WEBVTT - Let's Make Better Choices...with Samantha Harris 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:09.000 This is Let's be clear with Shannon Dorny. Hello, let's 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.040 be clear. Family, It's Samantha Harris here. Some of you 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.320 might be familiar with me from my eight seasons hosting 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.120 Dancing with the Stars, or many years as an anchor 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:24.000 and correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and Extra, and of course 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:27.320 for most of my professional life, I was always interviewing 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:32.159 other people. I've been passionate about sharing the stories of 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:36.720 so many through my career. I'm a journalist at heart, 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.680 and that's what I love to do. And this is 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.559 going to be a little bit different because today with you, 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:45.800 I'm going to be sharing a little bit of my story, 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.960 but even more importantly, I'm going to share things that 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:52.320 I have learned that can help you to elevate your wellness, 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:57.360 to ignite your healthiest healthy life possible, and especially after 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.640 a health setback, how to come back even more resilient 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:08.600 and energized. So I'll take you back to twenty fourteen. 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.000 I was at the height of my career. I had 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.080 had four Emmy nominations. I'd start on Broadway in the 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.440 Broadway Show Chicago. I had two little girls with my 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.360 amazing husband. My girls were three and six at the time, 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:26.720 and I was really living the little Minnesota girl who 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:31.880 wanted a life in Hollywood dream where I didn't think 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:35.319 my career could get any better or that my life 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.720 could get any better. I was literally the picture of health. 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:42.200 I mean to the point that you guys, I was 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:46.640 on over ten different magazine covers, from four appearances on 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.640 Muscle and Fitness hers to Shape magazine and Women's Running 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:54.280 and beyond. And I prided myself so much on the 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.440 fact that here I was hustling and bustling with this 0:01:56.800 --> 0:02:02.440 intense and very demanding career, juggling my family, my household, 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:05.560 and was able to stay in shape and look good 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.400 and be on the cover of all these magazines. And 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.600 then I was blindsided. I was blindsided in twenty fourteen 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:20.200 by a breast cancer diagnosis. You were all very familiar 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:24.160 because of the beautiful work that Shannon Dougherty has done 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:30.079 here and let's be clear and well beyond, and I'm 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.760 so sad that I'm sitting here and Shannon is not. 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:38.600 I want to just jump for a second to a 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:44.480 wonderful opportunity that I had to spend with Shannon when 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.440 I was the MC for an American Cancer Society event, 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:53.239 Shannon was in the midst of her treatment, and yet, 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.880 like the consummate professional and beauty that she always was 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.720 from inside and out, she showed up on that red 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:02.440 car and to support this event and the work of 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:07.760 the American Cancer Society. She had been going through her treatments, 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:09.920 and she was wearing a headscarf, and there she was 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:15.000 smiling ear to ear with a glisten in her eye. 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:19.080 And for me, at that time, it was many years 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.600 after my breast cancer diagnosis, I was thriving. I was 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:27.040 feeling energized. I had taken hold of what had taken 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.920 away my feeling of control, and I had taken back 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:37.960 my power. And here was Shannon dealing with such an 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:41.440 advanced stage of breast cancer and going through the thick 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.920 of it. And yet and yet here she was on 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:50.680 the red carpet, helping others and helping to try to 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:54.360 find a cure. And I just wanted to make sure 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.040 that for those of you who have been dedicated listeners 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.480 of Shannon here on the podcast passed, or of course 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:05.040 big fans of hers from her television career, people always 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.200 thought I was Brenda Walsh because I was the Minnesota 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.400 girl for real, and I used to love watching her 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.840 on Nina two one l and to see her journey 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:17.839 and her legacy that she now leaves behind with let's 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:22.400 speak clear and well beyond. So here I was back again. 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:26.280 Now I'm back in time to twenty fourteen, blindsided by 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.000 this breast cancer diagnosis. And here you got to have 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.479 to tell you the craziest part. I was about to 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:35.479 turn forty. My girls again, were three and six. My 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:41.159 dad lost my dad to colon cancer when he was 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.640 just fifty and fifty when I was sitting here from 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.159 the viewpoint of forty didn't look that far off, and 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:49.000 I thought, oh my gosh, I can't believe how young 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:52.080 my dad was. And his mom was a breast cancer 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:57.719 survivor lived to ninety five, and yet cancer was in 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:59.640 my family. My girls were young, and I thought, you know, 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.200 I should really set a baseline. I should get that 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.599 mammogram thing. So I went and I got the boob squished, 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.719 and they looked at everything and they said it's clear, 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:14.480 all good. And then eleven days after this clear mammogram, 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:18.800 everything is good. I was changing after a workout and 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.840 I found a lump. Now I didn't think for a 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:23.680 second it was cancer. I mean again, I just had 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:26.200 a clear mammogram. I'm as fit and healthy as I 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.320 have ever been. But you know, I'll still call my 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.840 obgyn because she's the only doctor who did a clinical 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.200 breast exam every year, and I'll just have her take 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.200 a look. And she felt it. She said, ah, Samantha, 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:41.359 it's nothing. Don't you worry about it. You're turning forty. 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:45.239 We have lumpy breasts. Our breast like to make lumps. 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:47.800 I wouldn't worry about it. And she sent me on 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:51.400 my way. And then a month later, that pesky lump 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.560 was still there, and I thought, well, you know, it's 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.320 not cancer, so I shouldn't really worry, but I'll still 0:05:57.320 --> 0:05:59.200 go get a second opinion. And I went to my 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.839 interness quick clinical exam, felt the breast, said it was nothing, 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:06.719 sent me on my way. Now four months passed from 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:11.440 finding that lump after the workout, and that lump was 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.160 just rearing its head and it was there and it 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:19.080 was sizey. I said to my husband, you can see it, right, 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:22.280 He said, yeah, I can see it. So I said, 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:26.040 you know, I should probably look to a doctor whose 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:30.919 profession and expertise is looking at breasts every day as 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.560 their specialty. So I found my way too, what else 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.839 an oncology clinic, because only breast oncologists look at breasts 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:43.400 every day. Again, not thinking I had cancer, Nothing gave 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.680 me worry, nothing pointed me into that direction. But I 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:52.200 still wanted more tests, more diagnostics. So that breast oncologist 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:55.400 did a needle biopsy, a couple of m an MRI, 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:59.760 a couple of ultrasounds. Again said it's not cancer. So 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.040 when the needo bibes your results came back and said, well, 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.160 good news, it's not cancer. Bad news is I don't 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:07.280 know what it is. So you know what, Samantha, let's 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.000 just take it out. And I thought, well, fine, my 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.320 boobs did what they needed to do. They got me, 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:16.040 my husband, and they breasted my kids, So take it out. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:17.040 And we did. 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:22.000 And a week later I went back to my final 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.080 results again, expecting to hear the same thing, no cancer. 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.920 And that's when I found out that I had ductal 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:33.520 carcinoma in situ as well as invasive ductal carcinoma, which 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:38.120 is invasive breast cancer. And my world came to a 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:42.360 sudden stop. We felt like the walls were crashing around me. 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:48.680 I crumbled into my husband's arms, who held me, and 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:55.920 we cried and then we got up again. This story 0:07:55.960 --> 0:08:01.520 that I'm sharing isn't one of heartbreak and devastation. This 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:07.720 is a story of enlightenment and empowerment and thrivership. And 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:12.640 I finally had this wake up call that I didn't 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:17.000 realize I needed. So let me fast forward. After many 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.400 oncologists visits and trying to figure out what my action 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.200 plan was, I opted for a double mestectomy with two 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:26.280 stage reconstruction. I was on an estrogen blocker for seven 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.920 and a half years. I opted not to do chemo 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.920 and radiation. That's a story for another time, but here's 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:38.679 where the turn came. I am a journalist by training, 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:44.600 and when I got my hereditary tests back the genetic testing, 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:48.480 I found out that I had no link genetically. And 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:53.920 it was this aha moment of learning through my research 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:57.959 that only five to ten percent, only five to ten 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.600 percent of breast cancers are genetics, and that actually the 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:05.000 pretty similar statistic for most cancers out there. If you 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:06.760 are listening and you have someone in your family within 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:09.719 another kind of cancer, so what gives? Why are one 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.319 and a win in diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.320 the course of their lifetime, and I dug into that 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.520 research even more to find out why. And what I 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.840 learned is that it is what we put in on 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:27.240 and around our bodies that affect our overall well being, 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.120 that turn on or leave off certain genetics switches in 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.840 our body that lead to cancer or not. So think 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.840 of our DNA and our genetics as the loaded gun. 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:44.719 But it's the epigenetics how our lifestyle, choices an environment 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:49.440 are affecting us that actually fire that gun. So what 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:52.360 could I do? How could I change what was going 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.120 on in my life? This life I thought was very healthy. 0:09:55.760 --> 0:10:00.040 But what could I do a chance to change? I 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:04.200 started to assess. I started to assess, Okay, well, let's 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:08.040 look at food. I eat a group of Minnesota eating 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.840 practically every part of the cow from literally tongue to 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:16.880 almost tail. So how does meat and animal product affect 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:21.559 our genetics? And how does that affect cancer? I read 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.040 the China study from front to back and many other 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:28.360 books after that. I learned that when we eat a 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:33.319 lot of animal meat, as I was, seven meals, sorry, 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.680 twenty one meals out of twenty one, you know, so 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:39.240 three times a day's times seven meal days a week, 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.520 that's twenty one meals. I was eating twenty one out 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.280 of twenty one meals of animal protein. Well, when we 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:47.760 have a high intake of animal protein, it leads to 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:52.160 high levels of IGF one that's insulin like growth factor one, 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:56.320 which we know promotes cancer. So okay, perhaps I could 0:10:56.320 --> 0:11:00.760 start to reduce my animal intake. Maybe I'm eating too 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:04.040 much junk and sugar and process because guess what I 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.080 grew up in the nineties, the low fat fat free 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:11.880 generation and hey, hello hyghertosed corn syrup as long as 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.080 it didn't have fat red Die forty. These are known 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.480 you know, red Di forty and known carcinogen. So snack 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:24.880 well sandwich cookies, low fat fat free red vines, high 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.120 fertoast corncer red Die forty. All these things that I 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.920 thought I was doing to make good, healthy choices for 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:35.839 my body were actually potentially slowly destroying my body. And 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:40.040 so I started to re arrange my plate so rather 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.480 than meat front and center, that became sort of a 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:46.119 side dish, and then eventually kind of went away almost altogether. 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.600 And then it became how can I get more fruits 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.640 and vegetables and nuts and seeds and lagoons and beans, 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:55.520 more plant based foods into my life. Can I slip 0:11:55.600 --> 0:12:01.120 that plate and make veggies the center star of the show. 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:05.400 And that really was a huge change, because what I 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.200 found was when I started to change how I was 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:12.080 eating less and ideally none of the low fat, fat 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:19.680 free junk, processed packaged and more of the nutrient dense 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:23.120 good foods that were really helping my body have what 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:27.520 it needed to thrive. I started to have even and 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:28.960 I know this is gonna be shocking for a lot 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.200 of you because I've noticed the energizer bunny, but I 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:35.760 actually started to have even more energy. I could go 0:12:35.800 --> 0:12:39.080 from seven in the morning till ten thirty at night, 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:41.920 even with driving around the kids and running to my 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.120 shoots and doing all the other things I needed to do, 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:47.960 without feeling like I needed that afternoon nap, or without 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:49.960 feeling like when I was putting the kids to sleep, 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:52.760 I had to fall asleep too because I was so exhausted. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:54.640 I could stay up after I put the kids to 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.920 bed with my husband and actually enjoy some time awake 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:00.280 with him, watching our shows or having good conversation. So 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.240 I had this newfound energy that was so amazing that 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.720 I didn't even know I needed, and yet was just 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.280 within reach all that time, and I didn't know it either. 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.200 So then that was the food component. Then it was 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.120 another big component. Well, what am I putting on my body? 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:15.480 All right? 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:15.960 You guys? 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.280 I spent my career in a makeup chair, slacked with 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:23.600 these chemical bombs of little to my knowledge at the time, 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.439 possible carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Those messed with your hormones. 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.680 And I had a hormone positive breast cancer as eighty 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:36.559 percent of breast cancers are endo constructors, carcinogens, neurotoxins right, 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:42.599 leading to dementia and Alzheimer's potentially leading to some autoimmune disorders. 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:46.120 So what can I do to change what I was 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.800 putting on my body? Okay? So I started kind of 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.480 an overhaul, and back in twenty fourteen, we didn't have 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:57.520 a lot of really good brands that carried products that 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:01.880 not just looked like they you know, the ingredients looked good, 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.559 but products that actually did the job right. I wanted 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.960 something that could stay under you know, hot lights on 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:11.760 a set for a twelve hour day, or if I 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:15.040 wasn't shooting or for moms out there or career women 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.199 who are working. You know, from the morning to the night. 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:18.680 You want to be able to slap on your makeup 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.680 and have that last all day long and look awesome. 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.480 But you don't want to suffer with the possible other 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.040 side of it, which means that these chemicals are leading 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.840 into your body as you're beautifying yourself up. So how 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:33.920 could I change up my beauty routine? So I started 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.880 to slowly swap for cleaner products. And now than goodness, 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.160 there are so many more clean products out there. And 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.040 the fact actually I was shooting a game show. I 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:51.080 did sixty five episodes, six episodes a day, and we 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.240 were working for about twelve hour days under long you 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.080 know these long days, hot lights. And so this is 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.320 you know, after cancer, many years after. This is just recently, 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:01.880 and I said to my team, Okay, girls, they've been 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:03.520 with me forever. They're really good friends of mine, my 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.000 makeup and hair girls. And I said, you guys, can 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.040 we kind of can I task you with it something? 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:12.120 I want you to only bring hair and makeup products 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:17.680 and skincare into this makeup room that reach my really 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:23.880 high standard of having no toxic ingredients, and so they 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.080 reached out to different brands who are generous enough to 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:28.760 kind of gift us some options to try. We had 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:30.560 a budget for the show, so we purchased lots of 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.480 items and we tried. So I have this vetted list 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.640 of clean beauty and actually, anyone listening who wants it, 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.320 just send me a DM on Instagram or Facebook at 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:43.800 Samantha Harris TV. Like television at Samantha Harras TV. Send 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:46.080 me a DM that just is clean beauty, and I 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:48.640 will send you the free guide. I think it's really 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:50.800 important for us all to know that there are really 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.920 great alternatives from a variety of brands, and then of 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:55.600 course you need to try them for yourself to see 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:58.040 what works best for your skin type and for your 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:01.600 level of absorption. I tend to like suck makeup in 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.200 very quickly on my skin, and the same thing with 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:08.000 my skincare. I want great anti aging skincare, but I 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.800 don't want the toxins. So this has been a long 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:15.200 process over all of these years of finding and trying, 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.120 and so that was really cleaning up the toxins in 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.240 my beauty routine. And then what about what's around us, 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.440 So I also had to go, Okay, sure, cleaning supplies, 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.600 I need to do a little bit of an overhaul 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.760 on that, and I actually have those also some suggestions 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.960 on my Clean Beauty Guide. But then also other toxins 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:37.400 around us, like toxic people. Who are those people in 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:43.560 your life, whether they're daily interactions or occasional interactions or 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:47.840 family members who are stressing you out, who are creating 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:52.160 that high level of cortisol in your body, which is 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:56.080 the stress hormone that we need to thrive as humans, 0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:02.680 but we don't need it to be constant chronic. So 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:06.600 how can we reduce that level of stress in our 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:10.560 lives from people who are toxic to us? And also 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:24.879 how can we add more stress bussing techniques into our life. 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:32.520 So when I was diagnosed and I was so overwhelmed 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:37.639 and so scared, and I didn't know how I was 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.320 going to get up to even go dress my kids 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.399 and feed them, let alone take care of myself. I 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:47.280 had the happy, go lucky person that I was just 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:52.360 sort of shot out of me, just crushed with that 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:58.320 diagnosis in twenty fourteen, and I had to realize from 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.879 within that that wasn't how I could continue to feel, 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.760 and I needed a solution to get around that. And 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:05.480 this is something that can help you all. If you're 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.680 going through a stressed you know there's a health diagnosis, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:11.960 it's something going on with your career, just the daily 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:15.359 stress that we are living and breathing. How can you 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:18.359 mitigate that? So I all of a sudden have this 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:21.240 wake up call to myself. Within this wake up call 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:25.199 of cancer, I can't feel like this. The adrenaline an 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.720 anxiety that I feel coursing through my blood is horrible. 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:31.720 And I don't want to live like this while I'm 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:33.520 living and trying to figure out how to thrive with 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:37.280 cancer and hopefully after cancer. So I slowly started to 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:45.000 integrate some breathing techniques. I started to learn to do 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.640 positive self talk, which is a huge tool that I use. 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.359 So that looks like in this example, Samantha, you have cancer. Okay, 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:56.520 well what's good about that? Well, you have great health insurance. Okay, 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.840 well that's good. That's really good. What else, Well, you know, Sma, 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.800 you have a really great support squad around you. Okay, 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:05.639 that's really great. What else is good? Well, this is 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:08.119 positive here? Okay, other positive self talk? Oh you know 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:10.680 what you're in really good shape and great health otherwise, 0:19:10.720 --> 0:19:13.600 So that's going to help you to mitigate any sort 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:17.280 of setbacks during surgery or recovery. Okay, I love it. 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.560 Keep going. And so as you start to have this 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.240 positive self talk, it ends up feeding on itself in 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:29.160 the best of ways to help you reduce that stress 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.840 and bring down that cortisol. And then the other really 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:37.600 helpful positivity tool that I used is to control what 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:41.000 you can control, and worry when you have to worry. 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:43.960 So there are so many things that we worry about 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:47.640 all day long that never come to fruition, thank goodness, 0:19:48.119 --> 0:19:52.840 but yet we're consumed with worrying about them nonetheless. So 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:57.280 it definitely means we have to take a moment of mindfulness. 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.879 That means, Okay, I I feel myself worrying. I'm worrying 0:20:01.920 --> 0:20:06.960 a ton. I noticed myself worrying. Are these things that 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.080 I really do need to worry about right now? Or 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.400 can I put them on the back burner or can 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.120 I completely just say, you know what, this isn't even 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.120 an issue and then worry about it when you have 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:22.280 to worry. So flash forward to the midst of twenty 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:24.840 twenty and the pandemic and everything going on, and lots 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.480 of stress for all of us anyway, and I noticed 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.280 that the lymph nodes in my growing were very large, 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:35.439 and I got immediately scared because I thought, of course, 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:39.920 cancer's right, just it's on my shoulder and it comes 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:42.480 to rear its head the second you feel something is wrong. 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:46.080 And I thought, oh my gosh, God forbid, my cancer 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:50.359 has metastasized. And I realized I was so worried that 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:54.280 those lymph nodes were cancer again. And I found the 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:59.160 anxiety and the high levels of cortisol and stress surging 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.520 my body, and I reminded myself to worry when I 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:05.000 have to worry, But now I can control what I 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.080 can control. What can I control. I can pick up 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:09.560 the phone, I can call my oncologists office, explain what's 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:13.280 going on and get the proper diagnostics. So I had 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.040 a CT scan and thank goodness, it was just I 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:19.600 have oddly large lymph nodes, and for whatever reason, they 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.879 happened to just be more obvious to me in that 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:26.240 moment when I discovered them. So worry when you have 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:30.760 to worry, and control what you can control. The enlightenment 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:36.280 that I had after discovering that we can really level 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:38.760 lot what we're doing in our health and wellness to 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:40.919 take even better control of our lives. I thought I 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:45.800 was living my healthy life, and then I realized I 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:49.600 needed to live my healthiest healthy life. And so all 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.159 the research that I found, I decided I needed to 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:55.359 compile into one book because no other book seemed to 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:58.320 be out there that had this as sort of a 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:01.520 foundation and a jumping off point of what you can 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.399 do to, you know, just reduce the risk of the 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:07.920 toxins to take even better control of your health after 0:22:08.040 --> 0:22:10.679 cancer or any other type of diagnosis. And so I 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:15.120 wrote the book, Your Healthiest Healthy, and I was honored because, 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:18.320 you know, the Hollywood community, who had been people I'd 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:21.280 been interviewing for so long, came out in support of it. 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:25.520 You know, Chris Jenner and Christina Appligate both wrote endorsements 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:28.239 and have quotes on the book. And it debuted as 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:32.240 a number one best seller on Amazon. But why the 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:34.480 book meant something to me because, by the way, you 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:36.320 don't make any money from books, So I sure as 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:38.639 heck was not writing a book to make any money. 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:40.640 And even if you go out and buy one right now, 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:42.080 I will not see a scent of it, and that 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:44.840 is okay, because all that I care is that the 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:49.680 information is out for you to empower yourself to take 0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:52.399 the insights that I have learned that I continue to 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:54.720 share in my Instagram and in my wellness community and 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:56.440 on my retreats and all the other fun stuff that 0:22:56.480 --> 0:22:59.520 I get to do to share with you, because there 0:22:59.520 --> 0:23:04.159 are so many ways that you can empower yourself to 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:08.440 take your health back, to be your own best health advocate. 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:13.280 Being faced in twenty fourteen with a cancer diagnosis and 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:16.520 a double mis deckt tomy and three surgeries, three recoveries 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:19.199 was something that I never thought that I would have 0:23:19.240 --> 0:23:22.760 to go through again. After going through everything that I 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:26.280 did go through, and I made all of these sweeping changes, 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:32.600 and then just a few days before the passing of 0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:36.520 our beautiful Shannon, I remember so vividly and it hit 0:23:36.600 --> 0:23:39.800 me so hard when the news headline said that Shannon 0:23:39.840 --> 0:23:43.400 Dougherty had succumbed to breast cancer, because just a few 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:48.000 days before that, in twenty twenty four I found out 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:53.439 I had a breast cancer recurrence. I was definitely not 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:56.399 ready for that. I never wanted to see cancer in 0:23:56.440 --> 0:23:58.439 my life. Again for me or for any of my 0:23:58.520 --> 0:24:01.119 loved ones after having I've gone through it with my 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:07.080 dad and then for my own journey, and now I 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:10.119 had teenage girls who are thirteen and sixteen, a whole 0:24:10.280 --> 0:24:15.520 completely different type of conversation, and the hardest moment was 0:24:15.600 --> 0:24:21.720 telling our girls that their mommy had cancer again. But 0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:26.960 I this time came at it from a place of 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:31.320 empowerment and knowledge because of the work that I have done. 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:34.120