Put Yourself First with Pamela Barton

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Hello friends, welcome to radical resilience, a weekly show where I Blair Kaplan Venables have inspirational conversations with people who have survived life's most challenging times. We all have the ability to be resilient and bounce forward from a difficult experience. And these conversations prove just that, get ready to dive into these life changing moments while strengthening your resilience muscle and getting raw and real.

Welcome back to another episode of radical resilience. It's me, Blair kaplan Venables, and I'm here to dive in to the story of Pamela Barton. I'm so excited because I've known her is it been about a year I'm not sure we've, we've, we're new friends. And we've actually been trying to connect for this interview for a few months now. So I am so excited to finally have her on the mic. Pamela Barton is a registered holistic nutritionist, and natural nutrition certified practitioner as well as a speaker. In addition to her nutritional training, Pamela holds a degree in organizational management from Germany. Based on her corporate background, which she demonstrated the challenges leaders face, she created the metabolic energy reboot program. And this is a blueprint blueprint and implementation program to fast track efforts to achieve sustainable high energy levels. And who doesn't need that? Heck, I need it right now. I am drained. Her program guides clients through their transformative journey and basically helps people like me who are tired and exhausted to hopefully make me vibrant and productive again, she's been featured in the media. She's a fellow Canadian, and I think you're a fellow Canadian, right?

I live in Canada

so sorry. You are a fellow resident of Canada. Yeah. Oh, and I'm just so excited to dive right in. So thank you for joining me, Pamela.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. You know, I'm, I'm excited to chat about this topic today. And as you said, in the introduction took us a while to get to get connected. There were so many things that came in the way all the time. So today's today, I'm really happy that this worked

out. Yeah. And I guess that's actually something we can start with was like, you know, we're fellow Canadians, but you just said you're not, but you live in Canada. You live on the east coast. I'm on the West Coast. Like, let's talk about your story. Like, who are you? Where did you come from?

So, I'm German, I'm born and raised in Germany. And I lived there till I was, was I, I want to say 32. Right. So also a good portion of my adult life. And then I moved to Canada, because of my husband, of course, right? Love, lets you move across the globe, basically. And so he's a Canadian, he worked in Ottawa. And so when we decided to kind of stay together and start a family, I made that decision to move to Canada, and leave everything behind, you know, when I was already in my 30s. And I was established. And so this was, it was not easy. It was like a big adventure. But I felt like I can do it.

And like that is a big adventure, like picking up and moving, especially in your 30s it's a big deal like I am in my late 30s now, and I've done a lot of traveling. And when I was younger, like after university, I packed my car and drove across Canada to live in like from I was in Winnipeg, and I moved to Edmonton. And then I decided, oh, I want to live in Vancouver. And it was just so much easier to pick up because I was in my 20s I didn't really care about like establishing myself so much. I wanted to experience but when you're your 30s You're already like into your career, like what were you doing? Like what were you doing for work and what you were doing in Germany? Like did it come over with you? to Canada?

Yeah, that's, you know, that. That's a really good point. It was a little bit risky. Because I was I was working in the corporate world, all my adult life. So 15 years up until that point, I had various jobs. So I was moving around. I was in sales, I was in a purchasing I was in a marketing, I was an event managing. So I kind of you know, like I moved around work for different companies and different functions to just gain experience. So that was always my goal. I wanted to have lots of different experience Since, first of all, to learn a lot, but also to find myself and where I wanted to basically end up, you know, that was my goal. And that's why I was working in this type of setting. And it was always fast paced, right. And when you work in Europe, it's, it's everything's always fast, and everything needs to happen yesterday, and you have like a million things all at the same time people are calling you when it's done, you know, do it. So you start doing overtime, you start working weekends, because also, you know, like, you're young, and you're like, I want to prove myself, I want to show him a good employee, right, so I can do it all. And I traveled a lot. You know, my last job was I was an event manager, and I had to organize about 80 events per year for that company. All over the world. So I sat in the plane, I said, in the train, I said to my office, I said, and, you know, construction size for booths. And sometimes I don't even remember where I needed to be the next day, you know, so it was always, you know, overdrive in my job's my 30 years. And before I met my husband, I was always thinking, you know, I think I need a break from this. But I was not brave enough to kind of say, Oh, I'm just gonna quit my job, right. So that I didn't want to do this. But then here, there was an opportunity that presented itself to me, you know, like, Hey, move to a different country, you know, that will do it, because you can't do the job anymore. And that's basically what I did. You know, I said, I moved to Canada, because I really want to change and I needed a break. And, and so yeah, it was a welcome break to kind of sort of put my career on hold.

Do you think you were running from something or running towards something, and I know, you were coming with your husband, but I mean, I often think about, like, when I was younger, traveling and experiences and this and that, like, I was looking for an experience and a high right, like the new adventure, and I realized I was actually running from a life I didn't really want to live. And it actually took to the pandemic to realize I've actually built a life that I don't need to run from.

Absolutely, you're right. And I think for me, it was both as well. I was always more like the adventurer type. And I was like, Sure we moved to this country. Sure. Let's do it. You know, like, this is a new job opportunity. Sure, just, let's do it. I don't know what I'm doing. But I'm doing it. So that's just who I am in general. So I was not afraid. And I was always like, Oh, I will deal with what the consequences that come when they come. Right. So that was the adventure side. But yes, of course, I was also running from, you know, this fast paced life. That was not, there was no gratification. You know, it was always, you know, it was just expected from you to function. And it was expected from you to do your job. And there was no need to give compliments to, you know, be grateful, you know, to support you, there was none of these things. And inside of my body, I always felt like, I'm missing this, like, there was a void. There's a void of, you know, like, appreciation and a void of like, you know, is that really what I should be doing? I mean, yes, I'm good at what I'm doing. But does it really fill my soul? And the answer was no, it did not fill my soul. And so I guess I ran away from I tried to detach from that kind of living, right. That's why I ran away. But it was exciting to go towards something because here I had the opportunity to build something new. Something that really came from my soul. And that I felt more called to do so. Yes, it's both.

I love that. Okay, so now you're in the like, you're an RA Chen, you're a registered holistic nutritionist. Yes. How like that is very different than the corporate events world. How did you land in this like world? How did you tell me about the transition? Yeah.

And so the transition started off as something not so good. Because it was my health, right? So I ran my health a little bit to the ground with my my life that I was leading. And when I moved to Canada, about seven, eight months later, I got pregnant, and I got pregnant from an empty tank, so to speak, right I had like, completely depleted my body. I had several burnouts. Up to this point, you know, I was always stressed I was like, super tight muscles. And then here I was pregnant. I don't even know how that happened biologically. It's still A miracle to me, but it happened. But then again, I ran really on an empty tank this pregnancy. And the consequence was really that my baby got everything I had. And then I had nothing left. So I got diagnosed with an autoimmune condition. I had like a thyroid condition that I needed to take medication for. And I was up until this point, always thinking super healthy, right? So like, what's going on? And I didn't understand all of these things at this point. I

Wait, how did you know you were unhealthy? Like, how did you like, what were the signs? So because you're pregnant, so it was probably like all sorts of things were happening. Oh,

wow, all kinds of things were happening. And I think that what really annoyed me was I was so tired, that I couldn't even get up. Like, I literally could not lift my body. And so I thought to myself, yes, okay, pregnant ladies are probably more tired. But that is not that is not normal, this cannot be true. And I mean, from that all the things I know now, I didn't know back then. But it makes perfect sense to me now, why I felt the way I felt when my body broke down the way I broke down. And I think this is what scared me when I was in it. And this is what I wanted to figure out. And so I needed to know what was happening to me and why. So that I can recover from it. And I can, you know, grow from it. And that's, that led me on my journey to pursue, you know, a health career in health. Just because I wanted to figure it out for myself, and wanted to find out what's what's going on with me. Because I'm a new mom, I wanted to be a role model. I did not want to lie on the couch all day with a newborn, and say, well, Mommy has to tired, you have to play by yourself and feed yourself and put yourself to sleep. That was not the way I imagined things. So I needed to get active there.

So what did you do?

So I became a little bit of a research nerd, and try to figure out first of all, like, where do we even start? And you know, I was home with my baby. So every three minute I was, you know, in front of the computer, researching all kinds of things. And what came up most during that time, is that nutrition was always mentioned. And I was like, What's this with nutrition? Like what, you know, like, where are the connection? There's a Why is everybody talking about nutrition. So that's really what got me into this. And then I dig deeper, I listened to podcasts, I listened to, you know, experts on the topic. And then it dawned on me that, you know, I have not taken care of my foundation, because also didn't know about it. So that was something and I was hooked. Like, you know, when you get this feeling of everything's exciting in your body, you know, it's like, get the butterflies the skin's tickling. And you're like, I need to know, I need to know every free minute I want to know more. And so that is really I became a little bit obsessed about it. But that was what led me to look into figuring out how I can pursue this as a career. And that's when I then started going back to school, and getting a degree.

I love that. So how long ago was that? Like? How long have you been in this space? Yeah, so

my second child was born pretty much quickly after the first one. So I was a double mom. And I started going back to school when, when my little one was, I'd say a year and a half. And it was an evening school. So I left my babies with my husband. And then I said this my Saturday break, I go sit in the classroom for three hours. And I got my degree in 2017, which is now four years ago, I'd say. And I've been doing this ever since. But we already did it before but officially, since 2017

I love that. I think it's so it's so interesting, because when we're younger, we just run on. Like, my life when my 20s was about building my career, the hustle like meeting after meeting after event after drinking, partying, meeting people and like the you know, like the hamster wheel and I loved it and I thrived on it. But as I got older, you know and I you know life happened and I got sober and I re you know reprioritize what the values were that I you know, you know appreciated in my life. It became really different and I started really putting my health first because you never do when you're younger and well you know what if, when you're, you know, out of high even if you're in high school when you're getting into the world of careers, if you put your health first and you begin working with someone like you, things probably would be really different and like, like you, you said, you hit burnout. I've had burned out a few times. In fact, I feel like I'm kind of teetering on that now. Because I have, you know, a vortex of grief surrounding me. And I think there's a lot of people in my generation as a vintage millennial like late 30s, who are out there who've been working so hard in their careers, and they're reaching these corporate milestones of being offered partnership at law firms and doctors and owning their own dental practices and working really hard. And I'm not a traditional employee, like I have my own business. I have had my own business for 14 years, you know, and I am able to set boundaries and take on what fulfills me. But sometimes things do get busy, and to me busy, is chaotic, and it wreaks havoc on my nervous system. But I know I have a lot of listeners that are in the corporate space who burn the candle at both ends. Are you like open to maybe sharing some tips?

Oh, absolutely. You know, I, I have so many stories I can share with you about burning cannabis from both ends, because that was me, I was 100% that person that did everything wrong, that you can possibly do wrong, to ruin your health. You know, and I think especially as like Type A personalities, we really when we're younger, we do think we're invincible, you know, that is not not a joke, we actually think this and we internalize this. And it's like, you know, oh houses full of people. And we're young, we're functioning, so no worries there. And only always when something breaks down is when you kind of oh, wait a minute, like, What did just happen, you know. And so try to convince a young type A personality with, you know, dreams and goals that they should take care of their health is really difficult. You know, like, it is almost something that's not going to work. Yeah. But yeah, if you, you know, there's so many things we can do on a daily basis.

Yeah, let's talk about like, what are some like, what are a couple of practical tips that someone who has been burning the candle both ends, who wants a bit more simplified, have a life where it's healthier, because they're noticing, it's harder to get out of bed, their body hurts more like I sneeze in my room pops out of place? Like if I don't get it, like if I wake up once in the middle the night I don't feel rested? Like, what are some things that people like me, or like, who us used to be like can do every day to just move the needle in the right direction?

Yeah, so the first thing I would say is really make yourself a priority, not just everything that you do. And that is harder done, you know, than then said, because what does that even mean? We really have to know ourselves very well, in order to figure out what that means. Because it's super hard to take breaks, if we don't feel like we want to take a break. Or we feel pressure, right? It's really hard to figure out what we actually need in those times and moments. And, you know, it gets better when you get a little older and you practice this. But when you're young and you're starting out, oftentimes you don't have a very good connection to yourself to actually realize what's going on. That was also my problem, right? I didn't really notice what was going on for a long time. And so really stopping what you're doing, and reconnecting with yourself and thinking okay, so how am I feeling actually right now? Do I feel a bit stressed out? Was I angry? Just now, you know, do I have tight muscles in my shoulders? Like, you know, am I so tired that I'm drinking my fifth coffee? You know, just notice what you doing? I think that's the first step. And that doesn't take a whole lot of time, right? But this is really connecting and getting aware of, hey, what are you doing to yourself? And is that good? Or is this not so good? Is it helping you? Or is it not helping you? And then really get started there? So for example, for me, I was addicted to caffeine to coffee. So coffee was my nemesis there because I would run to the coffee machine first thing in the morning. And my coffees would get larger over time. Like I started out with a smaller coffee and it grew grew, grew grew. So for me that would have been assigned to realize, hey, no like that. So a lot of caffeine, you know, maybe I should really think about this if this is good for me, you know, because then I also was wired and I started to shake my hands started cheap. And you know, and and you just ignore all of these things, you know, and that's really what you shouldn't be doing. You shouldn't ignore all the things that you kind of sense or maybe not good, but you're not doing anything about it. noticing me is the number one thing, the more you notice, the better you have a chance to actually change things.

I think that's so good. I think also like, like, I know when I've been healthy, like I've what I've been good, I know how I am to when I'm hovering over, you know, that tipping point. So I think even noticing your coffee and caffeine intake at that's a really good one. And it's interesting because I've gotten to a point where I was able to not have caffeine and maybe just have matcha, or just tea and feeling really, really good. And then I'll never forget, that's actually it's so interesting, because I was feeling really good at the end of last year, the beginning of this year, and I stopped drinking coffee, and I was just drinking matcha. And like coffee was like a treat. And then my dad died. And my body, like my nervous system just went haywire. And like, I couldn't function without coffee. So it's funny, because I've just, you know, I'm just like, starting to wean myself off of it again.

Yes. And, you know, coffee is not the nemesis of everybody, but it is for a lot of people. You know, that's why I mentioned this. And coffee is always a good one, because you can actually see it, it's right in front of you. And also it's not it's very hard to ignore. But of course, there are other habits, you know, like, people start eating too much, or they don't eat anything at all. For example, that was me. When I was stressed, I would not eat anything. And I became very, very thin. And you know, my clothes started, like, falling off my body. And I thought, hey, that's cool. I don't have any weight issues, you know, hey, look at me. That's great. But no, that was not great. Because not it was not a healthy thing that was happening to me. Right. And so you really have to look at it the right way. You know, not everything that happens is for the better, you know?

Yeah, no, I think that's really good. Okay. So as we wrap up, let's give one more piece of advice. Like what? Because I mean, I probably do. And usually we give like a piece of advice for you know, someone going through something similar? What's a sign like? What's like a, what are the red flags that someone should notice in their life? If they should maybe work with someone like you? Like, what? What is something that they should look for? When they're like, Whoa, I need help, I need to switch things up.

Yeah. So the really black and white thing is, if you get diagnosed with something, right, like, something chronic, we're not talking about anything acute, but something chronic, right. So typically, people have either autoimmune condition, or like high blood pressure, diabetes, you know, like heart conditions, anything like that, where they have to maybe get on medications or where the doctor says, hey, you know, like, this is not good, we need to make any changes. But that should really be at the very end of, of the spectrum, right? I don't want you to be completely broken down before you start working on your health, you know, being more proactive is really, when you feel like that you are pushing yourself every single day. You know, like, you're too tired to actually function properly, but you ignore it. You feel like that you have maybe digestive issues, you don't feel very good, but you ignore it, right? Or you don't really know what to do about it. You know, your body shows you ways, you know, like maybe you have breakouts and new skin. A lot of especially women come for weight issues, right? And I always say hey, let's not talk, think about the weight. Let's think about your health. You know, there's a reason why this happened. It's hormones, you know, it's your metabolism. And we can run all of this into the ground. If if we're doing the wrong things. Yeah. So when you really feel like, hey, things are changing. For the worse right now. For me. That's a good time to talk to someone like me, who can maybe give you some advice on you know, what your next steps could be.

That's that's so important. Like, I in my mistake. I listen, people out there in the podcast world listening to this. There's been times where I've tried to fix things on my own and I can't the only time I've ever made progress and change is one of seek professional help with anything I've had issues with but you know, your health is so important because what do you have when you don't have it? Right? You don't if you don't have your health? What do you have? Pamela, thank you so much for coming on our podcast. How can people find you? How can people get a hold of you if they want to learn more or dive in to your world or work with you?

Yeah, I think the best way is to go to my website, and it's butterfly holistic nutrition.ca And you can book a call from there to talk to me. And ask me questions. You can, you know, read my blogs, you can listen to my YouTube channel, whatever you want to check out, go check it out. And I'd be happy to talk to you and connect with you.

I love that. Oh, what a treat. I'm so glad we finally found a time to talk. I think you know, it's interesting. Just it's just like interesting with what's going on in my life having you on as a guest, because it's really getting me thinking about what I've been going through and like the help that I probably need. Well, I know I need like, today I have a meeting with a doctor. And I'm hoping to go back on to my Prozac. And that's just like one of the things they need to do, because it's not just a one, you know, one pill problem. It is many different areas of our life that needs support. And what Pamela offers is, which as a, you know, RHS registered holistic nutritionist and she's a natural nutrition certified practitioner. So she is someone who has that depth of knowledge to help you navigate those hard times to help you be more resilient, and get your health back on track. And not just your physical health, but your mental health, as well. So, thank you so much for coming on. This was such a treat.

Yes, thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed our conversation today.

I love it. And thank you for tuning in to another episode of radical resilience. It's been a treat, know that you are not alone. It's okay to not be okay. You will get through it. We exist to help you get through it. I'm here for you.