The Upside: Invested in Wellness with Jessie Sarafian – March 4, 2026

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Hello, and welcome to Invested in Wellness.

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I'm Jessi Serafian, and today is part two of our Resilient Living

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and Wellness series. We're joined by April Kokshut.

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She is a clinical herbalist, certified nutritional practitioner, and

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registered psychotherapist qualifying.

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And we're going to discuss building sustainable resilience through immune

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support, emotional wellbeing, and practical daily habits.

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April will teach us how to use food.

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Self-care, and emotional wellness strategies to support energy levels,

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manage stress, and strengthen immunity, which creates a foundation for

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resilience that lasts. So April, thank you so much for joining us again.

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It's always a pleasure to be back.

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Yes, looking forward to our conversation.

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So before we dive into the discussion, can we give our viewers a little recap

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of part one and what were some of the key takeaways?

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Yes, of course. I thought it was such a great discussion as always.

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It goes by so quickly when we have these chats and I think a really big,

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you know, key takeaway from last session was really talking

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about resilience, the pauses and the negatives, right?

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Resilience comes with adaptability, being open to change and

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understanding what our environment, the stressors it's putting onto us

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and how can we adapt to support.

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And a big part of that adaptation is to take a

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step back and sometimes to pause, to be kind to ourselves and not to

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put too much pressure on ourselves and constantly push and push and punch.

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Let's do less doing and more being, being present, being intentional

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and being kinder to ourselves.

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I think that was a really big key takeaway.

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And in turn, that's really gonna support our conversation today on how to

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support our immune system, support our overall wellbeing.

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And that's through.

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Being and being present and reducing that stress so that our community can

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really thrive.

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Totally, I completely agree.

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And I love the part about like asking ourselves like what are we ready to

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release from last year? What, you know, supportive habits we want to take

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forward and that's huge. Cause I know for myself, last year was a big learning,

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you know working super late.

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So now it's like transitioning into the new year.

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It's like focus more on like the me and like focus on

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like my wellbeing and taking those breaks.

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And I think yours was around, was it around sleep at night?

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Yes. I think a big thing too and a big takeaway from last, you know,

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session was also the fact that there's nothing too small.

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Be kind to yourself. It's not about this huge, big thing.

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It's about, you now, reaching and striving for perfection.

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It's acknowledging that those little tiny baby steps are oftentimes the best

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steps to acknowledge like, hey, I can do this.

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This is motivating. I think we had to get a discussion around New Year's

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resolutions, and oftentimes they fail so quickly.

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We don't even get to the end of January, and those New Year resolutions are

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forgotten about because we put such a high expectation and such a big ask

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on ourselves, and really it's like, let's start small.

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And then that way doesn't have to be a New Year resolution.

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It can just be a habit change.

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It can support that adaptability, that overall resilience.

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Yes, I completely agree.

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So April, as we transition from winter to spring, so what shifts

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physically or energetically do you see happening in the body that influence

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our immunity?

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Yeah, I mean, let's face it, it's dark and cold.

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And I think, you know, those in Ontario have really felt it this year.

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It's been such a cold winter and those dark days, long days in

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winter time or exposure to the sun and you know that key nutrient for

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mental health, for energy, for stability, for hormonal health,

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vitamin D, right? So there's a huge shift in our overall moods and

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energy levels because of the lack of vitamin D.

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And those dark day really change our circadian rhythm.

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So, our amount of energy that we have, talking about circadian

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rhythm, that's the amount of energy output.

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So, when the sun rises, our energy levels rise.

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We have an output of cortisol, which is our energy hormone, also our stress

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hormone. In the wintertime, that time is completely

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different. The sun rises later and it goes to bed earlier,

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which changes our amount actual energy we have throughout the day.

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So it makes sense that we're tired, that we are feeling.

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A bit more rundown. We're also inside a lot more, especially with how cold

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it's been, right? I have so many clients that they're like healthy coping

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mechanisms. You know, we get them to go for walks and get outside, but

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it's too cold. So we're not doing those healthy grounding exercises

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that are supporting our mental physical health.

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And also our immune system. When we go outside, that's going to engage, that's

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gonna wake up our immune systems and get us involved in different environments

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and test our immune systemic. We don't have that anymore.

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So oftentimes our immune becomes weakened and kind of lazy, realistically.

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Now, I can't wait for the sun to set later.

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Those brighter days, you know, when it's like eight, nine p.m.

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And the sun's still out. We're past six, that's a good one.

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Yes, exactly. So April, what are some top nutrient-dense foods

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that you recommend for strengthening the immunity, you know during these

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seasonal transitions?

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Yes, I think we touched upon a little bit about those whole foods, you know,

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last, last taping. And that was about, you know, the importance of those

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nutrients, right? Those vitamins, those minerals that really support the immune

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system. I find a lot of times when we're working into winter months, I don't

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know if you feel it, but we're having more packaged foods, more prepared foods

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because they're warm, they're hearty, they are easy.

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Right. And we really forget about everything that's, you know, in.

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You know, that's important to support our immune system.

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So the B vitamins, the zinc, the vitamin C, those are all in,

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you know those foods like dark leafy greens.

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That is such an important part of our nutrition

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are those dark, rich colours. So I want you guys to focus on colours and

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focus on protein, okay? So focus on colour is have that plate look like a

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rainbow. Have those dark leaf green, the spinach, the kale,

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you know the Swiss chard, the darker the better.

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Okay, think of the citrus, the berries, those bright oranges, those bright

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yellows, those right reds and blues.

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Those are full of vitamin C and antioxidants that are again, really going

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to support that immune system. Give us energy, give us vibrance, give us life,

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um, touching upon kind of those herbs that I brought up last, last time, you

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know, the garlic and onions, the alluminiums, they're anti-microbial

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powerhouses. They're so good for supporting our immune system

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and having those kind of anti-microbial, natural immune

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fighting properties to them.

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Garlic is great. If it's too much garlicky and you find you have too much bad

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breath in the garlic, add some parsley. It'll neutralise it.

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Don't be scared of that garlic.

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The raw are the better, right?

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So using those fresh cloves that you're gonna peel yourselves are much better.

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And onions, add a bit more onions than usual.

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They're great too. I love it. I can barbecue a full onion and eat it.

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I think it's absolutely delicious.

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And again, so great for our immune system.

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Love onions, love garlic.

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You know, the supplements out there could be so overwhelming.

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What do you recommend as like the base for someone to start?

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You know if they don't have access to, you know the kale and those leafy

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greens, where should one start when it comes to supplements?

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Yeah, supplements, you know, I can understand, especially in the winter time.

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That's a lot of times when I'm cycling in supplements with clients because it

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is harder to get all those fresh nutrients in or for example, when we're

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travelling, we don't know if we'll be getting, you don't access those

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nutrients. I find some core ones really, um, going back to kind

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of the melt and mental health and resilience is the magnesium, right?

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Magnesium, especially over the winter months when stress seems to increase,

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especially the holiday season, getting into the new year and putting this much

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pressure onto ourselves. Magnesia is also known as our stress mineral.

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And I just find it is so, so important.

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I find a lot of clients and the general public, we're really

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struggling with sleep. And that's a big thing, going into the new year with

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stress, sleep is the number one thing to be affected.

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So taking magnesium before bed allows us to get a restful sleep.

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When we sleep properly, we actually can recharge and that's when our immune

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system is actually strengthening. So that's so,so important.

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So I do find magnesium is a really good base supplement that I take every

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single day and I think is so important especially in this day and age when

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stress is running rampant.

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Another one, big one, is vitamin C.

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So taking in an ascorbic acid.

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Vitamin C is water soluble. So if we're feeling like we're about to get sick or

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we need to strengthen our immune system, it's not about taking three capsules

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all at once. Because vitamin C is waterproof soluble,

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we're gonna release it through our urine, right?

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We're gonna pee it out. So it's important if we are feeling sick or we wanna

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abuse our immune systems. Taking vitamin C throughout the day.

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So taking one 1,000 milligramme capsule, for example, three times during

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the day to actually make sure that we're absorbing it and we're strengthening

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our immune system. So that's another really important one.

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And I think another one is that omega-3 fatty

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acid or that fish oil.

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Those healthy fats are so important to

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our immune system and is a key building block.

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And In our society today, we're eating a lot of saturated fat from processed

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foods, and we need the unsaturated fat.

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The fats from those fatty fish, oh my gosh, yum, the salmon, the mackerel,

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right? The sardines, I know they're so fishy, but they're good for you.

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The raw nuts and seeds, or walnuts, or almonds, your pumpkin seeds,

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if you can't have nuts.

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Those are so important, and the recipe we'll end with.

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We'll have some good, healthy fats in there that I'll show the viewers.

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Great, I love that. So I want to touch upon gut health and immunity and

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how those are two connected. How can we support the two through our

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diet?

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Oh my goodness, what a great question.

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The gut is so intertwined with all of our systems.

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It really plays an important role in our immune system because that

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is where our immune systems starts, our microbiome.

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We need to have a strong microbiome to create our immunity and ward off

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pathogens.

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Now, to have a healthy microbiome, we need a couple of things.

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And one of the most important things, I believe, is fibre.

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Fibre feeds those healthy microbes in our gut and

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supports our immune system.

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Fibre's so underrated, and it's so important to consume fibre in our

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diet. Fibre combines to all that garbage and

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toxins that we eat and consume and get from our environments, those pollutants,

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binds to them and rids them, gets them out of our system.

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Fibre is so important for lowering cholesterol.

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For those on the line who are struggling with high cholesterol, fibre, fibre is

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the key. And it's not about the supplements of fibre, it's about incorporating

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fibre into your diet through soluble and insoluble

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sources. So that comes from things like oatmeal, which we'll show at the end,

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and seeds and nuts, but also the roughage from those dark leafy

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greens and those fibrous vegetables, which I spoke to.

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So as much as the previous question, you're like, what simple supplements can

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we get? I really want to preface it that supplements aren't enough.

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So understanding how can we incorporate fibre and those healthy nutrients and

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vitamins and minerals into your diet, not only through supplements,

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but through other sources that are financially sound or available to you.

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I love that. Hopefully that answered your question.

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Yes, no, it did. No, that's so, so important for sure.

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And now speaking about, you know, in the winter, a lot of people experience

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fatigue, obviously because the sun sets a lot earlier.

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So what lifestyle shifts do you recommend to help restore that energy

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naturally?

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I love that. And, you know, again, let's go back to being present and

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intentional, lowering that stress and being kinder, taking the

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pressure off yourself.

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That's actually a key point in your last question that, you know, I also need

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to add is we need to be kinder for ourselves because that's going to help the

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immune system. If we're in a state of high stress, we're not fight

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or flight. I've talked about this in previous shows when we're a state of high,

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stress is kind of like we have a tiger chasing us.

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Right. And if we have tiger chasing us.

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Our gut, our microbiome, isn't gonna be like, oh, one second, tiger, let

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me go and digest the salad or the steak.

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It's gonna be, like, absolutely not.

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We can't digest, we can't support immune system health.

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We're focused on fighting that tiger. So that's gonna completely disrupt our

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digestion and also completely disrupt and weaken our immune

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system. So when we're talking about immunity,

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when we are talking about digestive health, when we were talking about energy,

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and so much more, stress is such a key component that's going

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to degrade and weaken all three of those functions, if not more,

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in our system.

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So a big thing this winter, as we set goals for the new year, as try

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to create a strong foundation moving forward, a really

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important step is taking a pause and acknowledging,

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what stressors do I have in my life?

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And let me tell you, there's a lot.

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And I love doing that exercise with clients when we sit down and acknowledge

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all the stress in their lives. We're not talking just about big stressors like

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finances and work.

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I'm talking about everything. That's the commute to work.

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That's doing your hair in the morning. That can be a stressful task.

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That's family, kids, as much as they can bring joy.

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That's also a stress.

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So let's sit down and acknowledge all of the stress that we have in our life

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and how are we managing it?

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Because if we're not managing it and supporting it, that's gonna really beat us

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down. And if we are not supporting it through sleep or through a supportive

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diet, that's going to beat us even more and exhaust us.

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I wish there was a quick answer.

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Yeah, no, I completely agree.

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And we chatted about this before, you know, sleep, yes, but also establishing

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that great morning routine.

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Like it starts first thing in the morning and shifting your energy,

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shifting your mindset. If you wake up and you're like, I'm stressed, I am

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stressed, and you know that carries you throughout the day.

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Yes, that is such a great reminder, Jessie, the key for bringing that up.

00:14:26,165 --> 00:14:30,035

If you wake up feeling stressed, if you wake feeling overwhelmed and you're set

00:14:30,035 --> 00:14:33,973

in that kind of like from sleep to the sense of urgency,

00:14:33,973 --> 00:14:38,143

that's gonna set precedent for the rest of the day that your cortisol

00:14:38,143 --> 00:14:42,047

levels, your stress levels are gonna be much higher of the baseline than they

00:14:42,047 --> 00:14:45,117

need to be. Whereas if you woke up and like you said, start with a morning

00:14:45,117 --> 00:14:49,555

routine and you have some me time, some calm, your body acknowledges.

00:14:49,588 --> 00:14:51,357

Okay, I know what this feels like.

00:14:51,357 --> 00:14:54,960

I know this almost feels like and throughout the day, if you come up to the

00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:59,164

state of overwhelm or too much urgency, you know what this

00:14:59,164 --> 00:15:03,235

feels and how to come down to it. So that is a really beautiful

00:15:03,235 --> 00:15:07,072

thing. What's one thing you do in the morning for yourself that helps?

00:15:07,072 --> 00:15:10,342

My first, my morning setting an intention, I think is important.

00:15:10,342 --> 00:15:14,413

You know, having the morning coffee, you know, what am I grateful for?

00:15:14,413 --> 00:15:18,017

You know the five minute journal. We talked about this in previous episodes.

00:15:18,017 --> 00:15:21,654

It's like, okay, what I'm I grateful for what am going to be working on today?

00:15:21,654 --> 00:15:26,058

And then then in the evening is going back and be like, what did I learn today?

00:15:26,058 --> 00:15:30,029

So just going back to the mindset and energy shift for

00:15:30,029 --> 00:15:30,996

sure.

00:15:30,996 --> 00:15:36,201

I love that grounding, doing something for you, that's beautiful.

00:15:36,201 --> 00:15:40,205

So I know I want to get into the demo, so I'm going to pass it

00:15:40,205 --> 00:15:44,343

off to you. I know you wanted to share an easy recipe that our viewers can

00:15:44,343 --> 00:15:45,945

make at home.

00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:49,815

Yes, thank you. And the reason why we're showing this is because one of the key

00:15:49,815 --> 00:15:53,819

ways to support your immune system and support resilience

00:15:53,819 --> 00:15:57,523

is really starting the morning with a routine.

00:15:57,523 --> 00:16:01,593

And a big part of that routine needs to be a healthy,

00:16:01,593 --> 00:16:05,097

supportive, energy-packed breakfast.

00:16:05,097 --> 00:16:07,967

A lot of people do fast and fasting can be healthy.

00:16:07,967 --> 00:16:12,137

However, if we're in a position of stress or overwhelm or burnout, having

00:16:12,137 --> 00:16:15,140

a breakfast in the morning really is gonna fuel our body.

00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:19,311

And really support us in providing the nutrients that our

00:16:19,311 --> 00:16:23,349

stress systems need to stay regulated and to stay strong and same with

00:16:23,349 --> 00:16:26,852

our immune system. Okay, so what we're gonna make is we're going to make a chia

00:16:26,852 --> 00:16:30,689

seed pudding. It's gonna be really simple, really easy and it's something that

00:16:30,689 --> 00:16:34,293

we can prep ahead during the week. So this is great for all you people who are

00:16:34,293 --> 00:16:37,262

busy, but you also want to fuel yourselves, okay?

00:16:37,262 --> 00:16:41,433

So what we gonna do is usually I'm just gonna start with four to five glass

00:16:41,433 --> 00:16:45,371

jars. Um, I find glass are really easy to store and you can kind of bring

00:16:45,371 --> 00:16:47,473

them anywhere. So you can either eat these at home.

00:16:47,473 --> 00:16:50,876

I'll grab mine from my fridge and I'll eat it, or I can pack it and I can take

00:16:50,876 --> 00:16:52,878

it. If I'm on the go or if I'm going into the work.

00:16:52,878 --> 00:16:55,180

Okay. So we're going to make a chia seed pudding.

00:16:55,180 --> 00:16:57,683

I have one that's already kind of prepared. That's mixed, but I'll show you how

00:16:57,683 --> 00:17:01,687

we're gonna make it. So what you're going start with is the empty jar and

00:17:01,687 --> 00:17:03,422

we're going to start with that fibre.

00:17:03,422 --> 00:17:07,526

What's really, really helpful for the gut biome and what's good for

00:17:07,526 --> 00:17:10,396

immune system is fibre. Okay.

00:17:10,396 --> 00:17:13,332

Oatmeal is one of the best things also for cholesterol and for stabilising

00:17:13,332 --> 00:17:15,534

blood sugars because it is so high in fibre.

00:17:15,534 --> 00:17:18,137

So we're gonna add a third of a cup of oats.

00:17:18,137 --> 00:17:20,439

Again, this is for the average person.

00:17:20,439 --> 00:17:24,176

Depending on your activity level, you might wanna make your portion size bigger

00:17:24,176 --> 00:17:27,446

or smaller. This is probably a healthy portion size to keep you going for the

00:17:27,446 --> 00:17:30,916

day. So we gonna add one third of oats to the container.

00:17:30,916 --> 00:17:33,719

Usually I use large flake oats, but for overnight oats, because we're not

00:17:33,719 --> 00:17:36,622

cooking them, we're going to kind of cook them in the fridge.

00:17:36,622 --> 00:17:38,624

I like to use instant oats.

00:17:38,624 --> 00:17:40,959

Um, they're gluten-free, which is awesome.

00:17:40,959 --> 00:17:44,129

They're high in fibre. Um, and they're just going to provide a better

00:17:44,129 --> 00:17:46,265

consistency than a large leg oats.

00:17:46,298 --> 00:17:49,835

We're then going to add in another source of fibre and proteins, little magical

00:17:49,835 --> 00:17:53,038

seeds, which are also really high in those unsaturated fats, which I was

00:17:53,038 --> 00:17:57,376

talking about to really, again, stabilise those energy levels, add some protein

00:17:57,376 --> 00:18:00,813

and add some healthy fat for that stress, either chia seeds.

00:18:00,813 --> 00:18:04,049

Chia seeds are so lovely. You can add them into most recipes.

00:18:04,049 --> 00:18:06,785

You can also hide them into baking when you're baking for your kids, if you

00:18:06,785 --> 00:18:10,589

want to. And that's just a really great way of adding fibre.

00:18:10,589 --> 00:18:14,359

So I'm gonna add two teaspoons of chia seeds to this.

00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,463

I'm then going to take hot water.

00:18:17,463 --> 00:18:19,231

Okay, so this is three quarters of a cup.

00:18:19,231 --> 00:18:20,899

And I'm going to add it to my mason jar.

00:18:20,899 --> 00:18:25,070

And what that's gonna do is it's going to cook up and gel up the

00:18:25,070 --> 00:18:27,973

chia seeds and the oats. We're just gonna stir those around.

00:18:27,973 --> 00:18:31,777

And what's gonna happen is the chia seed and the oat, they're gonna absorb that

00:18:31,777 --> 00:18:36,682

water and they're going to plump up to this nice, rich plump consistency.

00:18:36,682 --> 00:18:40,419

Okay, so you're going to see that it gets quite larger and it turns into a

00:18:40,419 --> 00:18:42,721

really nice kind of like pudding-like consistency.

00:18:42,721 --> 00:18:44,723

It's absolutely delicious.

00:18:44,723 --> 00:18:48,827

Now, a really great thing to support your immune system

00:18:48,827 --> 00:18:53,565

and overall resilience through nutrition is protein, okay?

00:18:53,565 --> 00:18:57,069

So when we're talking about what key steps can you do moving forward to support

00:18:57,069 --> 00:19:01,440

your resilience, your immune systems as we move forward, think one

00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,643

protein source per meal or per snack.

00:19:04,643 --> 00:19:08,580

Okay, that's really gonna support you in stabilising your blood sugars,

00:19:08,580 --> 00:19:10,315

keeping you full and keeping you energised.

00:19:10,315 --> 00:19:13,051

So I love to just add half a scoop of protein powder.

00:19:13,051 --> 00:19:15,521

There's already gonna be protein from the chia seeds and the oats.

00:19:15,521 --> 00:19:19,191

I find not enough, so let's add a bit more, okay?

00:19:19,191 --> 00:19:22,427

So I'm gonna add in half a scope of protein right there, which is right there

00:19:22,427 --> 00:19:25,697

an extra 10 grammes of protein, which so easy.

00:19:25,697 --> 00:19:28,867

And so supportive. I often use a plant-based protein.

00:19:28,867 --> 00:19:32,504

I just find it's easier on the gut. Sometimes whey protein can be quite hard on

00:19:32,504 --> 00:19:34,673

the guy. Okay. So we're just going to give that a good stir.

00:19:34,673 --> 00:19:37,743

We're going to mix it in. And again, that's going to, it's going to take away

00:19:37,743 --> 00:19:41,180

some of the liquid and it's just going make it that much fluffier.

00:19:41,180 --> 00:19:44,383

Okay? April.

00:19:44,383 --> 00:19:48,387

Do you add the protein powder after it sits overnight so

00:19:48,387 --> 00:19:52,224

the next day you don't let it cook with the chia and the oats?

00:19:52,224 --> 00:19:54,426

The day before? That's a great question.

00:19:54,426 --> 00:19:58,397

I find often if I add it with a protein powder, because there are

00:19:58,397 --> 00:20:01,033

proteins in the protein powder sometimes it clumps up.

00:20:01,033 --> 00:20:04,303

So I do find it's better sometimes to add it after and then to add a bit more

00:20:04,303 --> 00:20:07,239

water or you can add like almond milk or wherever you want to like start

00:20:07,239 --> 00:20:11,410

getting better. But I do you find just for like consistency purposes in my

00:20:11,410 --> 00:20:13,345

palette, I like to add in after.

00:20:13,345 --> 00:20:16,682

But again, if you're prepping it ahead, you can just stir it right in.

00:20:16,682 --> 00:20:18,584

Just give it a bit better of a stir.

00:20:18,584 --> 00:20:20,586

Okay. Got it. So actually that's a good question.

00:20:20,586 --> 00:20:21,086

And you probably added it.

00:20:21,086 --> 00:20:25,023

I think when I was doing my

00:20:25,023 --> 00:20:28,227

chia seed mix ahead of time, I think I put too much.

00:20:28,227 --> 00:20:32,331

I think I did half a cup. So I was like, it's not cooking properly.

00:20:32,331 --> 00:20:34,299

It's too much, so now two teaspoons.

00:20:34,299 --> 00:20:35,500

I'll make note of that for next time.

00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:38,637

Yeah, and have fun with it. Honestly, everyone has a different palette.

00:20:38,637 --> 00:20:42,541

Some people like a watery, some people like it, you know, a bit drier.

00:20:42,541 --> 00:20:44,309

So have fun and mix it around.

00:20:44,309 --> 00:20:47,613

Some people more chia seeds than oats. I like a bit more oats than chia seeds,

00:20:47,613 --> 00:20:49,615

but some people that kind of chia seed pudding.

00:20:49,615 --> 00:20:53,785

So again, have fun, choose your own adventure, right?

00:20:53,785 --> 00:20:57,589

Do you, that's what we're really supporting in these conversations is to do

00:20:57,589 --> 00:21:00,292

you. Okay, so have some fun with it.

00:21:00,292 --> 00:21:02,728

So yeah, we're gonna start in really well. Then we're going to pick whatever

00:21:02,728 --> 00:21:04,563

fruit you want. I love dark cherries.

00:21:04,563 --> 00:21:06,531

Dark cherries are also great for muscles.

00:21:06,531 --> 00:21:10,035

You'll see a lot of people drinking like tart cherry juice before bed.

00:21:10,035 --> 00:21:12,137

So I really like cherries, they're great.

00:21:12,137 --> 00:21:14,606

Feel free to pick any other berry that you would like.

00:21:14,606 --> 00:21:18,644

Again, really full of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, the

00:21:18,644 --> 00:21:21,146

dark red. Get that colouring, okay?

00:21:21,146 --> 00:21:22,981

So we're just gonna add that on top.

00:21:22,981 --> 00:21:25,917

And for the fruit, again, you can add in beforehand.

00:21:25,917 --> 00:21:29,855

I like to add it on top, so it's kind of fun to pick through.

00:21:29,855 --> 00:21:34,559

So add your fruit sauce. And then last but not least, I like some crunch.

00:21:34,559 --> 00:21:38,563

I like, you know, to have something that has that different texture to

00:21:38,563 --> 00:21:42,601

it. So I find that I'll prep this ahead of time, and I'll put those in

00:21:42,601 --> 00:21:46,338

the fridge. And the day of what I'll do is I'll take my one serving out.

00:21:46,338 --> 00:21:49,341

And then I make my own homemade granola at home because then you have less

00:21:49,341 --> 00:21:51,009

sugar and you can really control what's in it.

00:21:51,009 --> 00:21:54,179

You can put nuts and seeds and what I'll do is I'll just go ahead and I'll

00:21:54,179 --> 00:21:58,283

scoop out half a cup of fresh granola and I'll add that on

00:21:58,283 --> 00:22:02,154

top for some crunch. I find that crunch allows you to feel a bit more satisfied

00:22:02,154 --> 00:22:06,258

and it's kind of this like kind of mental connection to a bit of enjoyment.

00:22:06,258 --> 00:22:08,860

So that's how I have my breakfast.

00:22:08,860 --> 00:22:10,829

It's something really simple and easy.

00:22:10,829 --> 00:22:14,666

You put the lid on there, you bring a spoon to work with you and you have a

00:22:14,666 --> 00:22:18,403

wonderful nutrient packed supportive breakfast.

00:22:18,403 --> 00:22:21,473

So that's something I definitely recommend to do, something easy.

00:22:21,473 --> 00:22:23,775

And again, feel free to choose your own adventure.

00:22:23,775 --> 00:22:26,144

You don't have to follow this exact recipe.

00:22:26,144 --> 00:22:28,580

Figure out what you like, what mix and matches.

00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:32,050

You can add cinnamon. You can try different flavours of protein powder.

00:22:32,050 --> 00:22:34,786

You can do, you know, cocoa and banana.

00:22:34,786 --> 00:22:38,290

You can peanut butter and banana, you can add all these different things and

00:22:38,290 --> 00:22:40,926

then have fun with it. Also really great option for kids.

00:22:40,926 --> 00:22:42,861

Get them involved, have some fun.

00:22:42,861 --> 00:22:46,865

Yes, I love that. I had one question regarding nuts, because I know

00:22:46,865 --> 00:22:49,067

nuts can be, you know, high in fat.

00:22:49,067 --> 00:22:51,370

How much nuts do you recommend?

00:22:51,370 --> 00:22:55,807

You know, a handful of almonds or, you no cashews.

00:22:55,807 --> 00:22:58,176

That's a great question. Again, everything in moderation, right?

00:22:58,176 --> 00:23:00,278

Just because they're healthy, doesn't mean you want to go and have two cups of

00:23:00,278 --> 00:23:03,782

them. I generally say, again, that handful rule, right.

00:23:03,782 --> 00:23:07,853

And making sure with nuts, and if you're a nut-free household, for example, use

00:23:07,853 --> 00:23:11,056

seeds instead. Seeds are actually cheaper, more economical.

00:23:11,056 --> 00:23:14,126

They have just as much great properties. But if you are doing nuts or seeds,

00:23:14,126 --> 00:23:16,795

making sure that they're raw, that's how you're going to get the most amount of

00:23:16,828 --> 00:23:21,967

that healthy fat to support that immune system and that hormonal belt.

00:23:21,967 --> 00:23:26,071

Great, well thank you so much. That flew by for our viewers

00:23:26,071 --> 00:23:27,806

that want more information.

00:23:27,806 --> 00:23:29,841

How can they reach you, April?

00:23:29,841 --> 00:23:33,845

Yes, of course. For more information, you can reach me at the

00:23:33,845 --> 00:23:37,416

Centre for Interpersonal Relationships. So I am taking on individual clients

00:23:37,416 --> 00:23:39,651

and also a couple clients.

00:23:39,651 --> 00:23:43,388

So, I'd love to support viewers if they're looking for that mental health

00:23:43,388 --> 00:23:48,059

support, physical health. I do more of a holistic support system there.

00:23:48,059 --> 00:23:50,796

I'm here to help the community and hopefully we can do some more shows together

00:23:50,796 --> 00:23:52,364

and they can see me again here.

00:23:52,364 --> 00:23:54,466

Yes, I love that. Thank you so much, April.

00:23:54,466 --> 00:23:56,334

And thanks everyone for watching. See you next time.

00:24:15,387 --> 00:24:19,691

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