How to Fix Your Circadian Rhythm for Better Sleep and More Energy with Flo, the Catholic Nutritionist | Ep. 120

0:00When you do like the right things for you and when you learn how to take care of your body. like it's the opposite of selfish. It's the most generous thing you can do. Hi friend, it's Layla, your official mom friend, welcoming you to another episode of the Learning to Mom podcast. Here we discuss all things motherhood so you can be empowered and educated without feeling overwhelmed. Each expert guest comes with their own perspective and background. So please note that the content presented in this podcast is designed for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for personalized professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

0:32You're going to get a lot out of this week's episode, so let's get right into it. Welcome to the Learning to Mom podcast. I'm so excited to have you here. I'm so hyped. This is a dream, and I'm so excited to be with you today. To give the listeners some insight, Flo is the greatest hype woman you will ever meet in your life. So I have a huge head right now because she was just giving me compliments left and right. to give you some insight into who I'm getting to speak with today that you get to learn from right alongside of me. We have Flo, the Catholic nutritionist here. I am a longtime fan. I have multiple friends that have worked with her.

1:13I'm so excited. She is a old lip, kind, beautiful soul who is vibrant and full of energy. And I'm so grateful for your time today. Why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself. I know there was so much more to you than that little intro I gave you. Tell us about yourself and tell us what The Catholic Nutritionist is all about. Yes, I would love to. So I'm Florence A. Moynihan. I'm the founder of The Catholic Nutritionist. We're a functional women's health practice. We serve Catholic women primarily, but not exclusively. But really what we do very, very well is we help women get to the root of their symptoms, restore their relationship with food and with their body, and really find true freedom.

1:53So I'm an NTP by trade and a fem instructor. So kind of some of the main philosophy is that like God made your body good. And if you just like don't understand, like the truth is that so many women are at war with their body. And I really believe that that war can be ended with understanding and being like, oh, this is how it works. And so we're really all focused looking to get on the same team as your body. And for you to have the understanding of how it works, because that will change entire generations. So like the way that you treat your body, the way that you speak about your body, the way that you understand it and know how to respond to it is not only going to impact like how easily you get pregnant and how your pregnancies go and the lives of your children, but also like, what's the conversation going to be for like your great, great grandchildren that you're never going to meet?

2:38Because I really believe that women have so much more of an influence than we realize with that. Well, yeah. What's that thing that's like we have our grandchildren's? It's something about the eggs. Yeah. Yeah. Like technically a part like the egg that is you was in your grandma because that egg was developed when your mom was a fetus and that was inside of your grandma. It's crazy. Crazy. I'm so excited. So as I mentioned, I have multiple friends who have gone through your program and one of which I'm going to give a shout out. Hannah, hello. I know you're listening to this. We love you. And we're talking about circadian rhythm today, which I'm very excited for.

3:13And Hannah, shout out. She has just dove in and I'm learning so much through her living what she has learned from you. She comes to Bible study and she is wearing these beautiful red, actually book club. We're in both together, but she comes book club late at night with these red glasses on and, you know, at a certain time is like, got to get out of here. Bye girls. So let's just start here though. What is circadian rhythm and why does it matter? Yes. Beautiful. So your circadian rhythm is basically your body's clockwork that runs off of signals of light and darkness. So when you think about your circadian rhythm, you probably typically think about your sleep wake cycle, that there's a certain part of the day that you're supposed to be awake and then your body clock tells you to go to sleep at night all of this runs off of light of the presence and the absence of it and what's really cool is like when we work with it the way that god designed us the body can function the way that it should the body can create the right hormones it can repair it can restore dna it can like something like your gut lining i'm a gut girl there's this one meme that i always think about but it was like every girl is either a migraine girl or a stomachache girl.

4:28I was just talking about this with Jenny, who we were just talking about because I am a headache girly. Hey, I'm a stomachache girl. And it's every, I know it's always like the two besties with one or the other, but like something like your gut, your gut is designed to regenerate, find a weekish with the appropriate light signal. So, so many of the issues that we have now is that we have these disruptors and these discrepancies and what your body is expecting and what it's like looking for versus what it's receiving. Why? because we live in a modern world with a lot of modern artificial light and people don't go outside enough or at all.

5:02Did you ever do like a thousand hours outside with your kid? No, but we are covering that topic in this season. Are you? Okay. I remember when I first heard about it years ago and I did the math, it was roughly three hours a day, I think. And then maybe in the summer, you did a couple of more. When I was doing the math, I think three hours a day throughout the year. And then in the summer, you can bump it up, which is like usually pretty easy. And I remember I did it for myself because I was like, that looks fine. And I should probably do that. And I printed out the coloring sheet and stuff. And I would be like, oh my gosh, I got to hit that first hour.

5:36And even just hitting like one full hour at that time, I was like, oh my goodness, this is like so challenging. Whereas now it's like, just spend half the day out there and I'm good, which obviously is a luxury because I work for myself. But thinking about if you were to kind of count up the average person counting up how much time they spent outside of their home and in natural light it's like a stretch to even hit an hour especially for like the working gals that like work from eight to five and then go straight home and cook dinner and then maybe have to go to the gym like it's just a whole thing so your body is designed to work like fuck work every single cell in your body is trying to keep time and you giving it the appropriate signaling means that now it knows what to do and when and this is where we have things like hormonal balance.

6:18This is where we have things like better mood, better mental health, better metabolism, easier time keeping the weight off, all those kinds of things. Okay, incredible. Let's quickly get real for a second, friend. Parenting can feel isolating. You're making big decisions every day, and sometimes it's hard to know if you're on the right track. That's why I love the mom club. It's not only where you get access to more content, but it's where moms come together to talk about what's really going on, to ask honest questions, and to feel seen in every version of motherhood. One mom club bestie said it perfectly when she said, I'm in a few different Patreon memberships.

7:00The mom club is hands down the best, which I agree. You get a community and so much extra incredible content. So if you've been craving a community that really gets it, or if you can't get enough content from the Learning to Mom podcast, then the Mom Club on Patreon is where you need to be. Come join us at learningtomompodcast.com slash join. That links below in the episode show notes in case you forget or can't write it down fast enough. I can't wait to welcome you inside, mom friend. You did just touch on some things that are regulated by our circadian rhythm. Could you list those again? And are there any more?

7:39Every single thing in your body is what you buy. even the bacteria in your gut yeah that's crazy i did not know that everything i and how like the sleep that makes sense right melatonin like that makes sense to me how is the gut okay well here's one way to think about it you know when you have your laptop and you have way too many tabs and way too many programs open the entire thing will shut down and how instead your phone will be like hey you need to update to the next system we're going to do it while you're asleep make sure that it's plugged in, that it's connected to Wi-Fi and that you've like pre-approved this, right?

8:15It has like these like specific layers that it asks for. Kind of start to think about your body like that. Your body is like, God designed it so well, it wouldn't make any sense for it to run every single process that it needs to run at the same time. The system would shut down. So instead he built it like clockwork. There's even these like really cool diagrams that show like a 24 hour clock. And it's like at this time, it's like peak adrenal function. At this time, it's digestion. At this time there's certain hormone production like it's just so beautiful imagine a clock and every single hour there's different things that are prioritized because your body isn't going to prioritize every single thing that it needs to do all 24 hours of the day and how it knows when it should be doing what is like the appropriate light timing so when your body works like clockwork everything can run fluidly but what we have so many women are dealing with is that instead of it being like clockwork and every cell beating to the same rhythm.

9:08It's more like every single cell and every single system is in like cacophony. So it's like the orchestra, everyone's playing a different song because we're united into this like one clockwork. Because the master clockwork - And that's what circadian rhythm can give us. Yes. Your circadian rhythm is that your body is designed to work like clockwork and has specific functions at specific times. And when it has the appropriate - It's determined by the sun. Yeah, light. Because that's the dilemma, that it's like it should be by the sun alone but we have constant like artificial lights that give out a lot of blue light which tells your brain oh it must be like the middle of the day because that's when blue light is at its highest with the sun or if you're thinking about it with like camping fire emits a lot of red light so that's why people are like i'm not a morning person no you're just dysregulated like if that's all it is anyone can be a morning person if you have the appropriate light signaling, which is why when you go camping, even if you guys have the campfire, you're so tired by like nine o 'clock and you like want to go to bed and then you wake up naturally with the sun as it's like streaming into your tent.

10:14So even like people that are super dysregulated, there's been studies that between two to seven days of camping will get your circadian rhythm realigned. Wow. There you go. That's the hack. Start camping, ladies. so how can someone tell if their circadian rhythm is out of sync is it just like oh i'm not tired at 10 o 'clock i'll tell you the habits first things that are gonna mess up your circadian rhythm is if you're on your screens first thing in the morning and last thing at night if you have you keep your lights on like really bright all your overhead your big lights on past sundown and like until bedtime all the lights are bright if you don't go outside like at all but definitely not in the first half of the morning if you like don't really see sunlight that's going to impact things and then symptom wise it would be like that wired but tired feeling at night where it's like i'm tired but i cannot go to sleep or feeling like you can't go to sleep until like 11 11 30 12 and be like i just don't get tired your body is should be getting tired beforehand if the melatonin is allowed to be produced or if you are a really slow starter in the morning where you're like it doesn't even matter how much i sleep i like feel so exhausted i have so much trouble getting in bed i snooze my alarm 15 times um i need coffee in the morning to have any kind of energy that's one thing your circadian rhythm too is like it's your body's natural energy production like you should feel when we have the appropriate cortisol and melatonin patterns you should feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning and then you should feel maybe and sleepy and calm at night before bed and like your body's asking you to go to sleep instead of you being like I guess I should okay I got so enraptured with that answer that I'm like my wheels are turning and I'm feeling convicted and yeah okay so you're a mom where our sleeping habits are not consistent because we're up with the children.

12:14So is there something that we can do about that? Or is that just like a greater, we should just be greater convicted to like, put those screens away? Oh, both. Both. Okay. So how do you brought this up? Because I do get this specific question from moms a lot, especially moms of very young children. Once they're like nine years old, you're probably hopefully back to your regular sleeping schedule. But moms of young kids, especially moms that are maybe actively in like the birthing season and getting birth and have newborns and all that kind of thing. And they're like, you're telling me that like sleep is essential?

12:47And they get really stressed. And because they're like, it was nice, but like, I don't have control over that right now. So to that, I would say one, you are in a very specific season and the Lord blesses your devotion to your children. And it is okay that like, You are not going to be this perfect influencer level health morning training routine. That's okay. You're a mother. You are the most important person in the child's world. And that includes sacrifices. So I hope you know that you sacrificing your sleep for your child, it will be blessed in many other ways. And at the same time, yes, you do have to get serious about what you're using your phone for and then being really protective of the sleep that you do get.

13:33So something that's very challenging for young moms is that they spend all day, especially like stay at home moms that they're like, no, no, no, all day. I'm with the child and it's bedtime that I finally get to have me time again. So that's when I want to scroll on my phone. And that's when I watch TV because I need decompression time. And to that mom, I would just say, like, honestly, you deserve so much better than just recharging from your phone. and I know some moms don't like to hear that and like of course sometimes you're gonna watch your show and you're gonna scroll on your phone but when you have that like eek in your bones exhaustion or that like my brain feels fried because I've had so little adult interaction today that I feel like numb and I want something that's adult and I want something that's for me I just like want to caution you that like you might accidentally be making yourself feel worse by only using your phone to recharge and doing air quotes when what you actually might need is to just like stare at the ceiling and have like a moment to breathe and to like regulate your nervous system and to think for a moment and then another thing I really caution against is scrolling on your phone when you're nursing and this is something I hear about that they're like it's the only way I can stay awake but a couple things I'll say is that one having like little red nightlights in the room would be helpful instead of like turning on a plate because how often do you nurse you're like scrolling on your phone to try and stay awake.

14:57But then once the baby is done, now you're having trouble falling back asleep. And now your brain feels like it's like on. But if we can have like little red nightlights, Midwest Light Therapy makes like a really great two pack that you can get. And can we do something other than the phone for a couple of reasons? One, the light is really intense. It's going to wake you up. Two, that blue light tells your body to stop producing melatonin and start producing cortisol. Well, where else is that cortisol going to go? It's going to go into the breast milk. How baby is getting this like surge of that cortisol too.

15:31And we're like wondering why baby's waking up multiple times in the night when you like feel like you got past that. So we had to think about that. And then another layer is like the EMF exposure, radiation right by baby's head. Babies are very, very sensitive to that. And it's dangerous. And then also for you to kind of, I've seen some moms that they speak about it so beautifully, but like really leaning back into it as a time of prayer and as a time of like unity and intimacy with the child in front of you. So I've had some moms that they were like in the trenches trenches and they switched to like, I listened to an audio book or I listened to something instead of having a screen.

16:10And that was enough to keep me awake and maybe having a red light on really adapting to it. I don't want it to sound like I'm like, just do better because that's not how it works. and like you are learning how to be a mother. Some of you for like the very first time and you have no idea what you're doing or you have two, three, four, five, six kids and there's whole new challenges that come with it. But I just want to like encourage you that if you can kind of be ruthless with the things that will rob you of your peace and your energy, pay it back exponentially throughout the day and really help you like love your motherhood so much more.

16:44I really believe that. So, so good. And now it's time for this week's segment of MomMail. If you're new here, this is the part of the show where I answer a listener-submitted situation or scenario. Basically, you write in your tricky situation, and I give you advice only a real mom friend would give. Here's the email we're answering this week. Hi, Layla. Thanks for creating this podcast. I love you so much. To give you some backstory to my question, I've been Christian all my life. I've had a really beautiful, awesome relationship with Jesus. us. Sure, we've gone through ups and downs, but for the most part, I've had a really strong faith.

17:21Since becoming a mom, I've realized that my faith life is struggling. I don't even know when the last time I opened my Bible was. I want to be on fire again, but I don't know how. Please help if you have any advice. I was just talking to a friend, actually, on Patreon not too long ago about this. So I'm going to give you the same advice that I gave her. And this is just obviously like my perspective and a little bit like of my heart. So, you know, take it with a grain salt, but like, at least for me, I kind of grew up in a church and in an upbringing that was constantly telling us like, if you're not spending 30 minutes in the word every single day, then you're not having a deep relationship with Jesus.

18:09You're not growing in your faith. And that was something that was just like so vital. And I was constantly hurt. Like we would have accountability partners. And basically it was like, did you spend time with, you know, 30 minutes with Jesus a day? And I do think that that's beautiful. And I'm not saying anything bad about that. That kind of has become my standard because of the way that it was just like ingrained in me from a young child that that's what you do to have a deep personal relationship with Jesus. You have to spend 30 minutes in your Bible every day. And I think that is awesome. And I think that is so beautiful.

18:46And I am so hungry and my soul is so thirsty to be able to go to a cute coffee shop and open up my Bible and prayer journal for 30 minutes every day at least. Like, I would love to give Jesus that. But in this season, I don't have that. and I think I had to kind of let go of that expectation that that I thought Jesus was putting on me I had to let that go and allow him instead of almost not necessarily limiting him but like instead of giving him 30 minutes of undivided attention every day because that's not what I have to to give him in this season of life and he knows that and he gives me so much grace and he's just grateful for any time that he has with me because he loves me so much and he feels the same way about you.

19:37So instead of like giving him like 30 minutes of time, which I don't have anymore, unless both kids by a miracle go to bed at the same time or take a nap at the same time. And then I have 30 minutes that I can open up my Bible and pray. But for the most part, my faith looks like inviting Jesus in to the very small moments of every day, praying while I do the dishes, praying while I do laundry, putting on Christian music in the car and turning that into a worship jam session for me. Like, I think it's been kind of beautiful because him and I are navigating this new phase of our relationship. And I know that this phase or this season won't last, but I do think that there's a lot of beauty to be had with me, like, inviting him in to the smallest of moments.

20:27So that's just kind of my story and what I would encourage you to do, because it said that your faith life is struggling. You didn't know when the last time you opened your Bible was. So I guess I just want to like encourage you to maybe take that pressure off of you because I agree like your faith is so important and I'm not telling you not to grow in your faith. I just think that there is another way that you can grow in your faith that might not be so you have to do this for 30 minutes a day. And if not, you're failing. I would also really encourage you to get plugged into a Bible study, even if it's one that you can bring your kids.

20:59Like I know lots of churches have Bible studies that you can bring your kids to and there's childcare. I'm in one. Like that has served me so extremely well. Or join a Bible study on a night that you know your husband will be home and can watch the kids. Having that accountability and having other people in your life to speak kind words of encouragement over you and help you on your walk and help you in your motherhood journey has really been a game changer for me. So I love you, friend. Thanks so much for writing in. Now, if you're looking for advice, email me at learningtomompodcast.mommail at gmail.com with the subject line, mom mail.

21:37And then keep your ears open because we might just answer it in an upcoming episode. We talked about what to do to protect your circadian rhythm. Do we cover? I feel like we've covered how your circadian rhythm can get disrupted or dysregulated and stuff. But do you just have like maybe a list for us to hear in one place? You as a mom, the reason that I want you to care about your circadian rhythm is because your energy. That would be like the number one thing is that you are the one that kind of like runs the ship all day. And so many young moms feel so burnt out and so exhausted. And this is like one way that you can multiply even the little energy that you feel like you do have and increasing your capacity a little bit.

22:20I can't tell you how many moms actually I just had a client last month she was like I'm getting so much time back with my husband and with my kid because I don't need to take naps in the afternoon wow she was like oh my gosh I feel like I'm like getting my life back because she was getting her energy up because she wasn't sleeping well at night so then she was exhausted during the day she was sleeping fine and she still was exhausted so we like needed to layer in some other things and circadian work was one of the big ones but if you're like why should I care about my circulating rhythm. If you are someone who feels like she needs three cups of coffee to get through the day, if you are like praying and waiting for your baby to finally take a nap or your toddler to finally take a nap so that you can also go take a nap.

23:04If you like have all these plans of all the things that you need to get done around the house or meals that you need to make or work that you have to do during nap time and then nap time comes and you're like, I physically cannot do it. I have to go lay down too. And that's very frustrating for you. Or you feel like you're so exhausted that by the time your husband does come home, you're like I can't like I can't do anything you just want to lay down you feel like it's affecting your relationship the those are the signs that it's time to start experimenting with some of the things that I'm going to tell you next okay take it as like a one or two week experiment and be like what would happen and that's the thing the thing with circadian rhythm work is that your body responds so fast like there's so many things in the body that we do have to take time with and you have to have like healthy expectations and it's going to take weeks or months to get to a certain place where you really get to see the payoff circadian rhythm work and that energy boost that you can get when you do it correctly you can see within the first month you can see within a couple of weeks if you're really devoted and committed to it so that's what i think is really exciting it's actually one of the most accessible things to moms to hear me talk about it they're like oh sleep this means that i'm not going to be able to like practice this for years.

24:12But instead, if you can kind of adapt it to what your life looks like, it can be one of the things that increases your energy and your motherhood the most, which is very exciting. Some of the things to stop doing, if you want to increase your energy, if you want to be more peaceful as a mom, if you want to be more present as a wife and a mom, would it be to charge your phone in a different room and make sure that the first and last hour of your day are given to the Lord and that those are praying times instead of scrolling times. So first and last hour from one, a spiritual level is like, this is really powerful time to be in prayer, thanking God for this day.

24:49What do I need to do today? Where do I need to be? How do I need to pray over my children? I have heard a lot of moms say that having that first chunk in the day helps them get started and pray things out and pray before feeling like, okay, I'm in the chaos, but someone wants food. but really just staying away from the phone that first hour no scrolling in bed and like that could also be like one hard and fast rule is that the phone doesn't come into bed with me and that has to be like a sacred place the second thing i would say is the power of morning light so getting outside this could be throwing the kid in a stroller and doing a morning walk if you have a yard maybe you guys start to go out together even for a minute i'm not even saying an hour You could go out for one minute, three Hail Marys, or just look up at the sky and say, okay, Lord, this is what I have to get done today.

25:40Or some moms maybe are gonna lay out a blanket and they have breakfast with their baby outside. And baby also gets that morning light signaling too to help their circadian rhythm. So taking advantage of the morning hours, because this is some of the most important light signaling, this early morning light is also what helps your brain create those neurotransmitters like your dopamine, like your serotonin. So you've been feeling a little flat or you already know that you're someone that really has to take care for mental health, that morning hour is really important. So getting outside before 10 a.m., I would say, but as early to waking as possible.

26:11And then when I say these things, also I want you to layer it into what you and your kid's routine looks like and what will help it be a peaceful transition. So you really have to find what's going to work with you and your kid's schedule. I remember saying this to my sister once, she has three kids under five, and she was like, we're already like, they're screaming at this time, they want breakfast by this time, and now you're telling me to go spend 20 minutes outside. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Just like what works for you guys. And if your kids like to go out and play in the morning anyways, maybe you go out and join them with your morning bath or you guys all get your bare feet on the ground.

26:46And this becomes like your routine. This is where we say grace. And then we go inside and like pray for breakfast. So like feel the freedom to be creative and to like do what actually works with you and your family rather than feeling like, gosh, this is one more thing that I'm doing wrong or one more thing that I need to add in. And it's like a stressor. it really should be the opposite. So really integrating morning light into the day. And then once it's evening time, we dim all the lights. We like switch to lamps instead of big overhead lights. And you can even put like red light bulbs in your bedrooms, but it's like no blue light, especially if your baby sleeps with you.

27:20But sometimes you guys do need something. I know that when my niece, I tested it when she was probably six to nine months old, I would like have her in my room when all the other kids were like getting ready for bed with my red light bulbs and she like slept like a rock because there's no blue light coming in so it's a nice little it'd be worth experimenting if you guys like need some kind of light you have a kid in the room good good tip because I wake up so early I guess like are we supposed to be like rising with the sun like am I just screwing myself over because the only time that I have to work is at 5 a.m.

27:56okay so what do you do when you have to get up before the sun and do real life things is that yeah yeah then what the main principle of circadian rhythm is how do i match my internal environment to the reality of what is happening outside which is like sunlight we really want to match those light and dark signals as closely as possible so then how do i match my internal environment so something like that would be a pair of the glasses that hannah has the viva rays a good pair of circadian glasses. I'm saying that not blue blockers because blue blockers, you can get a target for 20 bucks and they're clear and they're not blocking anything.

28:34But like the right circadian glasses, my favorite brand is Viva Raise. It's a bit of an investment. It is an investment, everyone. I have looked into it, but hopefully they will listen to this episode and want to sponsor. Hopefully I will have a discount. Yeah, if you don't, I do. But Oh, there you go. Okay, perfect. They're just like a phenomenal company and it's so helpful that they're magnetic. So you can just be like living it all the time. But, or like Midwest Light Therapy sells them for like 30 bucks if you don't need a prescription. I just do Viva Rays because I need a prescription. But a good pair of red lenses that is going to help filter and block out.

29:10And then if you're on your computer and you don't need to see a ton of color, like the glasses are great and then I love the computer program iris is a phenomenal computer program that will turn your screen red and it like will take an adjustment but it's so much better for you and you're gonna notice the difference you won't feel as strained you won't feel as like your eyes get so tired you won't feel like man it's only 7 a.m but like the brain signals feel funky so obviously I'm an entrepreneur I work with a lot of women that are entrepreneurs or that like have part 10 jobs and that's the reality that they're in that early mornings and late nights happen to be there so that's where it's like you just got to get really serious about mitigating the blue light and those tools are so helpful the right circuiting glasses red circuiting glasses and iris on your computer and it's going to help a ton and you just wear those glasses early morning and late evening or do you wear them all the time no okay okay yeah And your body is constantly looking for like what wavelength of light it is telling it to do certain things.