Rooted in Wellness Podcast

Breaking Societal Norms, Safe Detoxing & Hormone Balance with Food

Join Mona Sharma & Kroma founder Lisa Odenweller as they discuss safe, effective detoxing with food in this insightful wellness podcast.

Podcast Summary

Original air date: August 21, 2024

In this episode of Rooted in Wellness, podcaster Mona Sharma speaks with Lisa Odenweller, founder and CEO of Kroma Wellness, a functional superfood and nutrition company. Together, they discuss how women can break societal expectations while balancing work, family, and personal well-being.

Their conversation highlights the importance of integrating ancient healing wisdom with modern wellness practices to support safe and effective detoxing and hormone balance through food. Lisa shares her personal journey of founding Kroma Wellness after leaving Beaming, and how her company offers practical, on-the-go functional foods designed to simplify healthy living, including a popular five-day reset program. This episode emphasizes the value of intuitive check-ins and fostering connections to create a balanced, joyful life.

Transcript

Mona Sharma (MS):

The following is an Operation Podcast production. Welcome to Rooted in Wellness with me, Mona Sharma, a podcast focused on shifting your vibration from imbalance to balance, allowing your body to heal and thrive naturally. In a modern world that often challenges our well-being, we'll explore how to navigate through these obstacles to emerge rooted in your health, yourself, and your life, drawing upon the wisdom of ancient healing practices merged with the latest scientific research.

From growing up living on an ashram, recovering from two heart surgeries, to becoming a celebrity nutritionist, I'll guide you on this beautiful journey of becoming rooted in wellness. Does the constant demands of work, family, and self-care leave you feeling overwhelmed? Many of us today are wearing countless hats, and it's easy to feel stretched thin.

But guess what? You can have it all. A fulfilling career, a happy family, a thriving personal life, and optimal health.

This is what we dive into this episode of Rooted in Wellness with Lisa Odenweller, founder of Kroma Wellness, a functional superfood nutrition company that I love. We provide solutions to this issue, and we advocate for integrating ancient wisdom with modern wellness practices, utilizing intuitive check-ins and fostering genuine connections to maintain a balanced and joyful life. Lisa Odenweller is the founder and CEO of Kroma Wellness, a functional superfood and nutrition company.

After exiting Beaming in 2018, Lisa had a bigger vision with a more ambitious reach, a direct-to-consumer brand that could simplify people's lives by offering a wide variety of delicious, on-the-go functional foods and beverages that easily fit into your everyday life. Out of this vision, Kroma Wellness was born, a brand with a phenomenal five-day reset program that I love and recommend to all of my clients. Before we dive into today's episode, I first want to ask you a huge favor.

If you're loving these episodes of Rooted in Wellness, could you please be sure to click follow on your Apple Podcasts or Spotify app or any other app that you might be using to tune in? By doing so, you greatly help the growth of the show, allowing me to reach more people and guide them towards shifting their vibrance from imbalance to balance. Plus, you ensure that you never miss an episode, and you continue working towards becoming rooted in wellness.

Again, it would be beyond appreciated if you could take a few seconds to just click follow so that we can continue this journey together. Thank you. Lisa, welcome to Rooted in Wellness.

Lisa Odenweller (LO):

Thank you so much.

I'm so happy to be here.

(MS):

So excited. Yeah, we were jamming just before on this excitement. I was saying that I feel like I manifested you because I really wanted to showcase strong, powerful, healthy, abundant, you know, diverse women who can really showcase what it's like to live in this world and the craziness and the chaos and the hardship and everything and still embody wellness and showcase the struggles and the journey and the illnesses and what ultimately brought you here. So we'll talk more on that.

(LO):

Thank you.

(MS):

But before we dive in, so Rooted in Wellness is literally about ancient wisdom in our modern world and how we can become more rooted, rooted in ourselves, in our life, in our inner wisdom to heal. I think we all have that.

So, you know, we ask every guest that comes on, what are three things that you would say make you feel really rooted in yourself and in your life and why?

(LO):

Oh, I love the question.

I would start with, I'm very intuitive and maybe it's been a little bit learned over time, but I'm always checking in and how do I feel even amidst the chaos of life and all that I juggle and getting on planes and three kids and running a business, there's always a check-in and whether it's saying yes to something, whether it's, you know, hiring someone, whether it's how to balance all the different things, I think there's just this sense we all have this inner knowing and I think often we don't check in with it and it's always talking to us and our gut is always talking and when there's a little nudge that's like, it could be in dating, whatever it is, those are messages and we're so quick to kind of blow it off or make excuses and I think there's just a sense of listening to my intuition and that when I do that, which I don't always follow, that really roots me in my path.

(MS):

So good.

(LO):

The other, I surround myself with amazing people and I think that we can't underestimate the power of connection and laughter and play and being with people who light us up and not making space for anyone who brings us down and that doesn't mean that you're not there for a friend who needs you, but there's a difference between a vampire and someone who is really—you're vibrating together, you're shining together, you're bringing out the best in each other and I, even amidst all the stuff I do, I always make room for play and that is non-negotiable because it's also the only way that we can keep showing up because we can get pulled into all the to-dos and the must-dos, but I will shut it down and I will make room for play, whatever that looks like, being with friends, going to a dance class, going for a walk, listening to a podcast, dancing with wherever, going out to a great restaurant, whatever it is that lights you up, taking a bath, you have to make that time to nourish, to bring pleasure and joy and happiness.

(MS):

Brilliant. Honestly, you're one of the few people who haven't listed an actual action that you have to go and take to get rooted in wellness, which is wisdom in itself, right? The act of checking in, even the concept of Rooted in Wellness, I think that our body, when we become embodied, gives us so many answers, not only for the things that we need to do, but our inspiration, our motivation, the direction that we need to go into life.

So, those are beautiful.

(LO):

I didn't know the question ahead of time, so that's just what came to me. I'm sure if I thought about it more, I'd probably add to that, but yeah, I think that there are a lot of actions. I'm mean food, right?

I'm in food to heal like you. There are a lot of actions that very much root me in the choices, what I put in my body every day. That's a big one.

So I don't want to devalue that one.

(MS):

Totally. But you were in wellness. Those things, I think, have become you.

So I think the wisdom is actually just the knowing of things that you as a person needs, right? So let's look at the flip side. There's a lot of people who embody these practices, these things that really uproot them in their life.

They often treat their wellness routine like a checklist, not knowing that their checklist could even be fueling inflammation, fueling a feeling of overwhelm and anxiety and stuff like that, even other quote unquote healthy things. So what are the three things in your life that are uprooting you and take you away from that wisdom?

(LO):

Not making yourself a priority. And again, it goes back to what I was just saying. I think especially as women, we're so used to taking care of everyone else. And we're so used to making sure everybody else is okay before we have our own needs met.

And the two have to coexist. And you can use the analogy of the oxygen mask and what have you, but there's so much truth in that. Because if I'm not taking care of myself, if I'm not allowing myself that pleasure, that play, that nourishment, then I can't actually show up for everything and everyone else.

And we're the only ones that can control that. No one's going to come in and say, oh Lisa, you're not making any time for yourself. Or you should probably eat better.

Or no one's going to make those decisions for you. Or you know what, you've taken on too much. Let me take it off your plate.

That's not going to happen. So you have to really be in charge of that and that inner wisdom and allow yourself to have that. And I think that's the other piece is that we've somehow, I don't know where this happened or why, but somehow we didn't feel like we deserved it or that our purpose was to give and give and give.

And I really want to change that to allowing us as women to receive, letting people show up for us.

(MS):

Yeah. Do you feel, you know, do women wear doing more as a badge of honor? Like I feel for me, once I got into the ribbon, the rhythm of doing things and, you know, even growing a business and career and you start working and you're juggling being a mom and doing all of these things, it's like, okay, well, I guess I can do it.

And there's opportunity coming my way. So maybe there is an obligation to say yes. And to your point, no one's ever going to say, no, no, no, no.

Take a break. They'll say, oh, well, what about doing this? What about this opportunity?

Right. You know, how do you think that that's compromised where we are, how we're feeling our health?

(LO):

I think it's massive. And it's something that I have struggled with. I mean, probably my whole life.

And maybe the wisdom that I have today is because of all the things that I did wrong along the way to get me here, to really look at what my values are and how I want my life to be. And, and I say that I love my life and I am so grateful every day that I get to do what I do. And I'm surrounded by people that I love and I get to change lives and all those things.

But it is, and there is a but there, it is been such, I got divorced 13 years ago. I've had three kids. I got divorced with no money, started a business out of my home, the first company Beaming.

And it's been, you know, it's been a struggle and I don't attach to that word struggle, but it, I had to do what I had to do to provide for my family. And then there was this other side of like, I have a purpose in the world that I want to bring to life. And so the two, there was the needs and making sure that I could provide.

And then there was the, and I'm really passionate about wellness and I feel called to go do this, but a lot of sacrifices were made along the way. And there was a lot of chaos along the way. And a lot of things that I probably should have said no to.

And I probably made it more chaotic than I needed to. So it's been a bit of learning along the way. Everyone's circumstances are different.

We do whatever we have to do and whatever we have to—what it's going to take based on wherever we are. But I do think we add a lot of chaos. And I'll give an example.

I have a lot of friends that, you know, I was one of the only working moms in San Diego and most of the women didn't work. And it was so interesting to me because the working, the women that were not working were always so stressed out and they were like, didn't have time and were too busy. And don't get me wrong, being a mom is the hardest job in the world and it's so much work.

But I thought if I can be a mom, run a business, travel nonstop, but still make time for me and the people that I love, what's broken here? And it's just a matter of making those priorities and what those values are for you.

(MS):

Absolutely. And I feel like, you know, the more that women are talking about this and all of these challenges, there's like a bit of a wake up call that's happening right now. And maybe it's our responsibility, gosh, to just hold each other accountable to like, Hey, you're doing a lot again. You know, you know, how are you feeling?

And I say this all the time. We'll often talk about how we're feeling. We'll say, God, I'm so tired.

I feel bloated. I feel this. I feel that.

But we're not like, no, no, no. Tell me, like, how are you feeling? What's going on in your mind?

Why are you not sleeping? Why are you bloating? Why are you not taking time to do the things that you know, that you need to feel rooted?

(LO):

So I love this conversation. And I think, I mean, and I'm so curious and sort of, as you have your, these kinds of conversations, I think we're so disconnected.

(MS):

Yeah, I agree.

(LO):

I think we're disconnected from our bodies. I think we're disconnected from our minds, from our spiritual connection. I think we're not even doing the check-ins to really ask ourselves, how am I doing?

How am I feeling? And it's not just the surface. It's like, I don't, how am I feeling?

What's my emotional set? Do I feel nourished in life? And I don't think we take enough time to do that because we're so much in the doing.

And I can only say that as somebody who has lived my life at that pace and finally starting to really look at it differently. And I think one other thing that you said that is really important is I think that there's another aspect of a little bit of a victimness and we make these choices. So for example, I have a, again, I have a crazy life running a business with the kids, living in three cities, all the things.

The difference for me is it's attitude and perspective. And as much as, yes, anyone looks at me and goes, I don't know how you do what you do. How in the world do you do what you do?

If I spun on that story, I would be exhausted. I would be like, what am I doing? But the story I live by is I get to do this.

I get to have these experiences. I get to go where I do. I get to meet the most amazing people.

I get to hear stories about how Kromas changed your life. So for me, it's also about the story.

(MS):

What's so interesting about that. And my gosh, I couldn't agree with you more. So I'm 43.

And honestly, Lisa, like, I feel like this is the first year that I'm actually learning how to be in my body. And this is even like, I'm a yoga teacher. I teach meditation.

I do all of those things. But I finally got to a point this year. It's like, okay, this feeling of anxiety is like, I'm really done with it.

And working with this incredible woman, she just helped me understand that anxiety really is, was me stuffing all the things. Oh, I'll deal with that later. Oh, I'll deal with that later.

I'll deal with this later, deal with that later. My body just got to a point where I was like, we can't take anymore. Like, this is enough.

And I was forced into like the realization of all the personal growth and the self-help and it's essential. But would you agree that it almost takes you going through it? Like you can't go around it.

There's lots of things that you can study, but experiencing it right through going through the depths of the tunnel is the only thing that like lifts the veil of like, oh, this is what they meant. This is how I can feel embodied. This is what it means to set boundaries.

This is why I need to live my life this way. And it's like, it's the most freeing experience. And I don't know about you, but you probably like, would you wish that your struggles happened any other way?

(LO):

I am so grateful for them.

And as much as they were, took me to some of the darkest place ever, they were absolutely my greatest teacher. And I think again, with that is what we do with it. As we're going through those hardships, as we're going through the time, there's nothing, as they say, life isn't happening to us, it's happening for us.

So as those things are happening, and one of the things that I've always used, call it a survival mechanism, was what this is happening for a reason, even if I don't understand it, there is a gift in this, even if that's not clear today, I got to survive to get through it. But I also have to listen, and I have to learn along the way. And that's been something that through all my struggles and challenges throughout life, there's always been that sense of, I have no fucking clue why this is happening.

But I know when I get on the other side, it's going to be clear. And that's never not been true. And it's never not been something where I'm like, thank you.

Thank you. I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't experienced that. And I'm 53, so 10 years later, and it's taken me a lot longer.

So kudos to you at 43 and a half. But it's a constant unlock too. And no matter how much work we do, or how many books we read, or meditations, or yoga classes, or eating well, or psilocybin journeys, or whatever we do, go to Hoffman, all the things.

I've done them all. So it's still, it's a constant peeling back. And it's constant opportunity.

I'll give you an example. Last year, I was on Summit at Sea, which we were talking about earlier.

(MS):

I saw all the victories.

(LO):

And one of my favorite things in the world. And incredible group of people. And I was talking to this man at 4 AM, outside under the stars.

And he asks me a question, what would your 12-year-old self say to you now? Now, the dynamic between this man was one that I felt very safe. And we had this really special kind of soul connection.

And so it allowed me to feel safe and vulnerable. And I started to cry. And I couldn't answer the question.

And I was like, what is this about? I know what happened around that time frame in my childhood. But I've done so much work, I thought we've resolved this.

Like, are we done with this? And so I couldn't answer the question. What that then did is it led me to going to do a deep dive, doing a journey, and really understanding what did that little girl need?

What was unfinished? And I wanted to go connect with her. Fast forward, I was doing an interview with Lori Harder a couple months ago.

And at the end of the interview, she says, what would your 10-year-old self say to you now? So fast forward from this moment when this gentleman asked me the question, and I took a deep breath and I closed my eyes. And I said, she would say, I'm so proud of you.

And I know you could do it. And you were loved all the time. And this thing came out of me because I dropped into being that little girl.

And I started to cry. And Lori started to cry. And the whole room started to cry.

But it was such a profound moment because I've witnessed over time my growth and evolution as a woman, as a friend, as a parent, as a leader. And that is something I just hold sacred.

(MS):

Oh, yeah. That's beautiful. I have tears in my eyes. Yeah. Because I think a lot of what drives us, going back to that act of being busy, we think about accomplishments. We think about providing. We think about living up to others' expectations.

We think about making our parents proud. But ultimately, tuning into the little girl within us, it's like, well, what do we really need? And I think for me, I actually got to a point where it's like, I felt like the purpose of life was to be on a path of betterment, like always trying to get better.

It's like the whole point is to always get better, to learn, to grow, to learn, to grow. But if I'm constantly learning and growing and learning and growing, which I enjoy doing, and it's soul-filling, but it means I'm never happy where I am.

(LO):

Totally.

(MS):

So my inner child will never feel safe. And it's like, holy shit. God, we're operating in life.

(LO):

That's so true. Because we keep moving the needle. And it's not about continuing to evolve, but just being okay right now.

And that question that was asked on the boat was the opportunity for me to go, oh, there's some unfinished work here. It wasn't that I was seeking more and more and more, and let's keep going through the dungeons and finding all the missed spots. It was like, oh, there's an opportunity. I'm going to step into it because there's something here unresolved.

(MS):

And do you find yourself seeking more of those moments? You’re like, oh, there’s something else that’s coming up.

(LO):

No.

(MS):

You’re like, no, I’ve been through it.

(LO):

No. But I listen.

It kind of goes back to like, oh, that was interesting. Oh, that was uncomfortable. I had something happen last week.

And when I checked in with myself, I realized it was an old story. I was like, actually, no. I'm good.

(MS):

We're good now.

(LO):

That's an old story. I don't really need to spin on that one.

But I had to check in with myself because we're so conditioned to attach to the old story. So it's also our willingness to let go of it and maybe invite or write a new story.

(MS):

Even hearing you say that, though, because we hear this concept, don't run off with the story. But when you're not doing that, you take the awareness out of the intellectual mind and you're bringing it into your body. And I think that as women, the more that we can do that, that's where all of our inner wisdom relies, right?

(LO):

We're so intuitive. We're so compassionate. It's what makes women so powerful.

(MS):

Absolutely.

(LO):

We just need to use it more.

(MS):

I'm so grateful for sharing these because I'm sure you've heard this before from people, but they look at people like us, women in wellness, and from the outside, it looks like we've got it all.

We're super healthy. We do all the right things. Things come easily for us.

We grow businesses. There's luck. And it's like, no, no, no.

There's a shit ton of hardship. And it's actually really hard some days.

(LO):

Absolutely. I think that is so important to hear. We didn't get here because it was an easy path. And it's something that I think, and I wouldn't be who I am today if it had been.

And I wouldn't be able to do the work that I do if it had been easy, because part of that path was allowing me to get more and more clarity about my purpose, how I can make a difference in the world. And food is part of that, but within the food is actually the energy and that life force energy of how we want to show up in the world. It's bigger than just the food.

(MS):

So much more. How you're nourishing yourself.

(LO):

How you're nourishing yourself. And the next layer of that for me, and this is something that I'm really been thinking about. I had a company called Beaming and it's super food cafes.

And I love that word. And the word is the energy you give out is the energy you get back. It's this radiating energy and it's contagious.

And we had this tagline, “The world is brighter when you're beaming.” And the essence of that is everything about what I really, my purpose in the world is all of us understanding that how we show up in the world is exactly what we're going to get back. Because we're going to mirror that and then we're going to vibrate and we're going to attract that.

But it's also the difference we can make in the world. So yesterday I was at Sephora and I was picking up something and the woman that was helping me, she said, I just have to say thank you. It was such a pleasure to be in your energy.

She said, I was having the roughest day. I was just being silly and it'd be well, head on. I just got up for a workout.

Like it was just like, we were having fun trying to figure out, you know, color match me. And she said, thank you. Thank you for your energy.

And it reminded me again, every moment that we interact with the world is an opportunity for me to make a difference in the world. Absolutely. You don't have to start a business to do it.

You just show up in the world. And even if you don't feel like it, what will reflect back to it to you is going to feed you as well. It's an infinite loop.

(MS):

It's a full energy exchange between two people.

(LO):

Yeah.

(MS):

And I think you're right.

I think we're disconnected from the impact of our own energy, being able to inspire so many people with or without something like a platform, right? Just going out for a coffee for crying out loud.

(LO):

Think about when we're on our phones and I do it too, but like we're on our phone. We're not connecting with the world. We're standing here whether you're at the Starbucks line or wherever you are and walking down the street and we are so disconnected and it's getting worse and worse and worse.

And I am, I have to check in with myself too on that. And then what if we just put the phone down, looked at, looked around, observed the world, smiled at the person you walked by. Maybe you talk to the person in line at the Starbucks or the person on the airplane, wherever.

I'd make friends in the elevator everywhere I go. I believe that.

(MS):

I totally believe that.

(LO):

And like friends that I've kept.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

And you never know, right? And these beautiful magic connections will happen randomly just by being open.

(MS):

I have this crazy thing when I go for walks or runs in the morning, I'm the crazy person who's like smiling on Venice beach on the boardwalk. Like, good morning. Like, please say good morning back to me.

Smile at me. Like give me something. Right.

It's like, it feels so good.

(LO):

It feels so good. And even if they don't like, yeah, it's okay. And you know, who knows what that person's going through, but you keep being you and it's just, you're putting that, that energy out in the world.

(MS):

Yeah. Okay. So let's bring this back to the power of cleansing and detoxing.

Right. So we talk about going through these hardships and stuff like that. And you know, one, I know that some people might listen to this and they might be going through a really hard time.

And you know, I was easy to saying, you can't tell somebody who's going through depression to just eat a salad. Right. It's like the hardest thing in the world.

There's other things that you have to go through. But I think that what we've talked about this idea of embodying is really, really special. And when we look at these pillars of healing, what we consume is everything to your point.

Like food is energy. It literally can awaken every cell in our body can turn on a hormonal response that releases good endorphins to help us feel better. We don't always feel it in the moment, but with practice, and obviously like you are a beacon of this, you know, that the products that you're creating impact how people feel.

And I want to point out, so first of all, Kroma, an incredible cleanse program, I found out about you through Dr. Will Cole, who I know and adore and the packaging for Kroma, I'll just say is beaming. Like I just saw that and I just instantly needed to have it today. Your brand has grown.

You have incredible products that are designed to help people reset. You have incredible granola that is launched this week. You have bone broth.

That's incredibly nourishing. You have these morning rituals around lattes that are helping people to set an intention and tune into like superfood throughout the day. So I want to just share on, I think a lot of the power behind your brand and the story.

And your success is your journey and your connection to wealth from when you were little. I know for me, certainly that was the case. So can you share a little bit about that?

(LO):

The share on the growing up part?

(MS):

Yeah, the growing up, I would say like the, the knowingness of you in wellness and the knowingness of how superfoods were something that could, you know, really ignite the body and what brought you to the brand ultimately.

(LO):

I think my journey in wellness started, well, the journey in wellness has been my whole life growing up in a healthy family, always wanting to make healthy choices, but where it stemmed from, I don't know why I had this wisdom as a young person, but I always wanted to feel empowered with my health. It's kind of a weird thing, but I didn't ever want to go to the doctor and have bad news. And so I always had this searching of like, I'm going to take care of my health.

And I exercise every day ever since I was five. Right. And that's just the thing.

And I was a latchkey kid, so no one was home. So I'd jump rope outside and play tennis against the garage door and old school days, but I always was active. And I remember in high school, I was making smoothies before I think even the Vitamix was designed.

And I know I'm dating myself right now, but I was trying to figure out how to make a chocolate chip cookie healthy for the football players, mostly because I was eating too much of the batter. Like there was always these things and the pebbles along the way. And so I think, and I, my grandfather was doing a thousand pushups till he was 90 and sit-ups every day.

Like I watched my parents exercise. So it was ingrained in me, but it didn't really hit me that wellness was going to be my path. And a lot of different things happened along the way that led me to, I have to take this knowledge and this wisdom that I've gained and I have to make a difference with it.

And two of the stories that I'll sort of kind of cut short, but ones that I think are really important is going to the gynecologist at 38 and having, not feeling right, I was thinking of the annual exam, feeling like I was gaining weight, I had lots of inflammation, digestion wasn't working, hair loss, no sex drive at all, super foggy brain, just all the things. And I was like, I just don't feel good. I was 38.

And the doctor literally laughed and she said, “Oh honey, welcome to getting older.” And when I tell this story, there are so many times I hear this story, right? And it's crazy.

And I was like, that's absolutely unacceptable. It's normal. And no.

And I was like, no, nothing about this is normal. Even if I'm 58, that's not normal. Like my body's speaking to me and our bodies are always talking to ourselves.

It's just raising its hand. It's saying I need some attention. Something's not working.

Something's not working. So that was like, no, I got to figure this out. The other layer to this, and especially for any moms out there, my daughter had been on ADD medication since she was nine.

And at this time, I think she's about 12. So she'd been on it for three years. I hated the fact that she was on medication.

Went to five doctors. All five said, there's no other option but medication. Five doctors.

I didn't know what I know now then. So this was 17, 18 years ago, right? So this was all the things that sort of led to my aha moment.

So finally, in about three years, I was like, this is not right. And I was already on my own path trying to heal myself because the doctor had laughed me off. So I went to an IIN nutrition school.

I started getting in the kitchen and changing the food for the family. And then as I started to learn what I was learning-

(MS):

Did you do that intuitively?

(LO):

I did it intuitively because I was also learning and reading, right?

And I was learning about—really what it came down to is this moment of truth that I heard from Chris Carr, which was, we have more, we have a responsibility to take care of our health. And it starts with what you eat, drink, and think. And as a woman who, Chris Carr, who healed herself of cancer by nourishment and eating well, her message is profound.

And that really spoke to me. And it just kind of, as I started to dive into it more, I realized this is not as complicated as we make it. And all I did was remove the things that were inflammatory, the things that our bodies don't like.

And for my daughter, especially, if there's anything susceptible to ADD or learning challenges or anything else, food is either nourishment or it's inflammatory. It's either working for you, or it's working against you. And as a young person, especially, they're eating a lot of junk food.

Even if you try to give them healthy stuff, they love their pizza. They love their pasta, right? They got chips and all the things, whether they're at a friend's house, whether you give it to them or not, they're surrounded by cupcakes.

I mean, soccer practice has junk food at halftime, right?

(MS):

Totally. They're seeing people. It's modeled for us in the world everywhere, right?

(LO):

So that, unfortunately, is still the case. It's getting better and better, sort of, but not really.

And so when I removed those things from her diet, from my entire family, and we were the healthy family, but took it to the next level of no gluten, no sugar, dairy, minimal, no more milk, right? Certainly no processed foods, all organic, clean meats, et cetera. That's all that changed.

By doing that, within two weeks, my daughter was off ADD medication and has never gone back on. So incredible. And I think that is so important.

And it's so much of the reason why I do what I do is because we have to be the CEOs of our own health and our families. We have to ask the questions, challenge, goes back to the intuition where we started this conversation. I knew as a mother, this was wrong.

I didn't know what to do. Took me a couple of years to get there. And fortunately, we have a lot more information now than we had then.

And access to information is not the problem, maybe too much information, but the information is there. And there's podcasts like this that are getting more of that content out there. So there's really no excuse now.

So fast forward, as I learned this, I said, I have to do something with it. I have to tell the world. I had healed myself.

All of a sudden, my body was cooperating again. And it was not through medication. I balanced my hormones and through food.

And so that's when I went into how can I make food that tastes amazing, that helps people feel amazing, and makes them understand it's not that complicated, and how good they feel when they nourish themselves. So that led to me opening the first superfood cafe in the country. Name was Beaming.

Opened it in Del Mar in December 2012. And I only want to mention that, just what's funny about it, because this is what I love 12 years later, 13 years later, is how far we've come. Because it was the first superfood cafe.

People did not know what maca, spirulina, and mushrooms were. We were doing spreaded almond milk, like what's that? And now there's a lot of that option.

But we were like the first. It went off like gangbusters. Opened 10 cafes.

(MS):

You were such a success. Everyone was talking about Beaming.

(LO):

Oh, I love hearing that. It was such a beautiful… I loved—it was like, it was a divine moment because it was bigger than me. I was sort of called to do this.

I was single mom going through divorce, had no money, three little kids. But I had to do it. I was like, I have a mission.

I have to go tell the world that what they put in their body matters. And they have to take control of their health. And that has been my mission since I launched Beaming 12 years ago to where we are today now having launched Kroma.

Because I sold Beaming, transitioned over to Kroma, launched Kroma about almost three years ago. And it's the same mission. I just create healthy foods that make you get into your body, that help you feel how good you feel when you eat well.

And there's another layer to it because it's not just about what the food is and what superfoods and adaptogens we use. And yes, we put the best of the best together and make cool, really sexy, cool food. But it's the gift that we're giving ourselves when we make that choice.

That what we gain when we say, I care enough about myself that I want to put good things in my body.

(MS):

Yeah. And choosing to love myself.

(LO):

Choosing to love myself and choosing to make myself a priority. Where we take it a step further with Kroma is that I think it should be pleasurable.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

And that's how I live my life. Right.

So for me, the reason why our Five-Day Reset has 10 foods and beverages a day and has cookie butter and a chocolate bar is because I want you to enjoy life. I'm not trying to take things away. I want you to be excited.

The cookie butter happens to be almond butter and coconut butter and coconut oil and plant protein and goji berries, all the healthy things, but it's decadence. In fact, I brought you some. So, you know, the chocolate bar is really an analogy.

Every little day you get a square because it's not about taking away the things that you love. It's about savoring them, being mindful, looking at ingredients, you know, what's in that food. It's obviously a very beautifully made chocolate bar from a chocolatier that's got clean ingredients and all the things, but you get to savor that and then you get to be in your body and enjoy that piece of chocolate probably more than you ever enjoy any full bar of chocolate.

(MS):

Absolutely. Yeah.

(LO):

And that's how I want you to experience wellness.

When that box shows up at your house and it's so beautiful, as you were mentioning, it's this beautiful wheel with 45 different colors and a drawer that opens, it's got a mug and, you know, I wanted you to have the Apple unboxing experience because I wanted it to be something that you can't wait to do. I think health should be something we look forward to.

(MS):

Instead of dreading.

(LO):

And somewhere along the way, the wheels came off and we somehow thought that to be healthy, we had to punish ourselves. We had to deprive ourselves.

(MS):

Hardcore.

(LO):

We had to eat crappy food. We had to suffer. We had to…and there's programs out there that make you a raving bitch.

You can't function. You can't exercise. You can't think.

Nobody wants to be around you. You certainly can't work. Definitely aren't going to show up for your family.

And you're basically a raving bitch.

(MS):

Absolutely.

(LO):

I'm not going to name it.

(MS):

I've been there.

(LO):

And so I'm like, why are we doing this? Because what is that teaching you?

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

And I'm going to dread it every time I do it, but what, to lose a couple pounds? Because let's be real. That's the whole reason is to lose weight.

I get the vanity play in this, but what if I could create programs that you'll lose the weight, but you actually get to enjoy it and you get to experience food that you would actually want every day. And the design of the Five-Day Reset is there's 18 different products. All of those products are available after, because I actually care about after more than I care.

The reset is the reset. The reset gets you back in your body. The reset gets you to say, I gave this gift to myself.

I'm committed to myself. I'm going to nourish myself. And then it's a journey in itself because all of a sudden you're starting your day with a matcha with collagen and ginger and turmeric and mushrooms, and it tastes amazing.

And I get to do this and wow, I feel really good drinking this.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

And then you have the porridge or there's the bone broth and you get to customize it because what you need and what I need might be very different. I want you to be able to show up fully in life. I want you to be able to do your workouts because it's important that you move.

I want you to listen to your body and decide maybe I don't need all 10 things. Maybe I'm only going to have seven today. Maybe I need to add some extra protein.

You are in control. That's a very unique approach. There's nothing else that's had that same sort of approach to wellness cleansing because I don't want it to be a deprivation because nothing will change.

If you suffer, nothing will change. But if you can walk away from that experience, being back in your body, feeling inspired, feeling like, wow, I look pretty good. I feel amazing.

Everything's just lit up just a little higher vibration. Then you're inspired to keep incorporating those changes. And that's when the transformation happens.

It's not the three or five days we do a cleanse and then we go right back where we were. The design of the Kroma Reset is you do that program, you feel amazing, you look amazing, and then all those things you can keep incorporating.

(MS):

Absolutely.

(LO):

And that's a very different approach.

(MS):

My cheeks are hurting. I'm smiling so much because I want every single woman to hear the difference of you speaking to this program. The way that over the past 20, 30, 50 years that diets, cleansing, getting healthy, going on a program, the fads have been described to us.

It's always been about deprivation. It's always been about hardcore. When my health was at its worst, I was working out for two hours a day.

I was on the Atkins diet. I was eating a shit ton of dead, processed foods. It just was not working for me.

And here you are. And what are you really mimicking? Something that all of our ancestors did.

They knew the power of cleansing. In the same way that our seasons change, we adapt, our bodies have to shift. We understand how our body's working.

And often we accumulate so many toxins when simply doing a gentle cleanse is something that could make a world of difference.

(LO):

And from a lifestyle perspective, right? There's different things for different reasons, right? And people who want to do fast for 24 hours, 48 hours, all those, those have different benefits.

(MS):

For sure.

(LO):

And I think that there's a place for that. But realistically, most of us, maybe we had a bender weekend.

Maybe it was the holidays.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

Maybe we don't know where to start in our wellness journey.

And this is a really good place to start because this is a time for you to kind of jump in and start to experience food in a new way. And I think going back to what we keep playing off of is I want women to understand that we don't have to starve ourselves to look and feel good in our bodies. I want us to understand and be friends with food.

As somebody who didn't know what to eat, was afraid of food, I created a program that helps you understand fat is good.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

Proteins are necessary. Calories, carbs are okay. Actually you need sugar.

Yeah. So this whole thing of no sugar, there's no such thing. Your brain needs sugar.

(MS):

And you're focused on minerals. The fact like minerals can have, minerals can have a massive impact on your mood every day and your performance and your brain capacity.

Like there's just so many layers.

(LO):

So many layers.

(MS):

And I want to point out too about this story is something that you need, you did that was very unique was the beta testing that you did.

You didn't develop a product in a factory and you said, okay, let's go. Let’s see how this works. No. You had people testing, and trying, and giving you feedback. Like you knew you had something that was impacting the way people looked, felt, and could show up every day. And then you went to market.

(LO):

Yep.

(MS):

That's powerful.

(LO):

I think it's necessary.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

I did the same thing with Beaming.

I redesigned cleansing during the juice cleansing days, which I thought was the stupidest thing in the world. And why are we drinking juice that has no protein, fiber, and fat? 222 grams of sugar.

I'm like, what are we doing? And so I designed a program that had food that tasted really good and was very culinary forward. And I did a beta for a whole year.

Like would people feel so good they would want this food all the time? Would they be inspired to make changes?

The same thing I did with Kroma. I had this theory. And so I wanted to make sure, does it work?

How do people respond? And that's actually how I ended up raising money. So it was not only affirming this kind of hypothesis, but it was also then in giving the feedback to it, but it was allowing me to really see what this could be.

And then along the way, I was able to bring along a bunch of amazing investors that really believed in the vision.

(MS):

I want to take a quick break from our episode to thank our amazing sponsor, Paleo Valley. Paleo Valley is most known for their amazing grass-fed beef sticks, which I recommend to all of my clients as it's the perfect high protein nutrient dense snack on-the-go. Plus, they are sourced from us family farmers that use rotational grazing practices, which I love and they're fermented for gut health optimization. But what most people don't know is that Paleo Valley offers a wide range of nutrient dense products and supplements that you can use to supercharge your health.

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There's something else that I wanted to unpack there.

When you go back to the story of your daughter, I can't even imagine how hard that would have been going through because, and I think a lot of people out there, like we live in this wellness connected world, but for a lot of other people, they put so much trust in the white lab coat and going to the doctor. Let me take it to my doctor if it's something that they think that I should be doing when they've never been trained in this. They don't know about the ancient wisdom around fasting, around doing gentle protocols.

And often if there's symptoms, like you said, those whispers, they're often writing prescriptions. And to your point, there is a time and a place for those prescription medications. Absolutely.

But more often than not, I know certainly in the past 15 years of working in nutrition, those symptoms are often the result of imbalances that come from inflammation and from stress. And so if we just flip it and we say, okay, you know, with this medication, let's also address the inflammation that's happening within your body, the potential stress that your body's going through right now. So when people go through Kroma and I could say, there's two of my clients specifically who just like rave about it because they don't feel like they're going on a cleanse.

It's not like something that they've got to prepare for. It's not like a, I'm going to wait till Monday to try this. It's like, no, you know, it's another month.

I'm going to pick up my Kroma. And they start it knowing that they can do it anywhere they are. They can take it with them to the office.

They can take it with them on an airplane. They don't feel deprived. They don't have to stop their meetings.

They don't have to stop working out. Like it literally becomes part of their life. And that's a really significant way.

It's almost like an ultimate reframe on what a cleanse is and what a detox is, right?

(LO):

That's the goal. So that it is something that just becomes part of our lifestyle.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

And you choose how often you do it, whether it's something you do seasonally, whether it's something that you do before vacation, after vacation, because you just feel like your sugar cravings have gone haywire. Maybe your hormones feel whack. You're not sleeping well.

Digestion isn't working. Like you decide, but it's because you're nourishing yourself and you're—actually, and this is another important thing, you're actually eating real food. And so most people, and this scares women when I say this, but most people are getting 1,500 to 2,200 calories a day and losing weight.

Very counterintuitive to how we think about things. The programs out there are 600 calories a day, which is also wreaking havoc on your metabolism and all sorts of other things. So this is igniting your metabolism and again, giving you the tools to continue to feel this way and to continue to build on it.

And let's face it, we need the wins.

(MS):

Absolutely.

(LO):

And each of those habits stack and they just build on themselves and then we're ready for more.

(MS):

Well, if you wake up feeling good, you're not questioning. It's like, oh, eating this way was different, but you're not questioning whether to stop. You're like, holy shit, I feel good.

(LO):

I feel good. I'm totally inspired.

(MS):

Yeah. Do you find yourself educating on this aspect of debunking? The good detoxes, the bad detoxes.

Can you just break that down in your mind? If we're going to reframe, especially for women, what doing a detox is?

(LO):

So the way I've always described it was removing the things that are wreaking havoc in your body. So that's the gluten, it's the dairy, it's any processed foods, anything that's not organic, too much coffee or caffeine, I should say. And it's not no caffeine, I'm just saying too much of it.

And alcohol. I'm also not saying that you can't ever put it back. And that's a really important thing is I am all about balance.

I love food and I love a great glass of wine or good tequila with my meals, but I'm mindful of it. I love French fries, one of my favorite foods. And I allow myself, and for some reason when I'm in New York, every meal has French fries.

I don't know what it is and I enjoy every minute of it. So I'm just mindful about it and how the choices that I make. So I think that's going back to your question, I just want to make sure that that's a really important piece of this puzzle because I think part of what gets people messed up in wellness is that it has to look one way and it fits in a box and it's restrictive and you're going to do this and you have to do that and you have to do this.

And I don't believe in any of that. Absolutely not. I'm going to put my head down.

It's much more about you have to do what's going to work for you. And I am in no place. I'm going to give you the tools and then you decide.

And once again, you get to decide what feels good. If I have gluten and I have pizza or whatever it is because I'm at Jelena and it's really good pizza.

(MS):

You're going to go for it.

(LO):

I enjoy it. I might wake up with a little puffiness under my eyes, but I made a choice and I enjoyed every bite of it. And then I'm back on my Kroma because I eat Kroma most of the days.

And part of the reason I do it is because it's easy. It only needs water. I don't have to get in the kitchen. I don't do anything. We're all too busy. So totally spaced on the question, but on another tangent.

(MS):

No, you're answering it. You know, just like this idea of detoxing and it being hardcore, like it's just that reframe.

(LO):

Well, sorry. And just to finish the thing was just removing those things, whether you do the Kroma Reset or you just eat clean and eat really clean protein and lots of vegetables and really—lots of hydration, right? Make sure you're getting magnesium because we're all deficient, right?

Just start with the baseline, get your omegas, right? Like go in, get back in your body, remove the things that we know aren't good. Sugar, right?

Like we know that's the devil. It doesn't mean no sugar. Let's not, let's stay away from processed.

But I think we don't, we make it more complicated than it is. Now what's the benefit of Kroma is I don't have time. Most people don't have time.

And I don't want…I'm not…I don't try to be in the kitchen all day.

(MS):

No.

(LO):

I don't really want to read instructions. And usually when it's too complicated, we can't stay with it. We might start inspired.

We get through the day, first day, we're all excited. And then the wheels come off because life is crazy.

(MS):

Absolutely.

(LO):

So the design of Kroma is we're going to take all of that craziness out of, out of the picture. We're going to make it so easy that if you all of a sudden have to jump on a plane and go somewhere, because that's how life works, or you get invited to a dinner and something shifts because that just is the case. Five days is, feels like a long time in today's world.

It goes with you.

(MS):

For sure.

(LO):

It's just powders.

You throw it in your purse, get on the plane, get some water on the airplane, wherever you are in the office. And it makes it, it takes out the excuses and the complexity of nourishing yourself.

(MS):

Okay. This is really powerful because I have a feeling this is something that you and I do. It's not about doing a cleanse necessarily.

It's the fact that cleansing becomes part of our lifestyle. Living in today's modern world, we just know, now, if you are experiencing any symptoms, you mentioned the puffiness under the eyes, a bit of bloating that you're having, inflammation around your joints, maybe you're gaining a little bit of weight or brain fog or poor sleep. The list goes on.

So many people out there suffer from, using that instead of like, oh my God, I've got to do another cleanse. I've got a diet. Oh, I'm going to start next week.

It's like, oh my gosh, I'm going to take this opportunity to listen to what my body's saying and help it function at its best. And was that, you started as a five-day cleanse, but then you moved to expanding, to having the individual products for sale. Was that part of the inspiration?

(LO):

No. Actually, we launched with 18 products. And it's something that people, because of Instagram, everyone was posting the Five-Day. So that's what they thought.

But it's been a system since the beginning because I wanted, like I've said, I care more about the after. The Reset itself is the reset to get in your body, to be reminded of how important it is to nourish yourself and how good you feel when you do.

(MS):

Right.

(LO):

It's the after, so all of those products, the broths, the Cranberry Hydrational Mixer, which is what I'm drinking, the magnesium, the Porridge, the Cookie Butter, the matcha in the morning, the afternoon latte, all of those have been available since we launched.

(MS):

So cool.

(LO):

So, and you can create your own, too. I actually, my lifestyle is such that I really do live on Kroma. I have it at least four to seven times a day.

I love it, I don't get sick of it, I look forward to it, it simplifies my life, it makes me feel good, and then when I go out for a nice meal, I enjoy every bit of it, and there's no shame in that. So I think that it's also designed, again, to fit into multiple moments of your day, every day, in whatever way that you navigate for you.

(MS):

Yeah, I think your body, our bodies, are incredibly resilient. I think that they have the capacity to heal themselves, and living in today's modern world is just, it's stressful. I don't care where you live, I don't care how great you are with your health, but we all have different stressors, and I think we're supposed to go, we have different taste buds for a reason.

We're supposed to go and enjoy those foods. It's not to say you can't ever have pizza, and wine, and chocolate, and all those really yummy things ever again, but knowing that if you're gonna do that to your body, you simply just have to bring it back into balance, right? And I will throw it to people who can't see, your body is like, you're fit, you are toned, your skin is glowing.

(LO):

Thank you, thank you so much.

I really, I appreciate that. My skin always didn't used to be, so that's been a work in progress over time.

(MS):

So what would you say in creating this, and for the people who are like, okay, you know what, I think it's time that I commit to doing a cleanse. I'm gonna try this five day thing. What symptoms are they experiencing?

(LO):

I think it's all the things that we've talked about, and the symptoms that I hear about the most are, I just don't feel good. I feel, and heavy doesn't have to be weight, I just feel this extra, a lot of times it's energy, really struggling with energy. I think that's something that, because especially at the pace we're going, and just the exhaustion of life, but there's the hormones and stuff, when we're not fueling ourself well, then there's a big depletion.

So energy, I think that brain fog, that poor sleep, the inflammation is something I'm so in tune with, right? You see it, you see it in your cheekbones, it's in your ankles, you see it in your belly, and it's different than weight. It's just, it's this extra, it's your body saying, I don't like what you're doing.

Stress will cause inflammation, so it's not just food, but the food is so important in how your body's operating. And I think for people who are experiencing any of that, there's transitions in life, right? There's different moments, and for menopause, this is incredible, perimenopause, and we're coming out with a whole program for that.

(MS):

No way.

(LO):

Yes, I'm so excited, we're launching in October. Wow, incredible. And it's a great program now for perimenopause, because it can settle and recalibrate, especially for anyone going through perimenopause, and you're like, what's happening?

Aliens are taking over my body, I don't know what to eat, and then the wheels come off. And food's a piece of the puzzle, it's not the only thing. And I don't believe in silver bullets, so I wanna be really clear about that, but I do think it's a really important thing to be like, this kind of gets you back in control of a time where you feel like it's completely out of control.

(MS):

Oh my gosh, I love that. So let's link that, something that I think we're missing, especially as women, in the Western world anyways, is we're not celebrating these rites of passage to really understand what's happening. What is the transition when we go into our 20s, become mothers, go into our 40s?

I know for me, even working in wellness, I'm in complete denial of perimenopause, and menopause is like, no, I'm gonna do it differently, it's not gonna happen. And I think that there's part of understanding that, yeah, it should be very different for you than every other woman. And let's recognize some of the key signs that are coming up that women are really suffering with today, and share together what are some of the things that we can do to work against that.

One of the biggest things that you said is inflammation, right? So was the inspiration then to create the menopause program the feedback that women were getting? Was it you going through it, also noticing the difference in your hormones and your mood is a big one also?

(LO):

So I'm gonna be honest and say I haven't gone through it, and I'm not in perimenopause, and the doctors continue to be amazed that they came back and they said, your hormones are like a 36-year-old.

(MS):

Oh my God, more stories like this for women to hear.

(LO):

And they're like, how are your hormones getting better? And food's a part of it. Obviously, I exercise and take care of myself.

I have tremendous joy and play in my life. I don't underestimate that. I do get really good sleep.

So those are those things that all are part of it. I dress up, I feel sexy, right? All those things really do because your body also has to as a woman, it still has to feel like a woman.

And I think that's another part of this. And I use the word pleasure, but it is dressing up for whether it's for yourself, for your partner, for a date, like that's an important part of your body says I am a woman. So all of those things matter.

And so for the women kind of going through this, I feel for them and so because it's so scary. And I was just at a menopause conference this past Saturday with the Swell. And if you don't follow the Swell, you need to.

It's for women over 40. Everything they do is around menopause, sex, and money. And we always do things with them.

And it's such good content, such good doctors, and it's really progressive. I think the other piece in here too, that's so important that women need to do again, this is about being empowered with your health. Yes, there's food, there's movement, those things, but you also need to make sure you're with a good doctor.

(MS):

Yes.

(LO):

And that means I think having hormones, your hormones tested and full blood panels every six months. And I talked to women that haven't ever had them and they have no idea where their hormones are at, where their thyroid's at, where their nutrient levels are, where their deficiencies are, what their cholesterol is. It is so important.

I have mine checked every six months, sometimes more frequently.

(MS):

That's what I recommend to my clients. And so many people don't. Or they'll do once a year and it's a basic panel from their doctors that they need to push for as like an annual thing, but it's the most like limited scope of what they're doing for their health.

(LO):

What the Western doctors do for the most part, there's a few that are more progressive, but most are not, is it's so limited and it's not giving you, and then of course everything is okay and normal, but normal to the majority of the population that's not healthy is not the normal I want. So I think having a functional doctor, there's Parsley Health, there's like so many places now that you can go that allow it to be more available so that you can get that more detailed blood panel. There's Function Health that Dr. Hyman does now. There's a lot of things, but you have to take the initiative and you have to ask the questions and then you have to learn and understand and have someone who can really look at that with you because your body's changing all the time. And I had a woman stop me at the grocery store the other day and she asked me what I did for workouts. And then she asked me, wanted me to know what I thought if she should take estrogen.

She had just had a baby and I said, what I think you need to do is go get your hormones tested, but I think you just need to enjoy your baby right now. Absolutely. And I don't think you need to do anything and I certainly wouldn't put estrogen in your body.

And she didn't know what to do or who to go to or what to do. And I think that's part of the problem is that it's scary. So when I think about a menopause program for us, it's a portal.

We'll give you the food and a system that will support you through it, but also guidance to where to find out more information, potential doctors, other things to consider, really more of an education platform to help you in this time where it's so scary.

(MS):

Yeah, there's something to be said about like the season that you're in, but that plays on a big point, right? Because often when we're suffering, and hormones are no joke, like you remember after having kids, the swings that you take, your reality is whatever you're experiencing that day and you cannot see out of it. So if you're sad, you are like, oh my God, I'm sad.

If you feel depressed, you're like, oh my God, this is it. I'm depressed. You just wanna fix it instead of being in it, right?

And to that point, do you do Dutch tests? Do you do Dutch tests?

(LO):

I'm a huge fan, absolutely.

(MS):

Can you imagine looking back? Had you had been given the opportunity to do a Dutch test in your 20s, in your 30s, in your 40s, in your 50s, and have a physician on the other side to really help you understand what the hell was happening? Like the scope of our health, our healing, our weight gain, our weight loss, our productivity, how we worked, when we worked, how we worked out, when we worked out, would have been completely different just having this knowledge.

And here we are in 2024, only coming to this realization.

(LO):

And there's… we've come so far. I mean, even the conversation of menopause, like Naomi Watts has led that. Grab a seat.

Gwyneth is huge on the forefront of that. I mean, there's so many, Oprah is and stuff. So I think we're making these conversations much more, we're putting them out there.

I think, and where we've come in wellness from when I opened the cafe in 2012 to where we are to 2024, huge progress, so much farther to go. I think the message that I am compelled for women is it's still on you to do the deeper dive. It's still on you to listen to your intuition, still on you to make healthier choices and to find and fuel and nourish yourself.

It's still on you to go exercise and do exercise that lights you up. Not that's exercise that you have to do. I love dance.

I plan my New York trips around my dance classes with Kristen Sudeikis. That's play, that's pleasure for me. It's still on you for making sure you surround yourself with people that you love.

Still on you for taking the time to have a bath or whatever it is that gets you calm. And that's such an important message. You're the one that has to go find a doctor that you feel is gonna really look out for your best interest and be your partner in your health.

That is so, so, so important. And it's on you to question something when it doesn't feel right, because it's 100% not right.

(MS):

Such a big inspiration for this podcast, like really turning down the noise of what's being promoted and advertised to us, going back to like, okay, what do I know to be true? What am I actually feeling? And now a lot of the awareness that you're talking about is really coming to terms with the fact that a lot of the things that we've seen promoted, the studies were all done on men.

And here we are trying to follow these routines and regimens that we know are highly efficient for men and they can actually get results very, very quickly. And for women, we try to stick with them with like a badge of honor. Like, yeah, it's so hard, but I'm doing it because like, you know, media is saying that it's great and it's part of longevity.

And you know, it's just, that's not the way anymore.

(LO):

That's not the way. And all these things that you should do this and you should do that. I don't believe in shoulds.

(MS):

Yeah. Hashtag things you said were free, by the way.

(LO):

Totally.

(MS):

Yeah, like time with the community, checking in with your body, having fun, moving, playing. Yeah, getting into nature is another really-

(LO):

Huge.

(MS):

Huge.

So to the nature piece, you know, what are your thoughts on biohacking?

(LO):

I'm going to the conference this week. That's my thought.

(MS):

So you're a fan.

(LO):

So I literally canceled something else and to go this week because the lineup was amazing.

(MS):

Yeah. How does biohacking fit into Kroma then? Let's talk about it from that lens.

(LO):

So I think part of the reason why I'm going is because I'm trying to understand that.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

Here's where I… here's what I don't prescribe to.

What I do and what I don't. I love the fact that there are so many things out there now for us to explore and like infrared, right? We know that that's so good for us and it's so good for regenerating cells and all the different benefits and maybe some anti-aging and all the things that you get from it.

But that's like the simple stuff. Then it starts to get really complex and you get into these really crazy things that people are doing and injecting with this and injecting with that. Do I think peptides are great?

Yes, I do. I actually use them myself. So I think that the fact that we have these biohacking tools is great.

And again, you navigate and kind of find what—I think where it's gone awry is it's so over the top. And it's so, it's become so complex or so unattainable.

(MS):

Yeah.

(LO):

And I'm like, who's, well, first of all, who's got the money for it? Who's got the time?

And so, and I think that's where wellness, it gets really a bad rap.

(MS):

Totally.

(LO):

Because there's another story that goes with it is in order to biohack your age, you have to do these 50 things.

(MS):

Before 8 a.m.

(LO):

Before 8 a.m., I know. And so, that's the part where I'm like, no, that's not realistic for anybody. And so, I think that you be informed.

That is your job to be informed. I don't think you have to be informed about everything. The things that rise to the surface are the things that pay attention to.

If you have—I don't have an infrared at home. I'd love to. Hasn't fit in my life yet because I move too much.

But when I get settled, I'll have an infrared because I'm really, I do subscribe to that. But again, it's like, I do not, I don't wake up every morning, meditate for 30 minutes, do tapping, infrared, cold plunge, whatever. You know, breathing, breath work, whatever.

It's all good for you. I get it. But I don't have a three hour window to do all these things.

So, I choose the ones that do. And sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't.

(MS):

Yeah, I love that you brought that up. I think one of my most asked questions is what my morning routine is. My answer is that it's different every single day.

And on the days that I have to do all of the things, I try to do all the things. But what I'm also hearing you say is like pull back and take like this, you know, global look at all the things that you're thinking of trying. Because once you do dive into this world of wellness and biohacking and detoxing and cleansing and eating well and exercise, it's like everything adds up and all of a sudden it feels overwhelming again.

And it's like, you feel depleted. And if there's anything that you're doing that's depleting you, it's not part of your wellness protocol, period.

(LO):

And there's a part of, I think, also addictiveness. Like, because we're just like more and more and more and more. So ask me after the conference.

I'm excited to go and learn and just be an observer. I mean, Jim Kwik's there talking about the brain.

(MS):

Love him.

(LO):

Like, what's there not to love about that? Joe Dispen is talking. Anytime he speaks, I want to be in the room, right?

So a lot of it for me, Gabrielle Bernstein is talking. Like, great people, incredible, that has nothing to do with biohacking and more of just, you know, mindfulness or how to optimize your brain without sticking yourself with a million things.

(MS):

Totally.

(LO):

Like going back to the basics.

(MS):

Yeah. I think it's just the word. No one wants to hack their body or hack their life.

(LO):

A few people do. A few people do. That's a good one.

No, they're out there. We know who they are.

(MS):

But this is where the two worlds can really merge together, right? Like there's so many incredible things happening that can like really honor us and help us survive and cope and do all these things and be busy in this busy world, right? Yeah.

Yeah, totally. Okay, so for listeners coming into this, you know, I know that they're intrigued, you know, what would you recommend? Like if they want to come into Kroma, how would you get them set up and doing their first five day?

(LO):

So what I would say is you can come into Kroma any way, right? You can come into Kroma through the bone broth, the matcha, the cookie butter, any one of those things you can come in. We just launched the first ever gluten-free bone broth ramen.

In a cup. I can't wait to try this. It has 15 grams of protein.

It's so delicious. I have it, I'm stuck, like yesterday I was on Zoom for 12 hours. So that's my lunch because I didn't have time to go prep something, but I also love it.

So there's a lot of entree points. Start with the granola. So you can start there or you can go all in.

And I'm a huge proponent of going all in because you're going to get to try 18 products over the course of five days, but you're also making that commitment. And you're like, I really want to like dive in and feel good and optimize and learn what you're going to learn along the way and then see where it goes from there. So I would definitely say the Five Days is a fantastic place to start.

Different than other cleanses and detoxes where you're going to go from 100 to zero and you have to do two weeks of prep to go there. This isn't that way because you're not going to stop eating. If anything, you might actually eat more, but you're going to eat healthier and you're going to completely change some of the habits that may not be working for you.

Even if you were making healthier choices before, maybe there were some things that, whatever it was, too much sugar, the wine at night, all the things, you're going to get back to sort of a set point and you're going to get back in your body. So obviously I'm a huge fan of the Five Day. And then I think it's really introduces you to the Kroma ecosystem.

And then you decide where you want to go from there.

(MS):

Would you say, you know, I just, I love the concept of making cleansing part of your day-to-day life. What are some big mistakes that people should stop doing when it comes to cleansing?

(LO):

Oh goodness. I…if it doesn't feel good and you're dreading it, don't do it. I don't believe in that. I think that you don't have to love your greens powder every day, but like if it's something that feels like you feel like it's doing something good for you, great.

I think that where we make the mistakes is the shoulds. And I think that just listen to your body. It goes back to where we started this conversation today.

The intuition that we have, I listening to your body and also how it's always communicating and it's always, you know, raising our hand or it's in a good spot. Like right now I'm like been on Kroma. I've not been out eating, you know, I'm not in New York, which is where the wheels will come off.

And so I know the difference, but like I'm really good. My energy is good, but I also know, and this is what I love about it. You understand your set point.

So when it goes off, I know how to get back. And that's an important thing because it's not about yanking all over. It's just like, oh, I had a couple of days where the little bit more celebration.

I go right back over here because I know I love when I feel over here, but I really enjoyed this over here. I'm gonna go back over here. And within a day, I'm back on track.

That's an important thing I think for us to understand because for some reason we also think not only do we have to torture ourselves, but that it's gonna be this huge undertaking and I have to change everything.

(MS):

Totally.

(LO):

And then the mountain's too high and we're just like, forget it.

I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing.

(MS):

Celebrating both, celebrating the fun, celebrating the, you know, when you feel like you're doing a reset, but also just noticing what you feel like when you're in balance. I would say, I'm gonna throw one more piece in there. Like, look at your bowel movements, okay?

(LO):

Oh God, yeah.

(MS):

Look at your poop. So when you do a cleanse like this with the fiber that you focus on, with the minerals that you focus on, with the nutrient density that you focus on, I would say like looking at your stool is one of the greatest indications of your health and if you're out of balance, okay?

Enough said. Look in the toilet.

(LO):

And by the way, if it's not working properly, that's information.

(MS):

Totally.

(LO):

Right? Like if you're nourishing your body with something like Kroma or something else that should be helping and it's not, that's your body saying something else.

And so, and a lot of times it's because your gut, you know, is something's going on in your gut and this may have activated it because it was so much nourishment, but that's where there's maybe a deeper discovery of what's going on.

(MS):

Listen to the whispers, all the whispers. We'll start wrapping things up. I just really want to align something that really inspired me with Kroma and you talk about looking to mother nature and looking at what she provides us with for the body to heal.

And I think that there could be no greater truth like just understanding that when, not only when we are in alignment with nature, but also when we're using ingredients and foods that nature is giving us, we tend to feel our best. That was certainly the best part of my healing journey, just understanding when I'm eating more foods that come from nature itself. And obviously the way that you formulated, I know that you put a lot of attention into where your ingredients come from and your formulator and everything, but how does aligning with nature line in with this?

(LO):

I think you just hit it spot on. I think there's the getting out in nature part. And then there's the, you can't replace beautiful food that comes from nature.

And if you can have a garden in your backyard and you can make a salad from your own garden, that was like the optimal, right? Kroma's not designed to replace eating that kind of food or whatever it is that's like so fresh, I think, or farmer's market or whatever it might be. It's not to replace that, but it's to take the fuss out of eating healthy and making healthy choices in a busy, crazy world.

And so it's in support of, because I don't have a garden in my backyard. I don't have access to the farmer's market every day. I don't have access to clean food all the time and I don't have time.

So there's the balance of that. And I think really making that a priority, whether you get in the kitchen yourself or you find access to places that are super healthy and you can make good choices and you know where the ingredients come from. And I mean, obviously we love Erewhon for those that are in LA and like I go there and I just trust, right?

Because I know that they're using really good ingredients and yes, it's more expensive, but I care about my body. So I'm willing to make that investment. For sure.

And I think then the other side of Kroma is that because everything we've done is literally sourcing the best of the best. And it took me three years to create these products. It was me and my daughter in the kitchen looking for the best matcha, a plant protein from Ecuador that no one's ever heard of called chocho that has no lectins and no isolates.

Finding a maple sugar that's in a farm in Vermont, just because you need a little bit of sugar and people don't like things if there's not sugar anyway, so you won't eat it. So every little—our bone broth comes from Australia because it couldn't make it here in a way that we use a proprietary process that allows us to extract more nutrients and more flavor. Everything we do is to create the best of the best in a format that can also sit in your pantry.

So nature is always the first. And I really wanna make that clear, but it's not necessarily realistic that we can always have access to a farmer's market. So this is a great way to supplement and support the everyday choices.

(MS):

You said that so perfectly and I kind of knew that you would as part of your belief system and everything that you stand for. But I would say there's a lot of people who, they don't go to Erewhon, they don't live in a place where there is a great, good quality, high quality grocery store even, right? Where they don't have access.

We'll have you on another time. We'll talk about our food system and ingredients and our food comps and our soil quality and all of that. But it is frightening out there, the lack of access that there is to high quality, nutrient dense foods.

And I'm just like, it's such an honor to know you and hear your story of how you've created Kroma because it really is a solution that feels so much more than the bucket of cleansing as we've talked about today. I think it's such a great solution.

(LO):

Thank you.

(MS):

My kids already know we're gonna be obsessed with the granola.

(LO):

They are. And the cookie butter.

(MS):

And the cookie butter, yeah.

(LO):

And they'll love the bone broth, which you can actually even use like saute. Use it for a saute. I mean, anything, it's delicious on its own.

It's so good.

(MS):

Can I just say too, my son is in the ramen phase. I don't care what grocery store you go to, there is no super, super clean ramen out there. You can make it yourself.

But holy, it takes some time if you wanna do it the authentic way. So my gosh, this is-

(LO):

I'm… our ramen is so cool. Like I'm—and I have kids in college. My daughter's 26.

She lives in New York. She works for us. My boys are in college.

Like for them to have access to this food, like I like, especially for just college students, like they have, they call me, they're like, mom, there's no healthy—one of them's in Mississippi—there's no healthy food.

And so this provides him healthy food. Like I wanna get this out to people everywhere. And yes, it's more expensive because of the ingredients and the quality and the everything.

And we do everything we can to bring you the best of the best, use sustainable packaging, do all the right things. And it costs more to do that. But your health is the, like it is the most important investment you make.

(MS):

We get one of these. One body.

(LO):

One body.

(MS):

One vessel.

(LO):

And I wanna be optimized for as long as possible. And it's one of my top, top, top values. And I don't take it for granted.

And that's why I move every day, even if it's 10 minutes or some sort of just something. Usually it's more than that. But like, I will move because it's not only, it's the physical, it's the mental.

It's a non-negotiable. Even though I'm so, so busy, I will make the time. I will leave.

I block it out in my calendar. That is my time. And I think that that has, it's allowed me to, you know, quote, age gracefully and be at a point where I don't feel 53.

I'll tell a funny story with that. Like I have said, because I'm also around young people all the time, my daughter's 26. I love hanging out with young people.

And I always joke around that I'm 28. So I had my biological age tested and it came back as 28.

(MS):

Your body believes you.

(LO):

Why that, and that was my point, was the power of the mind and what you tell it. And yes, obviously I do a lot of good things to be very healing. But I actually believe the reason it came back as that is because my mind and my body, they're talking and it believed that to be true.

And I feel like I am 28. And I show up with the wisdom of a 53 year old, but I act and play as if I'm a 28 year old. And my body cooperates to let me do that.

(MS):

That is so beautiful. Oh my gosh. You're stuck with me as a friend.

(LO):

I hope so, forever.

(MS):

I know.

(LO):

I'm so excited that we got to do this.

(MS):

Me too.

I'm in school at the Quantum University.

(LO):

Oh my gosh.

(MS):

Because I really do think that the next layer of healing is treating loving your body as a spiritual experience and the quality of your thoughts.

For the first time in my life, I'm like, oh my God, it's been, my mind has been in the way for so long. For all of us. So thank you for echoing that and reaffirming too.

Like, my gosh, trusting your intuition like it's your God. Okay, you've said that so many times today. So thank you for that.

To wrap things up, there's some questions that we ask every guest, some little rapid fire. Ready?

(LO):

Yep.

(MS):

Okay, how do you think people are making healing and health too complicated?

(LO):

I think all the things that we talked about, I think that we somehow think that we have to do everything perfect for it to work. And one simple change will make a difference. Switching from coffee to matcha and feeling how different you feel from that.

That's a win.

(MS):

Love that. Not about perfection. What's your favorite ancient healing remedy?

Acupuncture.

(MS):

Mine too, game changer.

(LO):

Game changer. Especially for hormones. For hormones, for ailments, for stress, for mood, for babies, I mean, there's so many things.

(MS):

Yeah, so many things. If you had to pick something about modern medicine that excites you, what would it be?

(LO):

Let me think about that.

(MS):

Peptides?

(LO):

Okay, well, I was thinking Western medicine.

Oh yeah, I love peptides. I love the fact that we have much more detailed, we have more access to people who are knowledgeable than we used to. So there's a lot more functional doctors and integrative doctors.

I think that's amazing. I think that we have more information that we can use as a dashboard. And as long as we can get it in the right hands.

(MS):

What are three things that we can start doing right now to optimize our health?

(LO):

Make yourself a priority and commit to it. Really look at what you're eating and how you're feeling.

Pay attention to the ingredients, the labels, the things. And are you eating clean proteins and lots of vegetables and hydrating well? Are you getting enough sleep?

Are you taking the time for doing the things that you love? And what pace of life are you living at? It's all the things that we talked about today.

(MS):

Yeah, the foundations. If you could leave our listeners with just one takeaway that you're most passionate about now, what would it be?

(LO):

I am most passionate about everything we talked about, starting with your mindset. And the thing that's coming to mind for me is really the choices that we make every day and the choices of how we care for ourself, the choices of how we show up, the choices of how we nourish ourselves, the choices of the people that we spend our time with. And every single day, it's a choice.

The choice of my thoughts and that I got to come here today. And yes, I haven't seen my children in days, but I get to be here with you today. And this has been such a gift.

And that's how I look at my experiences in life, even amidst the chaos. And I think that that perspective and really, really looking at the choices you're making is everything.

(MS):

So beautiful. And thank you for saying that. I don't take people showing up lightly.

So sharing your energy has just been so beautiful. It's been a gift both ways. This has been amazing.

You are beaming. People who are listening might not be able to feel it, but you are beaming. I can feel that you radiate.

There's a difference between thinking and knowing, right? Or doing and being. You are really being in your essence.

(LO):

That means a lot.

(MS):

Yeah, so thank you. I'm gonna get right back at you.

Thank you. Very much so. I am Team Kroma all the way.

I'm your greatest supporter. I will be out there just advocating. More people need to know about this.

I think that it can serve so many people on so many levels. So thank you for your time.

(LO):

So grateful.

(MS):

Until next time.

(LO):

Until next time. And I think we have a special offer too. So that will go in the show notes if I'm not mistaken.

(MS):

Yeah, Lexi is your daughter. She's incredible. I'm in love with her.

Also, she's been such a tremendous help. We'll link all that out. But what's your best way of communicating with people?

Like how can people find you?

(LO):

Find us at kromawellness.com. It's Kroma with a K. And on Instagram at kromawellness.

And if you DM us on Instagram and you wanna connect with me, my daughter manages our social media, so it will get to me. Or you can find me on Instagram at Lisa Odenweller.

(MS):

Fantastic.

(LO):

And I'd love to hear your thoughts or anything that you wanna share. Please, I will respond.

(MS):

Incredible. I love that. Okay, we'll link everything out.

Thank you. I adore you. What a gift.

(LO):

Thank you so much. This was so much fun.

(MS):

Thank you.

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