Cholesterol: Good vs. Bad

by | Mar 14, 2025 | Uncategorized

Cholesterol: Good vs. Bad

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Cholesterol: Good vs. Bad

You’ve gone to the doctor and had your cholesterol checked, but what do all those numbers mean? And is there anything you can do to lower your cholesterol without medications? I’m so glad you asked. 

I’m Dr.Vickie Petz Kasper. If you’re ready to take control of your health, you’re in the right  place. Whether you’re focused on prevention or you’re trying to manage a condition. I’ll give you practical steps to start your own journey toward better health because healthy looks great on you.

 This is episode 163. Cholesterol, the Good versus the Bad.

When I was about 26 years old, I had my cholesterol checked for the first time. Imagine my surprise when the number was 256.  Yikes. Now admittedly, the hospital where I was doing my residency had a fast food restaurant conveniently located right there in the cafeteria and my go-to: hamburgers and french fries.

But also I have a strong family history of significantly elevated cholesterol.  The doctor said I could lower it some and I should diet and exercise and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But guess what? I eventually lowered my cholesterol to 156 without medication, and I’m going to tell you how you can do it too.

But first, let’s start at the beginning and go to mini medical school and learn exactly what is cholesterol. Technically we call it a lipid, which is sort of like a fat that circulates in your bloodstream. Structurally, these compounds make up parts of cell membranes and functionally they help regulate the transport across these membranes, so that’s good. Right? Well, yes, we do need cholesterol to help move and store energy, produce hormones, and absorb vitamins. But you know, too much of a good thing. We’ll get to that.

Lipids don’t dissolve in water, so they have to hitch a ride on proteins to travel through the blood, and when they get hitched, they change their name to lipoproteins. Now this is gonna sound familiar if you’ve ever had a lipid panel drawn.  HDL stands for high density lipoproteins and LDL stands for low density lipoproteins.  Where does it come from? Well, your body actually makes it in both the liver and small intestines. Then it’s stored in the liver where it’s converted to bile acids, so you can get rid of it.

Is it bad or good? Well, that depends. HDL cholesterol reduces inflammation, prevents blood clots, and helps transport oxygen. And your body makes all of it that you need all of it. But here’s the deal. Not only does your body make cholesterol, but we also eat it. Most of the cholesterol in the standard American diet comes from meat, eggs, cheese, and dairy products. Oh, well, who can afford eggs anyway?

But seriously, cholesterol is sneaky. Rather than announcing its presence, it just slips through your blood vessels undetected, but it leaves a calling card and we call it plaque. This buildup in the wall of the arteries can lead to hardening of the arteries and therefore cardiovascular disease.

Think about it. If a plaque gets big enough, it can compromise blood flow and cause a heart attack or stroke. And this can also happen with smaller plaques when a piece breaks off. I told you cholesterol is sneaky. Most people who have high cholesterol have no symptoms. We call it hyperlipidemia, and that’s why you need to know your numbers and you need to know what they mean. 

I guess all those burgers weren’t helping me have healthy blood vessels when I was in my twenties.  But that’s not the whole story. We could go to mini medical school and learn the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol, or we could just call them good cop, bad cop. Because that kind of sums it up. The reason LDL cholesterol is the bad cop is because it causes a fatty buildup inside the arteries and that impairs blood flow and puts you at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke.

You’ve seen those detective shows where they lock someone in an interrogation room and they just yell at ’em. No, it’s not exactly the same, but I bet you’ll remember now that LDL the bad cop cholesterol can make you have a heart attack. Now the good cop HDL cholesterol can actually lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.

You know, it’s the reassuring I’ll be your friend cop. Picture the scene, bad cop is giving the suspect a really hard time and good cop comes in and sends the bad cop away.   Stick with me here. HDL, good cholesterol carries at least a little bit of the LDL or bad cholesterol out of the arteries where it causes damage and into the liver where it can be broken down and eliminated.

So speaking in very general terms, you want your HDL cholesterol to be high and your LDL cholesterol to be low. We’ll get to specific numbers in a sec. I do want to mention triglycerides. They are not the same thing as cholesterol, but they hang out together because you know, birds of a feather… When you have a lipid panel done, they often measure the whole flock, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL, cholesterol and triglycerides.

You’ve also probably heard about the ratio and yes, it’s very important, but whose side are these triglycerides on anyway? Well, they’re the most common type of FAT in the body. And like all things in our bodies, they have a purpose and that is to store excess energy from your diet. And yeah, that’s the problem.

Most of us have plenty of excess in our diet.  Hamburgers and french fries, or as Steve Martin said in the old Pink Panther movie, “Am barger.” If you don’t know that scene and that didn’t make you laugh, please google it and watch a clip.

 The bottom line is that high triglycerides combined with high LDL means fatty buildup in the walls of the arteries, and that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Okay, I hope you’re convinced that Steve Martin is hysterical and you need to see the clip from the Pink Panther, and you need to get your cholesterol checked. 

You are convinced, right? Don’t believe me. The American Heart Association recommends that if you are over the age of 20, you should have your cholesterol checked and depending on your risk factors, every four to six years after that, until you get older and have an increased risk of. every dang thing.

So now you’ve had your blood drawn and the doctor calls you with your results.  No. Oh yeah. Your results are now on the portal and you want to know what they mean.  I do have to tell you that context matters and you really should discuss the results with your doctor, but if you don’t hear from them, I’ll give you some generalities for people who do not already have cardiovascular issues, and by the way, you should fast for at least 12 hours before you go to the lab and get this. You shouldn’t have the test done if you’re sick or stressed. Stress affects cholesterol too. It wreaks havoc on your body in so many ways. First of all, people who are stressed often smoke more, drink more, sleep less, exercise less socially isolate and eat more junk. So there’s that, but also our old friend Cortisol, the stress hormone also plays a role. Cortisol is our body’s way of preparing us to physically respond to a threat. So it triggers the release of glucose and fatty acids into the bloodstream and muscles. So energy is available for slaying dragons   threatening our safety, and that’s a good thing when there are dragons pulling up in your driveway. Not so much if you live in a constant state of stress. Of course, if you have prolonged stress, you’ll have to go ahead and surrender that vein in your arm and get your lipids checked anyway, because when it comes to your numbers, you need to know.

So let’s get to those numbers. Total cholesterol should be below 200 milligrams per deciliter, and if it’s between 201 and 239, that’s considered borderline high cholesterol, and if it’s above 240, that’s just plain over the limit. Now, LDL cholesterol should be below 130 or even much lower than that if you are at risk of heart attack or stroke, HDL should ideally be above 60 and triglycerides below 150.

Any numbers outside of these parameters should be taken seriously because you have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, especially if you continue to eat ham ba burgers.  Now, let’s say you do hear from your doctor’s office. You know, the nurse calls and says you either need to take a cholesterol lowering medication like a statin or that you need to eat a low cholesterol diet and exercise. Thank you very much. But shouldn’t we have a more detailed conversation about this result?  You bet. Your cholesterol is just one group of numbers. It’s not the whole picture. Your risk of heart disease is impacted by other factors like smoking, high blood pressure, your family history, your age, and yes, of course your diet.

And we are going to talk about a heart healthy diet in a bit. But first, let’s discuss that conversation you’re having with the nurse who calls from the doctor’s office and said, we’ve sent in a prescription for a statin.  Hold up a minute. This literally happened to me last year. My total cholesterol was 202, a whopping two points above the normal range, and my ratio of good cholesterol to bad cholesterol was excellent.

So I questioned this recommendation,  but what are the recommendations? Remember, I am board certified in lifestyle medicine, which is a subspecialty of conventional medicine. So we’re not opposed to treatment with medication when indicated, but before we go firing off prescriptions, we should at least examine the indications.

If your cholesterol is abnormal, and I would argue that mine is not thanks to some serious changes in my lifestyle and not my inherited tendencies, then you may need a cholesterol medication. Depending on your age and the likelihood of developing heart disease, but if you’re not at risk for heart disease, then you might not need a medication, even if your cholesterol is high. At least not for now, because here’s the deal, the number of your years only increases and age is a risk factor for heart disease, which by the way, is the number one killer of Americans. So let’s say you are at risk and your cholesterol is high and your doctor wants you to take a medication quick pharmacology review.

These medications can help the body make less cholesterol, which is one source. They can block the absorption of cholesterol from food, which is another source, and on top of that, they can actually help your body get rid of cholesterol faster. Sounds great. Right, and it can be, you should probably take medication if you have known heart disease, especially if you’ve actually had a heart attack or stroke.

And because diabetes is such a big risk factor for cardiovascular disease, you may need to take a medication if you have type two diabetes, even if your cholesterol isn’t high. And that’s to prevent heart disease. Of course, you need to discuss all of this with your personal healthcare provider, and I recommend following their advice after you’ve had a conversation about options and risk. The most commonly prescribed class of medications are statins, but there are others.

But can you lower your cholesterol without medications? I’m living proof  exercise helps raise your good cholesterol and lower your bad cholesterol, but you gotta do it regularly. Ideally, 30 minutes, five days a week, or if you wanna step it up a notch, 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three times a week.

And remember, vigorous means you cannot have a conversation if you’re talking, you are not exercising vigorously. You gotta be huffing and puffing to reach this level. So if you decide to stick with moderate, you can talk, but you can’t sing. But here’s the beauty of exercising – every little step in the right direction has immediate benefits, so you can start small and see results.

Resistance training is great to build muscle strength and burn energy. You know, bands, weights, pushups, things like that. Or maybe you could start walking briskly. Or go to the gym and join a class for built-in accountability and social connections.  

Let me give you a startling fact.  People who have a heart attack are four times more likely to die within three years if they don’t have social connections. The older you get, the stronger the association. And if you’re wondering how in the world that could be, it turns out the key is caring about others. When you value people in your life and you know they value you, you are more likely to make healthier choices like not smoking and positive relationships help manage stress and lower inflammation, and that damages blood vessels and also contributes to heart disease. 

Sleep matters too. As part of an overall healthy lifestyle, you should aim for seven to nine hours per night and less than six hours a night is associated with higher cholesterol levels.  In the past, medical literature reported a positive association between drinking a glass of red wine and heart health. Turns out that’s probably not true and moderate to heavy drinking  unquestionably raises your risk for heart disease. You know, if your liver’s working overtime to get rid of alcohol, it’s much less effective in dealing with cholesterol.

Now, your Dr. may not have mentioned any of this except diet and exercise. So let’s park there for a minute. A healthy weight is often associated with better numbers, but that isn’t always true. Genetics also plays a big role, but whether you’re at an ideal weight or overweight, changing your diet can have a huge impact on your cholesterol.

In fact, depending on how much change you’re willing to make, I would say that you can lower your cholesterol to a healthy level. And if you’re interested in making healthy habit changes, you might want to go to my website Healthy Looks Great on you.com and sign up for Kickstart to Better Health. And for sure, you’re going to want to stay tuned for an upcoming interview I have on Habit Change. Subscribe to this podcast. There’s a link in the show notes or go to the website Healthy looks great on you.com.

Either way, you should listen to your doctor. And make sure they listen to you as well. You may need medication to lower your cholesterol, and you may need to make lifestyle changes, especially if your numbers are going up in the wrong direction, even a little.

But if you’re motivated to do it without medications, let me harp on your diet. Hear me when I say this. When it comes to cholesterol or weight loss, diet matters more than exercise. Of course you should do both, but if you don’t change your diet, exercise may not have the impact you’re looking for. If you want to reduce the intake of cholesterol, stay away from trans fats, sometimes referred to as partially hydrogenated oils. They’ve basically been outlawed and banned anyway, but sometimes these transitions take some time to implement. Just make sure packaged pastries and things like margarine, which you shouldn’t be eating anyway, don’t have them. Avoid foods that are high in any kind of saturated fat.  

Here’s my top five list of foods that are high in cholesterol. Maybe we can find some hints about why my cholesterol was high eating in that fast food restaurant every day.

Number one is red meat, beef, pork,  and especially processed meats like bacon, sausage, and hot dogs. Ah, remember what those hamburgers did to my cholesterol numbers.

Number two is fried foods, and yes, I ordered french fries with my burgers. And fried foods are particularly bad when certain oils are used.

Number three is sugar sweetened beverages and good grief. I drank a Coke with my burger and fries. No wonder my numbers were bad.

Number four is sweets, pastries, pies, cakes, cookies, and ice cream. Yep. I probably ate that too.

Number five is dairy, especially whole milk, cream, butter, and unfortunately cheese, which I also put on my burger. Good grief. I was daring my cholesterol to be high with all the foods from the naughty list.

So what am I doing now? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s a fun fact.  You really don’t find cholesterol in plants. So eat plants, eat a lot of plants, eat different plants, eat plants that have different colors. Usually the darker, brighter the color, the more nutrients it has.

Cholesterol’s only found in processed foods, meat and dairy. But you wanna know what’s only found in plants. Fiber and a high fiber diet is so important in lowering your cholesterol. It creates a healthy gut microbiome. Think of it like a sponge too, that soaks up cholesterol out of your bloodstream and helps remove it.

Things like unprocessed oatmeal, whole wheat bread, whole grain brown rice, and popcorn. Also, beans, broccoli, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, oranges, grapes, all kinds of berries and nuts are on the good list. You didn’t just ask me about eggs, did you? Goodness, that’s a whole other conversation. And so is the other player in this conversation, triglycerides. But I will tell you that if you have high LDL cholesterol, you should at least limit your consumption of eggs.

And the bottom line is that HDL cholesterol is your friend. It can help protect you from cardiovascular disease. And LDL Cholesterol levels should be low for heart health. That’s easy to remember. H stands for high. L stands for low, and in some cases your doctor will want it really, really low. Below 70. So is cholesterol good or bad? The answer is yes. Cholesterol helps with cell membrane transport, absorption of vitamins, brain function, hormone production. But don’t get the wrong idea. LDL cholesterol causes fatty buildup in the arteries, and that can be a huge threat to your health. So lower your bad cholesterol with medications if you need it, but definitely lower it with lifestyle changes because lower LDL is better for your health and healthy. Looks great on you.   

The information contained in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not considered to be a substitute for medical advice. You should continue to follow up with your physician or health care provider and take medication as prescribed. Though the information in this podcast is evidence based, new research may develop and recommendations may change 

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Is Your Health Keeping You Awake? 4 medical conditions that can ruin your sleep

by | Mar 7, 2025 | Uncategorized

Is Your Health Keeping You Awake? 4 Medical Conditions that Can Ruin Your Sleep

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Turn off your mind so you can sleep free cheat sheet

Do you have trouble sleeping because your thoughts spin? I created this cheat sheet to help you shut off your mind and turn on restorative sleep. 

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Hosted by:

Vickie Petz Kasper, M.D.

American Board of Lifestyle Medicine Diplomate

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Is Your Health Keeping You Awake? 4 Medical Conditions that Ruin Your Sleep

Are you laying in bed exhausted but wide awake? Maybe it’s pain racing thoughts or waking up gasping for air. Your insomnia may be due to an underlying medical condition more than stress  or bad sleep habits. Today we will look at four medical conditions that can disrupt your sleep.   I’m Dr.Vickie Petz Kasper.

If you’re ready to take control of your health, you’re in the right  place. Whether you’re focused on prevention or you’re trying to manage a condition. I’ll give you practical steps to start your own journey toward better health because healthy looks great on you.

 This is episode 1 62. Is your health keeping you awake? Four medical conditions that cause insomnia.  Not sleeping is frustrating not only during the long nights, but also dragging through the day without the mental clarity you need. And maybe you know why you can’t sleep, or maybe you’re trying to treat the symptoms without addressing the root cause.

Today we’re going to look at four medical conditions that keep you from getting the rest you need. Because if you can identify the cause, you can get started on a path to better sleep. So let’s pull back the covers and see what wakes you up. Number one is ouch. Chronic pain can keep you tossing and turning low back pain, shoulder pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia.

All of these things can cause discomfort, which makes it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. Pain and sleep have what we call a bidirectional relationship. Think of it like a two-way street. Pain makes it harder to sleep and poor sleep makes pain worse. Climbing under the covers can be uncomfortable and that can aggravate pain.

Plus, even if you can get to sleep, pain can tap you on the shoulder or anywhere else for that matter and wake you up. This leads to fragmented sleep when what you need is deep restorative sleep, which is crucial for healing and less deep sleep. Makes your pain threshold go way down. So that you’re more sensitive to pain.

On top of that, pain is frustrating and insomnia is maddening, and when they get in bed together, it can heighten anxiety, which triggers alertness and all of that makes it harder to drift off to dreamland.  Arthritis is not a good bed partner. Inflammation and stiffness tend to get worse when you’re inactive.

That’s why you feel like the tin man who needs a shot of oil to get moving in the morning. Non-restorative sleep latches onto fibromyalgia too, and it doesn’t let go. Sleeping position can worsen back pain, shoulder pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. So optimize your sleep position for better sleep. If you have arthritis, use supportive pillows to reduce any pressure on joints. If you have nerve pain like carpal tunnel syndrome, try sleeping in a brace to immobilize your wrist. And if you have back pain, put a pillow under your knees or sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs and before you go to bed, try taking a warm bath or using a heating pad because that can relax your muscles and help with stiffness. Cold packs can be even better at reducing inflammation and also try gentle stretching exercises or massage before bed to relieve the tension in those muscles. But don’t do a strenuous workout that will just increase your cortisol levels and keep you from sleeping. 

The most important thing is to always address the root cause. If you are having unexplained pain, you need to work with your doctor to manage your condition.  

Number two is gastroesophageal reflux disease. Do you wake up with heartburn or maybe even a sore throat? It might be your stomach acid, keeping you awake.

Acid reflux symptoms can worsen during the night disrupting sleep.  Here’s what happens. Many people experience heartburn, regurgitation, and just discomfort when laying down, and that makes it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. The reason is that gravity keeps stomach acid down during the day, but then when you lay down flat, that acid easily flows back up into the esophagus. This can lead to a burning sensation or an irritation in the throat, or even coughing and choking. Many people with gastroesophageal reflux experience brief wakenings throughout the night, even though they may not realize it, it often occurs during REM sleep, which is that mind restoring deep sleep. 

And acid irritation can stimulate the throat and the lungs, which can cause coughing, wheezing, or a sensation of mucus buildup that makes it harder to breathe comfortably and stay asleep. Years ago, I was misdiagnosed with asthma when what I really had was severe reflux because I was on prednisone, all that acid would go down into my lungs and I would wake up sputtering and coughing.

But it wasn’t asthma. It was a spasm of my larynx, which is where your airway closes off for a brief period of time, and that’s not pleasant. 

It can also irritate the vocal cords causing hoarseness or even a sour taste in the mouth.

Some people just have chronic GERD. Some people have a hiatal hernia. Pregnancy certainly makes it worse and so does obesity,  so here are some suggestions. First of all, sleep on your left side. This keeps the stomach in a position that’s lower than the esophagus, and so that kind of helps manage the reflux just by using gravity. 

More effective than that is to elevate your head. You can either use a wedge pillow or just put some bricks under the headboard of your bed to raise it by a few inches,   and especially avoid late night eating. Don’t eat within two to three hours before your bedtime and avoid large meals, spicy foods, citrus, alcohol, caffeine, and fatty foods before bed.

And if this is something that only bothers you occasionally, it’s certainly fine to take an over the counter antacid, but this is also a condition that needs to be evaluated by a healthcare provider to make sure nothing else is going on.  

 Reflux disease can be confused with sleep apnea as well. Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition. It’s usually characterized by loud snoring or waking up choking. As you can see, that could be confused with gastroesophageal reflux disease, but  it can also be periods of time where you don’t breathe at all, and what happens is your oxygen levels go down and that affects all of your organs, especially your brain and your heart. It can put you at risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and dementia. 

It’s more common in men than women, but women certainly can get it and they especially get it after menopause . The soft palate gets a little more lax. It’s more common in people who are overweight, but that does not always hold true. If you are having any symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, it’s important to see your healthcare provider and have a sleep study if you are in fact doing what we call desaturating, meaning that those oxygen levels are going down. You need an official sleep study to see if you would benefit from an implantable device or a CPAP machine. And if you are diagnosed with sleep apnea and you’re overweight, losing weight can certainly help, as well as avoiding anything sedating like alcohol, sleeping pills, or antihistamines. 

There are lots of medical conditions that can cause you to not sleep.  Things like thyroid disease, diabetes, heart failure, COPD. But today I want to talk a little bit about mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, because your mind isn’t the only thing affected. Your sleep is too. 

You see, mental health and sleep are deeply connected. Poor sleep can worsen mental health. While mental health disorders make it harder to sleep, it’s a vicious cycle, and understanding the connection is the first step toward breaking it.

So let’s go to mini medical school for just a moment and see how mental disorders can affect sleep. You see, chronic stress increases the levels of cortisol and what we call adrenaline, and that makes it harder for your body to wind down  and cortisol levels that are high in the evening can actually interfere with melatonin production, which is the sleep hormone, so that can delay sleep onset. On top of that, mental health conditions can reduce deep sleep, which is that slow wave sleep, and it also can reduce REM sleep, which is when you’re dreaming, that can lead to fragmented and non-restorative sleep.  The problem with depression is a lot of times people go into REM sleep too quickly and they have vivid dreams or nightmares. 

One of the characteristic findings of depression is people who wake up super early in the morning and can’t go back to sleep. Then you can start associating the bed with stress, and that just makes insomnia worse over time. The same with anxiety.  Worrying and overthinking at night can lead to difficulty falling asleep.  It can also make your muscles tense, make your heart race, and make you feel like you’re having a panic attack. 

People with a DHD often struggle with delayed sleep on set too. They just stay up half the night even though they’re exhausted, because a lot of times their brains can’t make that transition from awake to asleep, and they’re more prone to restless sleep, frequent waking, and grogginess in the morning.

So what do you do about it? 

While overall lifestyle is super important for treating ADHD, depression and anxiety, it’s also very important to be under the care of a healthcare provider and a mental health care provider. Counseling can be very effective for dealing with anxiety and depression. 

But if your symptoms are less serious and you just have spinning thoughts that won’t stop, the main thing I suggest is learn to relax your body and your mind. We have to put our minds in neutral. And I think a lot of us go through the whole day, just go, go, go, go, go, and then we lay down at night, and our brains won’t turn off because they don’t ever turn off. I’m going to give you my very best tip on how to shut down your mind – journaling. I always say it’s a cheap psychiatrist.  And that’s just one simple step you can take to try to shut off your mind. But I heard a sleep specialist say one time that relying on sleep tips is kind of like asking a nutritionist, “How can I eat heart healthy?” And they say, “Eat more broccoli.” It’s a lot more complicated than that, and that’s why I created a comprehensive online digital course called Unlock the Secret to Sleep Your Personalized Sleep Solution.

I hope you won’t miss the opportunity to enroll in this course. It’s only available until March 12th, 2025.

The course will be released on March 17th. And I also have a FREE LIVE SLEEP MASTERCLASS happening tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. It’s free, but registration is required. There’s a link in the show notes or you can just go to healthy looks great on you.com and look for “Six Surprising Reasons You’re Tossing and Turning.” We’ll talk about those six reasons and what you can do about it.

A lot of people have had insomnia for such a long period of time that they’ve lost hope that anything can help them sleep better, and it’s just not true. You can sleep better. Are there magic wands? No. It takes some work, but I can help you every step of the way. 

I want to leave you with one tip. Don’t watch the clock. If you wake up during the night, resist the urge to pick up your phone and see what time it is. If you have an alarm set, you can rest easy. You’re not going to oversleep, and you don’t need to know what time it is. All that does is expose your brain to blue light, which suppresses melatonin and creates anxiety about what time it is and about not sleeping and that only leads to further insomnia. So don’t watch the clock. That’s my number one piece of advice today. I have lots more I can tell you in UNLOCK THE SECRET TO SLEEP – Your Personal Sleep Solution. I sure hope you’ll enroll today before this opportunity is gone  because when you sleep better, your health is better and healthy, looks great on you.

 The information contained in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not considered to be a substitute for medical advice. You should continue to follow up with your physician or health care provider and take medication as prescribed. Though the information in this podcast is evidence based, new research may develop and recommendations may change.

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All information associated with this website is for informational and educational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for medical advice. Please visit the Disclaimer; Conditions, Terms of Use to learn more. 

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Importance of Sleep and Weight

by | Feb 28, 2025 | Uncategorized

Importance of Sleep and Weight

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Turn off your mind so you can sleep free cheat sheet

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Importance of Sleep and Weight

You’ve restricted your calories to the point of hunger, and you’re a familiar face at the gym. But you’re still struggling with unwanted weight. Could sleep be the answer? Stay tuned to learn more about maintaining a healthy weight by improving your sleep.   

 I’m Dr.Vickie Petz Kasper. I practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 20 years until I landed on the other side of the sheets as a very sick patient. My health was out of control. My doctor challenged me to make radical changes through lifestyle medicine. Now I feel great and I want to help you make changes that make a difference. Healthy Looks Great On You podcast takes you to mini medical school so you can learn the power of lifestyle medicine.

If you’re ready to take control of your health, you’re in the right  place. Whether you’re focused on prevention or you’re trying to manage a condition. I’ll give you practical steps to start your own journey toward better health because healthy looks great on you.

  This is Episode 161

Importance of Sleep and Weight.  

It doesn’t seem fair. You eat less than others and exercise more, but you’ve still got an unwanted spare tire around your belly. If you’ve checked all the boxes and can’t figure out what’s wrong, maybe it’s time to go to bed and get some good quality sleep. 

Did you know that there are studies that indicate as much as a 40 to 55 percent increased risk of obesity associated with short duration of sleep and this is true for night shift workers as well. Of course, there are other factors that contribute to excess weight gain, but poor sleep is an often overlooked contributor that keeps you from reaching your healthy weight goals.

Despite your best efforts, the risk of metabolic syndrome is increased by three fold by poor sleep. In today’s episode, you’ll understand the sleep weight connection, assess your current sleep quality, and implement science backed strategies to improve sleep and start making habit changes to your sleep that affect your diet and activity level.

Wow! It looks like sleep may be the secret ingredient that ties it all together. Now, am I saying you’ll lose weight if you have good quality sleep?  Sorry, but no. But what I am saying is that if you don’t sleep well, your chances of struggling with obesity are increased. 

And that goes for children as well as adults.  If you missed the previous episodes on sleep in this series, I’ll put links in the show notes. And if you want practical steps to help improve your sleep, register for my free live Sleep Masterclass. I’ll put a link in the show notes. Because if you improve your sleep, you’ll have more energy, improved mood, and maybe an easier time controlling your weight. 

If you’re worried about the health consequences of belly fat such as type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, heart disease and depression, then don’t get stuck in this cycle of frustration. Struggling, without seeing any progress, takes a toll on your mental health and emotions.

 Let’s start by going to mini medical school to meet the hormones that control appetite.

Gherlin is the hunger hormone. Think of it like a lead foot on the gas pedal going full speed ahead. Leptin is the counter hormone that controls satiety, which is a signal to your brain that you’ve had enough and you’re satisfied. So this one pumps the brakes. Gherlin’s job is to tell you, I’m hungry so that you eat.

Most of it’s produced in cells that line the stomach, which makes perfect sense, that the sensor would be in the gut. It then travels through the bloodstream to the brain, where it turns on receptors in the hypothalamus. Now this is the central control center for hunger.

And that stimulates the release of neuropeptide Y which increases appetite and also decreases energy expenditure to conserve calories. Now, levels of ghrelin should rise before a meal and drop off after you fill your belly.  Makes sense, right? But get this, when you don’t get enough sleep, even for one night, ghrelin levels increase by around 20%.

So, sleepyheads  have a foot on the eating accelerator and experience increased appetite. And here’s the deal. It’s not an appetite for broccoli. It actually makes you crave calorie dense foods, like cookies.  And when the rhythm of ghrelin levels gets out of whack, you experience hunger at inappropriate times.

Kinda like running a red light, except instead of getting a ticket, the needle on the scale is your fine. Not only does this create a situation like so many functions in the body, it creates a cycle. You don’t sleep, so your body makes more ghrelin. More ghrelin means more hunger and more cravings. More calories means more weight gain, and guess what that can lead to?

Poor sleep quality. Boom. The cycle feeds itself. Pardon the pun.  If I could give you one piece of advice to help arrest this cycle, I’d say you need a regular sleep schedule. And yes, I know it’s not easy. 

That’s why I’m offering a free live sleep masterclass to help you get adequate sleep and maintain normal ghrelin levels to stabilize your hunger. 

Just go to my website, www. healthylooksgreatonyou.com and in the search bar, type in free live.  If you’re trying to achieve a healthy weight, you absolutely need to eat whole food that’s nutrient dense and you need to increase your physical activity.

But don’t neglect a good night’s sleep to balance hunger.  Now, let’s pump those brakes and talk about leptin. You probably aren’t going to like this, but the word leptin comes from the Greek word leptos meaning thin. And here’s the deal, you can be thin and be very unhealthy. So anytime I talk about weight and health, the focus is on health.

But the reality is that leptin is secreted by adipose tissue. So the more fat cells you have, the more leptin your body produces. To try and control food intake and like gherlin, it travels through the bloodstream, crosses the blood brain barrier and binds to receptors in the Hunger Center, the hypothalamus, it depresses appetite and increases energy expenditure, which has a big impact on metabolism. 

Great. So what I’m saying is that if you have more fat cells, your body will produce more leptin and tell your brain, “Enough is enough.” Yeah, but that’s only if things are working as designed.  Lack of sleep can reduce leptin levels by 20%. So now you’ve got a compound effect of 20 percent more hunger hormone and 20 percent less fullness hormone, and you know what’s bound to happen.

Also, chronic sleep deprivation can contribute to leptin resistance. So that even when levels are normal or even high, the brain’s sensitivity is decreased. So now the brain thinks you need more calories. And the drive to eat more calories usually sends you to the pantry for snack foods rather than a craving for fruits and vegetables.

This hormone imbalance is a perfect storm for weight gain. All of this is an intricate part of the circadian rhythm. A system in equilibrium relies on consistent, good quality sleep and not getting the Z’s you need. may sabotage your weight loss plan.  One tip is to be sure and get morning light exposure.

This helps make sure that your internal clock starts working properly. Producing and secreting melatonin at the appropriate times 

You see, the whole sleep cycle is regulated by melatonin, and melatonin secretion is controlled by light. So, exposure to light at night suppresses melatonin, and the normal rhythm is thrown out of balance by an irregular sleep schedule. But here’s the deal. Melatonin also has an effect on metabolism.

Melatonin is released from the pineal gland and it sends signals to the adrenal glands to regulate cortisol. The levels of cortisol are supposed to be highest first thing in the morning when you wake up, and that’s why you’re hungry. And you should eat a healthy, carbohydrate breakfast like oatmeal. 

Levels are supposed to be lowest at night, but a poor sleep pattern can result in elevated cortisol levels in the evening, and that can cause an increased appetite, especially for foods high in fat and sugar. You know, the ones that taste yummy but aren’t good for you. And of course, this is associated with increased belly fat, which is terrible for your health.

It also interferes with glucose metabolism. And what can happen is a stress eat sleep cycle that is broken is really hard to fix.  But wait, there are even more issues linked to weight and sleep. Sleep deprivation causes your body to be significantly less sensitive to insulin. If you want more information on type 2 diabetes and how insulin works to move sugar out of the bloodstream and into cells where it can be used, I’ll put a link in the show notes to that episode.

But when the body doesn’t respond to insulin, the pancreas responds by cranking out more. This promotes weight gain in general, but belly fat in particular. And it increases the risk of type 2 diabetes.  Another hormone affected by sleep, and important in healthy weight, is growth hormone.

Most of it’s released during deep sleep, so if your sleep quality is not good, Then you never get to that deep sleep cycle, and therefore your body makes less growth hormone, which promotes fat burning, maintenance of lean muscle mass, and raises metabolism. So, without enough growth hormone, you can maintain the same weight, but your body composition may shift towards a higher percentage of fat and less muscle.

 You might want to keep track of your sleep to evaluate how well you’re sleeping. And quantity and quality are important. For example, you may sleep 8 hours a night, but if you never get to that deep sleep, then you’re not making the growth hormone you need. What can make you do that is alcohol. Alcohol may help you fall asleep, but it prevents you from getting into that deep sleep.

And many sleeping medications do the same thing. So, it’s important to focus on not only the quantity, but the quality. But here’s the deal, without the quantity, you never get to those five to six cycles of sleep that you need to go through before your body gets into the deep sleep. So, it’s all very important.

And it may help you to track your sleep to see how you’re doing. If you’d like a free sleep tracker blueprint. Then just show up  to my free live sleep masterclass. You can sign up the link in the show notes.  

 Thyroid hormone levels can be affected by sleep too because of the reduction in Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, or TSH, which is released from the brain to tell the thyroid gland how much T3 and T4 to make. When thyroid function is low, the metabolic rate slows, fatigue increases, and weight gain can occur. 

In one episode, I referred to sleep as the mood mechanic. I’ll put a link to that in the show notes as well, but that’s because sleep deprivation affects the reward centers in the brain where dopamine lives. And look, we gotta have dopamine in our brains. We’ll do anything to increase the levels, and that can result in using food as a way to satisfy the need. In addition, serotonin levels are lowered with poor sleep and that can cause unhealthy carbohydrate cravings. And what about sex hormones? Well, testosterone can decrease by 10 to 15 percent in men due to poor sleep for a week. And this can reduce muscle mass and increase fat storage.

And in women, estrogen and progesterone imbalances can occur and that also affects fat storage, especially after menopause. And it also lowers metabolism. If you’ve tried really hard to lose weight, remember, diet is far more important than anything, including exercise. Of course you need a healthy diet and activity for optimum health, but healthy sleep should also be considered part of a healthy lifestyle.

 Good sleep habits means keeping a regular schedule, timing light exposure because that’s what controls melatonin secretion and that gets the whole ball of wax rolling, but also having a good environment to sleep. You need a comfortable, uncluttered place to sleep, and think cave, cool, dark, and quiet.

And, of course, those screens emit blue light, and that suppresses melatonin secretion and can interfere with your sleep.   Also be mindful of the things that you eat and drink, like caffeine and sugar and salt.

All of these things can affect your sleep. But, new habits aren’t always easy to form, and old habits aren’t always easy to break.

If you’d like to learn more, join me for my free sleep masterclass. It’ll be live on March 3rd, 5th, and 8th. We’ll look at six surprising reasons you’re tossing and turning and what to do about them. I’ll help you make small, sustainable changes to improve sleep and maintain a healthy weight.

Because healthy looks great on you.   

RESOURCES:

Free Live Masterclass – 6 Surprising Reasons You’re Tossing and Turning

The Risky Business of Poor Sleep

Sleeping Pills and Potions

The Mood Mechanic – sleep

Sobriety and Sleep with Casey Davidson

Type 2 Diabetes

Why is Sleeping So Hard

The information contained in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not considered to be a substitute for medical advice. You should continue to follow up with your physician or health care provider and take medication as prescribed. Though the information in this podcast is evidence based, new research may develop and recommendations may change

 

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Sobriety and Sleep with Casey Davidson

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Turn off your mind so you can sleep free cheat sheet

Do you have trouble sleeping because your thoughts spin? I created this cheat sheet to help you shut off your mind and turn on restorative sleep. 

Click Here

Hosted by:

Vickie Petz Kasper, M.D.

American Board of Lifestyle Medicine Diplomate

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Sobriety and Sleep with Casey Davidson

Have you ever thought having a drink helps you relax and sleep better? Stay tuned to learn more about how alcohol affects your sleep, other aspects of your life, and what you can do about it. My guest today has been featured on NBC News, Good Morning America, The New York Times, NPR, CNN, and Huffington Post.

Stay tuned. You’re in for a treat. 

  I’m Dr.Vickie Petz Kasper. If you’re ready to take control of your health, you’re in the right  place. Whether you’re focused on prevention or you’re trying to manage a condition. I’ll give you practical steps to start your own journey toward better health because healthy looks great on you.

 Today I have a special guest on the Healthy Looks Great On You podcast. I have Casey Davidson from Hello Someday Coaching, and she is a sobriety coach for women. And on her website, she particularly says That she can help you sleep through the night and wake up rested. So welcome Casey. 

 Casey: Oh, thank you. I’m so excited to be here. 

Dr. Vickie: Well, you know I’m doing a series right now on sleep and I definitely talk about how alcohol affects sleep and I know a lot of people think taking a drink helps them relax and go to sleep, but I’d love to hear your insight on that.  

Casey: Absolutely. Well, alcohol is really terrible for your sleep. It’s, it’s this weird combination of both a depressant and a stimulant. So once you drink even as little as one drink for women, it really impacts your sleep quality, there have been studies done that even a small amount of alcohol impacts your sleep. So for women, which is one drink, it decreases your sleep quality by 24 percent and anything more than one drink for women decreases your sleep quality by 40%. So  it’s really incredible.  

Dr. Vickie: And do you think women notice that or they’re just feeling the effects of poor mood and maybe fatigue and they don’t even realize that’s what’s contributing?

Casey: I think it depends. I used to drink quite a bit. I was kind of the woman who was working in corporate and had two little kids and came home and opened up a bottle of wine when I got home to cook dinner. And I actually was drinking about a bottle of wine a night most nights of the week. So anyone who drinks like I did typically wakes up at three in the morning, feeling just crushing anxiety, your heart racing, and have trouble going back to sleep. I think anyone who doesn’t drink the way that I drank will notice when they stop drinking how good they feel and how good they sleep without alcohol, even if it’s just one or two glasses at a time.

Dr. Vickie: And since the pandemic particularly, we’ve really seen an increase in the amount of alcohol  with men and women and so you have particularly targeted the mommy wine culture. So, can you tell us a little bit about that? 

Casey: Absolutely. I mean what’s interesting is the biggest increase in binge drinkers right now are midlife women with the highest  socioeconomic status. So we have been sold throughout our lives the idea that wine is sophisticated and it helps us relax and it helps us connect. And there have been some really interesting articles in the Atlantic, for example, they wrote about how stress drinking has a divide. And so women drink to relieve stress significantly more than men. A lot of the marketing that has gone in the alcohol industry is targeted to women because they need to increase their market share and their bottom line. And starting 20 years ago, mothers in in particular were targeted. So you will even see, bottles of wine with the names, “Mommy Time Out.” And, you know, there’s, “Skinny Girl Vodka,” and “Mommy’s Little Helper.” Wine is is really the modern woman’s steroid. And so we get used to drinking on a regular basis. more and more and more.

And when I was a new mom, I felt like drinking was a way that I could reclaim some portion of of my pre kid personality.  I was no longer having a lot of time to see my friends or go to the gym or go kayaking or hiking. So I could drink and I could multitask, right? So I could drink and play Legos. I could drink and play Candy Land.

And a lot of motherhood is pretty monotonous and difficult, and it sort of becomes your main reward.  

Dr. Vickie: That’s so interesting and marketing really works. I am excited that recently the Surgeon General has come out with potentially putting a cancer warning on alcohol because there are a lot of new studies showing that even a small amount can increase the risk of cancer. There was a season where we thought drinking a glass of red wine every day was actually good for your heart. And that has been really questioned.

Casey: It’s been completely disproven. And a lot of those studies were actually sponsored by the alcohol industry.  I remember the French paradox, out on 60 minutes and this is decades ago, but the idea that people who drank alcohol in moderation were actually healthier than those who didn’t drink at all. Turns out the study was completely flawed. The people in the control group, meaning didn’t drink at all, didn’t drink largely because either they used to drink a lot or they had medical issues to start with.  But that idea was promoted and took hold. The American Cancer Society finally came out a few years ago saying no amount of alcohol is healthy, that alcohol is linked to seven different kinds of cancer. Drinking. three glasses of wine or three drinks a week for women increases your risk of breast cancer by 15 percent and anything over that increases another 10%, every additional glass of of wine, which completely counteracts the idea that one drink a day for women is perfectly healthy. The truth is it’s not. but I don’t know if when I was drinking that would have convinced me to stop.  

Dr. Vickie: Well, that’s interesting because we have seen a cultural shift. There used to be  events where there wasn’t alcohol served and that’s becoming less common. I think that the drinking culture has really exponentially increased. So if it wasn’t the health risk that would have made you stop, what was your motivation?  

Casey: Well, I have to say that I was always a drinker, ever since I got to college. I joined the women’s rugby team where binge drinking was celebrated. And then I used alcohol to shut off my brain. I was very much a gold star straight A girl who had a lot of fear of not doing well. When I drank, I could let all of that go. So  drinking for me was fun. It was actually part of my personality. I felt like it was sort of integral to  the type of person I was and stopping drinking completely was my worst nightmare, literally my worst case scenario in life. So  I thought for a very long time that I needed to get ahold of my drinking, that I needed to be able to moderate more successfully so that I would never have to stop completely.  And,  the more I tried to moderate, meaning I made all the rules, like I’ll only have two drinks tonight. I will only drink beer because I like red wine better. I will only drink when I’m home. So I won’t be out of the bar. I’ll only drink when I’m out. Cause I go out less often. The more I tried to do that, the more I realized that it was not working at all. All of my rules, I could not successfully drink less on a consistent basis. Or if I did, I was super irritated and white knuckling it. And at the same time,  my anxiety was off the chart. I would wake up with this sort of low grade hangover every day. I would have to overcompensate to fit in everything I needed to do to still get, you know, the straight A version of an adult in a lot fewer hours.

I started listening to podcasts and started reading books and joining groups. And then finally decided to take a longer break from alcohol.I got to 100 days and I felt so much better. I decided to extend it to six months and then a year. And once it got to a year, I was like, you know what? I think I’m done drinking, because  I realized that I didn’t need it and that I felt so much better and happier without it.

Dr. Vickie: That is so interesting. And I think that’s true of so many substances, even something like sugar. You don’t realize how bad it’s making you feel until you can get through that period where you get over your cravings and realize how much better you feel without it. But it sounds like to me that you had a real identity shift. With drinking, denial is a huge part of the process. And so it’s interesting that you just were listening to podcasts and now you are a coach for other women. 

Casey: I think the shift is really changing throughout society. It’s, it’s starting with the younger generation. So Gen Z is the leading factor in the sober curious movement. They drink 30 percent less than their parents or grandparents did at the same age. Millennials are also on board with being sober curious, which means  considering what your life would be like without drinking, taking periods of time, alcohol free, trying non alcoholic beer and wine, or just trying to drink more mindfully.

The older generations, I’m Gen X, who sort of came into adulthood with the idea that red wine was good for your heart. And Baby Boomers are the absolute biggest drinkers. So now it’s more normalized to do dry January, to do dry July, to stop drinking for a period of time. And people don’t question it as much as they used to. Whereas for a long time, I would say 10 years ago, if you took a break from drinking  and you were a drinker, people would pretty much be like, what’s going on?  Do you have a problem? Are you pregnant? Just have one. You need to relax. We’ll have more fun. Like  there there was a lot of pressure to keep drinking. 

Dr. Vickie: I agree with that. So, what would you say to a young woman, a young mom, or even anyone else in another range of age to get started if they are sober curious?   

Casey: I always encourage anyone who’s thinking about this to try to take a longer break from drinking. When you are drinking, it becomes a habit and it becomes an emotional practice in terms of how you connect with your friends or your spouse or how you hang out with your colleagues or bond with other mothers. And you don’t realize how much it impacts every aspect of your life. Whenever you drink alcohol, it spikes your dopamine really high. And so your body actually regulates your normal level of dopamine, your happy hormone lower. So even if you just drink twice a week, you are less happy than you would be if you were not drinking at all.

It messes with your mood regulation. So you are less emotionally stable than you would be, if you weren’t drinking at all. It impacts your energy and your ability to work out. It messes with your sleep. So taking 30 days off drinking  is a really great way to evaluate how alcohol is impacting all the the aspects of your life,

You will notice just in one month that you have less brain fog, that you have more energy, your skin will be brighter, your eyes will be brighter. You will sleep better. So there are all these benefits to it, but you will also realize that you can go through a Friday night without drinking and that you can hang out with your partner and have a date without drinking and that it’s still good. So that’s a practice to bring awareness to all these beliefs we have about alcohol.

And in my coaching practice, a lot of the approach is to look at it like habit formation and break that. So the idea of keep the ritual, change the ingredients. There are fantastic non alcoholic beverages out there. there’s non alcoholic beer that is, you know, taking the world by storm. There is is non alcoholic Prosecco. There’s all these non alcoholic drinks, mocktails that you  will see all around you. And then you can institute new habits. How do you want to wind down at the end of the night? , If you’re stressed, if you’re lonely, what are other ways to meet those needs?

And you will learn something about yourself if you do that.  

Dr. Vickie: That’s so powerful. And I think self discovery is a huge part of it, but I have to say, I’m glad you brought up dopamine because I always take my listeners to mini medical school. So what I want you to know about dopamine is that it affects the pleasure center of the brain, and it is in the exact same location as the pain center of the brain. When you’re using any substance, and that dopamine level starts to drop, you experience extreme discomfort without the substance. And so, it’s a weird upside down balance of, you’re drinking to increase your dopamine levels, but then you have to drink because your dopamine levels go down so low and dopamine is a huge part of addiction. And I just want to ask you that, are we talking about addiction? Because you talk a lot about a dry period, an alcohol free period. What if someone can’t stop?

Casey: There are are different levels. of using and withdrawing from a substance. In medical terms, it’s called substance use disorder and there are variations of mild, moderate or severe.

What I love about the sober curious movement is anyone can decide to take a break or drink less or evaluate the way that alcohol is impacting their life and their social life. And  it is good  and you will learn something and there’s was no judgment around it. Now, if you are drinking more often or more heavily, it is hard to take a break without some sort of support. So I actually stopped using sober coach. I worked with her, emailing her every day.  A lot of it was the block and tackling of, I’m having an awful day at work. I really want a drink. And her kind of being like, all right, you don’t have to drink though. You can go home and you can cuddle up with your kid or watch a show or go for a run or whatever it is. Just that encouragement to to get through those cravings and the ideas of of like what do I say to people? What will they think if I don’t drink? How will I have a night out with my husband?

A lot of this is sort of just day by day getting through those, those moments when you would drink.  Withdrawal, if you are physically addicted to alcohol, is incredibly dangerous. So, if you’re at the point where you are physically addicted or you are worried about it beyond, I had a lot of hangovers, you really should work with a medical professional for a detox because it can be fatal.

Dr. Vickie: I’m glad you brought that up. But I do think dealing with those triggers and cravings is so important and I love that you mentioned using alternative ways to deal with the things that are going to set that trigger off. Do you have any top five suggestions on winding down or mitigating that?

Casey: What’s interesting is in the beginning, the biggest trigger is hunger, which is kind of of funny and counterintuitive. So when I’m working with women and they are taking a a break from drinking, they’re going from day one to day five to day seven to two weeks, I really encourage them to set an alarm for 3:30 or four, to, eat something with protein. So you are not going into the witching hour or getting dinner or driving home from the office when you are you are hungry. Cause that is a huge trigger to drink.

The other thing I really encourage women to do is to get all the alcohol out of the house. So you can talk to your partner about this. I mean, our partners support us in many things. When I stopped drinking, red wine was my sort  of kryptonite. So I told him I needed no wine at the house because I really love drinking.

And I knew it would be hard for me, like the elephant in the room, just constantly wearing me down. So he drank beer. We just just got all the wine out of the house. So that is sort of a visual cue seeing alcohol around you that triggers a craving to drink. So if you get rid of the visual cue and and you get rid of the ability to have that quick reward, meaning grab a  bottle, grab a drink, open it and have it hit your bloodstream. That gives you the chance to move through it. I mean, most cravings really only last 20 minutes. You can time them. Like I really want to drink, you eat something, you distract yourself. You can time when that craving goes away. So I would say hunger, getting the the visual cues and the easy access to alcohol out of your house, your; your visual field. And then  also identifying why you want to drink. So  if you  are just taking a break and you’re not used to it, I always tell women, if they tell me they don’t have a craving to drink in the first two weeks, like I won’t believe them. It just doesn’t happen.

So in the beginning, you really need that physical break from being able to hit that reward.  But after that, it’s emotional most of the time. So it’s  really important to lower the bar and to stay away from stress and overwhelm and drama.

But when you  want to drink first thing, eat something. But the second question is why? Why do you want to drink? Are you bored? Are you resentful? Are you irritated? Are you lonely?  All of those things you can solve for in different ways. And once you identify the emotion of why you want to drink, maybe you want to celebrate and want to take it even higher, then you you can problem solve for other ways to meet that need.  

D.r Vickie: I love that. That’s really impactful. Those are some very practical steps that people can take. And I will just tell you the same could be said about chocolate chips. If I’ve got chocolate chips in the pantry, they’re calling my name and I’ll go in there and have a little handful. But if I don’t have any chocolate chips, the pantry, I’m not going to eat chocolate. Availability is huge, whether it’s snack food or alcohol or anything else.

We call those self binding techniques. And they work. They really do work, but they don’t work in isolation. You have to implement these other things. And so tell me about the benefit of having a coach. Is this a one on one coaching that you do? Do you do group coaching? 

Casey: Yeah, I actually I did one on one for many years. I worked with over 150 women one on one. And then I have an online program. It’s called the Sobriety Starter Kit that basically takes my one on one format and and practices and puts it in an online program that you can access and have in your back pocket at any time. It’s designed to take women from day one to 106 months, a year and beyond, and give them the tools to do that. As part of that, I have an online community where I’m in there every single day and I  do group coaching as part of that as well. So, it’s really important to realize that you are not alone in this and have really practical and positive and  empowering ways to reframe your habits and your thinking about alcohol to make those changes. 

Dr. Vickie: The power of community cannot be overstated. No matter what you’re dealing with, the power of community is so important.  Well, I am so excited to know about your business and your coaching. And I’ll put the links to all of that in the show notes so that any of our listeners can check that out.

And I appreciate you sharing all your words of wisdom with us. 

Casey: Thank you so much, Vickie,  I’m happy to be here.

  Dr. Vickie: Wow. Wasn’t that fantastic? If you are sober curious and you are interested in checking out Casey Davidson’s website, you can find her at Hello Someday Coaching. She offers her sobriety starter kit. She has a podcast and lots of resources on her blog. So if you’re interested in cutting back on your drinking, then this is a fantastic resource for you.

Check out the link in the show notes.  If insomnia is more your problem, then you’re going to want to check out six surprising reasons you’re tossing and turning. That’s my upcoming free live sleep masterclass on March 3rd, 5th and 8th. Registration is required and there’s a link in the show notes or you can go to my website. 

   RESOURCES:

Hello Someday Coaching with Casey Davidson

Hello Someday Podcast

Six Surprising Reasons You’re Tossing and Turning

The information contained in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not considered to be a substitute for medical advice. You should continue to follow up with your physician or health care provider and take medication as prescribed. Though the information in this podcast is evidence based, new research may develop and recommendations may change

 

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