lot. So where would you start with that? Because honestly, like, it's not feasible to be like, "Okay, this week, I'm going to eat healthy, meditate, go to the gym, go to therapy, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla", and build all these things just straight off the bat. So how would you go about building those healthy choices within your life, without feeling overwhelmed or getting burnt out by the routine of it?
Jessica Sepel
I think the trick of it is to make the healthy life, your life. So it's just the way it is, you know, like, as you said, becomes your lifestyle. So for me, waking up to a 20-30 minute morning routine is not even something I think about anymore, it's just what it is. And that's the thing, these small, you know, changes and transitions and habits that you've formed become part of your life. It's just about implementing them time and time again. So for me, I'm going to eat that porridge or that smoothie for breakfast, I'm going to do my morning and nighttime routine, I'm going to switch my phone off at 8:30pm. But they become habits that sort of solidify and set into your life. I think the trick to the healthy life is that is like making it your lifestyle. I used to sit in my private practice because before JS Health I actually was a nutritionist in private practice. That's my end goal, too. And I used to say to my patients, I used to say, "Do you feel like you can do this today and forever?". And if there's anything on here, you feel uncomfortable about, you don't feel like you can implement forever, we're scrapping it. Because it's about implementing these things in a way that are realistic and sustainable. So they're small things. If I said to myself, every day, I have to do a one hour workout, I have to have this crazy two our morning routine with meditation. I don't know a swim, a workout, a crazy breakfast like that's overwhelming. But if I say to myself is 20 minutes, that finally feels manageable to me. If I say to myself, I have to eat healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will feel overwhelmed and probably just not. Like it's about eating well, most of the time is what I like to say to people. And absolutely giving yourself that 20-30% leeway of imperfect choices. If nothing has to be done perfectly, I think the reason why a lot of people give up is because they feel so overwhelmed and confused that they actually give up altogether. Whereas if you make small changes and small transitions, those are the ones that last and it suddenly becomes part of your lifestyle. I always say to people as well, becomes part of your lifestyle. I do often say to people once you get a taste of how good the healthy life feels, there's no other way. Because you feel so good.
Alex Hourigan
When you get that like serotonin hit of doing your morning routine, you have so much energy. Like I know when I actually follow a morning routine I wake up, have a shower, do my skincare, write like three goals for your day and do five minutes of journalling, I'm like, "I am a God, among men". Like, I could kick a door off its hinges.
Sally McMullen
Now a quick word from our sponsors JS Health Vitamins.
Alex Hourigan
So let's talk about bloating.
Our favourite.
Yep, Sal and I can definitely relate to the struggle of bloating. It doesn't really make you feel too sexy, comfortable, gorgeous, all those fun vibes.
Sally McMullen
But JS Health Vitamins has worked on a formula to help you feel more confident and comfortable, it's called Detox and Debloat. It contains fennel to help reduce and relieve abdominal bloating, along with the liver loving herb milk thistle to support natural body detoxification processes. All of which is based on traditional Western herbal medicine.
Alex Hourigan
The reviews online for this product are also insane. If you look at the before and afters of real customers, you can really see how much this works for a range of people that suffer from bloating and they also source each ingredient with quality care ensuring that the quantity, dose and concentration of actives is on point.
Sally McMullen
It's just a single tablet that you take twice daily. Of course, this isn't a quick fix but it's designed to nourish your body from the inside out.
Alex Hourigan
Yes, practising healthy lifestyle is important but when you need extra support JS Health Vitamins are there on call. They have a wide range of vitamins including their number one best seller the Hair and Energy vitamins, which support hair health and growth when dietary intake is inadequate, their vitamin infused skincare and recently released vitamin powered natural haircare.
Sally McMullen
You can use the code 'twobrokechicks' to get 15% off site wide, chicks so we'll make sure to check a little linky in the show notes for y'all.
Alex Hourigan
A reminder to always make sure you read the label and follow directions for use. Go be healthy.
So we polled the chicks on the gram and ask them what kind of hacks they would be interested in hearing about. So do you have any healthy hacks on how you can help to avoid bloating?
Jessica Sepel
I love to calm down the digestive tract with three deep breaths before your meal. It's actually a bit of a game changer. Because a lot of people don't realise they're holding on really tight and the digestive tract like literally clenches. Three deep breaths before you eat is really powerful. The other one would be, did you know that it's not a great idea to drink whilst eating?
Sally McMullen
Like anything?
Jessica Sepel
Anything and leave a 30 minute gap if you can. Because that can really bloat people.
Alex Hourigan
Whoa!
Jessica Sepel
Another one. No, but now I'm going to tell you a million.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, hit me.
Jessica Sepel
When people realise that chewing gum is very bloating.
Alex Hourigan
See I knew, I hate chewing gum. This is why because my body thinks I'm eating.
Jessica Sepel
But it actually causes extreme amounts of gas and bloating as well. And my my, my personal hack is apple cider vinegar in water through the day, it really does help stimulate the stomach acid which helps you to then break down food. So people often bloat because they can't digest their meals.
Alex Hourigan
I actually like the taste of apple cider vinegar.
Jessica Sepel
Yeah.
Alex Hourigan
When I do a little shot of it, I'm like, "Oh yeah, that's the stuff."
Sally McMullen
I can't, can't do the shots.
Jessica Sepel
You don't have to shot, no, don't shot it. I literally add a tablespoon into my big water bottle and just sip it throughout the day. Okay, it really helps stimulate the stomach acid.
Sally McMullen
What about hacks for hair growth?
Jessica Sepel
Besides for a supplement?
Alex Hourigan
Are there any hacks?
Jessica Sepel
Honestly minerals, that's how it came to our hair growth vitamin, is I'm obsessed with minerals for hair growth. And a lot of people were prescribing, you know, biotin and silicone formulations, I actually discovered that iodine and especially coming from kelp and zinc were two minerals that would really encourage hair growth. So I used to be in private practice. And, you know, I would look at people's blood tests and their iodine and and their zinc levels were lower. So I would prescribe like a mineral with iodine and zinc and some other minerals, and like people's hair would grow. So we looked into the research and we actually saw that iodine has been shown to help with hair growth, hair health and hair thickness and zinc as well, helps to maintain healthy hair, those are the research claims. So whether it comes from nutritious foods or from a supplement, you really want to get those minerals in. So that's why we encourage greens. That's why we encourage protein, amino acids. Amino acids to help to strengthen and grow our cells. That includes hair cells. People don't even know that like their thyroid levels can really affect their hair growth. So if their hair starts thinning, I do like encourage people to go and get their thyroid tested because thyroid diseases really on the rise at the moment. And that can be a reason why their hair is falling out and thinning. Even iron the mineral can really help with hair growth.
Alex Hourigan
Oh my god, I went to the hairdresser's once and they were brushing my hair and like half my head came out. I was like, "Yeah, that happens", and they're like, "Are you iron deficient?". I was like, "Oh, yeah", and they were like, "That's why you lose heaps of hair, you're iron deficient". And it causes dry skin.
Jessica Sepel
Iron, thyroid, people don't know about iron and thyroid, they like they're just not don't know that that can contribute to hair loss. I also think stress, you know,
Sally McMullen
Oh absolutely.
Jessica Sepel
I mean, who isn't stressed? It can affect our digestion, where we absorb those minerals that we need for our skin health for our hair health for our energy. So reducing stress, I feel like right now, reducing stress is like the number one health hack to everything. To manifesting, to like working hard to you know, manifest the life you've always wanted, to just feeling well, to like waking up every day and feeling good is reducing stress. And how do you do that? You can't just say let's reduce stress, you actually have to put
Alex Hourigan
Be like, "I'm not stressed anymore", ding! It worked!
Jessica Sepel
Put the boundaries in place. I think boundaries is a big word right now. Boundaries, boundaries of the phone boundaries with people saying no, you know, saying no can reduce stress. Saying no to that social arrangement, saying no to seeing somebody you don't really had the energy to see, saying no to meetings if you have to take care of yourself.
Alex Hourigan
Another question that we had sent in and also has been kind of a topic just within our own friendship groups at the moment is that people don't really feel like their libido is, you know, in super drive at the moment. Like people are kind of feeling that they're in a dry spell or, you know, they're not just feeling really
Sally McMullen
In a bit of a slump.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, they're not feeling like the little horn bags that they are.
Sally McMullen
The horny Sheila's.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah the horny Shelia's! I'm like, can't relate. But what are some ways that you can try to help lift your libido if you want to?
Jessica Sepel
Trust me I know all about this. You know why? Because we do our Thursday customer support meetings right? And every single JS Health Vitamin formulation is seriously created because our community asked. They tell us what they struggling with, anxiety, stress, skin hair loss and we create a formulation for that. And over the last three years, what every Thursday in our customer support meeting libido, time and time again, libido, libido. I wasn't going to create a libido vitamin, but it literally our DMs, my emails, everything and I might one of our strength is listening to our customers and that is the one that came up. And in the history of JS Health Vitamins, it's the only formulation that has sold out five times in five months. Could not keep up with stock and that. I only say that, not to brag, to show you, to show everyone that they're not struggling alone. So it's funny that you just asked that after me talking about stress, because I'm a huge believer that our nervous system really does indicate our libido. Because how many of you have been on holiday and suddenly your libido comes back? Right?
Sally McMullen
Everytime!
Jessica Sepel
Your mind and your body is relaxed? No but seriously, it's like a thing. Like people don't understand that, especially over the last three years with the stress of COVID-19 and just mental stress, mental overload mental like inundation, right? We don't, I don't think yet we've discovered how I mean, like all taken seriously enough the link between our mind capacity or inundation and libido. And we need to calm down our minds and our nervous systems in order to have a healthy libido. What I know is it's like when you calm down that nervous system, you're going to feel like your libido is in a good place. Firstly, let it ebb and flow. Libido is meant to ebb and flow. There are things that, there are herbs that you can take, like in our formulations that can definitely enhance your libido and sexual function for sure. But my biggest tip alongside a supplement is to calm down your nervous system through stress reduction. And weekend's like it can be as simple as like, slow weekend's, earlier nights, boundaries with the phone like I seriously worry about the amount of scrolling on TikTok and Instagram. And of course that's going to impact our libido from a practical perspective that you're getting into bed and scrolling instead of being with your partner and what about that? Night walks are very important because they are the circuit breaker, they make you leave your phone at home, you go for a beautiful walk with the stars, your nervous system calms down, your body's relaxed and even that can enhance your libido.
Alex Hourigan
Come home and you are an absolute hornbag!
Jessica Sepel
Seriously! Also these are things that are so for free. You know, no one's going to buy expensive anything. But I think of anyone out there who's struggling with low libido, I just want to say, ask yourself the question right now like how stressed am I? Like how am I feeling mentally? How's my mental health and well being? And I think that's the first place to start rather than saying, How do I fix my libido? Is my relationship in trouble? It's really just knowing, how am I feeling? Am I feeling anxious? Am I feeling stressed? And how do I manage that first, and then you'll see libido starts creeping back in.
Alex Hourigan
Yay, go have sex babies.
Sally McMullen
That is our seal of approval. Go have sex.
Jessica Sepel
I'm in my 30s, I'm much older but I think people in their early 20s put a lot of pressure on themselves to have a high libido.
Alex Hourigan
Yes. 100%.
Jessica Sepel
I also want to say side note, as from a nutritional perspective, of course different contraceptions will affect your libido. That's a known, like the IUD can really zap your libido. Some pills can really zap your libido.
Alex Hourigan
No then I was just because
Jessica Sepel
No I like it. I like the IUD though as acontraception.
Alex Hourigan
I just, yeah, I think contraception just freaks me out in general. Like
Jessica Sepel
Listen, I always have said there's no perfect contraception but you need to be protected.
Alex Hourigan
Oh, don't worry. It's fine. She is, she is.
Jessica Sepel
Use protection, everyone, protection first.
Alex Hourigan
Fully, but I just think I like my body to just be like natural in its way. And then use protection. And that's like my personal preference. Because I think when I was on the pill it just f*cked with my head like I was a crazy woman. Like it
Sally McMullen
You just weren't yourself.
Alex Hourigan
I was not myself. And then but because I have quite heavy periods, it means that it really affects my iron levels. So my doctor was like, oh, maybe like, let's look into the IUD, but now that's gonna affect my libido I'm like, f*ck no!
Jessica Sepel
But hang on, it doesn;t affect everyone's libido.
Alex Hourigan
Okay, I just
Jessica Sepel
You might be the one that doesn't.
Alex Hourigan
Like, I just don't want my body to change.
Sally McMullen
Yeah
Alex Hourigan
It's fun being a woman.
Sally McMullen
It is.
Alex Hourigan
Love it!
Sally McMullen
And I wanted to ask because we've spoken about this a little bit, but how overwhelming the health industry is right now. And I think when you are scrolling on Tiktok and Instagram, you're constantly comparing yourself to people who have all of these seemingly perfect routines and bodies and everything. Do you have any tips on how to avoid fad dieting and comparing yourself and actually embracing what is healthy for you and your body?
Jessica Sepel
Absolutely. I mean, JS Health began because of this. I was studying nutrition and in my fourth year of study, I started blogging about this like, I'm feeling so overwhelmed by this health industry. Everyone's telling me something literally opposite completely different. Keto, vegan, paleo, I don't even I don't even talk about those anymore because they, none of them make sense. You know, our bodies weren't designed to follow diets. And the research has now proven that diets do not work.
Alex Hourigan
Yes! Yes!
Jessica Sepel
And the biggest thing to remember is that they fail us, we don't fail them, they fail us. We don't fail them. They are not designed to be sustainable. And the research really is like the research is pretty incredible now, showing just how much they fail us. And so there is no such thing as a diet that I've ever known to work long term. Even if the research is, I used to when I was in nutrition school, we studied intermittent fasting. I remember having the moment thinking, because I was a serial fad diet at that time. 10 years of fad dieting, 10 years of being controlled by the scale. 10 years of being obsessed with the number on the scale. It literally determined my self worth. And I say that because I know how many people out there feel the same, and 10 years of torturous cycles of fad dieting, then overeating, binge eating, and again, restriction, restriction, deprivation, overeating, bingeing like that torturous cycle just continues, a toxic cycle. And then the worst part about this is how much you disconnect from your own body and how much it strains your relationship with yourself with food and your body. And that leads to negative body image, negative, you know, body dysmorphia, and just how you feel about yourself. So, JS Health literally began to say, there must be a better way, there must be a better way to live a healthy life and put yourself through these torturous fad diets. Now the research is confirming that and your relationship with yourself and food is literally the most important foundation of a healthy life. It starts there. And literally, there is no perfect body shape and body size. There's absolutely no perfect fad diet. And the most important thing is to tune into your body and figure out what works for you. Because what works for me may not work for you. But what the problem is, is everyone's listening to what everyone else is doing on Instagram, on TikTok like through the media. And unfortunately, the consequence of that is that we've stopped listening to ourselves. How often have you tuned into your body, listen to how different foods make you feel? And it's about reconnecting to yourself, I eat these foods because I feel great on them. And then the other part of it is the comparing on Instagram, because that's just it's almost ridiculous. Because nothing you're seeing is really the truth either. You're seeing the perfect angle, the perfect moment. And there is no perfect body shape or size, firstly. And I don't have the perfect stomach that I wish I had. But it is about accepting our flaws and imperfections and feeling well. And feeling comfortable in your skin is has to be the new goal. How do you wake up every morning? And how do you feel when you look in the mirror? And it's about fostering that relationship with yourself and then with food. But I'm here to tell you that in my 15 years of doing this, I have never seen one person successfully stick to a fad diet. And even if they achieved some results, those results were not sustained long term.
Alex Hourigan
People that enjoy exercising, like, you know, they exist. They'd never say, oh, you know, I did it because my body ends up looking like this. They all say I got addicted to it because of how good my brain feels afterwards. And it's so true. Like, when you do go when you do work out whether it's, you know, a walk in the morning or at night or you go and do a class at the gym, or whatever it is like it could be a YouTube workout, you know, in your living room, you do always feel better for doing it. Like when do you walk away being like, "I regret working out".
Sally McMullen
"I wish I slept in".
Jessica Sepel
That's actually a really good takeaway like, commit to the healthy life practices, whether it's eating a wholesome breakfast and lunch and dinner today, or doing the 20-30 minute workout or doing a manifestation practice or going to bed a little bit early or switching your phone off at 8pm. Do it because of how good it's going to feel, and no other reason except to take care of your mental health and well being. And in this day and age, as a nutritionist who's obsessed with healthy food and greens and the green juice and the supplements, I'm here to say like taking care of our mental health and well being is the best place to start and especially how it helps foster your relationship with food and your body for sure as well.
Alex Hourigan
If you're listening to this episode right now, just pick one thing that we said in this episode to just start today. Whether it's turning your phone off at 8:30 tonight, or it's doing two minutes of a mindful manifestation. Pick one that we said in this episode today and do it today. You don't have to do all of them. But just pick one.
Jessica Sepel
Maybe even the three deep breaths before a meal.
Alex Hourigan
You got homework, chicks!
Jessica Sepel
Like if I'm having a day or a week where I'm not feeling my best, I do, I say that like, "Jess, commit to one or two things that's going to just make you feel better". So for me today, I'm a bit more anxious today. I've got a big workload before I go away so it will be much earlier night. And just that, much earlier night and I'm really going to try and commit to a 20 minute movement on my body whether it's quick yoga practice, literally my staff catch me in my office doing a quick yoga flow. Just literally like, you said it so perfectly, it's like two things you can do right now today that will make you feel well and that's it. And they can be the tiniest things, literally sometimes for me it will be going downstairs and getting a beet juice, celery juice which by the way it's my, it's a hack of note. Because I think beetroot will be the next big superfood. Beetroot is so good for us, for our livers, for the, it helps oxygen blood through our bodies it is so nutritious, it's full of antioxidants.
Sally McMullen
So yum too. I love beetroot.
Jessica Sepel
And it really makes you feel good. People notice when they drink beetroot juice, they have so much more energy it's actually a hangover cure too.
Alex Hourigan
Just leave me with an IV of beetroot juice.
Sally McMullen
Literally. Oh my god that was incredible. Thank you so much for coming on Two Broke Chicks.
Jessica Sepel
Thank you, well done.
Sally McMullen
Thank you!
Jessica Sepel
So proud of you guys, keep killing it.
Alex Hourigan
We'll try!
Sally McMullen
Now we have everything we need to kill it.
Alex Hourigan
Yeah, and whenever I'm feeling like I'm not, I'm gonna message you and be like, "Jess! I need a pep talk".
I'm here for you guys, 100%. So nice to see you and be with you.
Sally McMullen
Ditto!
Alex Hourigan
Thank you!
Jessica Sepel
Thanks, guys.
Sally McMullen
Well that is a wrap for another episode of Two Broke Chicks. Thank you so much again to Jess for blessing us in the studio today and also to JS Health Vitamins for sponsoring today's episode and making it all possible. As always, thank you to our production team, Pariya Taherzadeh, Bamby Media and Made In Katana studios for helping us along today on this journey. And thanks to you chicks for having us in your ear holes, we bloody love to be here.
Alex Hourigan
Go live your happy, healthy lives. Chicky babies.
Sally McMullen
Go do that manifestation.
Alex Hourigan
I will marry Henry Cavill. Goodbye, chicks!
Sally McMullen
Bye!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai

LINKS & RECEIPTS

Follow Jessical Sepel

Follow JSHealth Vitamins

Shop JSHealths Vitamins online

DISCOUNT CODE:

Use code TWOBROKECHICKS for 15% off the full range at JSHealth Vitamins. Carefully formulated to care for you.

A reminder to always read the label and follow the directions for use.

Thanks to our sponsor JSHealth Vitamins for making this episode possible.

CHUCK US A FOLLOW

Join our private Facebook Group 'Broke Chicks Club'

CREDITS

Hosts: Sally McMullen and Alex Hourigan

Executive Producer: Pariya Taherzadeh

Editor: Bamby Media

Studio: Made In Katana

Head to www.finder.com.au/two-broke-chicks for an episode transcript.

Thanks for having us in your ear holes… We love to be here!

Get the latest episodes in ya ear holes

2023 GOALS: Living healthier ft. Riley Hemson

Get more from Finder

Ask an Expert

Click here to cancel reply.

Display Name

Your Email (will not be published)

Your Question

Finder only provides general advice and factual information, so consider your own circumstances, or seek advice before you decide to act on our content. By submitting a question, you're accepting our Terms of Use, Disclaimer & Privacy Policy and 6. Finder Group Privacy & Cookies Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Health Hacks That Won’t Break The Bank ft. Jessica Sepel