Ashleigh Kast

It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to make significant aesthetic changes to my body. But you know I love a good clinical experiment. Day 1 check-in complete. 🧪

click your heels together three times and go back to kansas city✌🏻

“I thought you would be basic” he said over trendy vegan food downtown. Yeah well, I guess I messed up in concluding the opposite. There were a lot of those hopeful miscalculations across the last revolution. I thought I ran all the possibilities with her. I just didn’t consider that sort of betrayal. But I guess I wanted so much to come out of the pandemic time feeling enchanted, as much of it was spent not so.

It was a dazzling year— young and full of running. I think about standing in that driveway at the end of the first half - but really the beginning - having already decided to pick wrong. Then you showed up and I can’t… oh there it is: baby’s second taste of regret.

I’ve been calling it “hit back” energy. I’m simply exhausted from being so polite. I mean, aren’t you? I’m tired of being told the way the world is. Who’s telling these people about themselves? I’ve been reading Didion and thinking about Bobby. While it was simply the natural next step, plotting a functional medicine business felt rebellious. And I fu***ng liked it.

So no, I cannot “abide by this” and if anyone asks about you, I’ll tell them. It’s just that no one will. And you can do all the gut cleanses you want, but it won’t change until you decide to close the loop and stop being so goddamn scared. Gratitude now! I certainly had to. August continuously reminded me that doing the right thing still matters to the universe. And I really liked that too.

Every connected soul I know has been telling me I’m coming out of some horrendous 15-year cycle as of February(not January!) You know I wouldn’t let you think so.

It’s been three whole years with my dental team, and I seem to only suddenly have a whole new face. I don’t immediately recognize the reflection, the subtle turns of the bones…the definition of this or that…the perpetual smirk. I hear the words from my mouth and I’m surprised by the conviction. But oh yeah, that’s me…still here and still unaware I have knees.

I guess this is a half-birthday thing now✌🏻

this client text made me cry last week. scroll to see how we helped marissa work through gut issues + a weight-loss plateau.

this time is an opportunity❤️

IT’S A HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY 🎁

Just like this post and tag a friend who deserves some biobased love this holiday season. You’ll be entered to win a special giftset from my favorite clean laundry brand. I was a customer before I was a partner because my clothes have never been cleaner. Be sure to follow both me and for eligibility. I’ll be pulling the winner at random a week from today on 12/21.

WE DID A THING 💫

I can’t wait to tell you more about this offering in the next couple of weeks. We’ll be kicking things off this Tuesday at 8:30pm EST with an IG Live. In this first of many case studies, I’ll be breaking down the GI Map and how we used this excellent diagnostic tool to identify and treat a significant candida infection in a client with fatigue and brain fog. Spoiler alert: the client is me🙋🏼‍♀️

Click on the REMIND ME button in my stories so you don’t miss it. This time is an opportunity 🤙🏻

On Gwyneth…

The truth is, you kinda can judge a book by its cover. The old adages are always true and not true.

In the functional world, we are taught to look at the body for clues. Interviews have limitations. Humans are peculiar. We’re not good at memory retrieval; though we tend to believe the contrary. Interpretation of interoception is influenced by language limitations and self-limiting beliefs. Non-existent education is a prerequisite to the lost art of intuition.

So we also take inventory of what we see. An observational scan helps uncover other parts of the story. When interested in solving musculoskeletal pain, I start from the feet and work my way up, noting which way bones are turned and their positions relative to each other and muscular balance.

When interested in health issues, I take it further—making note of skin quality and temperature, hair density and luster, signs of inflammation and fatigue around the eyes. I look for hints of guarding in the presentation of posture.

We talk about it. We have to. It matters to understanding where the person is now, and what to try to get them where they want to go.

There is something to be said about people who choose to offer their lives up to publicly for money. Like for me, the first q was how have you spent this much cash and come up with this s**t? But I can understand an argument for avoiding commenting on a stranger’s appearance regardless. I just told an athlete I need to see him in person before confirming what I think I’m seeing on insta. You don’t get the whole truth through the screen.

This mentality has gone too far though. I hope that you are not avoiding these honest conversations with your people. Maybe you don’t know the specifics, but you surely can discern a general lack of robustness when you see it. And you owe it to each other to call it out with care. Be brave. Eating disorders - whether too much or too little food is focused - are everywhere today. They are stealing our metabolic health and happiness. None of us are above questioning—even experts. And telling your loved ones about themselves should not be off limits. If not us, who? Worst best friends only, please🤙🏻

was honestly worried my butt would shrink when I was sick 🤙🏻

I wish democrats would stop condemning the move and start providing us with action steps. It’s clear we’re not going to get an apology from either side for allowing a religious minority to capture our judicial system but…⁣
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In the meantime, one of the best and most immediate actions we can take is to shut down and redirect conversations that pose the abortion issue as a 1 or 0. This is what the political legacy media complexes of both sides seem to want. It does nothing but artificially divide and radicalize each party each party further—making forward progress less and less likely.  ⁣
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Instead we should encourage nuanced conversations this week. Libs: you guys have got stop shutting down like “I just can’t.” Conservatives: you need to stop yelling. We cannot afford to let them continue to fool us. ⁣
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Because the truth is that a majority of both parties do not see abortion as a binary issue in 2022. Most people agree that a bunch of cells is not a life, a 9-month abortion without medical need is not ok, extraordinary circumstances exist that make choice absolutely necessary, and telling a woman what to do with her body is a step backward and a violation of the spirit of our implied equal rights. We’re lacking explicit equality as the ERA was never actually ratified. Could that be our next step?⁣
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Anyway, we must start with the points we agree on if we want to find our way out of this unacceptable American reality. It’s too difficult to make anything happen without coming together. And it doesn’t look like the powers that be have any plans to make it easier. ⁣
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Even though it’s hard to write at this current moment…this time is an opportunity❤️

obligatory taking on new distance clients for the summer post 〰️

There’s a lot to like about the body positivity movement. But the idea that all people who decide to lose weight are somehow bowing to diet culture or destined for an eating disorder is not to be accepted. ⁣
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Diet is not an inherently bad word. In fact, focusing on some weight-loss at least once a year after the winter months is probably a reasonable and healthy choice for most first world humans. You can avoid the average yearly weight gain statistics and give your metabolism a nice healthy challenge. The clothes should fit you quip is inane, but I’ve found through my own work with clients that tracking your progress by the way your favorite jeans or a dress fits versus the scale actually works out better for most.⁣
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Losing weight quickly is also not inherently “dangerous.” A lot of people do experience signs of hormonal imbalance after just seven to ten days of intense dieting and exercising. Hunger, energy, and cravings go out of check, and the worst thing you can do is double down. But many people can get away with more extreme calorie deficits for two to three weeks at a time(what she did) before experiencing any significant metabolic blowback. And you can even avoid a lot of the typical weight regain with some strategic eating as you transition back to more of a caloric balance. ⁣
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Listen, I’m certainly no Kardashian clan fan. I don’t know the details of her plan, but neither do all these critics. What is clear is that Kim looked absolutely slammin’ in that dress. There is no doubt she did Marylin proud. And it’s also pretty obvious that lots of people seem to like the superior feeling they get from arbitrarily judging her methods, assuming her psychology, and cherry-picking silly arguments that make us (people who live this stuff) stare down our noses.