Asking for a Friend - Health, Fitness & Personal Growth Tips for Women in Midlife

Ep.145 Kristine Gardner and Her Wellness Wisdom: Morning Habits, Mindful Choices, and Empowerment

• Michele Henning Folan • Episode 145

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Join me for an inspiring conversation with Kristine Gardner, a wellness expert who’s made it her mission to help women create fulfilling, balanced lives. Kristine takes us on her remarkable journey from discovering wellness in her 20s to becoming a personal trainer, earning a master’s in counseling, and leading a successful sales team—all while navigating the challenges of motherhood, a 20-year marriage, and even the joy of becoming a dog mom, all from her charming home in Niwot, Colorado.

In this episode, Kristine shares powerful insights on how simple morning habits can set the tone for a more intentional, balanced day. From hydrating first thing to soaking up the morning sun, she explains how these small practices can shift your mindset. We also dive into the benefits of delaying your first cup of coffee, the power of personal mantras, and how these simple changes can transform your daily routine.

Kristine opens up about her entrepreneurial journey, offering tips on stress management and how women can reclaim joy and balance, even amidst the chaos of midlife. We also discuss practical wellness practices, like using glucose monitors and the surprising benefits of castor oil, along with mindful choices around alcohol and overall self-care.

This conversation is a must-listen for any woman looking to make empowering choices in her life. So, grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let’s explore how you can thrive in every area of your life—no matter where you are in your journey.

You can find Kristine Gardner at:

https://www.instagram.com/kgcaliglow/

Here are Kristine's must-haves:

Her favorite beef tallow moisturizer

A great $5 eye cream

Kristine's castor oil of choice

Send us a text

_________________________________________
Are you ready to reclaim your midlife body and health? I went through my own personal journey through menopause, the struggle with midsection weight gain, and feeling rundown. Faster Way, a transformative six-week group program, set me on the path to sustainable change. I'd love to work with you! Let me help you reach your health and fitness goals.
https://www.fasterwaycoach.com/?aid=MicheleFolan

Have questions about Faster Way? Feel free to reach out.
mfolanfasterway@gmail.com

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*Transcripts are done with AI and may not be perfectly accurate.

**This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.

Michele Folan:

I love having other coaches on the podcast and sometimes they're doing some of the same things that I am in the health, fitness and wellness space, but that's okay. One of my favorite sayings is all ships rise in high tides, supporting other women and their endeavors, whether it be coaching, writing a book or as a medical professional. It's important to me to continue to provide listeners all their options when it comes to their own wellness choices. Health, wellness, fitness and everything in between. We're removing the taboo from what really matters in midlife. I'm your host, Michele Folan, and this is Asking for a Friend. I just love it when I meet inspiring women on Instagram and it makes it even more special when you feel this immediate connection that says I think I found a new friend.

Michele Folan:

Kristine Gardner started exploring wellness when she was in her 20s, but it wasn't until she got her master's in counseling and became a personal trainer that led to her running a successful sales team that she realized that she wanted to focus on helping women with stress management, happiness and overall mind, body and energy alignment. Stress management, happiness and overall mind, body and energy alignment. She wants her clients to create habits that work specific to their lifestyle and step into their favorite version of themselves. Kristine Gardner, welcome to Asking for a Friend.

Kristine Gardner:

Michele, I'm so happy to be here and I feel the same as you. We were fast friends, I have to tell you.

Michele Folan:

I think so too. I feel so fortunate to have this job and I do air quotes when I say job. I really have met some incredible women through doing this podcast, but there was something about you. We started commenting on each other's stuff and I was like I like this lady, I think she's fun. I wish she was my neighbor.

Kristine Gardner:

Well, I always say it's never random when people meet. Synchronicity, yes, and I really feel that we're like energy, so we were meant to connect.

Michele Folan:

I believe that is true. It's serendipitous. It's one of my favorite words and I use it all the time. There you go. So, even though I kind of know your story, I would like for you to share your story, just where you're from, tell us about your boys, and also let's talk about your career path, because I think it really does help paint the picture of where you are today.

Kristine Gardner:

Okay, well, first and foremost, I am a very proud mom of three boys. My oldest one is in college now, which is hard to believe. Every time I say it, and I'm sure it'll get to the point when he graduates, and all those next steps. It's always I can't believe that my kids are here here. But for real I have. My first one is in college now, back in California, which is where we're from. And then I have a 16 year old and a 13 year old and I have to say I love the teenage years. I do.

Michele Folan:

I love being a teenage mom.

Kristine Gardner:

Oh yeah, and it probably goes into a lot of what we're going to talk about, but all the mind games and the different types of relationships are going through and just everything, the energy that teens bring to the home I love it. I love the space of motherhood.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, and it gets even better, christine, because I will say that once they become like young adults, it really, I think, goes into an even kind of cooler phase when you're hanging out with them and they're like little adults, it's just fun.

Kristine Gardner:

And I love that. I keep hearing that from women that it keeps getting better. You know the way, too, where I have women that are friends, that are grandmothers, and they said, oh, just wait until you're a grandmother, that's the best, all right, um. So every yes, every phase of motherhood is amazing, or has moments of amazing. And then I married my husband Scott. We've been married for 20 years. We met in San Francisco at a bar. Good, and then proud dog mom to my dodger. I did not. I was so scared to get a dog. I thought it was going to be like having a fourth child. Little did I know it was going to expand my art to a whole new level. I love being a dog mom.

Kristine Gardner:

We live in Boulder, colorado, actually right outside Boulder, in a town called Niwot, and it really is living in the country, five miles out of the city. I never thought I would live in a country setting. I'm from California, was born and raised in the Bay Area, marin County, and then we moved to Los Angeles shortly after we were married and I loved everything about that phase of my life, also Love living in California. I still am a very proud Californian, my heart. We just got back from California and I always leave a piece of my heart there. Yes, my son is there, but I also. I just really I just still feel like California is truly my home. I love it. So we'll see if we end up there back there.

Michele Folan:

That's where your roots are. It's, it's, it's hard to. It's hard to walk away from that when that's kind of what you've known for so many years.

Kristine Gardner:

So it's true. Well, especially when it's 70 in February, come back to two degrees, so it really is winter, it's still winter and my, my career did you and you said about, but a little taste of my career, right?

Michele Folan:

Yeah, because you, I I like this entrepreneurial thing. You got, you got going, Cause I think there's there's kind of a cool story here.

Kristine Gardner:

I've always been an entrepreneur. It's funny when I take a moment to pause, when I'm talking to someone like you or I'm sharing my story with someone, I realize in that moment, like gosh, I've been an entrepreneur for 20 years 25 years and I love being an entrepreneur. I started way back in my early 20s, when I was in graduate school and I was getting my master's in counseling, and at that time is really when I fell in love with fitness and so I started my own bootcamp program in Northern California. It was awesome. We met outside underneath the Redwoods, and I trained women of all ages and we would meet and work out outside. And so from that early age, I was combining my love for movement and nature, the outdoors, happiness and feeling our best, and that was in the mid twenties. All the way through grad school, I was putting together hiking groups for women biking groups, hiking groups, boot camps, personal training, anything basically that got people moving.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, but you were also creating this amazing community too, and community, that's right.

Kristine Gardner:

And then I was in graduate school and then, at the same time, I was going to be a master's in counseling. I also was studying nutrition. I was studying holistic nutrition, ayurvedic nutrition specifically. So I also started my own business where I was going into people's homes and clearing out their pantries and helping them put together meal plans and cooking. And this again was like 25 years ago. I was in my early 20s. My friends were all drinking in the city.

Kristine Gardner:

Not that I never did this, but for the most part I was cooking up tofu in my little apartment in Mill Valley and going to silent retreats in my early twenties. It's kind of funny to think back on that and putting together different health and wellness entrepreneurial programs, and I loved it. I was also teaching in studios too. So I was teaching really focused on bar and Pilates. That was my main focus. And then, at different times during during that as well, I would um, I sort of became like a air quote master trainer and I would actually go into different studios and help different studio owners put together different programs and helping to train trainers and train teachers programs and helping to train trainers and train teachers. So I've always I've always um been putting together and creating businesses around health and wellness in different phases of my life. And then you went to beauty counter. I went to beauty counter, so I had three fast forward.

Kristine Gardner:

Uh, we're now living in Los Angeles and I was training and teaching in different studios all over LA and I started to notice my body getting a little tired and also running after three toddlers and realized I needed to. I needed to do something else at that time and wanted to do something else at that time. So in came beauty counter. It kind of dropped in my lap. It was just getting started, had no idea what direct sales was, is network marketing? I had to Google it to find out what it was, but I thought this sounds fun, I'll jump in. I'm into. I love learning. I believe we should always be learning and educating ourselves and I was really surprised to learn about ingredients that were in, that was in our skincare and that was considered toxic and I this was sort of like right at the peak of clean beauty or when it was just starting to take off. So I thought, if I don't know all this information, I know other women don't know this information about toxic beauty, toxic ingredients. So jumped into Beauty Counter, grew a really large sales organization there, loved it, loved it, was there for almost 10 years and about eight years into beauty counter I started to get that itch again that I knew it was time to do something else. That and the and kept creeping in.

Kristine Gardner:

So that was when, Michele, I started my coaching business again and started putting together um, started doing group work with women, really focusing on stress management. Uh, movement for fun meditation, making meditation accessible and sort of normalizing meditation for women that had never done meditation before, which was also me. I was on the same path and I wanted to help women feel more joy, feel more happiness, feel less stressed out, less burnout, because that's what I was seeing at beauty counter, to be honest, and that's what I was hearing from a lot of women that I was working with that women were feeling stressed out and feeling burnout and they were shitting all over themselves. I like to say, and I just didn't think that was the way that we should be living. That wasn't the way that we should be living. So I really wanted to help women de-stress, align and come back to that whole body mind, body, energy, alignment.

Michele Folan:

Well, you know, it's really difficult to do anything, to address anything in terms of your health, your relationships, all of that, If you have stress and anxiety pulling you down day after day after day. It's like you've got to deal with that component first before you can really be there for yourself and for other people. That that is what they need, that they need to address this, the stress that is kind of their burden.

Kristine Gardner:

No, a lot of times. No, okay, I have so many women and you probably have this too that reach out and say I don't really know what I need. But I know I need something. Something just doesn't feel right and I don't know what it is. Something just doesn't feel right and I don't know what it is.

Kristine Gardner:

And there's a lot of guilt and shame in that too, because so many women come to me and they're like I should feel good, I should feel joy, I live this great life, I am healthy and, you know, my kids are this, or I'm married this, or I live here, or I'm doing this, I'm going on this vacation, but yet I still just feel like they're just flat and I can't get out of my own way. And that's really what it is. I just can't get out of my own way. And it's the old stories, it's the old patterns that are going on in our beautiful brains that are holding us back. And that's what I see the most is that women just don't don't know what it is that they need.

Kristine Gardner:

But they need, they need. They need something. They need like a little. They need a little love nudge is what they need. They need some accountability, they need some coaching. They need community and they're not really sure how to get started or where to get started, and there's also a lot of guilt, feeling like they need that too. So they think it's like, oh, I need to lose five pounds, or oh, I need to lose 10 pounds, then I'll be happier when, really, if we unpack that it's. I really need to shift my habits. I really need to change my mindset. I really need to take my power back and stop shitting all over myself. Boundaries, boundaries yes, I love that word.

Michele Folan:

You know it, it. I love the word and I know some people think it's kind of overused, but I'll tell you it's. It frees your soul when you learn to say no. I was having this discussion with one of my daughters this weekend. Like, you don't have to go to that party, you don't even have to make up an excuse, you can just say I'm not coming.

Kristine Gardner:

And Michele even to the next step is you can say no and you also don't have to explain yourself. And when you become aware of that, I feel like that is so freeing, because that first step is, oh my gosh, I did say no and then careful that we don't get stuck in that spiral of no because this and this and this, and because this and this, and having to explain ourselves constantly. It's like when we just say no because no, that's it, yeah.

Michele Folan:

That's all. That's all we have to say Right. So do you really feel like that is? What holds most women back is just being able to set boundaries and really address some of those things that are holding them back, and they just need someone to kind of guide them down that path.

Kristine Gardner:

Well, that, and also the old stories that we get so ingrained in our minds, our old patterns, and it's really retraining our brain and we think it's harder than it really is. Our brains are so incredible and they're open to creating new narrow pathways, and I don't think I mean the average woman isn't thinking I need to change some of my narrow pathways, I need to change the way my brain is thinking. But that's really what it is. It's shifting some. It's just shifting some simple habits that can be really life-changing, starting with morning habits and how we talk to ourselves. But yes, I think it's the mindset, the stress and getting out of our own way and habits, and the habits are just part of old stories, old patterns.

Michele Folan:

Kristine, we're going to take a quick break and when we get back, I want to talk about some of those morning habits that you like. Are you feeling overwhelmed by the changes that come with midlife, struggling with weight, energy or finding time for yourself? You're not alone. I get it because I've been there too. I specialize in helping midlife women just like you transform their health and lives through personalized nutrition and coaching that fits your real life. Together, we'll tackle those unique challenges, whether it's balancing your hormones, dealing with cravings or boosting your energy. It's not just about diets. It's about reclaiming your strength and confidence one step at a time. Check out the show notes of this episode and shoot me an email. I'd love to learn more about you and your challenges. Okay, we are back. All right. Before we took the break, we were talking about some of those things, just some of those small things that we can do to set our day up, to set ourselves up for success. Can you talk a little bit about those morning habits that you've adopted, that you try to teach your clients?

Kristine Gardner:

Yes, and I also want to be honest that this was not. It wasn't always this way I was. I was absolutely. It was absolutely the mom. I was the woman that was waking up to the alarm, throwing myself out of bed, spiking my cortisol through the roof, injecting coffee as quickly as possible and running out the door in my pajamas, over-caffeinating, doing all the crazy hip workouts nonstop, cardio, nonstop. I mean, I didn't always have these habits in place. However, I've slowly adopted them into my life and I'm here to say that even the smallest shifts can make the biggest differences. So one of those is drinking water first thing in the morning. It makes such a huge difference. It's when I forget to do that or when I don't have that water by my bed the morning. It makes such a huge difference. It's when I forget to do that or when I don't have that water by my bed the night before. It just it. My day does not feel the same.

Kristine Gardner:

So hydrating first thing is key because, think about it, you are vertical for nine hours, vertical or horizontal, horizontal. You're horizontal for nine hours, hopefully nine hours, eight or nine hours, and and you're dehydrated. You are dehydrated. So, first thing in the morning, drinking your water before you have any coffee. That is first and foremost. That is what I'm always telling my clients. Let's start with that and you would not believe when, when clients start, when women start doing that first thing, it's like that first major accomplishment. I'm drinking my water first thing, I've got my lemon, I'm detoxing my liver first thing in the morning and I feel so much better. So start there and celebrate that, celebrate that win.

Kristine Gardner:

And then getting a little bit of movement in. And this doesn't mean getting up and starting to lift weights. This doesn't mean getting up and doing a three mile walk. This means getting up and just starting to move the lymph. Again, you were horizontal for eight hours. So getting starting to move the cells. And I have a five minute little movement ritual that I always send to my clients in the morning first thing. And again, the difference they feel when they do five minutes of movement before they have their coffee or it's. It's. It can be life changing. So also the sunlight, and I know we're starting to hear more and more about this, but getting sunlight first thing in the morning is everything I always say.

Kristine Gardner:

My hardest client is my husband and some mornings I will literally drag him out, outside, we are getting sunlight on our face first things in the morning and again, we always feel so much better. It's funny I think I said this in the beginning that I have a dog and if we could just live like a dog in the first 10 minutes and learn from our dogs, we would all be happier, happier humans. Dodger, when he gets up, first thing he does he does a loud stretch and a yawn, and an audible yawn. So good for you. Same thing get out. He immediately wants to go outside. He wants to get the sunshine on his face. Comes back inside, drink some water. If we can all just be the simple little habits, just like our, just like our furry little friends, we feel so much better.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, and I think you know, grabbing for the coffee the first thing when you wake up in the morning, it's just a habit, we all, we, we've all done it. But I, like you, have adopted that, that in the morning, that first thing I do, I drink 16 ounces of water. I put some sea salt in mine. I love the idea of lemon and just chug that down. And sometimes I find out once I get that in and I get that little movement in, Kristine, I don't need my coffee for like an hour. It's so true. One morning about a week ago I forgot to drink my coffee. It was 11 AM. I was like, oh, I didn't have coffee. That's great, I know, yeah, so just yeah, but I, I, I love what you're saying I should also say I am not a huge.

Kristine Gardner:

although I love routines, I also like mixing my routines up, so I just I just like um. I love my five minute movement in the morning. Sometimes I'll jump, jump on the trampoline. I love a rebounder and I'll just bounce for five minutes in the morning before I get my kids up or do anything, and it just gets my cells going and I turn on a fun song and I get in again.

Kristine Gardner:

This is the most important thing also, besides from the water and the coffee get your brain right, get your head right. And so what I'm always sharing with my clients is we come up with our own personal mantra in the morning, a brain primer and something that is going to get them in a good mindset for the day. And we always come up with a personal one, because everybody's in a different space. But have your personal mantra in the morning and what I started with and this is a really easy one to remember if you need one, it's today is going to be a great day and it seems so simple. But I'm telling you, michelle, I sat up for two years straight, every single morning. It was the first thing I said, and now it's just on autopilot. Today is going to be a great day, because it is. If we train our brains to be that way, then our whole day is different. You can manifest.

Michele Folan:

You're manifesting Absolutely. We always are. Yeah, and one thing I will say about that and I should be better about that and I appreciate the little nudge you're giving me here by manifesting we can change the trajectory of our day and our life and it's getting out of that negative headspace that drags us down. And I love that little tip of just starting your day with a positive phrase or positive little motivation to get things going.

Kristine Gardner:

One other one I love and again game changer is go big. In the morning and my coach shared that with me and I have adopted that and I share it all the time Go big, begin in gratitude, begin in gratitude. There's no other way. There's so much to be grateful for when we start our day, just like you said, looking for the positive, looking for the joy. The joy sparks the gratitude, it shifts the energy.

Michele Folan:

You just said something. You said your coach and this is something you and I chatted about a little bit before we hit the record button about the stigma sometimes around having a coach or getting therapy or whatever it is you do. Can you talk about that a little?

Kristine Gardner:

bit. We could have a whole, just one podcast on this series. It's funny, it's interesting. I think it's hard for women to ask for help. In certain ways, maybe it's not hard to ask for help. You go to the gym, you go to a gym class, or you have your girlfriends. So people think like, oh well, I have my girlfriend, so I should be good and love my besties. I love my girlfriends, but they're not your coach, they're not going to call you out on all the things, they're not going to challenge you. In certain ways, I think that women feel a sense of guilt or shame that they need a coach. I think there's some guilt around having to spend money on a coach. I should be able to do this myself. I'm in my forties, I'm in my fifties, I'm in my sixties. I should have it figured out. I shouldn't need help Like accountability. I should be able to do that myself. So it's again it's that mind, talk and that feeling of I should be able to figure this out on my own.

Michele Folan:

I'll get my husband to be my accountability partner or okay, you know, let me know how that works.

Kristine Gardner:

Meanwhile, though, what I think is really, really interesting is that women are, are and myself included are willing to spend a limited amount of money on their kids. So their kid needs a trainer, or? No problem, your kid needs a tutor, of course, your kid needs, you know, your child needs this extra accountability or support. But no problem, right, we'll do anything for our kids. But then, when it comes to us, we think, oh, we'll do it later, oh, I can do that on my own, I don't need that.

Kristine Gardner:

So again, we're putting ourselves on the back burner, and really I believe that, first of all, all our kids want is for us to be happy, and so, whatever we need to do, if mom's happy, everybody's happy, right? So true, and we're human. I mean we all need to have a little extra coaching, a little extra accountability. We all love community, and that's when we thrive. When you have coaching, when you have accountability, someone checking in, when you have community, people that are supporting you, that's when you can start to get out of your own way. So it's not something you need forever, and I say that too because, honestly, if I've done my job and I'm a good coach, then after a few months I hope that my clients graduate and move on. This isn't something that you're going to be doing forever, but it's just someone to help you, kind of it's helped help you shift. My coach has changed my life 110,000%. I love coaching. I always have coaching in some, some capacity.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, you know, and we all know, you know you can't pour from an empty cup and all that, but it's not selfish and all that, but it's not selfish, no, no.

Kristine Gardner:

And it's also it's getting a different perspective. It is someone challenging you in the best way, with love, because they want the best for you, and it is that accountability piece. And that's what I see the most, Michele, from my clients. What they really need, to be honest with you, is the mindset shifts, seeing things from a different perspective that they haven't seen before, and accountability to help get the habits in place, because when I work with my clients, it's always coming up with habits that align with their values and habits that work for them. What works for you is going to be different than what works for me, and what works for one client it's going to be kind of different works for another client. So I always want to help them create these habits that are going to work for them and then hold them accountable for a certain amount of time. And I see it, it works.

Kristine Gardner:

Yeah, the women that really lean into the accountability it works. They retrain those pathways, they're on their way, and then it becomes a habit. And then it becomes a habit, and sure do. They come back sometimes like, oh, I need to tweak a little bit or I got off track with this or this wasn't feeling right, or kids left for college or whatever. Summer's over. Come back and let's reshift regroup set you up for success. A hundred percent. Yeah, Shift regroup set you up for success 100%.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, and I think those life transitions, you know, the kids go to college, the kids leave the nest, the kids get married, don't feel like they need mom anymore. Then we get into, you know, grandparenthood, I mean there's so many phases that we're just asked to adapt to and sometimes for some women that's hard and because we're kind of having to realign our identity every single time, and that's tough. 100%.

Kristine Gardner:

And we're also going through in that midlife phase. We're going through hormonal changes. Our bodies feel a little different, they do, and, just like you said, we're going through a lot of external transitions as well. Our bodies feel a little different, they do, and, just like you said, we're going through a lot of external transitions as well, with different people coming and going. There's a lot going on in this space and so, leaning in and asking for some extra help and support and love and guidance, yes and yes and yes, yes and yes and yes, yeah, more please.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, we're, we're, we're definitely on very, very same page. I want to ask you a little bit about some of your own things that you do and some of your own good habits. We talked about your morning routine. I have to ask you this question you started wearing a glucose monitor recently. Yeah, I want to know what the goal was behind getting this data, and was there anything that prompted you like saying I think I need to see what my glucose is doing on a daily basis?

Kristine Gardner:

So my philosophy and my belief is really, when it comes to eating and an exercise too but really for eating it's whole foods diet, and eating for hormonal health and eating from a place to balance your blood sugar so that you're feeling good all day long, you're not experiencing those extreme highs. You're not experiencing those extreme highs, you're not experiencing extreme lows, but you feel good, you have energy all day long, and so when you balance your blood sugar and you're eating a whole foods, rich protein, vegetables, fruit diet, you can feel that good. And I also wanted to get the data to test it and to see were there certain things that were unknowingly like spiking my blood sugar? Or how was my cortisol in the morning and was stress really affecting my blood sugar? Oh sure, it definitely does. So I was just sort of curious to see it for myself. I also, to be transparent, in my next program I'm going to roll out a piece of the program where you can have the monitor and then I'm actually going to have a nurse is going to be a partner in my program. So if a client decides to have a glucose monitor, then Kate will help and do the reading and give you feedback and we can talk about some of the shifts that you need to have. So I partnered with this amazing woman, kate, and we're going to have that in the next program, but I first had to do it myself. So anything that I'm going to ask someone else to do, of course I need to do it myself and see what I find. So, to be honest, that was really why I wanted to do it to be a test person, a test client first, and what have I noticed out of it? So the biggest thing is I realized that when I take a bath or a sauna, it really spikes my blood sugar. Those are the two things that have really really affected the blood sugar. And then also this weekend, when we were traveling I know I just wasn't, as I was still eating healthy and doing all the good things, but I wasn't as conscientious about, like, having a certain amount of protein to balance out what I was eating and I was snacking more, and it was just so I could just see the spikes going up and down and up and down much more versus when I'm at home. It's very, it's, it's in my range, it's more stable, yeah, it's pretty stable, yeah. So that was interesting and I definitely noticed.

Kristine Gardner:

Also, coffee in the morning. I did test it. If I didn't, I didn't have any food first. Is it going to really spike my blood sugar? And it does Absolutely. And just the smallest amount of sugar really spikes my blood. That's what it was. I love those sugar-free peach rings, the smart, smart candy I don't I can't remember what it's called, but you know sugar-free all of this, I love them. That my blood sugar went through the roof Really Uh-huh, uh-huh, crazy.

Michele Folan:

But then also just like the smallest amount.

Kristine Gardner:

I love a matcha and I'll sometimes put a little bit of maple syrup in there Not very much but that. So my body is super sensitive to to sugar. Um, it gets it going pretty quickly.

Michele Folan:

One thing I will say, and this is just a general suggestion for everybody listening to this podcast today If you have not had a fasting blood sugar done by your primary care, done by your primary care provider, you need to do that because that is just a baseline that everybody should know. You should know what your fasting blood sugar is and just be aware, because some women I know are finding out that they're pre-diabetic and they didn't know. Keeping in mind that is an asymptomatic situation, so you're not going to know, unless you're like Kristine here who's wearing a glucose monitor. But definitely get a fasting blood glucose, all right. My next question castor oil. All right, I've seen women using castor oil. I am clueless about castor oil, the benefits of it and putting it on your stomach. I've seen some women like put it in their belly button with a bandaid. Please explain.

Kristine Gardner:

So, first, if you Google if you Google castor oil, it is, I mean, you're going to get. There's so much information on it out there and, as I say, with everything, even with the, you know, the blood sugar monitors and all the things I'm not a doctor and everybody's different, so I'm only speaking from, for, for what's happened to me, what's worked for me or hasn't worked for me with the castor oil. Again, I love wellness, I love trends. I like to think that I'm on top of them for the most part, and I also can't stand dry skin, living in Colorado, so that was first and foremost. I was always on the hunt for something that was going to help my dry skin, and I kept hearing about castor oil, and so that was why I initially started using. It was for dry skin and it works like nothing else. It is so great, oh my gosh, for dry skin. That and my other newest obsession beef tallow.

Michele Folan:

All right, yeah, we got to talk about the beef tallow.

Kristine Gardner:

Yeah. So beef tallow is my other newest obsession as well, and because that I am telling you also is the cure to dry skin. And my son one of my boys has kind of has, um, has, he's more acne prone and he actually thinks that the beef tallow is helping the acne. Some people think it actually can clog pores. He said he he's feeling like there's a difference. So again, everybody's different. But I do have a couple little eczema patches on my, on my, um, my leg, a couple of dry patches, and the castor oil and the beef tallow, both of those have done wonders to help irritated dry skin, cracked feet, cracked heels, all of it. And just with the beef tallow you have to be careful because the dogs love it. So Dodger goes crazy.

Kristine Gardner:

You become a dog tree. But it's so good and there's only five ingredients in it and it just works wonders. The castor oil also. It really helps to pull out toxins. So that's why women are putting the castor oil on their abdominal area to help to pull out toxins from liver. There are, you know, studies kind of go both ways. Some say, oh, you know, studies kind of go both ways. Some say, oh, you know it doesn't do anything. And then you'll see some studies that say like it does help. So it's again. It's one of those where it's somewhere in the middle.

Kristine Gardner:

I wore my castor oil pack last night after traveling and being gone for the weekend and I felt I do feel like it helps me de-bloat a little bit. Is it placebo? I don't know. I do feel like it helps me de-bloat a little bit. Is it placebo? I don't know. But I do feel like it helps and my skin again is so soft and I do feel like it probably helps move the lymph, helps to de-bloat, detox, anything to help with the detox and the cleanse. I'm all about that.

Michele Folan:

So I like it. I love it All right. I've been dying to ask that. So I like it. I love it All right.

Kristine Gardner:

I've been dying to ask you. So I I I'm glad that we got to discuss the castor oil thing. I will reorder. That's what I always say. If you know, if you like it, if you reorder, I will reorder my castor oil and I will definitely reorder my beef tallow, all right and I.

Michele Folan:

so castor oil was always used by one of the moms in my neighborhood. They had a bunch of kids and they would use castor oil because it would like if you had a stomach bug or whatever, and it would get things moving through. And that's that's my experience with castor oil. Is the kids up the street having to take it?

Kristine Gardner:

And I do like it, like I said, for under eyes, anything to help with dry skin. Again in Colorado, I'm always looking for ways to plump the skin. I put Botox on hold for a little while, which has also been an interesting experiment for no reason. I just thought you know I'm going to put Botox on hold for a little while and see how that feels and so adding in castor oil and helping with my under eyes, it's really helped All right.

Michele Folan:

Will you report back? I will.

Kristine Gardner:

On the Botox. I know I will. It's interesting. It's a mind game it is. It's really interesting. And then I do love my red light mask. I do, and I was talking to a client last night. She had a red light mask and was saying that she was starting to really feel the difference, also in just how it evens out your skin tone. I actually traveled with mine for the first time and loved having it there. I just bought one. Oh good, okay, good, I can't wait. It's still in the box. Get it out of the box. That's the first. I've had it a week because again, it's it's, it's a new habit, it is. It's like anything. But what I also love is habit stacking so you can put it on in the morning. You don't have to do at night. Put it on in the morning before you have your coffee. You can't eat or drink with it. But it doesn't have to just be at night.

Michele Folan:

You do in the morning too yeah, it's one of those things that if I get it out when my husband is here, he is just going to howl laughing and I just I prefer him not to like be ribbing me.

Kristine Gardner:

I know, and they're not even flinch anymore. They're like, oh cool, can we try another, another, another gadget you've got going. Just don't wear it on the plane. It's so funny, Michele. I thought about that. I thought that'll be next level when I actually decide to wear this on the plane.

Michele Folan:

Don't put anything past me. Hey, you know what, as I get older, the less and less I really do care. It's amazing and it's such I love that it's a gift. All right, let's talk about your weighted vest.

Kristine Gardner:

Okay, the weighted vest. We should have worn them for our talk today.

Michele Folan:

I know, I know we should have what has been your experience with the weighted vest, because I want you to share with my listeners, because I try to get my clients to wear them too, so you wear one.

Kristine Gardner:

I know I've seen you in yours. I've been wearing mine now for over a year and I think for me, honestly, what I love most about the weighted vest that's what I'll say what I love most about the Weighted Best is how it's helped my posture and it's also really helped my core strength. Yes, I know it's great for bone density, I also it's. You're going to burn a little bit, you're going to burn some more calories, but I also just think it feels good. It's like a, it's a habit stacking, it's like a warm hug.

Kristine Gardner:

You can stop on your walk and do some squats. You can stop on your walk and do a couple of lunges so you get a little extra resistance training in. And then, truthfully, Michele, I actually just went up to 20 pounds. So I started at 10 and I got to a point where I could start doing. I was running in it. I could barely tell I was wearing it anymore. So I actually just went up to 20 pounds and I'm feeling the effects all over again. So now I can feel like my glutes are a little more sore after a walk.

Kristine Gardner:

Again, that core strength, I'm really feeling that, feeling it from my posture. I love it. I love it. I bring it to the gym. If I go to the gym and I wear it on a treadmill, I'll just put on my 10 pound, but if I'm outside doing a walk outside, I'd wear my 20 pound, my 10 pound, but if I'm outside doing a walk outside I'd wear my 20 pound. Okay, and again, you have to listen to what's right for your body. I know some women say like, oh, it doesn't feel good on my back or it doesn't feel. Then you know what. Don't do it. No one's here to say you have to. It is what feels good for you. For me it feels really. It feels really good and for most of my clients, a lot of my clients, they love it.

Michele Folan:

Also for swimming around the house too. I just tell people you know, look, just it's recommended that you start at 5 to 10% of your body weight and move your way up. Mine has little weights that I can take in and out, so I can vary mine depending on the day if I want. But yeah, I think, yeah, I love it, I do too. I think, yeah, I love it, I do too. Again, it's one of those things you'll have to pry out of my hands because I'm going to continue using it until someone tells me I can't.

Kristine Gardner:

I just think it's fun. It adds a little extra, like, adds a little extra extra to your walk, to the everyday, for sure. And you can wear it around the house too.

Michele Folan:

Oh yeah, when you're doing housework, and yeah, no.

Kristine Gardner:

I think that is actually really great. Turn your laundry into a workout, you know, while you're at the kitchen sink.

Michele Folan:

With my red light mask on.

Kristine Gardner:

I know I did that one time. I was like here I am okay wearing my red light mask. I've got my weighted vest on you know what?

Michele Folan:

It's all fun. I see an Instagram reel coming. Yeah, all right. You commented on talking about Instagram. You commented on one of my recent posts that I had about alcohol and I was wondering how your relationship has changed with alcohol in midlife.

Kristine Gardner:

I know such a hot topic, I feel like alcohol-free. Are you alcohol-sober? Curious? And here's my most recent thing I don't think in life we want to have anything that we have to do or that we depend on every single day and that we need every single day. That to me, especially if it's something that you're using to numb or to check out or there's an old story attached to it, and for so many of us, that can be wine, that can be our, our, our drink of choice. I also think and this is, it can lead into this too, Michele our, our drink of choice. I also think and this is it can lead into this too, Michele it can be that that's Instagram to social media, right? So, um, I was saying this to a client the other day. You know we talk so much about why not? We don't need a glass of wine every single day. Well, you know what? Maybe we don't need to check Instagram every single day either, right? So I think it's whenever you're dependent on something. Um, every single day is a time to check.

Kristine Gardner:

In my relationship with alcohol is whenever I over um, whenever I overthink about something, or whenever someone tells me that I can't have something or that I need to take something out. That's that's when I cheat also. So if someone were to say like, oh, you need to do dry January, that's when I would think about it and I would actually cheat and want to have a glass of wine. So I didn't do dry January, I don't do. I don't have a certain lifestyle where I put rules around myself or say that I can or can't do something. It's really. It's about living life intentionally and living each moment intentionally, and so that's when I check in with myself and say, okay, do I want a glass of wine? Do I really feel like I want to have this margarita? And, to be honest, when you take those intentional pauses and you have a conversation with yourself and you get out of autopilot, it's really incredible what the answers are and what the conversation is that you're having with yourself.

Kristine Gardner:

And so when I've, when I've, I've learned to slow down over these past couple of years and to have those, those that inner dialogue, conversation, a lot of time, the answer when it comes to alcohol is no, I don't. I don't really want to drink. I'm not drinking to get drunk. I'm not even drinking to get a buzz. It's really just the habit of grabbing a bottle of wine and pouring a glass of wine, and I don't like the way alcohol makes me feel. I don't want to be tired, I do not. I'm not looking to be tired in my life, and wine makes me tired. So, without even really trying, I just don't drink very much anymore.

Kristine Gardner:

If I'm in Italy and my husband wants to have a glass of rosé, will I have one? Yeah, absolutely. If I'm out at a great Mexican restaurant and someone wants to have a great margarita, will I have one? Maybe if it sounds good. So I'm not putting these harsh rules around myself, but I do. Honestly, I do everything in life now to bring joy and to feel my best and to live intentionally, to live with purpose and to be happy, and most of the time, alcohol is not something that makes me happy or brings joy to my life, and so therefore I don't need it. It's not a joy sparker for the most part.

Michele Folan:

It puts me to sleep.

Kristine Gardner:

It puts me to sleep and that's not fun. I'm more fun without alcohol and there's so many fun mocktails now. I mean I bring mocktail packets, I make mocktails, I just don't need it. I also work really hard to live a clean life and you know we work out and we do the things and we know that alcohol is toxin. We know it's a known toxin, so I'm not looking to put known toxins into my body all the time. So that's sort of that's where I am right now with it and I appreciate you being so open about that and appreciate you being so open about that.

Michele Folan:

and what's funny, if I post something about and I've mentioned this before on the podcast but if I post something about cutting back or being more mindful of alcohol, I lose followers I remember I heard you say that.

Michele Folan:

And, and so it doesn't stop me from talking about it. I still have a cocktail now and again, like you. I don't want to say never, but I also know when I play things in my mind, when I say, oh, how do I want to feel tomorrow morning? Yeah, feeling good and sleeping well always trumps the quick buzz. Because because, frankly, if I were to have more than one, I will feel like shit the next day. Oh, yeah, I mean like shit. If I were to go out with out to dinner with my husband and have a cocktail before dinner and a glass of wine with dinner, I will feel like total crap the next day. Yeah, same, I don't tolerate it. And this is the girl that could drink a 12 pack in college and be fine and go to work the next day. I mean, I was, yeah, I was, I was, I was that girl in college, I guess.

Kristine Gardner:

I was too. Um, I also wanted to be worth it, right. And so I remember going out to restaurants before and just be like oh, I'll have a glass of Pinot Grigio or whatever. Whatever's on the menu, I'll take the house wine. And now I, it doesn't even taste good. That's the thing too, cause I think once and you know this too like once you take something, your, your palate becomes accustomed to certain things, or you take things out, um, it doesn't taste as good anymore. You really pick up on the sugars, right. It's the same thing with protein bars. I used to live off protein bars. I mean, in my, in my twenties, my late, my later twenties, early thirties, I always had a protein bar. What was in my bag, what was in my car? Coffee and a protein bar. Now I taste a protein bar and it's just. You know, unless you get a really good one Truvani. I love Truvani protein bars. They're actually really good. Elemental makes a great protein bar. Um, shout out to them. But other than that, you can just taste the artificial, everything in it.

Michele Folan:

Yeah, it's the same with wine.

Kristine Gardner:

You can just taste like the sugars, and there's so many ingredients crammed in that wine that they don't list too. That's the other.

Michele Folan:

Well, I know what's in it it's not just great, it's's the mass produced domestic wine is just. I tell people, just stay away from that. Just do yourself a favor. I want to do a quick. I thought this might be kind of fun, like a rapid fire. I'm going to ask you some questions. Okay, I love it, okay, okay. Protein how much per day?

Kristine Gardner:

I don't know, I don't. I don't calculate everything. It's like how I cook. You know I'm not, I don't measure anything. Everything's a sprinkle. I guesstimate everything in my life. So far it's worked. I would say if I had to guesstimate, it's probably around 90 grams of protein.

Michele Folan:

Okay, good, all right, I already. We already talked about water before coffee. We already talked about water before coffee. Yes, that was Water before coffee. Yes, what is your best sleep?

Kristine Gardner:

hack. Best sleep hack turning down the lights. No overhead lights. My kids laugh at me, they know. Come eight o'clock it's like turn off every overhead light. Turn off your overhead lights and try to stop drinking anything. Finish up your last glass of tea by 7.30 so you don't get up throughout the night. Those two and then I love a legs up the wall. Legs up is so easy to do, One of the best things to start with an evening routine. Legs up, you can habit stack it. You can read your book. You can put your red light mask on, you can put a little weighted eye mask on. Turn on your favorite mellow song.

Michele Folan:

I just I love legs up and kids love it too, so it's a great easy evening routine hack you can bring in for your kids as well. Oh, I'm, I'm writing that one down. I love that one. What is your favorite skincare product that you are loving right now? Besides the beef tallow, what else?

Kristine Gardner:

Besides the beef tallow and the? Um, the castor oil, cause those really are two of my favorite skincare hacks right now. I love eye cream, Michele, I love eye cream. Some women love lip gloss. I do love a lip gloss, but I love oh gosh, it's so hard to pick one. Um, I love under eye cream. Um, there's a few. I have one that's an Amazon $6 eye cream that's actually UWG one, so it's very clean and it's $6. It's amazing. I can give you a link. And I also just found a lip stain I love. I should have worn it for our podcast recording, but it's incredible. It actually stains your lip and you put a little lip oil over it and your your lips don't. They don't become one with the rest of your face.

Michele Folan:

They don't bleed, like that's a problem for me now, being 60. It's like a part of my face now. Yeah, okay, you, after we finish recording, I want you to give me the links for your eye, your eye cream and your cream and your lip stain. So, when you look at your whole day, what is one of your most important pillars of self-care?

Kristine Gardner:

My morning routine is how you start your day matters. How you start your day matters and how you talk to yourself matters. We need to be our own best friend, and so starting my day with self-love, starting my day with positivity and gratitude, is the best way to start your day, best way to start my day and make your bed.

Michele Folan:

Make your bed. Yeah, my husband makes the bed every day. I get off the hook on that one. That's a good guy. Yeah, what is your coaching look like? What services do you offer? How can women find you so?

Kristine Gardner:

Women can find me on Instagram. I love hanging out on Instagram. Kg Cali Glow I just want to say KG are my initials, but people will often ask me why is it Cali glow? I'm from California and I started my Instagram 10 years ago. The day I started Beauty Counter is the day I started Instagram. So KG Cali glow because I'm all about the glow up and I have three ways to work with me. I have my revitalize and thrive, my RNT method. That is a six week program and that I do four times a year. My next one is going to be in April and, yes, we're going to be doing the blood sugar monitoring. So that's exciting. I do one-on-one coaching, which I love. I love doing one-on-one accountability um, accountability mindset whole body coaching and I have a membership. Whole body coaching and I have a membership. And I also have my online program, revitalize and thrive, which is an online program you can do. It's 30 days I actually just redid it, so it's 30 days to transform your life.

Michele Folan:

Wonderful. Yeah, a couple of different ways. I'll put all that in the show notes. I'll put your links in there. Kristine Gardner, this was a lot of fun and I knew it would be. Thank you so much for being here today. I'm sad it's over.

Kristine Gardner:

I feel like I could sit here and hang out with you for the rest of the day, but my husband reminded me that I have other things.

Michele Folan:

I need to do All right. Well, you get to it, and thanks for being here. Thank you, thanks, Michele. Hey, thanks for tuning in. Please rate and review the show where you listen to the podcast. And did you know that Asking for a Friend is available now to listen on YouTube? You can subscribe to the podcast there as well. Your support is appreciated and it helps others find the show. Thank you,