Part 1: My Nighttime & Morning Routine
Welcome to Wellness with Ashley Deeley.
Thank you for joining for part of 1 of a 2 part series show. Today I’m going to walk you through my daily routine made up my nighttime and morning rituals. The second part of this show will be reserved for my daytime routine.
In this episode, you’ll learn why most conventional toothpaste could be disrupting your sleep, why milk in your coffee is not a good option for optimal health, and the most important question to ask yourself when it comes to your personal care products.
I'm a former Personal Trainer and Pilates instructor with a degree in Kinesiology. I'm also a biohacker and interested in all things related to longevity anti-aging and wellness.
I've decided to share in my first episode, how I live my life on a day-to-day basis. This isn’t exactly what I do every day , but it's a general idea of how I show up in the world.
The experts say a great day starts the night before, so where I'd like to start is with my nighttime routine; I'm pretty strict when it comes to bedtime rituals because I believe they help me unwind and prepare my body for a great nights sleep.
Part of my bedtime ritual includes that I stop eating three hours before bedtime so my body doesn't have to worry about digesting food as I fall asleep. After sunset I put on blue blockers which have clinically been shown to improve sleep. Wearing blueblockers one hour before bed promotes the production of melatonin.
It may be a bit controversial to take melatonin every night, but there have been zero reported melatonin overdoses, and I've also heard it called the anti-aging supplement. So I take melatonin sublingually before bed
Additionally I take magnesium, K2, progesterone, and CBD oil from a company called Thryve Organics.
A non-negotiable for my bedtime routine is that I unplug my wifi router as well as my smart TV. I do not want non-native EMFs bouncing around my house as I sleep. Also, if your child isn't napping try unplugging the wifi. I've heard a lot of stories that when you unplug the wifi, your child has a better chance of actually falling asleep.
You might be asking yourself, what are EMFs and why would you unplug your router at night? Good question. EMFs are electromagnetic fields which release electromagnetic radiation. Every electronic device emits EMFs such as your laptop, cell phone, wife router, smart tv, baby monitors, your smart thermostat, all bluetooth devices, microwaves, and many others.
EMFs fill the air with invisible radiation which can negatively affect your energy, cause brain fog, destroy your sleep, and even cause infertility. EMFs are a hidden toxin and the best way to reduce your exposure to them is to reduce your time using electronic devices. I use a faraday cage around my wifi router which weakens electromagnetic waves and I would highly recommend you use one when your wifi is turned on.
A 2018 study funded by the National Institute of Health showed that non-native EMFs, are a class one, carcinogen. just like x-rays. This is a reason you never want to put your cell phone on your body. Don't put it in your pocket or rest it on your leg or heaven forbid sleep with it under your pillow. Likewise, never use your laptop on your actual lap- unless you’re using a SafeSleeve laptop EMF protector. And if you’re a runner, please, please do not run with your phone in your sports bra or on your body. If you must run with music, be sure your phone has a SafeSleeve or Defender Shield case and I insist you run with your music previously downloaded while your phone is on airplane mode.
Be sure to listen to this podcast and all of your other favorite podcasts as a downloaded version and not a version which requires cellular data.
EMFs proved to be a greater risk for children rather than adults today. Many kids are growing up completely enveloped in technology and they carry phones at younger ages and they're using iPads and play internet based games. So if you or your children aren’t sleeping well, try removing all electronic devices from your bedroom, or at the very least unplugging the devices in your room.
I used to fall asleep to mediation apps, but after extensive research, I no longer sleep with my phone in the bedroom. I put my phone in a room furthest my bedroom and it’s on airplane mode when I go to sleep. Why is it on airplane mode if it’s not in the same room as me? Because it’s going to be emitting EMFs as I mentioned, I try to decrease my expose at all costs.
One of my former habits I’ve also changed after seeing a Functional Medicine Doctor, was to stop wearing any wearables at night. I used to wear a smartwatch which would track my sleep, but now I don’t wear any metal or any wearables to bed. My doctor’s advice stated: Even when my smartwatch had the bluetooth turned off, it was still releasing EMFs and I’m not willing to impair my energy levels or lose sleep by wearing a tracker.
My favorite bedtime ritual is reciting my top three highlights with my husband. This sets the tone for bedtime with a feeling of gratitude rather than anything that might be worrying me.
Now, this isn't part of my routine, it’s just one of my requirements for sleep, which is that my husband and I do not sleep on a metal bed. That means no metal coils, no metal frame, no silver sheets and no grounding mats anywhere near us.
This is because metal attracts non-native EMFs and since I'm unplugging my wifi router at night, it also makes sense to not have any jump conduction through non-native EMFs while we’re sleeping.
Speaking of mattresses, ours is fully organic which is important to me because many mattresses are soaked in formaldehyde and other chemicals. Since you're going to be sleeping on your mattress for multiple hours over multiple years, you don't want to be breathing in those chemicals. We also sleep on organic sheets, organic pillows and on organic duvet cover.
I also keep my room at a cool 68 degrees to help me fall asleep and stay asleep.
Although I don't own one yet, my wishlist includes on Ooler pad (formerly known as the Chili Pad), which is a mattress pad that has water running through it at night, which can gauge your temperature. By knowing your temp, it can cool you down or warm you up to help you stay asleep. Essentially it keeps your body at the perfect temperature which means you’ll toss and turn less as well as reduce the chills and night sweats.
Something I've learned over the years is to never sleep with a heated mattress pad or an electric blanket. Why? They contain metal and you know by now that metal attracts EMFs.
Of course I brush and floss my teeth before bed; however, the floss I use is non-commercial floss. The majority of floss is made with Teflon, which can break the blood brain barrier. I never want to put unnecessary chemicals in my body. Teflon has been shown to cause cancer which is why none of my pots and pans contain Teflon, but that’s another story for another time. My floss is made from bamboo which is eco-friendly and compostable.
My toothpaste is organic as well. It can definitely be swallowed because if you've ever read the instructions on commercial toothpaste, it says harmful if swallowed. I think if you're going to be putting something. In or on your body, it should definitely be safe to consume. It’s a controversial topic, but I avoid using fluoride toothpaste as it can disrupt thyroid production as it contains arsenic. Fluoride also has the ability to break the blood brain barrier which can cause the calcification of the pineal gland. This is detrimental as the pineal gland is responsible for melatonin production. Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle and is typically released in response to darkness, signaling the body to prepare for sleep. If you’re brushing your teeth with commercial toothpaste you’re already doing yourself a disservice for sleep.
To ensure a restful night's sleep, I also sleep with silicone earplugs. They're called MACK'S ear plugs. And they are a game changer. They block out all noise and were originally created for swimmers to keep water out of their ears, but they also work wonders for a solid night’s sleep.
I also wear mouth tape at night to ensure that my mouth stays closed which means I'm breathing filtered air through my nose while I sleep. If you've read James Nestor's book, "Breath" you'll know that breathing through your mouth can cause you to get up for unnecessary trips to the bathroom at night because your kidneys have to work harder.
Wearing mouth tape is a no-brainer for me.
**Whoo! — That covers my nighttime routine. What I'll discuss next is my daytime routine.
I just wanted to take a short break as I know I just gave you a ton of information. This a reminder to take one deep and meaningful breath. It’s also a reminder to hydrate, but not with distilled water. Never drink distilled water, ok? It’s dead water and when you drink it, it will actually pull minerals out of your cells and into the water. For example, if you put one drop of distilled water inside an eye, the cornea immediately becomes opaque and the cells inside the eye are killed as the minerals are pulled out of them. And if you must drink out of a plastic bottle, be sure the triangle on the bottom says 1, 2, 4 or 5 as the rest of the numbers mean the bottle was made with plastic which contains polymers— which is an estrogen disruptor and can cause an increase in heart attacks and strokes, cause to age prematurely, give you dry eyes, help make your hair fall out, give you man boobs, decrease your libido, cause fibroids to grow in your breasts among many other horrid symptoms. And since we’re on the topic of estrogen disruptors, I always recommend taking the lid off your steaming hot coffee because you don’t want to consume the xenoestrogens. Take a look at what number is in the triangle and if it’s not 1, 2, 4 or 5 there’s a good chance you’ll survive!
THE ONLY time to use distilled water is when you do an enema. Please, never use spring water for your enemas as you don’t want to put anything living up there!**
One of the first things that I do upon waking is take my temperature. This is my form of birth control, and it's worked for me for the last six years. I use an app called Natural Cycles, which tracks the algorithm for when I'm ovulating and the amount of information I've learned about my body is truly fascinating. I won’t get into full details here, but I’ve learned the difference among the four phases of a woman’s cycle including the best times to socialize, ask for a raise, and I’ve broken personal records for strength training on the days when I know my estrogen is surging.
I will say, this app is not ideal for women who don’t have regular cycles or have PCOS. It is however a great alternative to hormone birth control if you can be diligent about measuring your temperature every morning.
After I take my temperature, I silently say thank you three times. It helps me set the intention for gratitude and to appreciate waking up to live another day.
One of my non-negotiable activities when I wake up is to get sunlight in my eyes. I don’t mean staring directly at the sun, but simply walking outside to help regulate my circadian rhythm.
No matter the weather, sun, rain, or shine, I will walk outside and count to 30. If it’s extremely cold where you live, you can still help set your circadian rhythm by simply opening a window and looking outside for 30 seconds.
Sunlight creates thyroid stimulating hormone and the production of T3. If you're taking thyroid medication, there's a good chance your doctor has told you to take it in the morning because that’s normally when your body knows would to start create it. I don’t recommend taking thyroid medication for life, but I’m assuming your doctor does. If you’re on thyroid medication, I recommend seeking medical advice from a practitioner willing to put you on desiccated thyroid rather than a synthetic pharmaceutical drug.
One of the reasons I get outside in the morning to ensure my thyroid is working optimally. If I'm lucky enough to step on to the Earth that is my ideal way to start the morning.
The second part of my morning includes scraping my tongue. You have quite a bit of bacteria which accumulates on your tongue overnight and scraping it has been shown to be good for digestion. From an Ayurvedic medicine perspective, tongue scraping stimulates your organs and helps removes toxins.
Kickstarting my day begins with drinking filtered water and a vial of Quinton minerals, which delivers 78 trace minerals to your system. If you're not familiar with Quinton minerals the brief overview is simple: one vial delivers your daily dose of electrolytes, cellular support, regulates the body’s PH by maintaining optimal levels of hydration and helps promote the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
It’s estimated 99% of Americans are deficient in one or more essential minerals. Minerals are literally the components of all material life. They are the catalyst to enzymes which help properly digest food. Most people know little about minerals, but once you add them to your daily routine you might notice more energy and better absorption of your food.
I’ll either make Bulletproof coffee or green tea after I chug water.
Personally, I freshly grind coffee beans and make coffee with a French press. The idea of heating up water in a plastic container attached to a coffee machine gives me nightmares. It would be okay to make coffee this way on occasion, but you’re exposing yourself to endocrine disruptors if this is your main method for making coffee. I also don’t recommend pour-over coffee as the filters are often treated with chemicals.
If you’re not familiar, Bulletproof coffee is a process of blending butter into coffee. Why do I add butter to my coffee? Because fat slows the absorption of carbohydrates, which keeps blood sugar levels under control. Balanced blood sugar is the key to lowering stress hormones and inflammation. It also helps me feel fuller for longer.
Occasionally I’ll have an almond latte, but the milk must be free from polyunsaturated fatty acids. We’ll get into this later, but if you buy nut milk with any oils it, I recommend you throw it away immediately.
You may be asking yourself: why don’t you add milk to your coffee? Well, for starters, milk binds to the polyphenols in coffee. Polyphenols are compounds found in plants which are full of antioxidants and health benefits. Milk will literally find the polyphenols in your coffee and kill them, rendering those precious polyphenols useless. The same goes for mixing fruit into your yogurt. Remember, dairy binds to polyphenols.
Another reason I don’t add milk to my coffee? Milk is an inflammatory food and can cause gut issues. If you find yourself consistently coughing up phlegm or trying to clear your throat after drinking coffee, you’re most likely having a food sensitivity reaction to milk.
Additionally, if you’re mixing commercial milk into your latte, you’re getting an unnecessary dose of glyphosate. If you’ve made it this far into the episode, I’m sure I don’t need to explain the dangers of consuming commercial dairy products which contain glyphosate, but just in case: glyphosate can cause leaky gut, mitochondrial disfunction, oxidative stress, motor disorders, anxiety, thyroid disorders, and severely affect your ability to focus. It’s a toxin, but if you really want to consuming products, please make sure they’re organic.
If I'm making coffee, I will always use grass fed butter. One of my hot tips is that I use butter from New Zealand. The climate in New Zealand is so wet they actually cannot feed their cows grain because the stored grain will grow mold, so it must be grass. If you can, buy butter from New Zealand!
And lastly, make sure your coffee is organic. I remember a crazy stat which said, coffee is sprayed with 27 pesticides, that’s so gross. Only 3% of coffee available worldwide today is grown using organic methods, so think of yourself as a humanitarian when you buy organic coffee because you’re supporting the organic farmers!
One of the reasons I don't recommend drinking coffee made from pods is because they're usually made with aluminum and plastic. When it's heated up it delivers a tremendous amount of Xeno estrogens, which can negatively affect your endocrine system and hormones. I will occasionally drink pod coffee when I'm on vacation, but I do not own a machine which uses pods and I would highly suggest you donate yours today.
I worked with a naturopath many years ago, who explained her fiance started developing man boobs… One of the only things he had changed was recently buying a machine to make him coffee from pods. Her story shed quite a bit of light on the dangers of what pod coffee can do. Her fiance stopped drinking the pod coffees and eventually lost his man boobs. If you or someone you love is habitually drinking pod coffee, please tell them there are much better choices!
Lastly, if I choose to skip coffee for green tea, it’s because I feel like something lighter. Green tea has been shown to have anti-cancer properties as well as the ability to improve cognitive function. It’s full oh polyphenols and can improve heart health. Just make sure it’s organic!
The morning time is my favorite time to work out. Depending where I am in my cycle that could mean yoga, Pilates HIIT training or regular strength training. Since I was a personal trainer for seven years and also taught Pilates, I believe movement is one of the pillars to optimal health. I'm a big believer you don't need a gym to get results. You can use apps and get outside as long as you're moving your body.
If you’re used to tracking your cycle, then you’ll know exactly how to train for optimal performance. If not, here’s a short version of which workouts are best for the stages of your cycle:
Week one is your bleed week, which can last anywhere from 4 to 7 days, and this is the best time for light walking, gentle yoga, and Pilates. Don’t push it.
Week two is your follicular phase, which can last 7 to 10 ends after your period ends. This is a great time for cardio, sprints, and HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts.
Week three is your ovulatory phase, which can last 3-4 days, immediately following your follicular phase. This is an ideal time to lift heavy and break personal strength training records. I call this my ‘bliss week’ (even though it lasts just a few days). During this time you experience a surge of estrogen and are stronger than ever.
Week four is your luteal phase, which can last 10-14 days before you get your next period. This is a great time for lifting light weights with high reps as well as Pilates. It’s also a great time to recover and get a massage.
Fun fact: low levels of estrogen and progesterone have been shown to cause an increase in ligament laxity.
Since estrogen and progesterone are less prevalent during the first half of the menstrual cycle (meaning, before you ovulate) this means you’re more susceptible to injuries. In fact, women are four times more likely to tear their ACLs during the first two weeks of their cycle.
If you have any strenuous actives planned for your the first two weeks of your cycle, I would highly recommend you participate in those activities while or after you’ve ovulated.
As a dedicated biohacker, I’m committed to keeping my brain sharp. One of the ways I do that is by not having any notifications on my phone. Absolutely zero.
When you are focused on a task or a train of thought, and that notification pops up, it's a great way to short circuit your brain because those notifications are requiring you to stop what you were doing (or saying) and pay attention to what has popped up on your phone. Notifications are someone else’s agenda fighting for your attention. Too much stimulation can stress you out and in a world full of 5g, we don’t need any more stress than we already have.
Typically I'll shower after a workout and the most important part to me about a shower is the water. This is why I use a water filter for the tap of my shower head because I do not want to be covering myself in chemicals, chlorine, fluoride, and anything else that’s in municipal water.
The second most important thing to me is the products I use which are mostly organic and as clean as possible according to the Environmental Working Group.
I also use all organic towels to dry myself off with because I believe the fibers we use on our towels and clothing should not be covered in pesticides. Using products which are free of chemicals on my body is one of the most important biohacks or practices for longevity that I do.
There are many chemicals and horrible ingredients people put on their skin and their hair every day and not using those chemicals, I believe is what helps keep me vibrant and free from illness.
Your skin is your biggest organ and what you put on my skin matters. Everything I use is as clean as possible; I like to joke with my friends that my lipstick is so clean I could eat it if I got hungry. I’m not sure how good it would taste, but it’s nice to know I wouldn’t be consuming chemicals I can’t pronounce.
I actually make my own body lotion as well as my own face serum because the ingredients and preservatives that are found in our personal care products and beauty products is absolutely astounding in an atrocious way. The ingredients in my lotion are so clean and tasty, I also use them for baking in my kitchen.
Alitura [use code ashley15] is a trusted brand I use for a face serum and face lotion. I use MG Naturals for my makeup and there's a brand love called Living Libations where every product not only smells good, but is made with organic, sustainable ingredients. Alitura and Living Libations are the two most trusted skin care brands I use on my face because I can pronounce all the ingredients!
When it comes to hand soap, I buy both liquid and bar soap from a company called Whispering Willow. I also use a beautiful lotion I cannot get enough of from a brand called MeadowSweet, which is based out of Montana. The ingredients make my heart and skin so happy.
One of the cheap and toxic ingredients I would never use on my skin is mineral oil. It's a byproduct of gasoline and has been linked to cancer. Mineral can be found in baby oil and many skincare products.
When you decide to use a product on your skin, ask yourself: would you eat it? If the answer is no, don’t use it.
If you're new to researching clean products, one of the best places I recommend starting is with the "Never List" which was created by a company called Beauty Counter. If you simply use your search engine to type in "Beauty Counter Never List" it's a great place to learn which ingredients to avoid.
One caveat I would make note of, is that the the first ingredient they list to avoid is tallow which I don’t agree with. I definitely use tallow on my skin because I can eat it! I just make sure the tallow comes from grass-fed, pasture raised, happy cows.
If you’re interested in purchasing any of the products I mention today, please know you’ll be supporting my business by using my affiliate links found only website, ashleydeeley.com.
This podcast is presented for educational and exploratory purposes only. I am not a doctor and do not intend to diagnose, treat, or cure any illnesses or disease mentioned on this podcast. I am not a licensed healthcare practitioner in any sense of the word. Published content is not intended for the use of treating any illnesses.
Those responsible for this show disclaim responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information presented by myself, Ashley Deley, or my guests. Always consult with your healthcare provider before using any products reference. This podcast may contain paid endorsements for products or services.
