Meghan Houle (00:01.682)
Welcome to the pivot purpose podcast. How are you my friend? So good to see you. Yes. I know long time coming and gosh like what a wealth of knowledge you are for all things feeling good. Gut health. Oh, you know, you really I feel like just knowing you I remember sitting down back in the day and like going over like blood work with you and you're like, okay, you need more of these you need more of these.
Abby (00:05.634)
I'm doing well. I'm so excited to be here.
Meghan Houle (00:30.634)
And I'll tell you, gosh, what a freeing thing to have a body that truly functions properly. And I think for digestion, sleep, all the things, when we can take care of ourselves and actually know how to treat without, and no disrespect to huge pharma, but all these terrible toxic medicines. And I mean, I can't even tell you how.
many sinus infections I've had and they're like antibiotics. I'm like, I can't be on antibiotics the rest of my life. Like truly, you know, so I feel like even doing my own flips, you know, with some of my routines, it's so important. So I know you're here for all things health. God, you have some like really, really awesome pivots as well, you know, in terms of where you started, and now running businesses and all of it. So I can't wait to dive in. So thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge. Here we go. Yes.
Abby (01:24.41)
So yeah.
Meghan Houle (01:28.722)
Um, so where are we catching you before we jump into all career pivots and, uh, you know, really your journey, what is lighting you up right now, where are we catching you? I know it's freezing in Boston, so we're all like, oh, come on spring, but we'll get through it.
Abby (01:44.928)
Exactly, yes. We're in the like, why do we live in Boston phase of the winter right now? But I feel like this is like the phase that I am like hunkering down and like working on really. I mean, what we just released in our practice is the Nourish Gut Guide, which is kind of the essential foundation steps to support your gut and your overall health. They're the unsexy steps.
that everyone wants to be like, yeah, I'm doing that stuff, yeah, yeah. And then they want like the shiny bells and whistles and all the things, but we know, and through my 12 years of practice, that it's like, if you are not doing these essential steps, you are not going to see progress in your healing, or you're gonna get stuck, or you're gonna get frustrated, you're gonna get all the things. So we just released that actually just before the new year. And now we're like really just kind of building steam and getting excitement, building like.
that's gonna kind of guide people towards it and really just like, let's get pumped about the unsexy foundations. Cause like they are available to everyone like right now at your fingertips, you can start them like at your next meal, tonight, tomorrow morning, like that's the beauty in them.
Meghan Houle (02:49.734)
Yeah. Oh my gosh. And I know another beautiful thing of like, so many people take it for granted, AKA my cool, my husband, that really just can like eat anything and like not be unaffected, but gut health and what we're putting in our bodies and like how we react, it's a huge, it's a huge deal. And I just feel like for years and years and years, I'm sure a lot of people that you've worked with have just been kind of like suffering, suffering in silence, like not knowing what to do or taking the wrong things.
my gosh, I can't wait to like, dive in and ask all the juicy like do's and don'ts. Get some education dropping on this podcast. But tell us as we dive into your background, Abby, is what you're doing today? What you thought you would be, you know, setting off on early in your career? Like, tell us a little bit about early career, Abby highlights leading to today. Yeah.
Abby (03:39.86)
Yeah, so I feel like what I do today is what I had like hoped and prayed that I would do, but I had absolutely no idea what it was going to like look like or what I was going to know or what like the possibilities were. But I knew that what I was doing when I first started was not the path that I was like meant to be. And I was always in health. I started in high school making like healthy cookies. They were disgusting. They like tasted like bricks. There was like no sugar. There was like no
like I, you know, subbed out applesauce. I did all the things. Oh, damn. Totally, because I was like curious and I was like, I didn't feel great in my health. Like I struggled like with weight when I was younger. I like kind of had some energy things. I always had these like, I wasn't sick, but I like had these like little funny things. And I was like, oh, I just like feel like a sensitive person. And that kind of grew like with me through my life. And I never felt like I could like do anything about it. Like I didn't have tools, but I had a lot of questions and I asked.
Meghan Houle (04:09.324)
I feel like me too. Yeah, yeah, yeah all the tricks. Yes. Yes
Abby (04:34.912)
everyone in the healthcare field, those questions, and I didn't really get anybody that was willing or knowledgeable to really give me the insight. So then into college, I went into exercise sciences and kind of discovered nutrition as the melding of chemistry and nutrition together. And I was like, oh, this is, I was such a chemistry nerd or just really good at it.
but I didn't really know what to do with it. And then I figured out like, oh, that is nutrition in the body. Like, okay, cool. Figured out it wasn't at the right institution, but I love my ex's background, which is nice. Came back, went to grad school, and in grad school, that's where I was like, oh my God, I'm gonna start learning all the things that I've been like dying to learn. And I just, I didn't. Like I was struggling with chronic fatigue and chronic constipation, and everything I was learning didn't help me at all.
Meghan Houle (05:01.814)
Yeah.
Abby (05:27.968)
If anything, anything I was learning and doing, I was like, well, I'll never go to the bathroom if I eat more fiber. And I'm like, you know, all these things. And I was waking up at 5 a.m. to do like spin classes before my full like grad schedule and like the work that I was doing. And I was like burning myself out. And I was at that point really experimenting with like extreme fasting and like food elimination just cause I was like grasping at straws.
to really figure out like, how am I going to heal myself because I've been ever going to work with clients? Like these are probably the issues that I'm going to see in them. And I'm my hardest client to this day today, but I'm no longer chronically constipated, no longer chronic fatigue, like no more of those things, always on a health journey, because that's just the way it goes in life. Once you start your journey, you realize like, oh, the finish line just changes and evolves and it's beautiful. So.
throughout that really kind of like pivoting into realizing like where, what circle do I need to be in to really be connected with like the healers and started really figuring out like there was a difference between like medicine and healing.
And that's kind of where like functional medicine, where I found myself in functional medicine. I started working under a doctor here in the Boston area and kind of learning like, oh, it's not normal to not go to the bathroom every day. Like, okay, cool, cause that was my life. And it's like starting to get some of the insight that was still very medicine to me. I wasn't really into that like healing modalities yet, but I started to realize like, okay, I've got the degree that I need.
I've got the license that I need, but now I really need to like dive two feet in. And that's kind of where for the past 12 years, I've just continued to, I'm a forever learner. Um, and that's really where like the career has evolved the work in realizing that like so much of our healing is yes, the physical and what we're eating and how we're moving and our lifestyle, but it's also our emotional, um, and really helping to like.
Abby (07:36.32)
empower clients and trust with their bodies is like one of the most powerful and was very absent from my life. Like I always was like, body, come on, like, let me hate on you until you like do what you're supposed to do.
Meghan Houle (07:48.853)
I know.
Yeah. And it's the science behind. I know we're always like, say nice things to yourself. But it's like really true. And I catch myself often saying, you know, I think we're women. We are very hard on ourselves. You know, we have these type A personalities. We're like, we want everything done and perfect. And it's got to feel right. And we're doing all the things. And why are we not getting results? But it's like, we're not doing the right things. And then mistreating ourselves, you know,
I definitely was in.
the like hot girl star phase, you know, for many years of like, I'm not gonna eat all day and or I'll just eat these like protein bars. And then you go out at night and then you're like starving and then you eat all the bad things and then you're like working out so much and you're like, why don't I see a change? Like it's just a vicious cycle. And I'm sure people listening in are hopefully like resonating. You know, we all have had bad habits. I'm sure at some point. So yeah, I definitely feel like flipping.
like the mindset in first and be like, okay, we'll heal, be kind to ourselves, regulating that nervous system, which I'm so terrible at Abby, but we're getting better. We're getting better girl, we're getting better. Yeah.
Abby (09:04.064)
It's the consistency. Yeah, the unsexy foundations and we just revisit them. And it's like finding out the, it's like the curiosity of like, okay, body, how do you want me to support you? Cause like maybe what I'm doing doesn't feel like I, like I'm hitting it, the nail on the head. And like the answer is never more in terms of like, or less, like restriction rather, that's a better way to say it. Cause I feel like when, and this I see all the time in clients that they're like, hey, you know,
Meghan Houle (09:10.59)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (09:24.178)
Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm. Yes. Yeah.
Abby (09:31.86)
like coming to me is like maybe an intro call and say, you know, I've been struggling with let's go chronic constipation for like 10 years or my entire life. I hear that all the time and they're like and I've decided to do something because everything I'm doing is making it worse and then we start to hear that everything that they're doing was a restriction based. It was like I stopped doing this. I took this food out. I like you know stopped eating at 5 p.m. I like
I just did all of these extreme things. And it's like where the body, like we do need to treat our body like a best friend. And if your best friend's like, Hey, I'm hungry. You're going to like search high and low for a snack. You're like, I know I got something in the bottom of my bag here. Like, Oh my God. Or I got enough change to go to the vending machine. Like you're going to find your best friend, that snack you're going to like support them because they need it. That's like the same thing that it's like, Oh body, like maybe we just need to like. Soften.
Meghan Houle (10:06.912)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (10:11.711)
Yeah.
Abby (10:24.3)
and allow you to have grace and really deeply support you. Eat optimal calories. That's constantly what I'm working on with clients in my own health. And so it's like, I think it's this, and I feel it in, I feel the energy of 24 for 24 that women, we are stepping into softening and that femininity and all of that. And with that, recognizing that it's like, our bodies need more support.
Meghan Houle (10:29.582)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Meghan Houle (10:45.61)
Yeah, yeah.
Abby (10:51.424)
And when we give them more support, they just open and start to just blossom and work with us. And the emotions too.
Meghan Houle (11:00.574)
Yeah, no, I agree. And I was just talking about this the other day, I think like going through 2020. We're like just getting on the other side of it, because we were in a timeframe for a good part of two and a half years, let's face it, like the pandemic fine, like things kind of open, but not really, where then we were so restricted, right, restricted to what we could do restricted to access to like, workouts, restricted to this, like, to restrict it from seeing people, you know, so I think there was this restriction where I think
Abby (11:09.069)
Mm-hmm.
Meghan Houle (11:30.488)
that really kind of shake things off, like getting back to themselves. And I know we're almost like four years later, but that was heavy.
you know, in so many ways, right? So I totally agree with you. I definitely feel like there's movement. So in terms of your business, and I didn't even know it was like 12 years, like where did that flip come in that big pivot? Because I know you were working in schools, right? And now you're like, have your completely own thing. So like, what did that journey look like to you now really building like your own very successful one-on-one business now? Yeah.
Abby (12:05.16)
Yeah, so it started when I was working in the functional medicine practice under the doctor, I got an opportunity actually from the school that I went to, to write and teach a wellness curriculum and be the dietitian for the school. I never saw myself as a teacher, but it just felt like really, it felt playful, it felt fun, it felt like very much where I was like, okay, I'm going to do this, but I'm going to do it part-time. And in my other part, like kind of for half, I guess
so much work. I give all the kudos and the credits to like all the teachers out there. I'm like, I don't know how they did it. My bucket of patients was so much littler than their buckets of patients. It was incredible. Had so many like learnings from that I taught for seven years. And it was amazing. And on the side, I left the practice that I was working in, and kind of just started like organically running a private practice. Like I would have them kind of like friends or friends of friends reach out to me because they were like, Hey, I know you're really
I'm struggling with like chronic bloating or all those unflattering GI symptoms, and I would just work with them. I actually started a telehealth practice. It was the first telehealth platform that existed 12 years ago. People were like, what? You're going to see me over a video? How does this work? Is this legal? I would carry a really small amount of clients, but just start to get my toe in the water.
Cause I think the biggest theme of my career and why it kind of took me, you know, really, call it nine, 10 years to like launch a full-time private practice was like, I just didn't believe in myself that I like could make a living off of what I do. And there was so much of this like fear in my own skills, fear in my own knowledge, this not enough. Has like kind of always been that like,
when I think about the emotional work that I do for myself is like, I am enough, is like so much of what like comes up. And so I think being able to kind of have like this little, I was like, oh, my little part-time practice. And I like, you know, change people's lives, but I do it in like a comfortable way that like doesn't threaten my security because like if I did everything with my two feet in that world, like maybe I would fail. And so I...
Abby (14:28.032)
And I loved teaching and I feel like I was getting a lot of, um, learnings from it of like how, I mean, I taught set the middle school. So fifth grade through eighth grade was my kind of in the classroom. Yeah. They would go to like math science. They come to wellness. It was a four year consecutive curriculum. We taught cooking. I taught yoga. Um, we did like journaling. Like this was the curriculum that like, I wish that I.
Meghan Houle (14:38.659)
Yeah. Aw, so cute. Yeah. Ooh. Yeah. Where were you back in my day, Abby? Geez, come on. Ha ha ha. How lucky. Yeah. You're nice.
Abby (14:55.38)
It was really magical and they built like this multimillion dollar wellness building. So it was like lovely. And I kind of like coasted and started to get a little bit of the bug of like, okay, this is like, I'm coming to the end of my like, I'm coming to the point where I like, I'm going to look this fear in the face and then COVID happened. And that was actually, there was a point that I was like, did I cause COVID? Because I had been like asking for this like dearth of time.
Meghan Houle (15:01.142)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (15:23.138)
girl, we all did. Yes, I say thing I was like, I need a big change early 2020 January 2020. I know I feel like we've all we all did somehow the world was like, we need to change slow down, you know, but yeah.
Abby (15:29.274)
Yeah.
Abby (15:35.92)
Mm-hmm. I literally was like, I want this dearth of time that I can build out. What is a private practice that's fully sustainable, even look like? What's the business side? Because I was like, I got the tools. I got the health side. I got the counseling. I know what I'm doing there, even though imposter syndrome would come up every other day. But what does that look like? And all of a sudden, I had a mass amount of time. And as the wellness part of the school,
Meghan Houle (15:40.358)
Uh huh.
Meghan Houle (15:48.728)
Uh huh.
Meghan Houle (15:55.735)
Yeah.
Abby (16:03.664)
especially in that early days of COVID, my job went down to one hour once a week. So I, all of a sudden was like, oh, I have so much time. And really started to work on the practice side. And by May, I had a full private practice. Just of people were really thinking about their health and they were coming out of the woodwork and kind of signing up and we were restructuring our practice and...
And all of these things kind of led to being like, okay, like I can't go back to teaching because like I have too many people in my practice. And that was really where like I probably would have taught for another like year or two out of like guilt. And just like, I loved the school, I loved the teachers that I taught with, I loved the girls, like it was an all girls school. So like just perfection there, just good little girls. So COVID really was like a big pivot for me in my life.
Meghan Houle (16:51.058)
Yeah.
Abby (17:00.064)
And with that, I also had the opportunity to do the emotional work. I worked with a coach, um, who I think you know, Garrett, um, to like, start to really work on the fear and that I'm not enough and the like, how do I allow myself to like be seen and show up and like really get big in my life in a way that like I had been like playing so small for so long.
Meghan Houle (17:26.658)
Mm hmm. Ooh, so many nuggets in there. And you're right. I did the same thing, Abby. It was April of 2020. And I knew there was something in me where you're like, you have this voice. You're like, you're meant for more. You're meant for more. And whether you're sitting in fear, sometimes people are sitting in significance of like, why is no one noticing me? And I'm doing my own thing. You're like, I 100% agree with you. You have to get rid of those blocks.
like switch that mindset to then really be able to like step into a new light. And I truly forever am and I know you and I both do coaching but I'm full advocate of, you know, working with coaches and now I think it's like more thing than it ever was before. And now you have to be careful because like everyone's like, I'm a coach and you're like, what? No. You know, so it's like, are you? But, you know, I think like working with somebody who really can help you and like help you whether build a business plan too,
there and so on and so forth. It's so powerful because we don't have to do it alone and there's so many resources out there. What would you say early on building businesses, you know, really worked in your favor? And then maybe what were some things that you're like, oh god, yeah, no, I would never do that again. Like, what are some of those highs and lows of like business building one on one? Because I know our audience are a lot of entrepreneurs. So tell us your ways. Yeah.
Abby (18:50.316)
Yeah, I think my strongest, like kind of in the business world was like, so I did a couple of masterminds. And those really like the coaches were really, really helpful. But I think the most powerful parts of those masterminds were the other women that were doing the same thing that I was. And in the world that I was in, most of us were like kind of in the health field, be it functional dietitians was like the...
Meghan Houle (18:59.563)
Mm-hmm.
Meghan Houle (19:14.108)
Yeah.
Abby (19:19.94)
predominant, but then there were some other health providers things, but we were all running our own business. We were all kind of like having, coming up to the same obstacles, approaching them differently and just like sharing about what that was. And I feel like that was so incredibly expansive for me to see like these women that were doing like big things and they were, you know, two years, three years, five years to where like I wanna be and doing it with like such grace and such like
Meghan Houle (19:32.339)
Yeah.
Abby (19:49.044)
and so generous in take everything that I have in terms of particularly, I mean, this is where I like met the cohost of my podcast. We actually met on Instagram, which is funny, had offices like right down the street, went for coffee and we're like, Oh, well we're friends now. So that's, you know, this was like five years ago. And I feel like she, and then a couple other like women that I connected with. And now we still have our own little masterminds that like, we don't have coaches, it's just us and we meet like monthly.
Meghan Houle (19:53.751)
Mm-hmm.
Meghan Houle (20:00.013)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (20:16.106)
Awesome. Yeah.
Abby (20:17.432)
But it's like so much of this just like open book sharing of like, take all the resources that I have. Cause I expect, you know, and I know in this trust relationship, like you're going to do the same to me. And like we learned together and still continuously learn together. And like that was, I feel like it just allowed me like running your business by yourself can be lonely. And, and sometimes it's hard to like find the answers and like,
Google or in some like formal place and you just need like somebody to bounce some ideas off of or hear about their experience. And I think that was the biggest like getting I mean, I've heard you say like getting into the room with the right people. And that was like, by far, and still today, like those people are the people that like, I talked to every single day I turned to for like so many things from like my emotional struggles with you know, business and
Meghan Houle (20:54.705)
Mm-hmm.
Abby (21:09.76)
everything that comes along with that, not just business, but to like even like client challenges and asking, you know for support
Meghan Houle (21:12.271)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (21:17.182)
Yeah. What do you think that you spend a lot of time on that you're like, ugh, you don't need to do this early on? Yeah. Whoa. Mm-hmm.
Abby (21:26.312)
Yeah, I think I did. I did a lot of like outsourcing my own power. And, and that also came like, in the same as like the coaching, like a being like, okay, like this coach knows everything, like, I'm just gonna like, I'm just gonna do and I'm almost going to discredit my own knowledge, not come with like more like, almost coming with more like critical thinking and questions and like
Meghan Houle (21:34.314)
Mmmm
Abby (21:56.452)
things, it was more of just like, nope, this is the way and I'm going to do it exactly as they say. And there were so many great things that I did get from those experiences, but it wasn't until now, and I haven't had a coach for like several years for the purpose of like, I have to reintegrate, like, where's my voice in this? And like, where's like my style and like my and like take the things that serve you and leave the things that don't.
Meghan Houle (22:13.391)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Abby (22:24.384)
the cookie cutter, like, okay, like I'll take their process and like plug it into my stuff and then like press play and expect it to work. And I am like through and through such a Capricorn that like my the journey of my life and I do a lot, I work with the medical intuitive and astrology and things like that. I'm not an expert in it by any means, but I'm an expert in my own journey through it that like my growth is like the Capricorn up the mountain just like consistent and it doesn't happen overnight.
Meghan Houle (22:28.695)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Meghan Houle (22:45.171)
Yeah.
Abby (22:53.644)
And I feel like the plug and play mentality of all of these, you know, sometimes coaches being like, no, you're going to do, you're just going to explode tomorrow and you're going to make a million dollars and this is going to be it. And you're going to do this one process to do it. And I'd be like, okay, all right, if you say so, like I'll do it. And then it wouldn't happen. And I'd be like, so disheartened and like, what, like, what did I do wrong? Am I like not good at this? Or, and it started to realize like just over the years, seeing like the consistent growth and my own growth as a practitioner and all of this and realizing like, I just,
I don't, I'm not the overnight millionaire or whatever. And I don't even think I want to be that. I just want to be a really trusted provider to my clients. I want to be a trusted source for my community. And I want to just kind of see my business and my future businesses just flourish and have the staying power because they are so, they have so much integrity.
Meghan Houle (23:47.902)
Yeah, oh my gosh. Well, that's the epitome of pivoting with purpose. And we know a lot of entrepreneurs. I mean, I know in other industries. I mean, I appreciate you're such a big supporter of all the things I do beyond Pivot with Purpose and the events that we've been hosting in Boston. And you can't just be in it for the money.
you know, and I think that that's such a resounding thing of like people starting businesses to be like, Oh, I'm gonna be a millionaire. Like, you know, I know we you came to our event where I was hosted, Ali web who started dry bar. Hi, Ali. And, you know, I think her purpose was never like, Oh, I'm gonna sell this and make you know, and sell for 250 million. It was like, I want women to look good and have like awesome hair. And that's where it comes like you want women whomever like, you know, I'm sure you work with a lot of different people, but like to feel good and feel good in their bodies.
Abby (24:28.312)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (24:36.28)
And I think when that purpose is authentically aligned with it's like, it's not like what's in it for me, but like how can I help people live better lives? Also chef's kiss, that's so beautiful Abby. All right.
you're getting lots of guests from got lots of clients from this podcast, um, too. But no, so tell me how Okay, so how do you help people like what is the process to work with that be, you know, I'm sure people in your DMS emailing you my stomach hurts, like I'm sick of being bloated. But like, what are what are some of the ways people kind of kick off engaging with you? And maybe what's like a common theme, you just constantly see people reaching out to you? Like, how does that all start? And like, where do you start? Yeah.
Abby (24:52.652)
I'm going to go.
Abby (25:18.264)
Yeah, I mean, I think the first place, and this is like where, you know, really active on like Instagram and our podcast of like first helping people recognize that like what you may be experiencing is common, but it's not normal. So like first the identification that like you can heal. So it's like the idea of IBS is kind of the world that like gut, skin and fatigue are kind of the three major symptoms. I feel like that I work.
tremendous amount with, and then there's the auto-immunes in there too and all that stuff, but just to simplify it. The recognition of like, when we think of IBS, for instance, it's like, oh my gosh, people are so fearful that they're like, well, you're going to tell me that I can't eat all of these things of foods and I can't participate in this whole area of my life. And it's like, no, in the functional medicine world, when we do our job right, it like allows you to eat.
all of the categories of foods. And it allows you to participate more in your life because we're using the tools of like nutrition, of lifestyle and supplements and functional testing to really identify like where are the root causes in your body and then helping to support those to like delete these conditions, diagnoses, because they're just, they're symptoms and they're just signs and communication from our body that things aren't aligning. So I feel like that's the first place to identify that like
Do you have, is your body speaking to you through symptoms of any sort that just feel uncomfortable, they feel frustrating, they feel like life challenging, or they just feel, they could be big or they could be small, but you're ready to like, I would like to let these go. And then where do we wanna start? I mean, this is where we create the Nourish Gut Guide. It's an under $200 program that's kind of a self-guided.
Meghan Houle (27:03.347)
Oh, wow.
Abby (27:05.388)
really to walk you through all of those foundations. What can you be doing in your life right now? These are the things that I just at a certain point found myself getting blue in the face and being like, people are coming to me 10 years into their healing journey and I'm asking about blood sugar or I'm asking about finding out that they're eating 1,200 calories or 1,500 calories. And I'm like, no one has addressed this, that we're massively under eating. We haven't heard about blood sugar.
These are things that, you know, especially when someone's like brand new into the journey, you're like, okay, we'll do some like education, but it just broke my heart time and time again that it was like 10 years in people are like, no, tell me about blood sugar. And you're like, this is such a foundation that like, you know, we should be learning in middle school is like really, really where it comes down to. So that's what the Nourish Gut Guide is kind of guiding through the lifestyle, the nutrition.
the like even some remedy pieces with some like foundational supplements that can be really helpful. And sometimes people get their answers in there or they start to realize like, okay, I got a lot of, I got a lot of positive traction in these areas, but okay, some of my symptoms are a little bit more entrenched. And that's where our one-on-one practice comes in, where we work with functional testing because we don't need to guess, we can actually test and help to identify like, what are some of those root causes or dynamics that might be keeping us in a little bit more of that like stuff.
feeling, and then how do we more skillfully and therapeutically use tools of lifestyle nutrition and these supplements to help us to really help to remove the barriers in the body so that our body can like optimally function.
Meghan Houle (28:40.038)
Yeah, and I think like it's so cool what you do beyond, I would say like I hear it all the time, like people going in for like colonoscopies and having issues and like not, and my mom is in this boat, like not getting answers from doctors, from internal medicine and feeling so freaking frustrated. And then, you know, you have individuals that come to you and it's definitely like a bit more, it's a different process, but I feel like you get.
Abby (28:52.577)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (29:04.978)
results, right? So like, what do you feel like healthcare providers aren't seeing that like you fill that white space, right? Yeah.
Abby (29:14.112)
Yeah, I mean, I feel, you know, I think that there is a, my hope is that we start having a blend between kind of conventional medicine and functional medicine. Because we do need the colonoscopy. It's like, you know, if somebody has like colon cancer, it's like, okay, like, let's, you know, let's actually do some functional pieces to support like, you know, maybe why it was there in the first place and helping to like open the detox pathways and all those things. But like, you know, maybe we do need like a surgery, we do need like a removal.
Meghan Houle (29:21.571)
Mm-hmm. Mmm.
Mm-hmm. Oh, totally. Yes. Issues, yes.
Abby (29:43.664)
Um, but if we get a clear colonoscopy, I'm like, Oh, your stuff's functional. Like come on into our world because it's so much of, I mean, stress is a huge piece. And it's. I almost wish we could come up with a different word than stress. Cause it's like, I feel like it turns people off when we like talk about it. Um, but it really is something of like where we think out of the box of stress, though, okay, like stress could be psycho-emotional. So like our worries and our thoughts.
Meghan Houle (29:48.383)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Abby (30:10.928)
But stress is also like, are you eating enough calories? Because if you're under eating, that's stress on the body. Stress, are you going too long between meals? Or pushing off intermittent fasting? That's a stressor. Sometimes can be beneficial, but for most women, I don't really practice fasting beyond maybe just the overnight 12 hour thinking of exercise. Again, beneficial in its overall nature, but if your body doesn't have the capacity to
be able to house and recover from that stress, maybe it's too much and we need to just shift our types of exercise for the healing window. I like to think about this. We might be in a healing window, we might do things a little differently in this healing window. The goal for us to be able to then come back into our lives and be able to participate in whatever ways we want with that understanding of the story of my body. And I really understand the story of my body.
Meghan Houle (30:49.803)
Yeah.
Abby (31:06.552)
So that when I start to feel those conversations coming up of maybe like, oh, the fatigue is coming back or like the gut slowing down or my skin is flaring. It's like, okay, all right, let me go back to my toolkit that I worked on with, you know, above health and like, let me pull those pieces. So I'm gonna like, because we're always just this, we're always like moving and shifting and like growing in life and we have periods and phases, you know, of more stress and being like out there doing the thing.
and kind of like the seasons, then there's times that we need to, that for our own health and so many things, like to pull back a little bit and be like, all right, this is my like nesting, cozy, like recoup because I'm going to be out there again in the spring. I'm going to be out there again and like, you know, whatever it is. And so I think helping one of, one of the things that I think that we do really, one of our best things at Above Health is to like help to tell the story of our clients' bodies in a way that they like,
Meghan Houle (31:47.062)
Yeah. Mmm. I love it.
Abby (32:04.024)
really understand their body, because we just don't have the opportunity. Conventional medicine is too focused on illness. And we don't have enough time in the sessions that we spend with those providers. And unfortunately, there's a lack of education in our medical system of what does it actually mean to heal rather than just band-aid and Medicaid and kind of numb to.
Meghan Houle (32:12.738)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (32:19.978)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (32:28.65)
Right? Yeah.
Abby (32:30.68)
the things that our body's trying to communicate to us. Because it's not broken, it's just actually beautifully like telling you like, hey, there's something down here. And like, we're trying to get your awareness around it.
Meghan Houle (32:41.526)
Yeah, no, that's such a good explanation. And what would you say for someone listening in, if there are signs that are coming through, and I know you've been mentioning them, but what are some like top signs where you're like, if this is consistently happening, like we do something about it, reach out, reach out to Abby, but like, what should we be looking for Abby? Yeah.
Abby (33:06.016)
Yeah, I think starting in the gut, thinking about like, we're wanting a very easy formed bowel movement every day, one to three times per day. So if you're not having, like if you're skipping days or going weeks, or if you're having that too frequent, or if they're unformed and loose, that's definitely an outward sign, struggling with bloating, heartburn, GI pain, excess gas. Totally. And those, some of those things can be like eating.
Meghan Houle (33:27.074)
Oh, the bloating, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Abby (33:35.344)
Kind of the way we eat like kind of more like mindful eating practices chewing like they can be pretty like low like Like almost that's really a lot of things we cover in the in the nourished gut guide or things we can use even like Bitters to support or things but sometimes there are like GI infections that are in there and there's a breakdown to the barrier System in the gut and there's like an immune inflammation dynamic going on So sometimes there's bigger things and that's really where like once we've covered all the foundations
Meghan Houle (33:41.5)
Mm-hmm.
Abby (34:04.908)
and we're still struggling, it's like, okay, there might be something, you know, bigger doesn't mean we can't heal it, but more of like, oh, we might just need like a little more skill and like therapeutics in order to kind of support that. That we kind of think of, you know, certainly the gut can be impacting the rest of the body. So we can start to see like skin conditions. So like eczema, psoriasis, acne, energy is a big indicator, like.
Meghan Houle (34:20.032)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (34:31.147)
Yeah.
Abby (34:31.936)
And we can see too, like that acne, certainly it could be like kind of flaring around our cycle. So we think about, look, or are hormones involved in this? Hormones in gut have such a innate kind of inextricable connection, particularly if we're thinking about even like coming back to this constipation dynamic that we're constipated, we're not taking out the trash of hormones. And so then we're kind of having like, oh, challenges my hormones, but it's actually starting in the gut. So we always kind of want to peel back like, as opposed to all this.
Instagram talk of like, oh my god hormones are the issue hormones are the issue hormones are communicators in the body So there's typically something else that's impacting their communication Is it like the stress in the brain? Is it the stress in the body? Is it stress in the gut? Energy I think is a big indicator sleep So if you're having challenges sleeping or feeling like you're not recharging or kind of inconsistent energy throughout the day
Abby (35:25.568)
And then I kind of think also about like funny, like I think a lot about like chronic congestion, like cracks at the corners of the mouth. What do your tongue look like? Is it covered with white? Do your ears have symptoms? Thinking a lot about, I specialize in like mold toxicity. That's just like so much of what we find.
Meghan Houle (35:41.762)
I know, I was just gonna ask you, well yeah, cause you experienced that firsthand. And I think our environmental things, I mean things that sometimes we're not even aware of. And because of you, like I'm hyper sensitive to like looking where like mold, like I had in my bathroom, like underneath there was like this mold buildup and I'm like, oh my God, so gross, like we need to change my like faucet because you like think about putting that on your skin every day and then like.
Abby (35:49.484)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (36:07.538)
inhaling it and we're big fans of the Dyson fans here, Michael, you know, we have like 100 of them. Mike's like, you know, the air is fine. But like, sometimes you don't catch it. So yeah, like what are some environmental things? And I know you went through that mold toxicity journey. And I know a few of my friends and it is like crazy, like your skin everything like you look sick, but you're like, what's wrong with me? You know, right? Yeah.
Abby (36:21.84)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Abby (36:30.252)
Yeah, I mean, it's an invisible illness that is, it can be much more common than we think. It doesn't necessarily need to look like molds grow and on the walls, it could be in very like invisible places, but there's 25% of the population whose immune system can't see or clear mold. So it kind of makes us like the idea is, for those of us that are sensitive to mold, it makes us like a fish tank whose filter is broken.
Meghan Houle (36:45.051)
Right, yeah.
Abby (36:59.264)
and we get that algae starting growing on the outside of the fish tank and you're a little fish inside and you're like, no, I'm in here but my body is like not cooperating. And we can get the symptoms like congestion would be a big one, kind of any type of fungal. So we could get like athletes' foot, we could get cracks at the corners of the mouth, the white coating on our tongue, stuff with our ears. Digestive because mold tends to impact our most like quick turning over cells. The digestion system turns over every five days. So that's where we can get more IBS like symptoms.
because it's breaking our filter. Like, so a lot of our kind of detox work and part is getting ourselves out of the environment and then getting the environment that became part of us out of our body. Um, so yeah, I lived in mold for seven years. Um, and that was a huge part of my chronic constipation and chronic fatigue. Um, only until, you know, kind of exhausting, like all of these foundations and also in COVID realizing like, I was like, Hey, I'm like not drinking alcohol here. I'm like not going out to eat.
Meghan Houle (37:58.294)
Mm-hmm.
Abby (37:58.336)
I'm like not doing all these things. Like I should feel like amazing. And I was doing like, I was staying active. I was doing like at home Pilates and like doing all my walks and all this stuff. And I'm like, I should feel like the best like I've ever felt. And I feel worse and worse and worse. And then I reached out to my network of colleagues at the time, because mold was not something that I specialized in or really like knew a tremendous amount kind of was like, what's going on here? Like, I don't feel well and my gut's hurting and all of this stuff. And one of my colleagues.
Meghan Houle (38:12.11)
Hmm.
Abby (38:26.532)
kind of put it on my radar of like, hey, I think we need to do a mold test for you. So urine test, it's called a mycotoxin test. And I did it, it lit up like a Christmas tree. And I moved out 24 hours later. I had like had it I was like, if this is what is going on with me, like, and then it took, you know, like a year to really start to like, I felt better, but to really start to see like the big shifts. And that's not always everyone's journey, but it sometimes can mold is
Meghan Houle (38:36.515)
Oh my god. Yeah.
Meghan Houle (38:48.939)
Yeah.
Abby (38:56.029)
very individual to the person.
Meghan Houle (38:59.166)
Mm, yeah. I mean, even if, yeah, and I think like, are there some at home testing things that you can do? Or does a lot like have to go through someone who is provider that can get you those tests? Or I don't know, like, and just in general, like how can people start this journey to, whether working with you or just like on their own simple things? Yeah, to like figure it all out. Yeah.
Abby (39:12.122)
Mm-hmm.
Abby (39:19.212)
Yeah, with mold, I like to start with testing the individual versus testing the environment. Because it's like, hey, if it's in the environment, like if it's in the individual, then we can go down the rabbit hole of testing the environment. But a mycotoxin test, you can actually order through, I mean, you can order through practitioners because you're going to want to work with a practitioner if it does come back. But to even just get things started, like mymedlabs.com is a place that you can order a number of like functional labs.
Meghan Houle (39:24.314)
Uh huh. Oh.
Meghan Houle (39:39.852)
Right.
Abby (39:48.004)
There's a lot of functional labs that you just can't interpret on your own. Mycotoxins tests are kind of an exception. It's either like, it's a scale of like not positive to then like, it kind of grows higher and higher and higher. Um, and so you kind of get a readout that you're like, Whoa, it says I have like three different of these like molds. Maybe I mold toxins is what it's measuring. So maybe you don't know what to do with that, or maybe, you know, you don't know what they are or whatever, but it's going to tell you that things are positive. And then you think, okay.
Where is this coming from? Is it coming from my home? Is it coming from my workplace? Is it coming from somewhere I frequent? And then we always wanna go through a health history in terms of when did the symptoms happen? And did we move into a new place? Was there water damage? Water damage is typically the biggest reason why mold is kind of in a place. And it can be water damage from 10, 15 years ago. It doesn't have to be water damage from earlier this year or something. But that would be kind of the...
Meghan Houle (40:38.134)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (40:41.386)
Yeah. Wow.
Abby (40:43.64)
the first, yeah, the place that I would like kind of start. And then like finding a practitioner who like listens to you. There's a lot of conventional medicine that will tell you you're crazy. And that will tell you that mold, like I had a provider tell one of my clients that young women don't get affected by mold. Like, I'm like, I don't even know where he got that. That is like.
Meghan Houle (41:02.487)
Oh, okay.
Meghan Houle (41:07.478)
Ugh, bad information. Mm-hmm. Don't say it, right? Yeah. Hmm.
Abby (41:08.152)
Bananas to me and just untrue. It's like bad medicine at a certain point of like if you don't know about it Just don't speak about it. But Exactly. So, um, you know, so then we do have to be our own like health advocate in it, but you can heal from mold Sometimes it goes quickly. Sometimes it goes slow but Every like I have seen all walks of experiences from like really intense mold to like clients that within like four months
are up and about and feeling great. So it's like, we just, and that doesn't unnecessarily mean anything, I think about, sometimes people are like, oh, I'm worse than everyone else. And it's like, this is just the journey that looks different. And there's an energetic that goes along with it too, with all health conditions and mold is kind of like, processing of old emotions. So in that journey of like, are we, when we're kind of like, getting the physical detox mold out,
Are we also like recognizing that there could be some like emotional piece to it? And that like made so much sense when I got kind of educated to like, there's an old emotion and I was like, I got a lot of old emotions that are just like, I shoved them down deep.
Meghan Houle (42:16.062)
Right. It's time to clean house. Yeah. No, wow. No, and I think how lucky are we now to have all these incredible resources? And going back to the sharing of information, I mean, you are so generous, and it is amazing. And I love that you kind of mentioned with your mastermind, not necessarily about the teachers, as I'm in a mastermind too, and I love who's leading it, but also the women that are in it. And you find all these amazing relationships,
so great that you really have a group that you trust and can support on, but that y'all aren't gatekeepers. I mean, like, that's truly what it is. It's like, let's share the wealth of our information for the better, the greater good. And I mean, with your business above health, and then, oh my gosh, you have like such a great podcast where people can like, check in and listen and probably get a lot of tips and tools. Like, tell us about all like the
the levels and layers and the tiers and your body's got your back, right? I love your podcast. So yeah, tell us, you know, there are all different ways that people can kind of engage, work with you find you. And what is your podcast all about? Yeah, let's talk about your business.
Abby (43:26.476)
Yeah, that would be so the podcast is actually a great place for people to start even like before the Nourished Gut Guide. Because the podcast, we wrote it, we're in our third season now. And we really wrote it to be a like all the tools, like introduction to all the tools that we hope all people to have before you even step into the doors of my office or my colleague's office. I'm a gut specialist. She's a hormone specialist.
Um, we speak to both men and women, probably a little bit more to women, but you know, it's relevant to everybody. Um, and we try to make it very action focused and really building like trust with our body. We're like super proud of it. Um, so that's a great place to start. Um, and then above health, we have kind of our nurse gut guide, which is like even deeper into like really teasing out all those like foundations. We've got lots of resources and handouts and meal guides and all of the stuff of like.
really taking it to the next level of like, okay, what, you know, how can I dig in and like really practice these foundations, um, and have like someone kind of holding my hand through it. And then above health, um, we're on Instagram as above health. Um, we've got our website, which is a great place to find out more about us. And then, you know, just reach out, DM us on Instagram, reach out via email. Hello. And above health, like send us a like smoke signal, like whatever way you want to get in touch with us. Like we're here for it. Yeah.
Meghan Houle (44:44.478)
Right. I need you. Yeah. No, so many great ways that people can work with you. And are you taking one on one clients like to do applications? Or like, how does that work with you when someone starts listening to the podcast? And obviously, we'll link everything does the nurse guy knows like, okay, I need some more support. What? Yeah, what are your what's your new client? process or protocol right now? Yeah.
Abby (44:48.72)
Thanks for watching!
Abby (45:15.462)
Yeah, so
Abby (45:37.108)
resources so that really our goal is to get people, you know, not only to us to be working with like really aligned clients, but helping those clients to work with like aligned providers. We are hiring a new provider who's going to start with us in May. She's been with us for about a year. So we're growing, which feels like so exciting. Her name is Steph. So that's, you can sign up for a strategy call on our website. We have a link on our Instagram and you kind of pick a time that works for you. And then I call you at that time and
Meghan Houle (45:56.075)
Yeah.
Abby (46:06.508)
we kind of take all the next steps together.
Meghan Houle (46:07.566)
Go through it. I love it. What are you most proud of in this journey, Abby? Just like within your own self, yeah.
Abby (46:16.144)
Yeah, I think I'm most proud of my growth as just a provider and as a, coming from so much of that fear and hiding in so many ways that I feel so much of the mirroring of the growth of my business has really been the growth of me allowing myself to, and a lot of
A lot of our healthcare does not think the way that I think and the way that like this like kind of little world thinks. And for a part of that was like scary to be like, people aren't gonna, like not all people are gonna agree with what I have to say. And I'm, yeah. And I'm not saying like crazy things by any means, but it's like, and there was a part of that felt like a little daunting. And I'm not out here to be this like, outspoken like zealot who's just like trying to stir up, but really to being like, no, like.
Meghan Houle (46:55.562)
a line. Yeah.
Abby (47:11.748)
there are people that are unwell and they need to do things differently. And like, here's the way in our world that like we approach these things. So I feel like that growth in like my own voice has probably been the part that I am most proud of and definitely the part that is like still working on allowing myself to be seen in that like little like Capricorn banner. I'm like climbing up the mountain. Ha ha.
Meghan Houle (47:32.444)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, you're doing it. And I so agree. I think that because I love to do all the things, acupuncture, crystals. I'm a stone cold weirdo, as anybody knows, listening in. But.
Abby (47:43.038)
Yep.
Meghan Houle (47:45.718)
people will always judge what they don't understand. And I'm sure we all have those people in our lives that are like, just go to the doctor, just do this. And you're like, No, you don't try something different. And nothing about life is cookie cutter for any of us. And again, I mean, you and I both growing up, we never had access to this. So like, God bless all the individuals like you and all these incredible resources and businesses that have been created that can really help people in different ways.
Abby (47:49.306)
Mm-hmm.
Meghan Houle (48:12.974)
So it's really such a beautiful thing. And oh my gosh, like what do you have in store for the new year? Is there anything like new and exciting that you're looking to build on top of bringing on new individuals? And I know you and I maybe have some things in the works guys. So stay tuned. I really, you know, I want to keep bringing us together. Bottom line, it's like careers, life, you know, anything you want to like really crush it and excel in. You can't do it if you feel like shit, sorry. So, so what?
What are you excited about doing to continue to help and heal individuals? Yes.
Abby (48:49.312)
excited about like just getting out and speaking more. I think that is, you know, very, I love to speak. We even said, you know, I have like a bunch of podcasts after this for like our podcast too. And I was like, I could talk all day. You're like me too. I'm like, that is like our skill and something that like, I love to educate and talk. And really, I think, you know, there's so much of a shift I can feel in people recognizing, like there is another way that I can support myself. And I just want to be a voice that's like reaffirming of like, yes.
Meghan Houle (48:58.933)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (49:03.547)
Yeah.
Abby (49:18.732)
Like whether you come into our practice or anybody else's practice, like that's like really just the shift in the education of like, if you don't feel well in your body, like there are so many solutions to like help you navigate that. And so I feel like that's like really my big goal for, for 2024, um, certainly bringing on this new provider and then kind of like really allowing that to like expand in so many ways. So yeah, connecting with more people and let my voice shine out.
Meghan Houle (49:44.139)
Yeah!
Meghan Houle (49:47.678)
Letting that voice shine. I'm so proud of you and you know some fun questions before I let you go I know you are such a habit routine
woman. I love you. I love seeing you on Insta. What are some of your like must have like favorite things and I feel like we need like an Abby Amazon link or wherever you buy like the red lights and the books and everything like what are some of the things like top like five things you do every day because you have like a good routine like I'm really inspired by you all the time. Yeah.
Abby (50:16.42)
Thank you. First thing, especially in the winter, Boston, it's dark when I wake up, a light box. On Amazon, you could type it in as like happy light. We do have an Amazon store, and we have our favorite light box in there. Yeah, it's like 40 bucks. So first 30 minutes of the day, 15 to 30 minutes of the day, I literally alarm goes off, and I turn it on. I don't even get out of bed. And I'm just lying there, kind of waking up.
Meghan Houle (50:23.582)
I know I need one.
Meghan Houle (50:27.315)
Oh, you do? Okay.
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (50:39.222)
You're like... Mmmm
Abby (50:41.164)
And that's stimulating your cortisol awakening response. We've got a bunch of podcasts on the circadian rhythm and cortisol awakening response. So huge for gut and hormones. Minerals are my next thing. So like lemon, I make a soleil, which is like a salt concentrate, but you could just do a pinch of salt and then some potassium or some trace minerals in there. So like a coconut water would be great. So you're getting your minerals, so you're turning on your energy. That's like the next thing.
I like breakfasted within one to two hours of waking. I kind of crouch it for myself with like some blood sugar stuff that I found out recently. I'm like within an hour of waking and it's feeling so good. Protein forward, 30 to 50 grams of protein at breakfast is a big number, but we do our best. We can get there. And then like any type of like movement. I love a morning walk. That is like what turns.
Meghan Houle (51:26.274)
Mm-hmm. You can get there. Yeah.
Meghan Houle (51:34.571)
Yeah.
Abby (51:36.1)
turns me on and typically in like the summer when it's like nice and bright out, like I'll make do the walk before anything. And that's how I get my morning light. Winter. I'm like, the sun needs to be out for me to go for my walk cause it's too cold. Like, so we just change things.
Meghan Houle (51:39.409)
I know.
Meghan Houle (51:43.871)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (51:48.046)
I know, no, yeah, same. Yeah, and I think you're also a big advocate for walking outside without glasses on, right? And I've heard that, I love the Huberman podcast too, very similar to your last name, but they speak about getting your circadian rhythm, right? Like being outside without sunglasses and really letting the light influence your body, right? So powerful.
Abby (51:57.214)
Oh yeah.
Oh, love him. Yeah.
Abby (52:06.243)
Yep.
Abby (52:11.916)
Mm-hmm. Our eyes are the extension of our brain. So it's like we are literally telling our body like the orientation to our light cycle. And that's what's moderating our cortisol and our melatonin, which are our master hormones in the body. So it's like how and then when we think about like, wow, my hormones are wonky. Like, what can I do? Really getting alignment with our circadian rhythm. And I think even like routine that we like kind of like cruise to the end of our day. And it's like protection against.
Meghan Houle (52:15.54)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (52:25.535)
Yeah.
Abby (52:41.036)
like against light, essentially. So it's like bringing in darkness into your evening. So like turning off lights overhead. I like to wear the like amber colored, we get real nerdy here. I've got like a orange colored glasses, like that like block out all the blue light as much as possible. Cause I do like, I like to watch like a Netflix at night. I like to like, you know, so it's kind of like, all right, how can I do this? And like not tee myself. It makes a big difference. And there are some cute ones.
Meghan Houle (52:42.836)
Mm-hmm.
Meghan Houle (52:57.01)
Right. Yeah.
Same! Heck yeah!
Hmmm
Meghan Houle (53:08.15)
I mean, I...
So cute. No, we need to have like another two hour conversation for this because I really need like an Abby overhaul who wants to go on a journey with me people know so cool. Oh my god, I can't wait to link all the things are so many nuggets in this. But before I let you I know you you're like I you love to cook like I'm just also inspired always and like DMing you can I come over and can you feed me I do we need to get cooking with Abby maybe if we picked like five or six like special souls because I think at the end of the day to like to
Abby (53:13.145)
Mm-hmm.
Abby (53:17.871)
Woo!
Abby (53:33.353)
I love that.
Meghan Houle (53:39.44)
then understand what you need to do to heal, to eat the right foods. Like, we need to be able to cook for ourselves. Like Uber eats, it's so dangerous. Like girl, we all do it. Like let's be honest. But at the end of the day too, like I think really appreciating the art of cooking.
And I'm such a terrible cook. But when you do it and you're like, oh, this is healthy. And I think, whoa, we go out to eat. And there's so much butter and so many hidden things like restaurants put in to make it taste good. Obviously, Saul, all of it. I'm sure you've left meals and you blow up because you're like, holy shit, there was so much sodium. To make meals at home, it's so fun when you really get excited about it. What are some of your favorite things to cook? And where could somebody just?
Abby (54:20.611)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (54:25.026)
And I'm sure you have like a shopping list, right? And that like the guide of like some things you can buy and like, right? Yeah, yeah.
Abby (54:29.616)
Oh yeah. Yeah, we have a whole meal guide in there. So like admittedly, like I'm actually very lazy cook. Like I love, I do love to cook, but I'm like not, like maybe on a Sunday, I'm like, ooh, let's do the elaborate like thing. But I'm like most of the time I'm just like, let's try to do this in 30 minutes. Cause like we busy over here. Like totally. But thinking of, so like thinking of like mini and I'll do like mini meal preps. I'm also not like I spend my whole Sunday like meal prepping, but like a frittata.
Meghan Houle (54:40.599)
Mm-hmm.
Meghan Houle (54:46.614)
We don't got time, right?
Abby (54:57.196)
as like a breakfast is, and I'll put like 12 eggs in there and then I'll put some like turkey bacon. So we're getting like protein forward. So that's like a good go-to like breakfast. Then you got some like berries, maybe some like microgreens that you might add to it. We're always about antioxidants in the morning too and some fiber. So like kind of mini pieces like that. A frittata is like pretty darn easy to make too. I always think about then, can I prep like some protein and some like starchy.
Meghan Houle (54:58.88)
Yeah.
Meghan Houle (55:12.064)
Yeah.
Abby (55:23.856)
plants, so like sweet potatoes or roasted carrots or things like that. So I'm like making my dinners a little bit easier. And then maybe I'm like, you know, sauteing some like shredded brussels sprouts is like my warm thing, putting like things underneath the broiler again. So it's like cooking up a bunch of like proteins, I use an air fryer for a lot of things. Ashley, who is a my sister in law, but mutual friend of both of ours, like got me into being like, you're not cooking your salmon in the air fryer. And I was like, no.
Meghan Houle (55:35.21)
Mm-hmm. Mm.
Meghan Houle (55:42.939)
Yeah, I love it. Yeah.
Meghan Houle (55:48.383)
Yeah.
Abby (55:51.92)
And I started, I was like, oh my God, this is the most perfect salmon I've ever made in my entire life.
Meghan Houle (55:54.442)
Life changing. Yeah, well maybe we'll be cooking with Ashley and Abby. Ashley truly is like the chef. Let's just give her that shout out, so yes. Ha ha ha.
Abby (55:59.724)
Oh, 100%. She is the one that like all the time I'm like, so what, how did you do that? And you did what with the what? Like she has like endless patience for it. Yeah, so we need and she's like got all like the dairy free, gluten free, like all the things too. So yeah, really, it should be like us just like sitting there and having Ashley feed us.
Meghan Houle (56:09.135)
I know, I can't. I know.
Meghan Houle (56:16.19)
Yeah.
I know so fun God so many things to do. Well, you are so amazing. I have loved getting to know you through all of our various channels throughout the years and what you're doing is so needed. And my hope is everyone go follow above health go follow Abby will link everything in go buy all the lights the amber glasses let's all put them on and tag each other. And let's keep
Abby (56:30.768)
Okay.
Abby (56:41.349)
Thanks for watching!
Meghan Houle (56:46.962)
sharing the love, sharing the information, letting our bodies heal, getting out there and feeling really, really good in this year. There's so much to look forward to. Life is so short. Let's take care of ourselves. So thank you so much for being here, Abby. We really appreciate you.
Abby (57:00.596)
Thank you so much. This was so fun and I just love connecting with you and to see all the amazing things that you do and they're like endless bounds of energy.
Meghan Houle (57:10.102)
We got it girl. Yes, let's crush it. Well, thanks Abby. Yes.
