Do you live with chronic pain, inflammation, or migraines and wonder if a GLP-1 could help or are you interested in these medications, but worried about the stigma surrounding them?

In this episode, Nikki chats with aerial coach and movement educator Lauren Kehl about their experiences taking a GLP-1 to manage a chronic illness or chronic condition and why the conversation needs to go beyond calling it a weight loss drug.

Topics covered:

• Personal experiences using a GLP-1 to help manage inflammation, chronic pain, and migraines with both side effects and the benefits.

• The value of body image support while on a GLP-1.

• The intersection of diet culture, GLP-1s, and body autonomy with weight loss

• Cultural stigma around weight loss medications and predatory marketing in the GLP-1 space.

Connect with Lauren Kehl

• Instagram: @laurenkehl

• Website: https://laurenkehl.com/

Connect with Nikki Naab-Levy

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE hypermobility modification guide for strength exercises! https://naablevy.com/modification-menu/

Do you wonder where your family's traits and medical history came from? Are you looking for insight on your chronic illness and where it might have stemmed from? In this episode, Nikki chats with professional genealogist and storyteller Joanna Tiger to explore the fascinating intersection of family history, DNA, and personal health.

Topics covered

• How paper trails and DNA tests work together to uncover hidden family narratives

• The connection between ancestral trauma, genetics, and modern physical and mental health challenges

• Why knowing your family's history can help you better self advocate in medical settings

Connect with Joanna Tiger

• Instagram: @ourchives.co

• Website: https://www.ourchives.co/

Connect with Nikki Naab-Levy

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan! Naablevynaablevy.com/free-strength-plan

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: NaablevyMacros Made Simple - NaabLevy

Episode timestamps

00:00 | Paper Trails and DNA: How to to build and understand your family tree

06:12 | Connecting chronic illnesses to ancestral roots

13:08 | Intergenerational trauma and your DNA

18:59 | How newspaper archives can give you insight on your family's medical and mental health

27:14 | Preparing yourself for family stories that may not match the narrative you were told

33:59 | Using family history to advocate for your health

Traditional physical therapy often doesn't work as well for common hypermobility challenges and comorbidities, such as POTS / dysautonomia, chronic fatigue, pain, and joint instability. However, physical therapy is important for symptom management and improving quality of life.

In this episode, Nikki is joined by physical therapist Dr. Morgan who specializes in a whole-body approach for treating hypermobility related challenges and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

Topics covered:

• What is POTS and how it relates to symptomatic hypermobility and hEDS.

• Different physical therapy interventions for POTS and dysautonomia.

• How the thoracic spine and rib cage connect to the autonomic nervous system and may influence POTS symptoms.

• Why standard physical therapy protocols sometimes fail POTS patients and alternative approaches if these protocols don't work well for you.

Connect with Morgan Groover

• Instagram: @morgan.groover.dpt

• Website: https://app.movement-x.com/physical-therapists/morgan-groover

Connect with Nikki

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan! Naablevynaablevy.com/free-strength-plan

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: NaablevyMacros Made Simple - NaabLevy

00:00 Introduction and defining POTS and dysautonomia

15:07 | Why traditional physical therapy may not work as well for people with symptomatic hypermobility and hEDS

19:15 | The relationship between the thoracic spine (mid and upper back), nervous system, and POTS or dysautonomia symptoms

28:49 | Navigating the mental and physical challenges that come with flare-ups

39:35 | Why we need to focus on more than the rib flare if we're having pain or symptoms

43:10 | The vestibular system and how it relates to dizziness and migraines

50:34 | Customizing recovery protocols Like CHOP

In this episode, Nikki is joined by financial therapist and yoga teacher Tammy Shweiger to talk about why money is so emotional and the surprising overlap between improving your relationship with money, movement, and behavior change.

Topics covered:

• Why struggling with money doesn't mean you're bad at math or lack discipline

• How small steps and self-compassion can make your finances feel less overwhelming.

• How slowing down before an impulse purchase and paying attention to your values can help you make more supportive financial decisions.

• How our early experiences, relationships, comparison and the financial rules we've internalized may influence how we spend or save money without us realizing it.

• Why the numbers only tell part of the story and how understanding the emotions behind your financial choices can help you change your behavior with less shame and rigidity.

• Instagram: @moneycoachtammy

• Website: tammyshweiger.com

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan! naablevy.com/free-strength-plan

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: naablevy.com/macro-guide

03:16 | Why we avoid looking at our finances and how to make getting started less overwhelming.

06:37 | How to manage impulse spending without cutting out everything you enjoy.

09:46 | Why changing your financial habits takes time and what to do when you have a setback.

16:46 | Why your budget needs to reflect your priorities, values and life.

22:15 | Why changing your money habits can feel uncomfortable, even when the change is good for you.

25:42 | How comparison and the money beliefs you learned growing up can influence your spending in the present.

32:24 | How your partner, family and friends can influence the way you spend money.

34:38 | Why understanding your finances requires looking at more than just the numbers.

In this episode, Nikki is joined by Nutrition & Behavior Change Coach Greg Sutton to talk about discipline, why the fitness industry's "no excuses" version of it can backfire, and the psychological skills that actually help us reach our long term goals.

Topics covered:

• Why discipline isn't a well-defined construct in psychology and why this matters when we apply it to our own lives.

• Why pushing through pain, injury, burnout or flare-ups isn't actually discipline, even when fitness culture tells us it is.

• How all-or-nothing thinking can lead to overdoing it, pain, injury and burn out.

• Why self-regulation matters if you want to make progress while dealing with injuries, chronic illness, pain or a body that doesn't always cooperate.

• The role of acceptance in making progress and why acceptance isn't the same thing as giving up.

Connect with Greg Sutton

• Greg's Instagram: @coach.greg.sutton

• Evolve to Excel Instagram: @evolvetoexcel

• Website: evolvetoexcel.com

Connect with Nikki

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan! Naablevynaablevy.com/free-strength-plan

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: NaablevyMacros Made Simple - NaabLevy

02:00 | What does discipline actually mean?

05:34 | Why the "all gas, no brakes" approach isn't discipline.

09:20 | When pushing through leads to injury, burnout and worse long-term outcomes.

15:42 | The role of cognitive flexibility in being disciplined.

17:30 | Doing less when you're dealing with chronic illness, pain or flare-ups.

18:40 | How all-or-nothing thinking and rigidity affect our approach to fitness.

25:26 | Why adapting, resting and accepting where you are can move you toward your goals.

In this episode, Nikki is joined by nutrition and fitness coach Carissa Stewart to talk about why exercising consistently is hard, especially when you're hypermobile, chronically ill or have a complicated body.

Topics covered:

• Why motivation matters, how chronic pain can reinforce the tendency to avoid exercise, and what you can do about it.

• Why treating exercise like a habit can set us up to struggle MORE with consistency and what to do instead.

• How flare plans and exercise substitutions help you continue to move forward if you experience body challenges.

• How to adapt your workout with less mind drama when you experience pain, injury, or flare-ups.

• How to measure progress if you're hypermobile or chronically ill beyond weight lifted, sets, and reps.

Connect with Carissa Stewart

• Instagram: @carissaleighcoaching

Connect with Nikki Naab-Levy

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan: https://naablevy.com/find-your-perfect-strength-plan-quiz/

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: https://naablevy.com/macro-guide/

Episode Timestamps:

03:26 | Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation and why "you just need discipline" is wrong
06:02 | Why motivation more complicated when exercise causes pain and symptoms
12:56 | Why exercise isn't a habit (and what it actually is)
15:01 | Why exercise may take additional mental effort if you're neurodivergent

17:08 | Using backup plans and exercise substitutions, so a flare-up doesn't derail your workout

24:52 | How to adapt your workout when your body isn't cooperating without the mental spiral

32:20 | How to measure progress when you have a complicated body

44:04 | How to ask for help after bad experiences and set expectations with friends and family

Ever been told that reformer footwork is the equivalent of a barbell squat? Or that adding a dumbbell to your Pilates workout counts as strength training?

In this episode, Nikki is joined by mechanical engineer and Pilates teacher Kaleen Canevari to discuss the physics of Pilates spring resistance and the potential applications of Pilates and strength training through the lens of exercise science.

Topics covered:

• Why springs get heavier the longer they're stretched and how that resistance will change based on the height of your client and the exercise being performed.

• The math behind a reformer spring vs a free weight (e.g. a dumbbell or barbell) and how that influences the amount of weight that you're moving during an exercise.

• The difference between progressing movement complexity and progressing in how much weight you can move during an exercise.

• Why new movers often make strength gains early in their Pilates practice and how this may change as they become more advanced.

• Why standing on a reformer with a dumbbell is not a good replacement for strength training if your goals are to increase bone density, strength, or muscle mass.

• Why it's difficult to track Pilates based metrics and what that might look like in the future.

Connect with Kaleen Canevari

• Instagram:@kaleenc_

• Website: Pilatesphysics.com

Connect with Nikki

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan! Naablevynaablevy.com/free-strength-plan

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: NaablevyMacros Made Simple - NaabLevy

In this episode, Nikki is joined by PA and nutrition coach Stormy Weather to talk what it's like to be a hypermobile competitive athlete and navigating the medical system with hypermobility, POTS, and MCAS.

Topics covered:

• Why being high-functioning and athletic often works against you when you're trying to get support from medical providers.

• The mindset shifts required to train at a high level while also accommodating the symptoms and limitations that hypermobility presents with.

• Why it's so difficult to get treatment and care within the medical system when you have symptomatic hypermobility.

Connect with Stormy Weather

• Stormy's Instagram: @stormywtr

• Show Your Work Nutrition Instagram: @showyourworknutrition

• Website: https://www.showyourwork.net/

Connect with Nikki Naab-Levy

• Instagram: @naablevyfitness

• Website: naablevy.com

• Get your FREE personalized strength plan! Naablevynaablevy.com/free-strength-plan

• Get your free macros and calories calculator + guide: NaablevyMacros Made Simple - NaabLevy

Episode Timestamps:

00:00 | Stormy's background: PA, nutrition coach, and competitive masters athlete

05:38 | Modifying your training goals as a competitive athlete with symptomatic hypermobility and long Covid

08:39 | The boom-bust training cycle: managing flares without losing your fitness

16:17 | Experiences with MCAS, dysautonomia, and potential medication options for hypermobility comorbidities

30:34 | Low dose naltrexone: How it works and why it's gaining traction for hypermobility

38:07 | Getting care on the fringes when the standard system has nothing for you

40:08 | Navigating the medical system with hypermobility

53:35 | Options to managing rib subluxations