479. Better Results With Gut Health Awareness
Lesley Logan and Brad Crowell recap a thought-provoking conversation with Kristin Mallon, co-founder of FemGevity. They explore the importance of prioritizing women’s health, redefining challenges, and flowing with life’s changes. Discover actionable insights on embracing wellness and taking control of your health journey.
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In this episode you will learn about:
- The importance of rephrasing challenges for a mindset shift.
- How women can better prioritize their health and well-being.
- The value of integrating medical and holistic approaches to health.
- Viewing life as a river: learning to flow rather than resist.
- Actionable tips for overcoming self-doubt and embracing personal growth.
Episode References/Links:
- Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com
- Spring Training - https://opc.me/events
- Pilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/accelerator
- Accessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlist
- FemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevity
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Episode Transcript:
Lesley Logan 0:00
You gotta be in tune with things. So you have to have your goals and have your visions and have your dreams, and then also make sure that you're doing little check-ins with how it's going so you can go with it.
Lesley Logan 0:10
Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.
Lesley Logan 0:51
Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the enriching convo I had with Kristin Mallon in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause us now and go back and listen to that one, or listen to this one, then listen to that one. It's really okay. I know people don't like spoilers, but there's no spoilers here. It's just sometimes hearing things twice really helps you. And also I really wanted to have her on to talk medicine and health, and at the end, I really, we like went a whole different direction that changed my whole day. It changed my whole mood. I'm really into it.
Brad Crowell 1:23
Yeah, it was a really fun conversation. And also, I was surprised having the other partner from FemGevity, I don't know, a hundred episodes ago? And then I didn't realize that Kristin was in the lineup too. So that's really cool.
Lesley Logan 1:35
Yeah. Well, we're obsessed with FemGevity and this is not the ad that will run later, but you guys seriously, seriously, may this be the year that you take care of your health. Please. Come on.
Lesley Logan 1:44
So today is January 30th 2025 and it's National Draw a Dinosaur Day.
Brad Crowell 1:49
Oh, that's right. Say it one more time.
Lesley Logan 1:50
It's National Draw a Dinosaur Day.
Brad Crowell 1:52
Yeah, you heard that, right.
Lesley Logan 1:53
Shout out to your nephew, our nephew, I guess, right? It's our nephew. We call him Ace. He calls himself Bubba. He got, like, a dinosaur, I don't know, shark, kind of hoodie, and he just walk around the house going, roar, right? And I just thought it was the freaking cutest thing. He's like, not even three. I was like, that is adorable. But do you want to know something? I have a journal that's like, doodle. What your doodle something here today? And I was like, how do I even doodle anymore? Like, I don't even have a pen anymore to doodle with, so I thought it'd be fun. And I think it's kind of in alignment with Kristin, because she had such a wonderful idea of like so what? Go draw a dinosaur, see what comes out, and throw it away if you don't like it. But National Draw a Dinosaur Day celebrates the mysticism and magic that surrounds these magnificent animals that once roamed the world eons ago. On this day, kids and adults paint and sketch all types of dinosaurs, cute, scary, jovial, wicked, etc, and have fun while doing it. So get creative. Have so much fun. By the way, this reel came across my Instagram that people are finding dinosaur bones all the time. They're finding them all the time, like you can just find them they're around.
Brad Crowell 3:00
That's crazy.
Lesley Logan 3:00
I know. I think that's really insane. People said to him, I don't find him. He's like, well, are you looking for them like you're not just gonna stumble, like you're just not gonna walk across.
Brad Crowell 3:07
I don't find them. I don't find them. Where's my dinosaur from?
Lesley Logan 3:11
Where's my dinosaur? Where's the fucking entitlement some people's comments online. I just want to go, what? Who raised you, what? And then I don't even want to blame their parents, because, anyways, whatever. Go draw a dinosaur.
Lesley Logan 3:24
All right, upcoming, we are two weeks away from leaving for Cambodia for our February retreat, which means our October retreat is on the countdown, and you need to sign up for our October retreat and join us at crowsnestretreats.com. We're going in October. And if you keep saying, oh, next time, next time. This is your next time.
Brad Crowell 3:41
This is your next time. You should totally join us. You know, we love this place. The experience continues to get better. We even have a few opportunities to join us before and after the retreat for some extracurricular activities. So if you are, like, super adventurous and a big hiker, hit us up, because we may be planning some things that we usually don't get to include in the retreat just because there isn't enough time, but we still like to go do them ourselves, and you might (inaudible)
Lesley Logan 4:09
Smaller groups, but you know, we want to have a big group, because it's a big family, so come and then stay a little longer and have some fun with this.
Brad Crowell 4:15
Yeah, what's coming up in April?
Lesley Logan 4:17
So we have a spring training guys, and this is not baseball, but think baseball. So we're gonna do a really fun spring training in April, because it's all about Pilates. And spring training is, like, a couple weeks long in Arizona, and we're gonna do it online in a week, and it's gonna be for any Pilates lover of any level. We're bringing all the OPC teachers in on this. It's gonna be a lot of fun. So we'll have more details for you, but if you go to opc.me/events, you won't miss out on any of those details, and you'll be sure to hear about things first, in case there's anything special you could sign up for ahead of time.
Brad Crowell 4:46
All right, for those of you who run a Pilates business, okay, that is a studio owner or a home studio owner, or if you are renting space for someone, if you are taking money from your own clients, technically, you run a Pilates business, and we are here to help you. Profitable Pilates, Lesley and I have been coaching businesses just like yours, just like ours, for more than seven years now. We literally have coached more than 2500 business owners just like you. And I am running a free webinar. We want to invite you to it, go to prfit.biz/accelerator where you're going to learn the three biggest secrets that we have uncovered after having been asked countless questions, creating so much content and creating so many courses and coach so many different people just like you. So come to this webinar. Come join us. You'll be able to put these into practice in your own business and move things forward. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator that's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. All right, finally.
Lesley Logan 5:46
Finally, we have the last and final deck. It's getting closer and closer to the pre sale. And so if you want to nerd out on the accessories, and by the way, this deck is as universal as the mat deck is. Yes, there's a guillotine and a Ped-o-Pull in there, and don't let those words scare you. But most of the deck are things you can make from things at home or use household items or the props are not very expensive to purchase. And if you go to, where do they go, Brad, for this actually?
Brad Crowell 6:15
Yeah, go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist.
Lesley Logan 6:17
Oh yeah, that's why I blocked it from my mind, because my list (inaudible) stuff doesn't like flashcard waitlist. It doesn't like that combo. So go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist to get on it. So you get the amazing presale price when that happens, and it's going to be in the next couple of months. So it's all around the corner.
Lesley Logan 6:38
All right, we are going to get into Kristin's amazingness, but first we have a question from the audience.
Brad Crowell 6:43
Yeah, we do, YouTube here, @etain.pilates asks, "Is it better to put the box over the shoulder blocks over gearing out the carriage if it has that option?" So obviously, we're talking about the short box on the reformer.
Lesley Logan 6:59
Yeah, this actually came from a question on a question. So we actually did a live. We go live every Sunday on 9 am Pacific Time, you guys, on YouTube. So for my people who are listening to this podcast for Pilates, then Sundays at 9 am you want to join us for our live, where we answer your questions, unless you're an OPC member, then we answer them in the community, of course. Answered a question about, like, where the box goes for short box, because honestly, on the tour, I kept seeing people put the box in the wrong spot for their height.
Brad Crowell 7:27
Yes.
Lesley Logan 7:27
So here is the deal, my loves, I don't care what style of Pilates you're teaching, I don't care what reformer you are on, the box placement matters. It actually needs to help you have long, strong legs while doing the short box. And so if you were on the shorter side, you put the box in front of the shoulder blocks. If you're on the taller side, it's gonna go over the shoulder blocks. Usually there is a peg, a peg sent a little Canadian. There a peg and a shoulder block. There's like a peg.
Brad Crowell 7:52
Oh a peg. I did not understand that.
Lesley Logan 7:53
There's a peg. Can't say it peg and shoulder block. And there's space in there for the box. Please be kind to the box. Put it there. What etain is asking is because in that video, I talked about how you could also gear out to create more space for the legs. And so she's asking, is it better to gear out versus put the box over the shoulder blocks? And what I will say is, it's better to go over the shoulder blocks, if you can. Now, if for whatever reason, your box would be uneven or unsteady or unsafe, then obviously gearing out is fine, but ideally it is much faster just with a box over the shoulder blocks than it is to gear the carriage out. Remember, in Pilates, no matter what your style is, you're trying to actually allow for each exercise to flow into the next. You don't want that much time in between setting your equipment up because you lose your connections. All right? I hope that answers it. Send your questions in to us, and we'll answer them. Here, you can send personal questions, then you can send Pilates questions, and you can send whatever you want. We'll answer them.
Brad Crowell 8:52
Yeah, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into this awesome convo that Lesley had with Kristin Mallon, the co-founder of FemGevity. We'll be right back.
Brad Crowell 9:00
Okay, welcome back. Now, let's talk about Kristin Mallon. Kristin is a certified nurse midwife and certified obstetrical nurse, and she's passionate about advancing women's health and well-being. She's the co-founder of FemGevity. She focuses on providing personalized healthcare solutions that address the unique needs of women throughout different stages in life. With over 20 years of experience, Kristin combines medical expertise with integrative approaches to empower women in optimizing their health and longevity.
Lesley Logan 9:32
Yeah, talk about integrative. First of all, the first thing that I say that I love is we talked about a shared mindset and practice of redefining situations and challenges. So she said specifically to watch your definitions. For example, instead of saying it's hard to do X, she said, use phrases like, I'm working on doing X. I'm getting better at doing X or improving my X. It's a different definition than it's hard. What a great way to catch yourself. And you can actually include people in your family about this. You can say, if you ever hear me say, I can't, or it's not possible, or it's hard, then stop me so I can say, I'm working on, I'm getting better at, I'm improving. And see how that changes your brain waves and your energy.
Brad Crowell 10:15
Yeah, it was, like you said at the beginning here, she is a wealth of medical knowledge, especially around female health, you kicked off the whole conversation going through a whole bunch of stuff that she's very excited about, and also a whole bunch of things that she sees industry-wide that are still, you know, needing to come up to speed. But then pretty quickly, the conversation shifted over to like mentality and philosophy, your approach to life, and her approach to life, and then her approach to being in a business having a partner, I just thought it was really fun. It was a great convo to dig into how she sees things while coaching people all around the country through her company. One thing I love that she said was she was talking about being in the moment, and how do you embrace the things that you are struggling with, whether that is your health or I can't remember a specific example, but she said, you know, when she finds herself getting frustrated, she has to remind herself the circumstances around the event don't matter. What matters is that the thing happened right? The state of being matters. So circumstances don't matter. Only the state of being matters. And what she means is that when you look at it that way, the state of being makes your circumstances. You view them differently. It's not what happens, it's what you do with what happens. Right? Things are going to happen, especially things that we don't have any control over, and it's what we do with those things that changes our perspective, our mental output. It even like, affects our body.
Lesley Logan 11:41
Absolutely affects our body, but also, like, you know, you hear about these things all the time, like somebody was like, something bad happened to them, and then they created this big company that makes sure that no one else goes for that. I think, you know, if we can, not in a toxic positivity way, not that at all, but just in recognizing that this happened. Okay, take your grief, do your things, and then what are you gonna do about that and having that positive reframing around it so that you can change other people's lives, even.
Brad Crowell 12:12
Yeah, she talked about how she views life is like being in a river, going with the flow of the river, versus trying to paddle in a specific pattern, like, if I only paddle in this way, I know I'm gonna get there, whatever there is, but we still don't have control over the river, and the river is gonna take us where we're going. So instead of head down and completely ignoring everything around us, get excited about the things that you're excited about and understand where the flow of life is taking you. My buddy said it to me 15 years ago when we were talking about music. I really, really wanted to get signed by a record label. And he's like, hey, man, each of these projects that we do, it's like a wave, and you just have to ride the wave. And I was like, I don't surf, you know, but obviously missed the point there. And the way that Kris is talking about it here is it's a river. We don't have control over the shape of the river. We are in the river, right? And what we can do is go with the flow.
Lesley Logan 13:06
Yeah, yeah. I think that the ride in the wave, Brad, is just because, like, if you got get signed before the wave peaks, then you might miss it all together. If you are too late, then you get tumbled and crap. Like, there's a whole, there's a bunch of different things (inaudible)
Brad Crowell 13:19
Or you could bail out of the wave before the wave crests, and then you might not have taken it as far as it could go. So.
Lesley Logan 13:26
Yeah, you got to be in tune with things. So you have to, like, have your goals and have your visions and have your dreams, and then also make sure that you're doing little check-ins with how it's going so you can go with it. I think it's brilliant. I think it's very difficult. And so if you're like, ooh, I want to do this, just so you know, you're gonna fail many times at trying, and that's okay, because you are improving on flowing with the river. You are, what is it? You are working on flowing with the river, and you are getting better at flowing with the river.
Brad Crowell 13:26
Yeah and look, if the river is at a standstill, then you better start paddling, you know?
Lesley Logan 13:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a time and a place for all of it. I just adored her and I appreciated her honesty and thoughtfulness around women's health. I like that she was very specific. And also, here's where things can improve, and here's where things are really great, and there is access. You know? Now more than ever, there's access. Now we just have to go do it. And that can be hard for the women listening. It can be hard to prioritize your health and make sure that you are scheduling these appointments, and for you, you are actually making this a priority versus oh, I've got to do this thing in the house. I've got to call this person. Oh, we've got to do this. We got to do this staycation. I'll do it after. I'll do it when I get back. I'll do it next year. As a Pilates instructor, I can say, there are certain things that the sooner you come to Pilates, the easier it is for us to mitigate the things that you're wanting to mitigate. There's ways to improve your posture before it is not so changeable. The same goes for your health. Some of these things, the longer you wait, it's harder to get them back to where they're supposed to be. So, take advantage.
Lesley Logan 15:01
All right, we have some, Be It Action Items, don't we, Brad?
Brad Crowell 15:03
We sure do. So stick around. We'll be right back for those Be It Action Items.
Brad Crowell 15:07
All right, welcome back. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Kristin Mallon. She said, hey, the best thing you could do right now is figure out your gut health by taking a gut test. And she said they're still figuring out the industry-wide standard but, generally speaking, she said, if you go in and talk to your doctor and you ask for a GI-MAP test, they will understand what that is, and they will know what you're asking for. Okay, so a GI-MAP test. She said it's really comprehensive. It gives you a clear picture of what's actually happening in your gut health, and it should allow you then draw conclusions. If the conclusions that are being drawn aren't making sense to you, you can take that GI-MAP test to somebody else, such as FemGevity and they should be able to help out. She said, GI-MAP and GI effects are the standard gut tests. So GI-MAP and GI effects. GI-MAP is by Diagnostic Solutions. GI effects is by Genova Diagnostics. So she said, generally, avoid the over the counter gut tests. They're not comprehensive enough. She also said that, you know, the tests about, what was it? What with the generational ancestry mapping or something?
Lesley Logan 16:21
Oh yeah, ancestry.com, that kind of.
Brad Crowell 16:22
It was the other one. I can't remember, but anyway, she said, you know, that's like the most basic of basic.
Lesley Logan 16:28
Like 23andMe?
Brad Crowell 16:29
Yes, yeah, I think it was 23andMe. She said choose licensed medical providers to get accurate information as they use PCR testing, which covers a wide range of pathogens, including yeast parasites and dysbiosis. So I'm sure you all remember PCR from COVID years. That's the first time I ever even understood what that was. And apparently it's just the medical thing that's always been around for other things, too.
Lesley Logan 16:52
Other things.
Brad Crowell 16:52
How about that?
Lesley Logan 16:53
And also, like, I really want to emphasize, like, choose licensed medical providers. There's a lot of people out there who are able to do lots of things, but they're not using all of these amazing tests, and that can create confusion. So make sure you're using people like FemGevity who can really make sure that you're getting the full map. I am currently on a round of stuff because of my GI-MAP test that I did with them. We did a second one to make sure everything was good. And whoo, this is not the most fun experience, but that's not their fault. We're getting rid of some shit, and not specifically shit. We're actually getting rid of bacteria. Bacteria in my gut. At any rate, I've been trying to get rid of this for years, and this is the first time I've been able to get someone who can.
Brad Crowell 17:37
Identify and understand what's going on.
Lesley Logan 17:38
Identify it and give me the appropriate medications to let go of it. So yeah.
Brad Crowell 17:42
And this is not the first time that you've had like, a revelatory conclusion drawn by them, and then.
Lesley Logan 17:47
No, because the reason this exists.
Brad Crowell 17:47
Because you've been with them for what, like almost a year now?
Lesley Logan 17:51
Almost a year, almost a year, we're at, like, eight months, nine months, this particular thing was just because we actually did a second test to make sure we got everything, and this little bugger is stuck around, so we get to do it again, and that's not fun. But you know what? I'm super grateful I have them to do this test, because now I know it's not something new, it's something old that's just hanging on.
Brad Crowell 18:13
Yep.
Lesley Logan 18:13
We're working on improving it.
Brad Crowell 18:14
Yeah. Well, what was your biggest takeaway?
Lesley Logan 18:16
Okay, this is the coolest thing. This is definitely for my people who are struggling to make a decision, whenever in doubt, follow your highest excitement in any given situation. So there's no insistence or assumption to the outcome, but use it as a bread crumb trail that will lead you to your biggest and best self. So when you're in doubt of like, what to do? Where is the excitement coming from and follow that. And I think that that's really cool, and I also think that that's probably the uncertainty choice, but it's the one that you're most excited about. And when you're excited about something, you'll do it. Trust us. Brad and I have a project that he's going to work on this weekend with the laundry and four and a half years later, so clearly not excited about it, but now we're going to get excited.
Brad Crowell 19:00
Now we're excited.
Lesley Logan 19:00
Now we're excited. We're getting excited.
Brad Crowell 19:02
I got excited, took action, and it's all happening.
Lesley Logan 19:04
Yes, yes. But you know, that's what happens when you follow the other thing. So follow your highest excitement. I adored her. I want to be friends with her. I want to be friends with her and Michele. I want to hang out. I just think that they're the greatest and what a cool partnership that they are. And I was just, really wanted to start the year off with her. So you guys, you know what to do. You have to share, send a review, give us to a friend. Let Kristin and the Be It Pod know your favorite takeaways. We want to know them. They're really, really fun for us.
Brad Crowell 19:31
Yeah. Tag FemGevity. Tag Lesley. Tag Be It Pod.
Lesley Logan 19:35
Yeah, yep. If you have no idea how to tag, then just do what you know how to do to get the compliment out there. It's really, really great.
Lesley Logan 19:41
Also, we have a special link for FemGevity.
Lesley Logan 19:44
Yes, beitpod.com/femgevity. And if you tell them we sent you, then you are going to also get 20% off your first month, I believe. So there you go.
Brad Crowell 19:56
Yeah. So we'll put that link in the show notes as well.
Lesley Logan 19:58
Yeah, until next time, Be It Till You See It.
Brad Crowell 20:01
Yeah. Bye for now.
Lesley Logan 20:02
That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.
Brad Crowell 20:45
It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.
Lesley Logan 20:50
It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.
Brad Crowell 20:54
Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.
Lesley Logan 21:01
Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.
Brad Crowell 21:04
Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.
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