Ep 110: Making Peace with Your Food with Lindsay Nakash
Fertility Forward Episode 110:
Today on Fertility Forward, the podcast, we have the honor of hosting Lindsay Nakash. She is a registered dietician who is renowned for optimizing patient health with accessible and convenient nutritional support. With extensive experience providing critical nutrition therapy to patients with a variety of different medical conditions including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, GI disorders, and hypertension, she’s with us today to talk about making peace with your food. Lindsay shares her transition into the fertility world as a registered dietician and her favorite aspects of working with this population. She shares a story about fertility she experienced and some of the reasons she wanted to become a dietician. She talks about her experience in Italy as a nutrition student and how that impacted her greatly. For all this and more, don’t miss out on this episode with Lindsay Nakash!
Rena: Hi everyone. We are Rena and Dara and welcome to Fertility Forward. We are part of the wellness team at RMA of New York, a fertility clinic affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Our Fertility Forward podcast brings together advice from medical professionals, mental health specialists, wellness experts, and patients because knowledge is power and you are your own best advocate.
Dara: Today on our podcast in honor of National Nutrition Month, we have Lindsay Nakash, who is a registered dietician, who is renowned for optimizing patient health with accessible and convenient nutritional support. She has extensive experience previously practicing in New York City before moving to Westchester in recent years. Lindsay received her undergraduate degree at Union College where she studied English and after college she pursued a master's degree in clinical nutrition and dietetics at New York University. And from there she joined NYU's competitive dietetic internship program and completed her internship at Long Island College Hospital. There she received invaluable experience providing clinical nutrition therapy to patients with a variety of different medical conditions, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, GI disorders, and hypertension. Lindsay also worked as an outpatient dietician at North Central Bronx Hospital and at a day treatment program for eating disorder recovery. From 2013 to 2019, she worked as a wellness specialist and dietician at ConEd in New York. Lindsay is an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and most recently Lindsay has joined the RMA of Westchester team as our dietician there. So Lindsay, thank you so much for coming on today and having our listeners learn more about you.
Lindsay:Thank you for having me.
Rena: Yeah, super psyched to have you on and introduce you to everyone. It was so nice to meet you in person a few weeks ago and we're so excited to have you on the team for our patients.
Lindsay: It's been really great. It's been a few months and it's such a departure from working with Con Edison employees. I have to tell you - it was mostly men who I worked with for a long time, for seven years. So it's really lovely to be working women and I find, I don't know if you agree, Dara, but the clientele is so like focused and, and so results-driven that it's a really nice group to be working with because you know, they're kind of trying to get their health in a better space for all the right reasons. So it's really easy to, like, be a cheerleader and get behind all of your, your patients. Not that you wouldn't, but it's like an extra bonus also when you're a mom and you know what they're working towards is so worth it. So I have found it really rewarding.
Dara: Yeah, I feel like this population group, you know what really drew me personally towards working in, in the fertility space and at RMA is that, you know, you're working towards goals, health goals, but it's not just about yourself, it's about the health of your body, you know, in preparation for pregnancy and beyond. So it adds another level of, I guess, interest to me because people are really much more inclined to work towards goals that are for their next generation.
Lindsay: Yeah, of course there's like a fetus, you're thinking about as you're growing it, but it's also like feeding your children, like, as moms, you know, that's like the daily worst question you ask yourself is what's for dinner? What's for dinner? What's in their lunch? What's in their, you know, it's an endless question that you have to answer and that you have to come up with, you know, like you're choosing what's going in another body, not just your own. You have to be thoughtful and you know, understand like, what all of that means. It's not just as many things are in parenthood but not just about you anymore. It's making big decisions for a lot of other people.
Rena: So have you found switching to the fertility space, like is there any specific area of focus or a specific recommendation you make because our patients are specifically trying to get pregnant that might be different than something you were doing at ConEd?
Lindsay: Actually, it's interesting. There's a lot of overlap, which I never imagined I would say. An interesting part about the job that I held previously was there are actually - a lot of people don't know this - there's rules and regulations about commercial driving in New York City. So as you know, there's so many trucks, right? You see ConEd trucks everywhere.
Dara: Yeah.
Lindsay: People who hold those licenses, like they cannot have uncontrolled diabetes because that is, you know, a risk for a driver. But there's also, you know, certain jobs that require ladders which are weight rated and bucket trucks, like, you know, the things they go in to fix the wires overhead. Or even manholes, you know, there's a lot of equipment that have certain size limitations and people are just so much larger now that some of these weights like aren't sustained by the equipment so it becomes like OSHA problems. So part of my job was like you can't do your job safely unless you can be held by this ladder. I mean that's not whether you're talking about body positivity or inclusivity with size, all these wonderful movements that have come about recently, this is not about that. This is purely safety. So it's kind of similar in the fertility world. A lot of the reproductive endocrinologists like for women to be at a certain BMI because statistically those embryos, those transfers are gonna take at these healthier numbers, you know, which arguably not so small necessarily, but in a healthier spot it's like saying, I wanna help get you there, but we do have to to be in a different space in order for this to happen safely. So in that regard, things are actually a little bit similar.
Dara: Huh. I never thought of it that way. But also on top of that, you know, for people who are undergoing in vitro fertilization and being put under, anesthesiologists have various requirements. Most of them will not, for safety purposes, sedate people who have a body mass index of over 40. Also for, for safety standards because you know, it requires more medication and with more anesthesia, there's higher risk of not waking up.
Lindsay: Yeah. And that's actually across the board for a lot of surgeries I believe. Not just, you know, regardless of the reason. Yeah. So, but most patients I will say, even who are at that phase of their fertility journey, they will say like, regardless of that I really wanna get in the best physical place that I can be for this hopeful pregnancy in the future. Like, you know, people tend to really not focus on on that that I've seen. They, you know, they're really just, whether it's regardless of, of health issues and setbacks and medications and for a lot of people, you know, the pandemic, I will say, changed the way they worked. And I don't know if you guys feel this, but like with your own patients, but working from home, you know, took commutes out and a lot of people really were more active physically because of those commutes. Maybe losing childcare for other children may, you know, for a lot of reasons people seem to, I have all these theories about it, but people tend, they either got in the best shape of their lives during the pandemic and that definitely comes with a certain amount of privilege, I will say. Or they really saw the other side of it and you know, lost a lot of control of their health.
Dara: Well emotion and food is, you know, tightly related and I think when a lot of people were, you know, nervous of the unknown food is, is a comfort. But you make a good point also on top of that, that you know, without the commute time people are staying at their desk for longer periods. And I think also you probably have seen this too, Rena, with your patients in that there's less of a boundary in terms of their work schedule, their work hours and you know, people who go into an office, a nine to five, now working from home, it's often much longer hours without having those boundaries. So they're also probably more stressed but also moving less because they're working longer.
Rena: Yeah. And I see a lot of people who are eating more because they're at home and so they have food more accessible. So they developed really bad habits around snacking and then also boredom. When people are alone, I see them usually eating more. And so I have a lot of patience on breaking those habits and really being mindful about their eating and keeping logs about okay like am I actually hungry or is this just a habit? Right? And I've definitely seen that that's all post pandemic.
Lindsay: I also think a lot of people who are, are scared to go into gyms or scared to for like a million reasons kind of getting back into fitness routines or
Dara: Being self-motivated at home is hard.
Lindsay: I think so I really do. But yeah, I think there's been such a shift in so many ways. So it's a good thing. We know how to support them. Come to the right place.
Rena: That's right. It's a good thing that you exist. So tell us, what is one of your, like, favorite things? I know you mentioned a couple things about working with this population.
Lindsay: I am a mom of three. When I was trying to get pregnant for the second time, I actually was an RMA patient in New York City and had such a positive experience. But prior to that I actually, I don't even know if I've talked to you about this. My sister had a childhood illness that left her unable to have her own children. So my niece who actually turns nine today, happy birthday, Paige. And she's like my first daughter. She was the first child. I don't know if you guys, if your kids were the first or if you have siblings with kids who are older, but she was like the first baby in my life and I swear I felt like she was mine. It was just like so much joy. So also because there was a lot of unknown with how my sister would have a family. So there was like that added layer of joy. So my sister required an egg donor and a surrogate. So she had her own journey like while I was not working in this field, but I really watched so much of this take place on a personal level. So I always say, like, what a miracle it is that places like RMA even exist. Like, I know people who are, you know, my great grandparents' generation and older who just never could have children and like we're just all so lucky and I see that firsthand. So you know, I always kind of had an interest in this world and my sister ended up working in this world as well. She helps place egg donors and surrogates with prospective families. That's actually what she does. She worked in like quality control with Sloan Kettering for a long time. So she has a master's in public health. So anyway, watching her go through this, then having my own experience with RMA. Then when I moved out to the suburbs and was no longer in my old job, I actually met one of the doctors who works at the Mount Kisco practice through nursery school. And I was like, you know, I would love to work in this line. Like do you guys ever hire dieticians? And she's like, yeah, we have one, you should talk to her. And it was very organic. It was like, I always find it the best way for anything to happen, right? Like meeting, meeting a partner, meeting new friends, a new job, a home. Like when things kind of fall in your lap, they tend to be the best things, the things you don't have to like claw your way into or at least that's been my experience. So the fact that I got set up with Dara and was able to just have like a very nice conversation and then you were like, yeah, you sound great, but I can't hire you, you gotta talk to this person. And it was like a series of just meeting other people and getting passed off and I'm like, so do I have this job or what? Like, I don't know. It kind of just really was so organic in like, you know, my professional interests and also, you know, sometimes it's nice to have a change. I've been doing the same thing for many years and it's always good to, you really hone your craft when you learn it, learn it from a different side, you know? So changing up the kinds of patients you work with, you're always learning new things.
Dara: Wow, what a beautiful story. Oh, I don't recall that. I didn't recall that about your sister. We should have her on, but just
Lindsay: Absolutely should. She's the best. And it's fascinating to listen to or talk about it, but honestly even if you're not someone who experiences it quite as firsthand as I did, don't you feel like you know a million people with these stories, like it is so common now, especially given that we live in the New York area. You know, people tend to have kids later. Like people get second and third degrees and they have other goals that sometimes come before family planning and before you know it, you're a little older in years and it's like, oops, like not, this isn't quite as easy as I thought it would be. So it's as simple as that or as extreme as a childhood illness. But for a million reasons people struggle with fertility and you know, the more people you know, the more families you know and the more moms you know, you know, you hear stories that like you never wanted to know or hear hopefully with good endings, but not always, you know, it's, it can be such a challenge. I feel so fortunate to have three healthy children.
Rena: You, myself and Dara, ee all have gone through fertility journeys that have our kids and I think, you know, dare and I often talk about how I think that really resonates with patients in my field. You know, we're taught to be a blank slate and we don't really share of ourselves. But I found in this line of work, it actually, you know, it's in my bio and so people will ask me about it and I always just respond if someone asks me, I don't bring it up. But I find that it really resonates with people to feel like, wow, you also went through this, you get it. I think that's just such a strong bond and connection.
Lindsay: It is. When you guys were going through it, did you have people who talked to you about it in that way?
Dara: No, unfortunately I didn't necessarily have the support system. I was, you know, only in New York for a number of years. I think I was the first of my friends wanting to have a baby. But the thing is, I'm very grateful that one of my closest friends, you know, I did share with her my struggles and I'm so grateful to her cause she's the one that sent me to RMA, it was her older sister who had went for her kids. So just like, as you mentioned, like I do believe that, you know, making connections and having things happen organically. Like I do believe if you're open, things come to you if you really do believe and put things out there and you know, Rena and I talk about manifestation a lot, but like if you…
Lindsay: Oh I totally believe it,
Dara: Right? If you see yourself in the end, yes, you may not understand the steps that get you there, but then it's amazing when you have faith how things often unfold. That doesn't mean that you should take a, a backseat and not be open and you know, maybe search for things. But at the same time, time I do believe that, you know, especially if you're open to things and you're open to signs, things do appear.
Lindsay: I'm the least like woohoo person you'll ever know. But I do feel like you get what you give. Like it's true. Like paying it forward. Like I always say, you know, whenever, I don't know if you've been asked, I'm sure both of you in your careers for like informational interviews, like your mom's cousin's kid wants to go into your field, will you talk to her? Will you have coffee? Or like I always say yes. I always say yes because A, you never know who you're gonna meet. B it's just like paying it forward. Like how many people did that for you, right? Well that happened to me. That's how I got my ConEd job of seven years, is some girl who went to my college who I don't even think I was there at the same time, you know, found me on Facebook and saw that I was a dietician and was interested in NYU and will you talk to me? And, and then she knew I was looking for a new job at the time and saw a posting and was like, I think this is kind of up your alley. We met one time.
Dara: Wow.
Lindsay: So, you know, it's like you just never know being kind to everyone. Always smile. Like you have to have that attitude I feel because it just pays back in spades. It does.
Rena: Yeah. I'm a big believer in saying yes.
Lindsay: It goes both ways. Sometimes I, it would do good to say no a few times
Dara: Selectively no. But more often be open. You know, we were having a little discussion beforehand and it was so interesting to hear another fellow NYU masters and nutrition student and you had this amazing summer experience, I feel like I'm sure that shaped your, your career path to some degree.
Lindsay: Yeah, well I have to say part of the reason I became a dietician is really a love of food. It's interesting, like a lot of different things push people to the career, right? So for a lot of people it's a health struggle. Like I know so many people who struggled with celiac as a child when there were not all these options for, like, gluten-free everything. And like, I'll never forget like the girl in my class in elementary school who, like, had to bring her cupcake to every birthday and she was very, very thin. I think honestly there were, like, a lot of lack of options and can you imagine as a parent how challenging that was? Like I have a kid with food limitations and food allergies. It is difficult and guess what? I can walk into a whole foods and there's a whole aisle of foods that are safe for her. Like, we're so much better off, right? Like 40 years later. So anyway, I think a lot of people may find the field because of a health struggle and they wanna help other people, which is wonderful or you know, I don't know. I mean I guess there's a lot of reasons, but for me it was really like, I love food and I wanted an excuse to talk about it all day long. But in addition to that, you know, I did have my own weight struggles as I I'd say more of like a young adult. I was very active and athletic and when I went to college and that kind of ended and then like hence the partying begins and like mom's no longer cooking and you're in a food. Like, I, I just really didn't know much about food, honestly. Like I didn't have any education about what made a food nutritious or helped your body in any way. I just liked what tasted good and by the time I graduated college I really didn't recognize myself, like, in a visual way. You know, we didn't have the phones with the cameras so we weren't seeing ourselves all the time, which arguably is a good thing. I remember very distinctly printing photos from my graduation and I was like, who is that? Like I really didn't recognize myself. I had really ballooned in size to a point where like, not only could I not see myself in my face, but I was not comfortable in my skin. And I was just like, this is not me. Like I was this athlete, like what happened to me and how can I fix this? And I moved home for like a few months before I moved to New York City and I really tried to teach myself about food and what could help me get to a healthier place where I felt like myself again. And it was a slow long process, but I really did it on my own and, and maintained it really into my adulthood and it made me wanna learn more. It just made me like really like lit a fire under me. So that's kind of how I found the program. But what Dara's referring to is going back to my love of food, there was an opportunity to travel with one of the program directors to Italy, to Tuscany and stay in the NYU Florence dorms. And we had this incredible experience for a few weeks where we went to like olive oil tastings and we'd go to, you know, these small villages like in Parma where we learned about Parmesan cheese and how it's made and we got to taste it all and we learned about just how they make everything and like the artistry behind all these foods that we've come to love, but like really from where they first started. And these restaurants would close down entirely just for our group so we could listen to someone walk us through these like endless course meals. And it was just, it was fascinating and it was fun and it was interesting and it was a lot of learning about the Mediterranean diet and where origins of it and all the benefits of it. And then we traveled, you know, Italy is kind of like the diets change depending on where you are in the country and what countries they border as well. So like in the south, you know, they eat more fish and they eat more fried foods. And then like the, the diet in Florence is very different than from the diets that are closer to
Dara: Or even Rome. Like Rome is cacio pepe and carbonara.
Lindsay: Yeah, it's very different. But some of the diets are heavier, some of them are lighter. Just kind of the different ingredients they cook within everything is so like the real version of farm to table, right? It's like they're cooking with what's available from the land, which I think, you know, got lost far long ago. You know, now we have certain fruits and vegetables accessible to us all year round because of just the way business is done. But the way you're supposed to eat is, you know, by the seasons. This is so sad to admit - I'd never had a fresh apricot until this trip. Like I actually thought dried apricots were how you eat an apricot which in retrospect sounds like not the brightest thing. But I was like, I'd never actually had one. And we were visiting someone's home and they had a whole tree and I was like, this is the most delicious thing I've ever had in my life. So it was just a great experience. It was really just the best and it was such a perk. Like I feel like you hear about people who go to business school and they have these opportunities to travel and learn the most interesting things and they go all over the world. Like who knew going to school to be a dietician, you could have some of the same experiences.
Rena: That reminds me - the apricot thing. When I was high school, I was fortunate enough to do an exchange with a girl who lived in the south of France. So I lived with her family in the south of France for a summer and they had fresh, they had apricot trees outside the window and I, that was the first time I had ever had that too. And like every morning I would just pick apricots off the tree and it was amazing.
Lindsay: It's like living in a dream. You live in California, right?
Dara: But I'm sure apricots tastes much better there than here. If anyone has ever seen, I'm a big fan of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but there's a whole scene on like every, you know, getting a fresh apricot, what are the chances that it's not gonna taste sour? Whereas I'm sure in Italy and in France, most of them taste sweet and not sour.
Rena: Yes. I need to look at that episode. How have I never seen that one?
Dara: Oh it's a really funny one, but I was here, I was thinking when you were, you were speaking about, you know, all the beautiful fresh food that's offered there. I'm like, RMA should have a campus in Florence, an outpost at Florence.
Rena: Oh my gosh! That would be wonderful.
Dara: But that's amazing. I love your avenue to, you know, pivoting to the field of nutrition, you know, looked a little bit different for you, but just as exciting. And also I, I love that you really dove into, you know, something different. I mean granted it's, it sounds somewhat similar at ConEd than it does, you know, in terms of basic nutrition, but that you recognize that you wanted to do something. I mean, try something new and something that you felt passionate about and how everything kind of fell in your lap in a way, you know? Yes. With hard work and with, you know, an open mind. But you know, your patients are so lucky to have you because, and I've spoken to you a lot in terms of you have a great approach to food and wellness, not something very fad like, but really an approachable way to educate people on nutrition.
Lindsay: Thank you. Well, I do think there's a lot of people who like to, I don't know if you find this, but they sit down with you and they wanna like basically have a confessional of like, these are the things I eat. Is it horrible? How bad is it? They use these words that like, I would never use about food. I just wouldn't. And there's a lot of shame that comes with feeling like you've made poor decisions around food and people just, you know, really wanna punish themselves and there's just no good that comes of it, honestly. Like you have to like make your peace with food. I, I think it all starts there with whatever that means for you. You know, it's not like alcohol and drugs where we know they don't really help us and people who need to rid themselves of those things to lead a healthier life have to find a way to do that. Right? Food, we all need it. It's not going anywhere, but you have to have a good relationship with it in order to be healthy. So it's like, and that requires a lot of work and people just feel a lot of shame about what they eat and when they eat and how they eat. And I find that a lot of my patients just come like feeling like they have to get this stuff off their chest. They have to tell someone so they can like, you know, be redeemed. And I'm like, you know what? Like that's just almost like Rena said, like teaching people to kind of like, let go and just like, have a better relationship with how they even talk and feel about food is like really where it starts.
Dara: Don’t you think it's also about like unlearning? I love the word unlearning cause a lot of times we've learned what we think is best for us or there's certain habits that we've been doing our whole life and a lot of it, you know, it's not, it's no one's fault, it's, you know, that's how they were raised or what they were exposed to. But at this point in their life, it may not be serving them. So the, the act of unlearning and creating new habits can seem daunting and overwhelming, but I do think it starts with being kind to yourself and using the right words that don't provide the judgment, the shame, the guilt that only exacerbates often those habits that aren't helping them out.
Lindsay: Absolutely. And I also think, like you said, there's a lot of bad information about food and misinformation that it's kind of hard to un-program when you've heard something for however many years or you know, you mentioned the companies that sort of similar with food, you know, put out whatever I don't wanna like
Dara: Cholesterol free. It's cholesterol free. Yeah. But it's a plant food that works
Lindsay: Whatever of du jour is the popular thing and is gonna be best for your health. Whether that's true or not, it's also so personalized, right? Yeah. Like it's very individualized, what's good for you versus somebody else. So it's just, I find that even those educated people often don't know very much about how to eat. So, you know, people are, there's like a, a lot to work with, but it starts with just, you know, like how people talk about food and what they'll allow themselves to eat without guilt. It's just, it's all very interesting and probably more psych, you know, actually that's sort of why I quickly entered and exited the ED world or eating disorder world is I realized that, you know, it was much more of a psychological practice helping those patients than I had a background in and, and while there is a food component to it, especially to recovery, I think I wasn't really educated enough to know how to speak appropriately to the patients to really help them to their fullest potential. And it was something I just was like, oh wow. Like I was so not sure about how triggering I could be. I learned a lot from it honestly. But it's a very, that's a tricky world and that's also a tricky thing for people who are trying to conceive, I don't know if you've seen patients like I have patients who will, you know, openly put in their forms that they, you know, we have patients fill out forms prior to seeing us so we can learn a little bit about their history prior to meeting and any patients that have eating disordered past, like I really like to go there initially just because I then wanna maybe reframe how I speak about certain things, understanding that about a patient and even if you've had made a recovery, you know, it's, you still wanna be sensitive to it. And you know, I always encourage those patients, and this would be for anybody else out there too, you know, while you're hopefully conceiving and moving forward, there's a lot of weighing that happens, you know. It's your health and the health of the baby. And I always like to remind patients that like when you get there you can a hundred percent ask to not have those numbers shared with you. You can have this scale turned around if it's something that's not gonna be good for your mental health. You know, you don't have to be a part of those conversations unless of course you need to be for some reason. But even like, you know how big babies are measuring, that can be very hard for someone women to hear. I always like to encourage, you know, those patients to really, you know, know that they can advocate for themselves.
Rena: That's great. Yeah. I mean I, whenever I see someone as a history from the psych end of ED and I'm always super attuned to it because it can often be triggered with trying to conceive since so much of eating disorder is about control and when you're trying to conceive, so much of that is about not having control. And so I see a lot of times, you know, it can certainly crop up again as a way to try and feel like you're in control. So I think it's definitely something to be aware of and just sort of, you know, part of the bio-psychosocial, you know, the patient.
Lindsay: I found that to be, I think the most challenging part of pregnancy for me in general was like not feeling quite like myself, you know? It's like, and I think that maybe has some sort of controlled background of just like, I just want to feel like me and like these hormones don't typically make you feel like you mm-hmm. And it's like an outer, it's really like a very long out body experience and then you're forever changed so you really do never go back to that person, you know? But it's like a lot to grapple with. It's such, we sort of take for granted how easy it is for some people, but there's that whole concept of bouncing back, not necessarily physically, but like emotionally. Like there is that, that doesn't exist.
Dara: Like there's no thing as back. No bouncing back. It's a moving forward. Yeah. Or, or going through. Yeah. Wow.
Lindsay: There's an interesting, you guys, there's this book out, I, I really should read it, called The Fourth Trimester.
Rena: Yeah, yeah. Yes.
Lindsay: Yeah. But it's kind of about how like, this is not over just because you've delivered this baby like the prep.
Rena: Oh no. It's just getting started.
Dara: It's just getting started.
Lindsay: You know, when I see like first time moms and they're like so uncomfortable and you know, they're about to give birth and it's like, I just want this to be over. It's like, oh that's the easy part.
Dara: Don't ruin it for them. Don't ruin it for them.
Lindsay: Don't ever say it, but I'm thinking it, you know?
Dara: I always see like, you know, with experience comes wisdom. So I don't know, I, I find it interesting. I, I find the whole process so interesting and I do think, you know, it's so nice to have you as part of our team cuz I do, you know, I love the collaboration. I love getting other perspectives and points of view. So it's, it's, it's really nice to have you on board and to have our listeners also really get to know you
Lindsay: Well. Thank you.
Rena: Yeah. Super psyched to have you here and be part of the team. Love having another working mom in the bunch, it's really nice to work with other women that are also moms too and trying to juggle everything. I find that that's such a good connector for me and gives me such peace to know I'm not the only one sort of trying to juggle so many things.
Dara: So how we like to wrap up our discussions are on words of gratitude. So Lindsay, sorry to put you on the spot, but what are you grateful for at this very moment?
Lindsay: My God, I don't, I don't know how to answer that. There's so many things. I think it always has to be about health though. Truthfully, healthy children, healthy spouse. I have a healthy mother. Like yeah, I think that's probably it. You know, surrounded by people who aren't as lucky. And so I think, you know, having your health, you don't have anything without it
Dara: Amen or A-woman to that. Rena, what about you today?
Rena: I guess I'll go back to what I said about the working moms. You know, before we started recording, both Lindsay and I were kind of commiserating on stuff for our kids being canceled and just how stressful that is. You know, when you're trying to work and you know, things for your kids get canceled, then you have to deal with them being at home. And it's always really nice for me to know that other people feel the same and that I'm not alone when I get stressed when that happens too. So I'm grateful for just connecting with other women and moms and that sort of sisterhood. Dara?
Dara: Yeah. I often speak about how grateful I am to learn from other people and I definitely am grateful for the two of you and for what I learned today about both of you. I went to a conference last week, the Integrative Health symposium, and I just was blown away, gained so much more knowledge, not just about the field of fertility, but in terms of overall health and longevity. So it just, you know, I was left feeling really great and I'm still feeling excited to kind of delve deeper. There's a new term that I learned, maybe you guys have already heard it, but I've never heard it before. It's called inflammaging. So how inflammation can promote aging. And so I just loved that combo word, which I'm definitely gonna be using now. Inflammaging. Yeah. So grateful for, for hopefully expanding my knowledge and I'm also talking to you both. I really, I don't know, I have all the, the good feels today.
Lindsay: Oh, good.
Dara: Speaking to you both.
Rena: Me too. Well thank you so much Lindsay for joining us. I know you're super busy and thanks so much for taking the time to be on and we look forward to having you come on again and share more knowledge and thank you for sharing so much of yourself too. That
Dara: Exactly so much. It really, it meant a lot to us. Thanks so much.
Lindsay: Of course. Anytime.
Dara: Thank you so much for listening today. And always remember - practice gratitude, give a little love to someone else and yourself. And remember you are not alone. Find us on Instagram at @fertility_forward and if you're looking for more support, visit us at www.rmany.com and tune in next week for more fertility.