208. Bryony Deery: How To Stay Healthy During Pregnancy - Diet, Training & Lifestyle Tips That Work!

0:00I had a car accident when I was 17. It really just completely changed my whole world. I later was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I got to the point where I couldn't bend my fingers.

0:10Gary Brecka:You walked your way out of this autoimmune disease, and I think the vast majority of people, they think that's a life sentence. It was a really hard time. The pain was terrible, so I really want to kind of stress that you can really transform your body through movement. And for me, it's classical Pilates at the foundation. You, like so many others that were in that situation, prescribed the same thing. Lack of movement and pain medication, which I think is just destroying all of the body's natural defense mechanisms. Slowly but surely, I began to build my strength back. My pain went from just being terrible every day to just having no pain whatsoever.

0:48I healed my body through this method.

0:51Gary Brecka:You were able to overcome an autoimmune disease. My mission is to really show people that you can change your life in the same way that I've changed my life Now that you've conquered rheumatoid arthritis, what is a typical day or week look like for you? What types of movement are you doing and what's your diet look like now? One thing I really want to kind of express and get out there is that

1:25Gary Brecka:Hey, guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist, Gary Brecka, where we go down the road of everything, anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. And today's guest is a super, super special guest because we have a two-for-one. We actually have two guests on the podcast today, but only one of them's gonna talk during the podcast. Hopefully, only one of them's gonna talk during the podcast. It is the first time that we have had a beautifully pregnant female on the podcast. And there are going to be lots and lots of questions we're going to get answered.

1:59Gary Brecka:Ladies, this one is for you. Welcome to the podcast, Brioni. Brioni Deary, it's such a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much. I feel like we've already done a mini podcast before this. I'm so, so excited. Yeah, all of my guests, we do the same thing. We start talking before the cameras roll and my staff will always come over to me and be like, save it for the podcast. You know, get on the podcast and start talking about this. You know, there's a theme that kind of runs through a lot of my podcast guests. In fact, the vast majority of them. And it's that I find that the most impactful people, the people that are the most purpose driven and passionate and the most impactful have solved the problem in their life.

2:43Gary Brecka:Usually they have gone through some kind of journey. and it was coming out of that journey where they found their purpose, they found their passion and now they're making a massive impact. It's not necessarily because they're a PhD or an MD or a researcher or a biohacker. It's because they were faced with an overwhelming problem and they had to solve it on their own. And I think that is very germane to your journey. And I'd love if you would, for my audience's sake, if you would just share your journey into what brought you here today And what was that turning point that really? Of course. Well, thank you so much for saying that.

3:20And I really agree. And I think that my mission is to really show people that you can change your life in the same way that I've changed my life. So I guess to give you a bit of context, I think the most relevant thing that has happened to me in my health and wellness journey is I had a car accident when I was 17. so um i was on my own had this car accident and it really just completely changed my whole world i was taken out of the car on a spinal board had to wear a neck brace for a really long time um was taking tramadol which was just crazy um and that's a whole other yeah you had head neck

4:07Gary Brecka:and spine injuries, hip injuries. So my pelvis was twisted. Exactly. So it was a really hard time. And being 18, you're just trying to figure out life anyway. And to cut a long story short, I was going in and out of the hospital. I was in terrible pain every single day, in tears every single day. And I would go to the hospital, see these different physiotherapists. And eventually I found one that was amazing. And he introduced me to this form of physio and healing my body that now I know was classical Pilates. Wow. And you met through the hospital? Yes. I'm really shocked by that. I mean, first of all, that's amazing because, you know, most people's journey when they're going through that kind of critical care doesn't end up talking to somebody who's a Pilates instructor.

5:01Exactly. And I'm so grateful for that because that, of course, changed my life in terms of the pain, but also has kind of brought me where I am today because he really understood that, okay, you have this pain now. You have, you've just had a car accident. He understood the power of the core and creating a strong core. So he said, you have back pain. You have all these different things going on in your body. You need to make sure you have the strongest powerhouse, which is your core. So, and again, this was such, I'm 33 now. So this was a long time ago. There was no trendy Pilates studios at the time.

5:40It wasn't the fashion. Like the only way I could do Pilates was to either go and see him or join ladies that were kind of over 60, 70 years old.

5:50Gary Brecka:Right. And it was definitely not what it is today. How long ago was this? When I was 18. Wow. Yeah. so slowly but surely I began to build my strength back my my strength my pain went from as I said just being terrible every day relying on the tremor to just having no pain whatsoever like I healed my body through this method and um yeah it was just so incredible to see that shift from the movement but at the time being 18 I didn't think ah consistency matters yeah you know I think I I think too that, you know, what's fascinating because I'm familiar with your story and you, like so many others that were in that situation, prescribed the same thing.

6:37Gary Brecka:Don't lack of movement and pain medication. So, you know, just a neck brace, bed rest and pain medication, which I think and would argue is just destroying all of the body's natural defense mechanisms and all of its ability to heal, to just lay still. We know that sitting is the new smoking and And sedentary lifestyle is actually the leading cause of all-cause mortality. And years ago, we discovered in orthopedic surgery, the old adage used to be, you know, after surgery, immobilize it as long as you can to let it heal. And then they started realizing that wasn't the right thing. Maybe early mobilization in orthopedic injuries is the right thing to do.

7:19Gary Brecka:So you healed by doing the opposite. You healed through motion rather than just being sedentary. And the other thing it did was completely take me out of my social circles and socializing in general, which is another thing that is just so counterintuitive to your healing. So it was just kind of making me stay at home, not see my friends, not be out there. My confidence was down. I couldn't sleep when I came off tramadol. So then they put me on antidepressants. Oh, my God. to help me sleep. So typical. Antidepressants to help you sleep. I know. Wow. And it was just such a crazy journey. And at the time you just, I, again, there was, I feel the world now is so different when it comes to wellness and so advanced and we're more empowered to ask the questions and to kind of push back a little bit more, which is amazing.

8:12And we're our own advocates, whereas then that didn't exist, especially not for an 18 year old. And my parents were just doing the best that they could thinking, you know, trust the doctors, we're not doctors. So anyway, then I didn't didn't see the power of consistency. And I thought, perfect, I'm healed. I'll just go and do these crazy different workouts, HIIT training, berries, all of those things, which I'm definitely not saying are a problem or bad. But I was doing it to a level which was really kind of it became your new addiction. Yeah. And it was breaking down my body. And also I later was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

8:52Gary Brecka:Wow. So you have the accident. Yeah. You heal through movement and Pilates. Um, and luckily had a physio that knew what they were doing. So I'm sure he started you low and slow and then slowly rehabilitated your core. And was it as your core got stronger, the pain got less? Completely connected. Starting while you're in pain has got to be so hard. I mean, there's a lot of people watching this podcast right now and going, oh, that's all well and good for her. But I mean, you don't know what real pain is, but I'm, you were experiencing excruciating pain. I mean, I was, I was working later down the line, I was working in London.

9:27So I had a huge commute and I remember holding myself for like an hour and a half like this, just tears streaming down my face. The pain was terrible. So I really want to kind of stress that in the sense that you can change that. You can really transform your body through movement. And for me, it's classical Pilates at the foundation.

9:51Gary Brecka:Whether you add on strength training, which I think is amazing, which I do, classical Pilates is so relevant in that type of movement. Can you explain what classical Pilates is? Yeah, sure. So classical Pilates was created by Joseph Pilates. He realized during the First World War that when he was working in the hospitals, if he attached certain springs to the beds and helped his patients move whilst being on the beds, kind of like on a Cadillac or a Reforma, what you would see today, that they healed much, much quicker. Wow. So that was kind of when classical Pilates was born through that. So he was a gymnast, a boxer, and he really saw the body as a system.

10:39So he created this repertoire of movement that really kind of served the body. And he was very focused on breath work, which I know you love as well.

10:48Gary Brecka:Yeah, I love it too. It's, it's so powerful. So healing. Yeah, it's amazing. So transformative. And when you connect breath work to movement as he, he does, and as I do, it's just amazing. And he really believed in the powerhouse, which is your essentially your core. So, and the spine, he always said, you're only as young as your spine is healthy. Wow. Yeah. So it was very, I mean, think of how long ago that was so advanced. Incredible. First world war. Yeah. Wow. And we're now going back to that. That is longevity that we're all discussing now. So, um, yeah, it was, it was amazing to, to go through that journey and be kind of like a product of now what I believe in.

11:28Gary Brecka:Yeah. So you, so now you come out of this journey using movement to heal your pain. And as your pain is actually reducing maybe you got completely out of pain and then you get this rheumatoid diagnosis so how did you what started to happen did your joints just start to ache and then pretty soon you yeah so I actually started getting very bad swelling in my hands um so I was calling it like sausage fingers yeah my wife calls it you can't get your rings off no and it was and then all my joints would go red. So I would have these kind of like red kind of spots around my, around my joints. And then I got to the point where I couldn't bend my fingers.

12:13I couldn't tie my hair up. I couldn't pull a light switch, holding my toothbrush, holding a hairbrush was really hard. And at the time I worked in makeup, I was working on a makeup counter. So I could not pick up things like in a, it was crazy how quickly it happened as well.

12:30Gary Brecka:Oh my gosh. um i also had terrible acne at the time i don't know if the two were connected working up a makeup counter with terrible acne i mean i wasn't like the ultimate oxymoron yeah like i'm not buying from this chick exactly so um so yeah but that's that those were the first signs and um i noticed as well when i was cold it would it would take my hands so long to almost like kind of just open up yeah so i noticed it first in my hands and then my elbows and um feet and wrists wow and um yeah and then i went to a doctor they they told me you're way too young for anything like that it's not arthritis so then they gave me a cortisone injection then and then they said this will this will clear it and it did as we as we discussed it did and then it of course it came back and it came back and it came back.

13:24And then later on in Switzerland, actually, I was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Wow. Yeah. And that's when I was suggested to go on these regular twice a month injections.

13:36Gary Brecka:Yeah. Those are corticosteroids that we know now that we knew this in the mortality space years ago that because we had all of this data on mortality and we had, you know, years and years of medical records on, on hundreds of millions of, of people that had taken out life insurance that when you started taking corticosteroids, initially there would be anti-inflammatory. Like you experienced, it goes away and you're like, oh, this is the panacea. Thank God. And, but long-term they eat your joint like a termite. And what's fascinating about your story, and I want you to get into it, is that, you know, you walked your way out of this autoimmune disease.

14:14Gary Brecka:And I think the vast majority of people, when they're told they have an autoimmune disease, like rheumatoid, you know, they think that's a life sentence. Yeah. And now I have to subscribe to a lifetime of medication. Exactly. And, you know, what's fascinating too is they rarely tell you, well, what caused this? How did I get rheumatoid? I mean, especially you, first of all, you were young. You had this car accident, but you'd gotten yourself back to a place where you were pain-free. You probably were very physically fit at that time, your core from Pilates. And now all of a sudden you have rheumatoid And I'd love to take a dive into that.

14:51Gary Brecka:You know, what was going on diet wise, stress wise, you know, sleep wise, emotionally? What was going on, you think, around that time that could have triggered the rheumatoid? So I actually, after the car accident, after I realized I was healed, I then kind of didn't keep up the Pilates. so then when i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis pilates was not a regular thing in my world so then once once i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis i then went back to doing the pilates that's when i kind of refound any time i was going through something mentally physically i always found myself going back to that practice wow yeah but lifestyle wise i think I was just in, I was very disconnected to myself at the time.

15:41I had very low self worth, like I would never have done anything like this. And five years ago, I was a completely different person. Super shy, you know, really not confident public speaking and even to five, 10 people in a room. And I think I had such a disconnect from my mind to my body. You know, it showed up in my skin, It showed up in arthritis. So I think I was in this like constant fight or flight zone.

16:09Gary Brecka:Makes a lot of sense. Yeah. So I felt that. And you could also see it in my face. Yeah. I was eating. I was living in Switzerland. So I was eating a lot of dairy. I don't know if that had any impact. I do eat dairy now, but I went through a period of time of cutting it out. And it was obviously quite cold in the winters. Yeah. So I think just high stress and just trying to kind of get by and figure myself out. That was kind of my. You know what's astounding is about 82 % of all autoimmune is in females. It's in women. Yes, I love that. So the vast majority of autoimmune disease affects women. And there's no sexual predisposition.

16:52Gary Brecka:like from a biological standpoint, there's nothing about being a female that predisposes you genetically to rheumatoid arthritis or to any autoimmune disease. But the prevailing wisdom now is that, you know, women are very often they get caregiver syndrome, which is putting the needs of everybody else before the needs of themselves. Especially women that have children, they have a spouse and they have a career and they're trying to juggle all of those things and they just put themselves in the back seat um they have a tendency to ruminate on on things more than men do and so stress that stress bucket just keeps filling until it just overflows and all of a sudden your immune system just lights up yeah and you wake up one day on you're an otherwise healthy female and you've got Hashimoto's because it's your immune system is now attacking your thyroid if you have rheumatoid and it's attacking the synovium of the joints.

17:54Gary Brecka:Which more fascinating to me is that you were able to put that in the rear view mirror. And I want to talk about that journey of walking yourself out of rheumatoid. And then I want to go down the pregnancy route because while I've got the only pregnant woman on my podcast, we definitely, you're hiding it well, your legs crossed and your arms folded. Wearing black. We have got a bun in the oven. Because I have a large female audience There's such a paucity of information on nutrition and especially exercise during pregnancy, which I want to touch on as well. Oh, I can't wait to get it. Yeah, so we're going to get into that.

18:28Gary Brecka:But continue with me on the journey of walking yourself out of the rheumatoid. You cleaned up your diet. You got rid of dairy. So you started getting militant about your diet. At that time, it must have been hard to go back to Pilates, too. I mean, your first round was in excruciating pain. Your second round, you have an autoimmune rheumatoid. So there were small things that I did at the time. I went back to Pilates. That was a big, a big thing for me at home. I was just reconnecting to myself. And what was amazing is that I felt not only I was getting stronger in my body, but the thing with classical is it's so precise, the form and the breath work and the precision.

19:05There is so much going on that you are completely free in your mind, right? You're all in your body. You're that deeply connected. So I think that helped calm my nervous system down. I did things like meditation. I didn't do breath work just yet. But now that's a big part of my huge part

19:23Gary Brecka:of my day. Yeah. But at the time, it wasn't so popular. I didn't really know about it. But I meditated. And I always had a journal. I always love to write ever since I was at school. So I did these kind of like small wellness practices, I reduced I cut out dairy. I actually became vegan, almost with the exception of fish every now and then okay so again that was kind of the time when plant-based was at its highest yes and that was the most healthy thing to do everyone was saying and i can't believe you would eat meat and do these things so i i was just trying nonsense by the way but yeah exactly and i was trying so many different things just just wanting to go the natural way.

20:05So, um, I did start to feel the difference, feel the shift. Um, and I think what really made the difference was the full body alignment and also relieving my body of that tension. I think we hold so much stress and, you know, we can look into so much data and we're so lucky now that we have so much science and data available to us. But at the end of the day, your body tells you.

20:33Gary Brecka:Right. If you listen to it. Yeah. And my body was telling me, calm down, like do what you can to be strong, but also mind and body. So I could feel that, you know, like even my spine was healthier. My body was more aligned. My posture was better. I was standing better. Everything was kind of, you know, all these things. Which is sort of the main, the core of Pilates, right? Posture, alignment, core strength. Exactly. And that mind to muscle connection as well, which we can, we can go into with the likes of strength training. Um, but it wasn't until much later down the line that I went all in on, on wellness and everything and started hot and cold therapy.

21:15Gary Brecka:And I would say that doing saunas and cold plunge have made a huge difference. I would totally agree with that. So I have never done an injection. Since that first injection I had then and there, I didn't really have much of a choice. I never did any injections and I have no symptoms whatsoever of my rheumatoid arthritis that I was really struggling with. Yeah. So, yeah. So I think, you know, when you talk about sauna, cold plunging, you know, a lot of this has to do with how the body eliminates waste. You know, we eliminate waste through stool and urine, but also through sweat. And there's a lot of data to support that things like mold, mycotoxins, viruses, parasites, heavy metals, those in particular, those four in particular, can light the immune system up and actually be the genesis for a lot of these autoimmune diseases.

22:10Gary Brecka:You know, heavy metals embedding in the thyroid, causing the immune system to light up the thyroid. Mold and mycotoxins, viruses, parasites, and heavy metals locating themselves in places like the joints and calling the immune system that location, having it light up. So by cleaning up your diet, by focusing on movement and exercise, which is great for moving your lymphatic system and eliminating waste, and then adding sweat, you know, you were able to overcome an autoimmune disease. and i just can't emphasize that enough i think it's so exciting because i talk about this all the time when you have an autoimmune disease it's not a life sentence yeah um but i want to shift gears to what we were talking about before the podcast because you came in and and said that you had seen a podcast of mine um where i talked about methylfolate yeah lauren and michael's shout out to lauren and michael bosick i love those guys they're they're amazing i've been on amazing uh uh humans um and i think they're doing great things in this world but you look a lot like her by the way you guys are sort of twinsies yeah i'll take it thank you you're both beautiful you both were pregnant not at the same time but um but you know and you switched up your supplementation to methylfolate and maybe it was coincidence but you got pregnant very shortly thereafter yeah um i'll take 15 credit for that i think you should take a lot and um you got pregnant shortly thereafter and so far how far along are you so i'm just over seven months pregnant oh okay we're way down the choo-choo track i know you do not look seven months pregnant so any minute now this is the first life yeah okay don't start having contractions on the podcast um i would feel in good hands and so i really want to get into what you've been doing to stay healthy and move during pregnancy.

24:03Gary Brecka:Cause I mean, everybody's like afraid to touch the pregnant women. I don't want to give them any advice. Definitely. And that's something that I, I definitely noticed before getting pregnant, but when you are pregnant and in the thick of it, you feel everything so, so heavily. So I think there's a lot of fear mongering. And one thing I really want to kind of express and get out there is that you need to train for pregnancy. So if you are, obviously, if you're pregnant, congratulations is amazing. But if you're thinking about getting pregnant, you need to get into the best shape of your life. That's such good advice.

24:42That will carry you through more than you realize right now. And during the pregnancy, you will see and feel the effects of that beyond words. And I can't tell you how much it's saved me because the hormones during pregnancies, the ups and the downs are wild. And there's so much you can't control, but that is something that you can control. And I really encourage movement during pregnancy.