Slow Down to Heal: Janet Parnes' Journey from Burnout to Bone Strength

This transcript is lightly edited for readability.

Janet: The slowing down has been a revelation. I didn't think I could slow down. I thought if I slowed down, I'd lose out. And the big revelation has been, when I slow down, I gain. I gain time, and I gain productivity, and I gain a sense of calm. I feel lean and mean and not exhausted.

In the past, I hiked, I biked, I did all kinds of things, so I was strong — but I wasn't strength training. I didn't have time for it. And then the shift came: you have to incorporate strength training. I can see the benefits of it now. I can feel the benefits of it now. So I'm thrilled that that's come into my life, even though at the time I thought, oh brother, here's something else to add to the to-do list. I'm thrilled.

Edie: I am Edie Feffer, and welcome to Anchored — a show for women who are committed to living a life where everything they do and are begins with self-trust. They're unshakable in their truth, rooted in their emotional well-being, and steady in their commitment to self-love and body love. That is what it means to be anchored. Our conversations dive deep into all aspects of health and wellness, from food freedom and spirituality to routines and relationships. This is where you come to stay grounded.

This is a fun and really honest conversation with Janet Parnes, who is a client that I've been working with through Dr. Doug Lucas's practice, which specializes in reversing osteoporosis. Inside that program we take a holistic approach to healing. We're looking at nutrition, movement, mindset, sleep and stress, and hormone replacement therapy and supplementation can be a part of the protocol as well.

In this conversation, Janet is sharing some of the strategies that have supported her healing. We also dive into a few of my favorite topics, like letting go of the all-or-nothing mindset, embracing spirituality as a part of the healing process, and shifting limiting beliefs around time.

There are two moments I want to give a little context for before we dive in.

First, when we're talking about business, you'll hear Janet mention idea fairies, which comes from one of my favorite books, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's the idea that creative ideas float around like fairies looking for someone to bring them to life — and if you don't act on one, it might float off to someone else who will.

Second, she references a concept from the 12-step world: you do your 5%, and God, the universe, or whatever higher power you believe in does the other 95%. It's a powerful reminder that we're responsible for taking action, but we're not meant to control it all. When we show up and we do our part, we create space for support, synchronicity, and healing to meet us. It's this idea that healing doesn't come from effort alone. It also requires surrender and trust.

So with that, I hope you enjoy this episode.

I am so excited to have a very special guest with us today, Janet Parnes. Janet and I have been working together for nine months now through Dr. Doug Lucas's practice, Optimal Bone Health, which specializes in reversing osteoporosis. And I will say that it has been such an honor to witness your transformation, Janet, because it has been, in my eyes, about so much more than just bone health. It truly has been mind, body, and spirit. So thank you so much for being here, for sharing your story. I'm excited to chat with you today.

Janet: I'm excited as well, Edie. Thank you.

Edie: Let's start just with an introduction. I'd love for listeners to get to know you. If you could share who you are, where you live, what's lighting you up these days, that would be great.

Janet: My name is Janet Parnes. I live outside of Boston, in Massachusetts. And as Edie said, I joined the osteoporosis program nine months ago.

As a little bit of background on me: I tend to overdo. If I think a five mile run is good, well, I'm going to do 10, because it's going to be better. If a tablespoon of something's great, let's take two, because it'll be better. And as a result, I ran myself ragged — and I'll get into that story a little bit later. Running myself ragged into the ground was the watermark, the turning point of my life.

Today I have the pleasure — and I'm so grateful — to be able to do what I love. I take American heroines out of history's dusty archives and I bring them to life. I portray American heroines such as Dolley Madison, Deborah Sampson, Frances Perkins. I have about five of them.

My life is so rich today. I have a wonderful husband, and it's just so rich and so full. I didn't think it could really be any richer and fuller until I started work with you. So I'm really grateful for the opportunity to share my story, and I hope my story inspires somebody out there who may have shared some of the problems I had in the past, and shows that there is a way out.

Edie: Oh, Janet, that is a beautiful start to this conversation. It makes my heart so happy. Thank you for your kind words. I have just loved our work together, and your energy is contagious.

Let's start with the osteoporosis diagnosis. Can we go back to the beginning? Would you mind sharing how you found out, and what receiving that news was like?

Janet: I knew I had osteopenia, but in April of 2021, I fell playing pickleball and broke my wrist. So the doctor ordered DEXA scans, and I found that I had gone from osteopenia into osteoporosis.

And then I thought, oh brother, I don't want to deal with this. What do I do? Of course, my PCP recommended the drugs. She said, well, you can start with Fosamax, but you really need one of the anabolics, the next level up. And I'm cringing as she's saying this.

For the last, I don't know, 30 years, when I've become ill — which isn't often — I've always seen symptoms as cries from the body. The body's saying, give me what I need to heal itself. And in many, many cases I've been able to heal with the help of competent practitioners, and give the body what it needs, which usually is vitamins and supplements, and heal myself. My body healed itself.

So I really wasn't too excited about the thought of these medicines. I read up on them. Wasn't too excited at all.

So again, I started a search, which I had done years ago. I discovered — I think there were maybe three people that came up as far as practitioners who specialized in bone health. I realized this is not going to be easy. I saw one who'd written a book, but I didn't see programs that I could sink my teeth into, except for Dr. Lucas.

My thought was, I'm 73 years old. I don't have time to try some supplement and find out a year and a half from now that it doesn't work and my osteoporosis has gotten even worse. So my husband and I spoke, we decided to jump into the program, and he eventually did as well, actually — for other reasons, though.

With the program, I was already taking a lot of supplements, so the supplement program wasn't too much to overcome. It was a challenge, but not too much to overcome. And as far as the exercise, I've always been an exercise person. I love anything outdoors, so I knew I'd enjoy that.

The mindset — I kind of rolled my eyes. I thought, oh brother. I had spent years and years in a 12-step program. I was bulimic, and it changed my relationship with myself, with my family and friends. It was my higher power. So I thought, I don't need any more of this. I thought that would be the least transformative. But it has turned out to be really the central point of this whole program for me.

A lot of what you teach, you taught me, Edie. Some of it I knew, but I didn't put it all together. And then you add to it, and you present it in a way that makes it easy for me to apply to my life. The whole idea of, when I'm feeling overwhelmed: look at the circumstance. What's the feeling? What's the thought? What actions am I taking? And are the actions rewarding? That has been a game changer to me.

So I had a gig in the city not too long ago. The person who hired me said, we'll have a parking place for you. I thought, great. He said, it's on a one-way street, a block or so from City Hall. And I'm thinking, okay. And then I'm thinking, oh my gosh, it's a one-way street. What if I have to go in circles and I get lost, and it's going to take me four hours to do this one-hour trip to City Hall?

And I started reframing my thoughts. So, what's the thought? I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm going to be nervous and forget my lines for my performance. I'm going to be late and be even more nervous, and I'm going to blow this whole thing.

And I said, okay, how can you reframe that? Maybe you've allowed enough time to have to drive around the circles a few times. You're not going to be late, and they've given you a parking pass, and he's told you it's one block from City Hall. How bad can that be? Even if you go in circles a couple of times, you'll be there. You have all the time you need, and you have a parking place reserved for you. You're going to be fine.

That allowed me to just let go of it — at least 90% of it. So the drive in, I wasn't gripping the steering wheel, clenching my teeth. I drove in, and the parking place was right beside City Hall. I got off the street and pulled in.

So I thought to myself — and this has come to me so many times in the past — you worry about things you need not. So reframe your thoughts into something more positive, and lift the burden of worry off your shoulders. You don't need to carry it.

Edie: Oh, Janet, this is such a great place to start. I love the reminder that we can reframe our thoughts, that we can lift the burden of worry. Stress management has been a big part of our work together, especially around mindset — and with your background with the 12-step program for your bulimia, and your comfort with movement and supplements already coming into the program.

I'd love to unpack mindset and stress management a little bit more. Where was your stress at the start of the program, and how has it changed now, from the work that you've done?

Janet: One of the stresses at the start of the program was, how am I going to fit this into my life? My life is already packed, and a lot of it's work related. How am I going to do this?

As my husband said to me, this has to be your priority. You may have to give up a little bit of your work. You may have to say no to a few people, because you don't have the time. But you can't say no to this program. You have to give this your all. So I knew it was right.

One of the first ways to alleviate the stress was to realize my business has to take second place. And it's okay if I have to say no to some gigs. It's not going to be the end of the world. But this has to be the central point of my life. So that decision alone alleviated some of the stress.

And as far as fitting in the exercise — that was a challenge. I don't run anymore because of my knees, but I do hill work. So how am I going to fit that in and fit in Dr. Nick Trubee's exercise program? I can do the hill work and then I can do that work, and I'm going to be so exhausted I'll be falling on my face.

So again, I realized I have to make a choice. You can't always have it all, and you don't have to have it all. So I said, okay, you'll give a little bit on the hill work to do the strength training work, because that takes priority. So that has settled itself. It was a little rough patch, but that smoothed out.

Edie: It makes me think about what you shared at the top of the call, of just being someone who runs herself ragged and is used to operating in extremes. As someone who also has a history of an eating disorder, it can be normal and natural to think in terms of black and white, all or nothing.

I like that you've given yourself permission to prioritize your well-being. And I think what's fun about our work together is to see the thoughts that you've worked through around what that means from a business perspective — and the way that the decisions you've been making to optimize your health and heal your bones could be supportive of what you're doing professionally.

Janet: That's absolutely true. I know you had said to me early on, the work that we do together will not only help you with your bones, it will help you in every area of your life. It'll help you with your business, it will help you with relationships. And it's really turned out to be true.

There's another avenue I want to take with my business — continue what I'm doing, but add another avenue. And I've been kind of, oh, I don't know, maybe, maybe not. I have a friend who's built a couple of businesses. She says, Janet, this is a great idea, go with it. And I'm kind of, well, I don't know, I'm so busy already.

But that's all changed. I remember you talked to me about the fairies in the air. They're up there, they're just waiting for you to grasp them and bring them down. And I think of those fairies — grasping them, bringing them down. So now I'm going ahead with this new avenue. I know exactly what my next steps are. And it feels really fun and exciting to me, because I know I can do it.

Edie: I love that thought — that you know you can do it. Your belief in yourself. Your increased self-trust. And the idea fairies is a concept that we could get into as well, but I'm glad that that resonated with you.

The other thing that's coming to mind for me is the work that you've done with your thoughts on time. We heard that come through with, how is this going to fit into my already busy life, my busy schedule? Will things have to shift with my business? So to hear you say, you know you can do it — can you speak to that a little bit more, just the thought work that you've done around time?

Janet: As far as the time element is concerned, I've always seen time as my enemy, because there's never enough of it.

I was journaling one morning, and I thought, use your timer. And all of a sudden I'm journaling: time becomes my friend if I use my timer. So my phone timer now is my buddy. I'll tell myself, okay, for the next 45 minutes you're focusing on this. You're not scrolling through emails, you're not answering the phone, you're just focusing on this. That has allowed me to partition my day into chunks where I can focus, and then I'll go get myself a cup of tea or something.

By restricting my time, it's actually freed it up.

Edie: I always say loose structure creates freedom. And you've been so intentional with the way you're using your time. You've created some structures and boundaries by gamifying it with the timer, by making it your friend, not your enemy, and just by doing more focused work. I think that's so exciting to see. You've poked holes at that limiting belief, essentially, of I don't have enough time.

Janet: As you had said to me once: I have all the time that I need to do what I need to do. And I repeat that a lot.

Edie: Janet, that was actually something I had noted, something that I've witnessed. You've done such a good job of focusing on your inner world, of being that gentle, nonjudgmental observer of your thoughts. That was a thought that you shared in coaching that I absolutely loved: I have time to do everything that's important.

The other thing that you shared that I thought was so powerful recently is that you've become more awake, and that you don't feel so dull. Can you speak more to that? Because I think a lot of times when we're working to heal — any healing journey, whether it's osteoporosis or something else — we can look at the items on our protocol as a list of tasks to do, and then that can become overwhelming and stressful. But what have you been doing to create this kind of a transformation? How is it different for you?

Janet: It's different in part because of the supplements. I was prescribed a supplement for my thyroid. The thyroid was within the range in the blood work, but Dr. Lucas sometimes has the ranges tightened up a bit.

So I started taking this thyroid supplement. My provider said to me, are you petering out in the afternoons? I said, well, doesn't everybody? My husband was with me. She said to him, is she petering out in the afternoons? He said, she's falling asleep at six thirty.

But I said, the morning is when I have to lie in bed and convince myself to get up, talk myself into getting up. I never want to get up. It didn't use to be this way, but I never wanted to get up. So I started taking the supplement. Now I wake up and it's time to get up. I'm not jumping out of bed, but it's time to get up, and I'm okay getting up.

In addition, the additional incentive to get up is the morning routine from the book The Miracle Morning. So now I have my routine. I have my prayers, and I do a meditation — I use the meditation off my Oura ring. So I have my prayers and meditation. I do some visualization, take a look at my day, and what am I looking forward to in the day, and just journal, kind of a brain dump. And then I get out into the early morning sun.

So I love my mornings now. I want to get up. I have the physical ability to get up, the physical energy to get up, but also the incentive from the way the mornings make me feel. And that flavors the whole day.

Edie: It does. And I love that you highlighted it's the way that you're feeling that is creating the motivation and the excitement. That's the same thing that I heard you say when you were describing the way you reframed your thoughts about the gig that you had downtown — you were able to coach yourself out of feelings of stress and overwhelm and worry, to this relaxed, empowered place. I'm so happy that that's how your mornings feel now too.

I know that healing from chronic fatigue syndrome played a big role in a turning point for you. Would you mind speaking to that?

Janet: Sure. This was maybe 30 years ago. I didn't feel good one evening, and I collapsed, and thought, uh oh. So I ended up in the hospital. They checked my heart — I was doing mini triathlons at the time, I had the heart of a bull. They couldn't figure out what was wrong. This was before people knew it was a virus.

And I remember at the time I was still in the bulimia, off and on, because I was in my 12-step program, but it took me a while to really integrate all that into my life and internalize it. So I was off and on bulimic, and more on and off.

I remember thinking to myself, you don't need to heal simply physically. That isn't going to be enough. If you want to heal, you need to heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

So after healing with that three-pronged approach — at the time, I didn't know it would be eight years before I could go back to work. At the time, I didn't know that it would be the biggest blessing of my life. This illness — it's like my higher power said, the only way I can drill this message into you is to take you out of life. And that's what happened. I was out of life, completely focused on healing, and I had a wonderful support system around me. That changed my relationship with myself, family and friends, the way I fit into the world, my relationship with my higher power. It really transformed my life.

And when one is on a search, one not only sees opportunities one didn't see before, but also opportunities seem to come into one's path.

So I looked at that point into alternative healing, because my MDs just didn't know what to do. I went through acupuncture, which helped. And then I found a molecular biologist who put me back to work. He found many, many food allergies. He said, you're severely allergic. I went off the foods, and in two days there was such a change. Someone said, who is this guy? I want to go see him. And I hadn't even started the supplement program at that point, but that brought me out. I remained with him for another 20 years, until he retired.

So I came to learn that nobody has all the answers. Everybody has some answers, but nobody has all the answers with healing. And I learned that working with him was a complement to working with my MD. So my strategy became combining the two, blending the two, and it served me well. So when I read about Dr. Lucas's program and healing and supplementation, it made perfect sense to me.

Edie: It sounds like his philosophy aligns well with yours, in terms of taking a holistic approach.

Thanks for sharing what you did about your healing journey, because we can hear that you had to take all of the information that you received and run it through your own filter. It wasn't a quick process. It's required patience and self-trust.

And something that you shared, I think on our first coaching call when you were filling me in on your history with bulimia, was that that was a deep transformation in your relationship not only to yourself, but also to a higher power — knowing that you don't have to handle this alone. Do you mind telling us a little bit about that?

Janet: It's knowing that I'll be guided along the way. I end up saying this to myself so often: you don't have to do this alone, Janet. Instruction is coming from God. Instruction is coming from the universe. Look for directions. Just look for the directions.

And sometimes I feel like I'm in the land of in between, but I know I'm still moving forward as long as I keep my ears, eyes, heart, and soul open. So it makes life a lot easier for me. I don't do it perfectly all the time, of course. But if I can remember that I'm not doing this alone, that the answer will come — it will come in its own time, and it may not be the answer I want, at least not at the moment. But I'm not going to go too far afield if I just key into my higher power.

I also changed my faith. I became a Baha'i as a result of all this. So I found the faith that can really resonate. That works for me.

Edie: I love that. When we think about taking a holistic approach to healing, spirituality is a part of that, and it looks different for everyone. But something that I often will say to clients, and it's something that I remind myself as well, is that, like you said, this is guided. The body wants to heal. It will guide you to optimal health. And part of our work is slowing down to listen to what I call the pings — the messages coming through your body's inner wisdom. You're so tapped in and tuned into that, it makes it easy to follow the next best step, and I've seen you do that for nine months consistently.

I'd love to hear what part of this process has been most surprising to you on your healing journey, or in the program. What did you expect coming in, and what has it turned out to be like?

Janet: Coming in, I expected the spiritual and emotional part of the program to need more self-introspection. I didn't expect the practical application — the practicality that you offer as far as how to apply it. And I didn't expect the simplicity either. It's so practical and simple. I can talk about it easily, and I can apply it.

And I was surprised to hear about the power of small change, especially — we read the book Atomic Habits. I remember my desk has been a complete mess, and you and I talked, and I kind of said, I need this habit, I need to create a habit of cleaning up my desk. But I sit down in the morning and say, okay, I can't take another 15 minutes to clean up my desk. And we came down to, well, can you take five? I can take five. So five minutes every morning, I come down and I just straighten my desk.

Edie: This is such a fun conversation, because one, it's home environment — and home environment is part of our primary food. Primary food is the food that nourishes you that isn't on your plate. It's all of the enriching aspects of life. Home environment is part of that.

And it's also fun because this ties to the work that we've done around stress management and time. For anyone who's listening and is wondering, why do we spend time coaching on things like this — it's because part of a healing protocol includes reducing your stress. When we have high levels of cortisol, that can increase our bone breakdown and decrease bone formation. So time spent reducing stress will support your healing. And it makes life more fun too, when you're feeling more calm, grounded, and empowered.

So I'm happy to hear that you feel like the steps have been applicable, that they are more concrete.

Janet: They are. I found myself thinking in different ways.

The other day, I had to leave the house at a certain time. I have a tendency to think, well, okay, I'll just save these few last things to the last minute — and then I end up racing around, oh no, I have to do this, this, and this, because I haven't done it yet, and I end up leaving later than I want to leave. My husband has been saying to me for years, get ready an hour before you have to go. Well, I am, almost, but it typically didn't work.

But I found myself thinking the other day: change from your slippers into your shoes, because in a half an hour you need to be ready to leave. And I realized, this is a different way of thinking. Instead of thinking how much can I squeeze in before I have to run out the door, it's get ready so you're not stressed out and running around before you have to leave the house. So I've noticed small changes like that — again, the power of a small change.

Edie: For anyone who can relate to what Janet described at the top of the conversation, of living in extremes, running yourself ragged, holding yourself to a set of high standards — it can be exhausting. I think it's normal for some of us to spend our days in go mode, productivity mode, and it takes an unlearning sometimes, letting yourself slow down. You've done such great work to rewire your brain in that sense.

How do you feel like that's shifted things in your healing journey, and then maybe even in your business too? The permission to slow down.

Janet: It's allowed me to do the program as it should be done, or at least as close as I can take it to the way it should be done. And also, slowing down has allowed me to think a little bit, to step back and take a look.

So if there's a morning where I know I have to be out early, and I have to get a certain amount of sleep or I'm going to be a mess the next day — I remember you saying, we don't have to always do it all perfectly. So some mornings, instead of spending 50 minutes in my morning routine, I might spend 30. I could tell myself, that's okay. It's okay to do that today. I couldn't tell myself that before, because I never stopped. I just raced into it and tried to squeeze a 36-hour day into 24 hours.

So slowing down has enabled me to step back and take a look at what I'm doing, and assess it. And again, I don't want to sound like a Hallmark card here. It's not like I live this perfectly smooth, easygoing, stress-free life. It's not at all. However, my life is so much better, and it continues to get better.

Edie: I'm so happy to hear that. Janet, if you had to think back to the past nine months, what are some of the greatest insights that you've gained about yourself, or your health, or your path forward?

Janet: I was someone — and I am someone — who goes, goes, goes, and goes to extremes. But there was also this dichotomy, because I'm also someone with a lot of self-doubt. I carried a lot of shame. A lot of, you're not worth it. A lot of comparing myself to other people and never quite measuring up.

I don't do that anymore. I think part of it's age, but I think also part of it's realizing that I focus on the gifts that I have and the talents that I have, which we all have, and how to put them into the universe.

So with my business and my career, I'm doing something I absolutely love, and I'm using the gifts that I have to enlighten, inform, and entertain people. And I don't compare myself to others. I just do it the way that I do it. As long as people are responding in a positive way, that's a good thing. I try and improve my performances, but I'm not comparing myself to someone else and saying, oh, she's doing that, or he's doing that, I'm not doing that. No, it's just do this the way that comes naturally to you, and the way that best suits your particular set of abilities.

So the slowing down and the timer has been a revelation. I didn't think I could slow down. I thought if I slowed down, I'd lose out. And the big revelation has been, when I slow down, I gain. I gain time, and I gain productivity, and I gain a sense of calm. And I learned it doesn't come naturally to me. I have to — my husband sometimes says, stop. Stop. Which I need.

Edie: Permission to slow down, to speed up your results, and to enjoy the unfolding. I am so happy to hear that you're in a place of this calm, grounded confidence, where you're not in comparison mode. That's true freedom and peace.

Janet: Another point that comes to mind with the program is around the diet. I had a pretty good diet to begin with, and so my dietitian and I have worked to refine that. But one of the real deficits was in protein. I thought, a little bit of carbohydrate, a little bit of protein, lots of vegetables. And Dr. Lucas says, if the body doesn't have enough protein, it can't build bone.

So incorporating enough protein was a monster mountain to overcome for me. I didn't think it would ever happen, but somehow it has. I don't even know how it has.

One thing I learned to do was to break up my protein intake. I can eat three ounces of beef — four becomes too much — but I can add an ounce of beef to my breakfast, because I eat eggs. So that adds another ounce of protein. I learned little tricks like that from the dietitian and from Dr. Lucas. And I think a lot of those little tricks have allowed me to really bring my protein levels up to where they need to be, and do that on a consistent basis.

Edie: That's a huge win to celebrate. And I am excited for others to hear that it's been gradual. It's not something that you've done overnight. You've been patient with that part of the program too.

I'm curious to hear, Janet, what advice you would have for someone who's just received an osteoporosis diagnosis.

Janet: First of all, relax, and know that there is an answer out there. Your answer may not be the same as mine, but trust that there is an answer out there. And start a search. Put yourself out there. Talk to people. Read, listen to podcasts, read, talk, listen, speak to people.

If you open yourself up to an answer, instead of worrying about the present situation, the answer will come to you. Again, your answer may be different from mine, but there is an answer out there. There's an answer out there for everybody. So focus less on the fear, and more on the possibilities that life has in store for you.

Edie: That's beautiful. How are you feeling now, nine months into your protocol?

Janet: I feel lean and mean, without feeling skinny.

Edie: Let's just pause there to recognize how much you've done in the past nine months. You just spoke about nutrition, increasing your protein, strength training when that wasn't a part of your routine with movement before, thoughts around time, stress management, gigs with your business, prioritizing your relationship with your husband. It's incredible. Great progress.

Janet: It is. And I owe it to you and to the team, really. I thought maybe it would just heal my osteoporosis — I came in thinking that, because I was really impressed by what I read and heard. But I didn't dream that it would change other parts of my life. Even though people said that, even though you said it, I said no, because I've been doing this work for a thousand years, I know it. You know, I-know-everything syndrome. And I realized I didn't. So thank you for opening my eyes.

Edie: That's really sweet of you, Janet. I can't take credit for it, though. We're a guide. We're here to support you, but you're the one doing it. You're the one implementing everything. So congrats to you.

If we think about the year ahead, who are you becoming, or what excites you the most about the woman you're stepping into?

Janet: I see myself as a woman who has time for her faith, her family and friends, and her business — in that order — and all three of those parts of my life are flourishing. So I'm able to give back to the community more than I can now, because I've tailored my days so that I can flourish in those three areas.

And I see someone without the fear, who just sees life as possibilities, not obstacles. I don't know if I'm making sense.

Edie: Yes. To be at a point where you're focused on the possibilities and you've let go of the fear — I think anyone listening would say, but how? How did you do that? Are you able to explain how you've been able to let go of the fear of a diagnosis of osteoporosis?

Janet: It's not a magic formula, and it's not that I don't still have some fear, but I've let go of a lot of it.

I think a lot of it is just trust that God put this program in my path, and gave me the ability to participate in it, for a reason. And if I do my 5%, the other 95% comes. So if I do my 5%, I'm going to receive an answer, and I believe the answer's going to be stronger bones. I'm already headed in that direction — the blood work has shown that. So a lot of it is trust in the directions being given to me, and trust in my ability to follow them. So good prevails.

Edie: Can you explain the 5% idea for anyone who's not familiar with that? You show up and do your 5%, and the universe, or God, or whatever you believe in, takes care of the other 95%.

Janet: I learned this in the 12 steps. It's part of, I don't have to do it alone, if I receive direction.

For example, with this program: if I do my 5% of the work, the universe takes care of the other 95%. If I do my 5%, for example, by searching, the universe puts what I need in my path, and that's the 95%. And then I have to continue doing my 5%.

So the 5% that I put into this program is going to reap so much more than the time and effort I put in. It's going to reap many, many times that in terms of benefits — spiritually, emotionally, and physically. So I do my 5%, and the rewards just grow, like a ripple in the pond. They just continue to grow and grow and grow.

Edie: And for anyone who can relate to the all-or-nothing mindset, being extreme, exhausting yourself — the idea here is, like Janet said, you're not alone. You have support. It is guided. It doesn't mean that we're not showing up fully, but it also is a reminder that you aren't alone. And if you show up in a place of trust and faith, you will be rewarded for that.

Janet: You will. And it doesn't mean there aren't detours and some dead ends along the way. But if I trust, and I trust in the guidance I'm given, I can come back. I'm not going to go too far afield.

And it doesn't mean there won't be disappointments or hard times. But sometimes the trust is what gets you through the hard times, and the hard times build trust. Your trust becomes greater, because the relationship with the higher power gets me through those hard times.

Edie: I love that. Do you have any final thoughts or words of wisdom that you'd like to share with anyone who's just received an osteoporosis diagnosis, or anyone considering Dr. Doug's program?

Janet: Don't limit your possibilities. Understand that what you may think is possible, and what's actually possible, can be two very, very different things. What I considered to be possible was like this big — but now the possibilities are this big. And the program has given me the tools with which to latch onto those possibilities, and I can fertilize them and grow them.

I just say, do your searching. Focus less on the fear and focus on your search, and what you need will come to you.

Edie: Thank you, Janet. Thank you so, so much for taking time out of your day to speak with us.

Janet: Well, thank you, Edie, for all your guidance. And thank you all for listening to me for the last, I don't know how long.

Edie: It's been such a fun conversation.

If you'd like more information on Dr. Doug Lucas, or if you're curious to learn more about reversing osteoporosis, be sure to check the show notes. I have linked Dr. Doug's resources there for you.

If you enjoyed this episode, please do me a favor and rate it. Your reviews will help me help more people. And if you'd like my support in your health journey, you can head to my website at ediefeffer.com, where you can check out the different ways that we can work together. You can also come hang out with me on Instagram — I'm @ediefeffer. I will see you here next week.