Jaime Hartman (00:08):
Welcome to the AIP Summit Podcast, your go-to resource for taking control of your autoimmune health, presented by AIP Certified Coaches. Hi, I'm Jaime Hartman.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (00:18):
And I'm Marie-Noelle Marquis. And we're here to equip you with the tools knowledge and support you need to effectively use the autoimmune protocol. And today we are
Jaime Hartman (00:26):
Getting personal with Marie-Noelle. Hey Marie-Noelle. Are you ready for this?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (00:43):
I am ready.
Jaime Hartman (00:44):
Alright, so as promised today we're going to begin diving into your personal story. In our next episode, you'll hear about mine, but for today it's all about you. I'd love to start with your origin story in terms of your business.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (01:04):
Yeah, thank you so much. I'm excited to share this with you. So Urban AIP, the idea came to me, I think it was 2018. I'm not wrong, and it came out of frustration and necessity. So I would say I'm someone that if I'm faced with a situation that is like there's no solution, I'm like, all right, you know what? I'm going to create the solution. So back, I think it was around 2018, I had already been doing AIP and I'D had achieved great success on AIP, and I was stuck in this rollercoaster of wanting to go back to doing the projects and the work that I really love to do and running out of time to take care of my food and cooking for myself, and then falling off the AIP wagon too quickly and not having time to do reintroduction and getting ill.
(02:02):
So I was so tired of that roller coaster and I said, there has to be a meal delivery that does this. And I started looking and at that point, my initial research, I couldn't find anything at all that was fully AIP compliant. And so it just came to me and it was this like, okay, well this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to create it. It's going to exist. One, because I needed it, it was like I didn't even think about like, oh, I could hire a personal chef like that. I just went straight to, there has to be a meal delivery that does this. And I also have had friends at the time, they're still my friends today, but that were struggling with their autoimmune disease and had heard of AIP, but were like, okay, well I don't have the time.
(02:53):
So there was this constant rhetoric of yes, but I don't have the time. So I was just right in there to bring that solution to me, to my friends, to the public, because I mean, I was so excited and I loved the power of what the autoimmune protocol can do. So I was like, everybody needs to know about this. So yeah, that's why, that's how it started. And it was clear in my mind it was going to be meals, individual meals for that convenience, but then also snacks, everything. I wanted to create this solution that everything that is convenient can be brought to you. And eventually as I began to build a business and to build a business plan and to get the certification, I felt I needed to be a better business owner. And I discovered a couple of other AIP meal businesses and I was like, oh, okay, let me explore it.
(03:58):
And I even entertained not starting Urban ip, and I was like, oh, if it already exists, then maybe I don't need to do it. But for me, for my personal standards, I would say, I guess, so what I wanted to bring, what I found did not meet that I really wanted to, I always have this thing when I find when you go to a restaurant and it's like, oh, we offer organic food whenever convenient or whenever, whatever wording, it's always like couldn't have you looked a little harder and found it. So for me, it was like I am a little bit of an everything or nothing kind of person. So it was like, no, just I want to do this right. I want it to be organic at all time. I wanted to have the meat that is sourced without the added corn or soy, and it's not grass fed but finished, but maybe not.
(04:52):
I want it as clean as possible. And I wanted to offer that to myself and again, to my friends and the public. So the standard that I wanted the business to meet, I couldn't find that. So it was beyond just an AIP compliant meal service. It was like that top quality. And then another big thing that I couldn't find was a plastic free packaging. I was like, can we, then I get my meal and it's like, oh, it's beautifully, perfectly sealed, airtight in plastic. So that was like, no, I don't want to put that in my body. So again, I would find myself, I can't get want plastic, therefore I'm back to square one of having to make everything from scratch. So it was so important for me to offer that.
(05:41):
So creating an opportunity to bring convenience back into the life of people on restorative diets is what I say. And having those high standards and that integrity as I've just, when we're still brand new, we launched at the end of 2023 for Urban AIP. So I remember as I was putting all the pieces together and people being like, well, it's more expensive to go plastic free. And it's like, that's not the point to me, if I am creating this business from passion and what I feel is necessity, and of course it has to sustain itself, there has to be a profit coming in. So the business continues, but that's not like, what can I do to make money? That wasn't the idea. So to me, the integrity, you can't compromise on that. You just can't. It has to be there. There's not a question of let's get lesser quality product and less and we'll just change the plastic. It's like, Nope, that's never going to happen.
Jaime Hartman (06:45):
We're so fortunate that you are creating this product, but it's so needed and have such a high degree of integrity. And you talk about the necessity and the passion for this. So let's dive into your personal story here so we can put an idea of where that comes from. How did you end up getting into the autoimmune world? I know that it was personal.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (07:06):
It's definitely personal, and I think so many of us, so many of the AIP companies or the AIP Certified Coaches and the services out there, I think share that common root cause of having to advocate for yourself and having that passion. And it's personal. It is your personal journey. And then we're like, here you go. Here's a baking mix and I'll make it better for you. Here's this coffee alternative sauces or, so, yes, I was diagnosed. I got a diagnosis in 2015. At the time, they diagnosed me with lupus and Hashimoto's. And when I think back, I remember as a little kid, I had nonstop ear infections as a little kid growing up, I've heard working more with functional medicine, I have heard been told later that there's gluten, a link between gluten sensitivity and kids with ear infection. So I wonder if I've just probably had a gluten intolerance. I know I've always had a dairy intolerance, but for me it was like, oh, I can't have a glass of milk, but I can have plenty to give cheese though.
(08:26):
And I'm from Montreal originally, so I grew up with cheese and bread as the sort of staple of joy is a table full of bread crackers and different cheeses. So that was definitely embedded in me as far as this is what happiness is. But other than the ear infection, I was a healthy kid when I moved to California as I was in 98, and I started having really, really, really, really bad asthma and chronic bronchitis and a lot of inflammation symptoms, which I didn't know was necessarily inflammation, although I'm going to take back what I just said, that I was super healthy other, an ear infection. I did have horrible joint pain my whole life as a little kid. I remember my grandpa would rub my legs with his hockey socks for Canada. So we all have hockey, but he put absorbing junior and just because I was really young and if it was going to rain, I couldn't walk. It was so painful. So that got worse in the late nineties as I moved to California. But I just never, my brain wasn't going to like, oh, this is not normal. I think my family always talked about joint pain.
Jaime Hartman (09:47):
Oh yeah. And you'd lived with it your whole life. You probably thought that's how kids felt. They didn't know. Maybe they just don't say it as much, but they probably feel it too. Right,
Marie-Noelle Marquis (09:56):
Exactly. I remember being shortly moved to California and telling people, oh, well, it's going to rain in three days, so I really can't. I can barely walk. I'm not going to go. And they're like, what do you mean? Well, it's going to rain, so everything hurts. And they're like, huh, no, I don't know what you mean. Huh. Really? That's weird. You are weird. How come? Doesn't everybody feel like that? Yeah. So those are the mystery things that I noticed, but never associated with an autoimmune disease. I just progressed that for over 10 years. I had this horrible, chronic cough, horrible asthma, lots of, I gained a lot of weight that I wasn't able to, even though I was, I remember working out, when I first moved to California, I worked as an actor primarily, and then I moved to working in film business and production. But especially the years I was working as an actor was all about be skinny, don't eat, workout, workout, workout. And it didn't matter. I still couldn't get rid of the weight. So by the time it was creeping towards the time I got diagnosed, I definitely had allergies to pretty much all the fruits except for berries. I just had a lot of gut issues, a ton of bloating. I was always like, oh, the minute I ate, I would get nine months pregnant belly and a lot of discomfort. And then what was kind of a turning point was I started having really, really, really bad memory losses.
Jaime Hartman (11:45):
How old were you at this point when all this is happening?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (11:49):
I was 34, 35.
Jaime Hartman (11:51):
So at 34, you're experiencing joint pain. That's predicting the weather and memory loss that you're noticing, and I'm assuming other people are noticing in your mid thirties, that must have been really scary.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (12:03):
It was very scary. And the memory, I think the joint pain, because it was like, oh, this is life, but the memory losses, I remember specifically talking to my friend and telling her this story, and she looked at me and she said, I know you just told me. I said, when? And she said, just now. I'm like, what do you mean? She's, you just told me and I was so confused. And she's like, you just told me and you just started over. And I had no recollection of doing that. And then it happened again, and it happened again to different people and be like, you just told me that. Oh, wow. And again, it was not like, oh, yeah, I was telling someone it was you. I got it. My brain wouldn't shift into like, oh, yeah, yeah, I remember. And I lived alone at the time, and I would come home and the stove was on, and I didn't remember turning it on to begin with.
(12:56):
And then I remember I was working as, I've had a zillion different jobs, so always following the passion, whatever exciting me in the moment. So I was working as a magazine editor for a wildlife center, and I was working on my computer about 15 feet away from the kitchen. And I remember being like, huh, smells like burnt chicken. Must be the neighbor's barbecuing. And I kept working and I was like, wow, they're really burning that chicken and kept working, kept working, and then the little voice was like, maybe it's you, maybe. And I'm like, I'm fighting that little voice. And I am like, Nope. I woke up this morning and I came to my computer and I've been sitting here all morning. I know I'm not cooking anything. It's not me. And kept working and kept smelling the burned chicken. And then at one point I was like, Marie, just take a look.
(13:43):
Go to the kitchen. And I'm like, I know it's not me. Okay, fine. I'll go. And as I walked into my kitchen, there is a half full jar of a chicken noodle soup that I don't remember buying, and a pot with acin little dot of what appeared to be chicken. And I'm looking at this scene, someone came in and staged it in my house. Nothing is clicking. So I went to the doctor, they said I was probably depressed and stressed. I was like, no, this is a little more than just like, I forgot my keys, this is, so I kept pushing, pushing, pushing, and I had a cyst or a lump in the side of my back that was bugging me. So that was on the long list of things. I talked to the doctor, I mentioned that, and they're like, oh, well, we can send you to do an ultrasound.
(14:38):
And I couldn't. I was like, okay, great. Then my insurance wouldn't cover it. So a friend of mine was like, my buddy is an ultrasound tech. We'll just get you and come by the hospital after hours. We'll just give you a free scan. So I was very, very lucky in that very good friend. So I went there and then he did an ultrasound, and he was like, no, I can't see the lump, blah, blah, blah. And as he was checking, he was like, oh, before you go, let me just check your thyroid. And I was like, oh, I am fine. I get blood tests. I don't have an issue. And he's like, well, we'll just do it. I often find stuff on thyroids. I'm like, all right. So he did an ultrasound and he goes, huh, well, I'm not a doctor, but I'm going to print this, and you should take this to your doctor.
(15:23):
You might have an autoimmune disease. I was like, what are you talking about? He's like, well, see what your thyroid looks like. And he showed me the image and he's like, well, I was like, yeah, it looks like the moon. It's like, yeah, it should look like brand new asphalt. So that is the result that I took the doctor, and I was like, okay, well, I am curious about this. And she was like, huh, okay, let's run some tests. And then I got another ultrasound and I got blood tests, and that's when it came back positive for Hashimoto's. And I also had, it came back positive for lupus. So she was like, you have both. There's nothing we can do. And that was the first thing she said. And I was like, okay. She's like, your thyroid levels are not bad enough. I can't give you medication, so just wait. And eventually you'll be on medication. And I was like, okay, well, that's it. That's it. So then I went and I asked for other, and I said, what about my memory losses? What is that? And she's like, well, maybe we need to do an MRI, but maybe it's early onset. Maybe you should just spend time with your family. And that was it. That was all I could get from that doctor. So it was very scary because I'm like, okay, well, I'm in my mid thirties
(16:34):
And what do I do now? I saw 17 doctors total from the completely conventional, conventional, there's nothing you can do. It's just going to be drugs. And for your asthma, we'll give you steroids and blah, blah. To pull on the other spectrum of, I saw in your aura that you need help. And I believe in all the full spectrum, but I'm also someone, my brain needs data to go against it. So I'm like, let's just get some blood tests. Anyway, eventually having dinner with the same friend that recommended the ultrasound, he picked up this book and was like, have you heard of the autoimmune protocol? My brother has Crohn's, and he just got into remission using this, and that was Mickey Tri Scott's first book, the Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook. And that started reading, and I was like, oh, what this, in my search for doctors, I found a doctor that when I brought up the book, she was like, yes, I heard about this.
(17:37):
I have several patients. I've done this, and it really successful. At that point, I was like, okay. So she was like, I would definitely recommend it other than that we can do medicine as basically managing your symptoms with men. So I started reading the book, and at the time I was a vegan, so it was like, oh, well then, so I asked the doctor, well, what can I do if I'm a vegan? And she was like, look, I can't, all I can tell you is that this AIP thing works, but I mean, it's your choice. There's not another option here.
Jaime Hartman (18:13):
So the doctor was upfront about that, that this is not compatible with being vegan.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (18:20):
Yes, yes. It was like, this is what she's like, my experience is that this is the version that has worked with my patients. I can't speak on anything else. It was weighting the scariness of the symptoms with the possibilities of all that. I grew up as a meat eater. I had been a vegan for maybe two or three years, and it was like I had to sit down and go with, okay, why? What is it? Why are you a vegan? And for me, it was the, I don't want to support the, just that industry, the feedlot. I was also a vegan, but all organic. I didn't want to support the, I didn't eat soy. I didn't want to support the monoculture either. So I had my reason. So I don't like the feedlot culture. I don't want the animals to be, I worked at a wildlife center and nobody ate meat there. And it was all about like, no, I don't want it. And another thing for me was, if you're not willing to kill it, then you shouldn't eat it. And I'm not willing to go kill a cow or a chicken or anything. That was another, so those, that was the treatment of the animal. And then if I'm willing to go hunt for my food, then I'm allowed to eat it. So I sat with that for a bit, and I think it was around that time that I was driving down the road and it was like everything went away and I had no idea where I was on the planet.
(20:05):
And I remember pulling over and I was like, I don't know if I am in the United States. Am I in Canada? Am I in France? Am I, I cannot tell you. No concept anywhere I've been. I could be anywhere those places. And I was like, okay, okay. It's okay. It's just, you'll figure it out. Look around. What does this look like? And I had to talk myself through, okay, okay, well, it's written in English, so you're in the United States and make sense of it. So I think that was sort of another deciding factor of, okay, I don't know what this is, but I need to do something.
(20:49):
So I decided to like, okay, I'm going to try it and I'm going to honor, I need to find a farm or a ranch where I can eat the meat. So I went and I lived in northern California, so luckily there's a ton of really health-minded wellness, humane minded ranchers. So found a place when there met the rancher, saw their animals. I was like, okay, okay, okay, okay. And then I remember making the decision of, I'm going to give this a shot for a few weeks and see if that makes a difference. And the first time I brought a steak home from that farm, from that ranch, and then I cooked the steak, and then I sat in front of it. And as I took a first bite, I know it's going to sound ridiculous for so many people, but I was started crying, and I was like, I'm so sorry. I mean, it was a real struggle. I felt like, I'm like, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I'm sacrificing this animal's life for my own wellbeing. It just all,
Jaime Hartman (21:56):
It's not ridiculous at all. I don't think that's ridiculous.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (21:59):
Oh, thank you, Jaime. And then I heard my mother's voice being like, you can't cry and eat. That's not good. You need to eat, enjoy. And I was like, okay. So I put the fork down and I was like, okay, you need to make peace with this. Are you jumping? If you're going to do this, you're going to do it a hundred percent or don't do it and cry every bite you have. So I had a little process of making peace, and then I started the journey. And at the beginning it was definitely lots of veggie and very, very, very little.
(22:34):
And then I found myself, the minute I started, I felt like I was starving all the time. It was like my body was suddenly absorbing nutrients and wanting more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more. And that as I started increasing to a normal portion size for meat, and that the energy that the fatigue lifted off, it was suddenly like, okay, finally we can rebuild a machine. We have the nutrients that my body needed. So I saw pretty quickly a drastic, drastic difference. But that was something, and it's something that I carried with Urban AIP, right? It was like if I'm going, I had that same thought when I started the business. It was like, well, how many, okay, hold on. I'm starting a business. That's a lot of meat that we're purchasing. What is our impact? And that sort of reinforced that, well, I want to know. I want to go visit the ranch. I want to go, who are we sourcing from? Who's that person? What is their integrity? How do they treat the animals? So that was also really important, that personal belief to be carried into the business too.
Jaime Hartman (23:51):
So you started the transition first by recognizing you had to shift from vegan to including meat. And then how did things go from there for you?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (24:01):
Knowing myself, if I would've done a back then, I don't know, because my only resource was the book, so I didn't have a slow transition versus rapid transition. And knowing me, it was like, you have to jump in, otherwise I'm going to stay and try this. And not quite today, just me personally knowing how I operated. I mean, I think at first the cooking wasn't too bad because I felt so sick that I had slowed down my schedule a lot, so I had more time. So it was six weeks, eight weeks stops where what I would focus on was the level of energy. I just was blown away by how much energy and mental clarity, and I didn't, not only did I not, but at first you're like six weeks in, I'm like, is the memory loss thing going to happen again? Who knows? But I would notice that I was not little things like my keys, I remember when I put my phone down, it's right there.
(25:13):
Just that brain fog felt that it was all gone. I love apples, green apples, and I hadn't had an apple since I was 20 because I had such an allergic, my mouth would itch. And so it was like 15 years I felt like it kept in bosa and the Paris of the Caribbean eating an apple, it was like an apple. The first time I had an apple and my mouth didn't itch. And I was like, what? Wait a minute. Hold on. I can have a whole, I'm like, it's worth doing this AIP thing just so I can eat apples.
Jaime Hartman (25:52):
And did you even expect that? Was that even a possibility in your mind?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (25:56):
Not at all. I didn't realize that those were inflammation symptoms. Those were linked. I just thought I'm going to eat that way. And then maybe the memory loss thing, and I guess my overall, the Lupus, Hashimoto thing. So I didn't know that joint pain could be linked to that. That was gone. And then I remember a friend of mine saying, you're not coughing. And I was like, huh, I'm not. She's like, no, you haven't coughed at all. And usually I was taking a class at a time and they're like, Marie, you cough nonstop the whole class, we just hear you coughing for hours. And that it just felt like squeaky clean. Everything was just inflamed. When I went back to the doctor, she ran another test and my antibodies, I forget what the ANA were for lupus, but my thyroid peroxide antibodies were 1200 something.
(26:55):
And then when we went back, it was like 400 something, which I know there's antibodies don't necessarily predict the level of disease, but that was interesting. And then she's like, well, your lupus antibodies are a negative. Maybe it was a false positive. I don't know. You could go back to eating the way you were and then we can retest you. And I was like, well, I don't know. What's the point you telling me there's no solution? So even if I collect them all the autoimmune labels, if at the bottom line you're going to keep telling me there's no reason, then why should I go back to make myself sick? And that's one thing, by the way, that I am just going to throw in there. When I work with clients, I don't think it's good. Personally, I don't think it's a good idea when people go like, I'm going to do a blood test to see if I react to gluten. Let me just eat a bunch of it. Don't make yourself sick over that.
Jaime Hartman (27:51):
And just to say here, if anybody is still eating gluten and has been offered the blood test, do that or the endoscopy before you change your diet, that's smart. But if you've already cut it out and you're feeling better now I'm with you. I say the same thing.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (28:05):
And we're dealing with attack on your tissue or damaging your body. It's not just like, oh, this just wait for fun. No, it's not. It is pretty serious. So I said, no, I'm not going to do that. However, later on I did go back to I gluten, but initially it was this like, wow, this is amazing. And then even though I told the doctor, no, I'm not going to do that, get you a test. As like weeks went by, one, I started feeling better, so I wanted to do more stuff. I'm like, okay, now I'm ready to take on. I worked part of the wildlife center. I also did, I was a raccoon foster care person, so I took care of baby raccoons. So I was like, I'm going to ride back to do this more and add more hours and do this, and then do more another film project, because I was like, I feel good again. Finally, I can do all these things I want to do. And that obviously cut time. And now I couldn't cook anymore. So I was like, well, it was pretty quick. Maybe I just go back to eating the way I do while I'm doing this film project. And then after I'll just go back and IP and I'll be fine. And I did that, and it just came in with a vengeance. I was
(29:26):
Joint pain, instantly hard to walk. My hips were, my hands were in so much pain. The coughing came back, everything. It was just like, you want to know what turns it on? Here you go. So I actually finished a film project feeling really ill. And when I got back trying to get back on AIP, I was like, well, it's been six weeks and I'm still kind of not feeling as great as I did the first time. And my doctor was like, well, no, you're lucky that it went away so fast, but every time you're going to eat five pizzas in a day or whatever, you just eat a bunch of junk food. Anytime you're going to create this inflammation in your body, there's a consequence to that. It's damaging your tissues. It's going to take longer to repair. So I was like, oh, okay, okay, okay. And then she did reiterate, she's like, with Hashimoto's, you should absolutely not ever have gluten. And I was like, but I'm French. It's my descendant. It has to be my DNA, I think you don't know what you're talking about. Of course I can have bread. And she's like, no. So I started wrestling with that idea of really there's some stuff that might be forever.
Jaime Hartman (30:51):
So up until that point, you were kind of still thinking this is something that can just be a temporary situation for me. And then I can go back to my,
Marie-Noelle Marquis (30:59):
Yeah, when I was working as an actor, and every agent and manager would push the master cleanse on you, which you just eat lemon, cayenne pepper, maple syrup. Just do that for X amount of time and then you'll be all clean and good. So it was like, I did look at it as this temporary quick fix that will reset you forever and then you're back. And I failed to see the, oh, no, no, no, no. This is a chronic illness. And then I did bring that up to my doctor. Well, now I have to cook forever. And she was like, well, maybe you need to just adjust your life. Why don't you buy a farm? I was like, I don't want to be a farmer, first of all. And that statement just stays with me. I don't have the money to buy a farm. First of all, I don't want to be a farmer. That's not what I wanted do. That's your solution. Okay. So that was another thing to wrestle with the grieving part of wait, huh, maybe I can't do. And the grieving of that table that brings joy, the table of full of bread and crackers and cheese. I mean, that was a real thing too, but that that's what happiness supposed to be.
(32:16):
And definitely being a foodie was quality time and happiness was really linked to my food. So if it didn't taste good, if it wasn't beautiful to look at, then I would feel depressed. So then there became this challenge of like, okay, well I have to cook these amazing meals for myself to cheer myself up, but I'm tired getting back. The second time I got back on AIP, my joint pain was so bad that just cooking was like, I can't cut a carrot. It feels like my joints are breaking. So that was another challenge. But I did get back on it. I saw another doctor. I remember him being like, do you think diet is going to fix what you have? I was like, I'm sorry. I'm glad that you think this is funny. Yeah, I think it will work. And then I got back on a straight AIP, and I would say it took about three months for me to really feel the changes then. But I think it was also a lifestyle related, which at the time I wasn't addressing. So it took about three months for me to actually address the lifestyle. So that probably is why.
Jaime Hartman (33:25):
What were some of the lifestyle pieces that you recognized you hadn't been addressing?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (33:30):
Sleep. Sleep. I, I think what happened is I was to save the time, I'm like, well, I'm just going to sleepless now. I have to cook and I need to work, so let's just sleep two hours. And that is something that I need to keep myself in check. That's what I tend to do. I just tend to be like, oh, there are hours right there. Look if you don't sleep. So sleep was a major, major thing, movement, but for me was overdoing it. The pressure of being in the gym and working out. I was trying to do this P 90 X training
(34:11):
And feeling horrible and completely wiped and being like, there's something wrong with me. And people were like, no, three more weeks and you'll fall in love with it. And I'm like, I just feel like I got run over by bulls or everything is just, my recovery was so long and I was trying to push through it. So when I started sleeping better hours and also addressing and just decreasing movement to like, I'm going to go for a walk. I'm going to have activities in my life that are physical but not try to do P 90 X and shame myself for not being good enough. And that mental piece, a self-care piece, those were really key I think for me.
Jaime Hartman (34:59):
Yeah, I mean, movement and sleep are two of the big pillars that we work on with our clients and we teach all the time. Another big one is stress management. How is that for you?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (35:12):
Yeah, stress management is something that's still something that I work at managing, right? I find my stress management to be, I try to compensate with things that bring joy. So connection with friends, time in nature. Luckily living in Northern California, anywhere you just walk five minutes and you're in nature and it's beautiful. And that connection. I think working with a wildlife center was a really good grounding, connecting presence. So
(35:46):
That helped balance it out. Yeah, I think I'm still working on that, honestly. I try to be, that's how I compensate. I'm like, okay, make sure that I drink enough water, that I sleep enough that I have connection and remove setting boundaries. I think it's a big thing that I've learned more and more and more over the years to decrease stress. It's like I don't have to be everything for everybody and be, so yeah, I think that that is setting those boundaries is like, okay, all right. That's been helpful. But it's hard. It's really hard to set boundaries. I don't know where that comes from in my life, but I definitely have the like, oh, well, if I say no, I can't say no. I have to say yes to everything. Let people down that whole, so it's a constant reminder like, Nope,
Jaime Hartman (36:48):
Thanks for sharing that and being so open about it and candid because I know that our audience myself as well, we need to hear that from the people that we admire who seem to be doing this great. They've got it all figured out and they're healthy and vibrant and we're all human. And I think that stress management thing is something that is always a work in progress because new stressors come in. Techniques that used to work don't work anymore.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (37:16):
Nothing is a checklist. I love checklists, but it's not like, okay, done. I figured out the stress management never have to do it again.
(37:25):
It is this ongoing thing. And the same thing with AIP. I started reintroducing food and I will have episodes where something I've reintroduced I've had no problem with, but let's say there's a stressful event in my life. Or a couple years ago I was in a car accident and someone t-boned me and I got a concussion and that completely set off my health differently. I know that concussion, I got leaky gut from it, but it impacted and a lot of food that I had reintroduced that I had no problem with, suddenly I was reacting to. So it is never this finite done. We change, our cells change every day. Our body changes
Jaime Hartman (38:14):
The reintroduction process. It doesn't have a timeline that starts and ends. It's literally the rest of your life of taking knowledge you have about foods and yourself and applying them to the situations at hand and seeing how things change and continuing to iterate. If you don't mind sharing, are there some foods you have been able to successfully reintroduce that are generally a good one for you that work well?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (38:43):
Yeah, so eggs are interesting because before the concussion actually I was fine with eggs. And now again, I know I'm still working on brain inflammation. But I would say as long as I have eggs once a month, every so often, if I have eggs three days in a row, I'll feel joint pain. But if it's here and there, that's okay. I have reintroduced. Corn is something I don't have any problem with. I'm very happy. So corn tends to be okay. Chocolate, I don't have any problem with that. I would say tomatoes, same thing. If it's not too often, I'm okay with tomatoes, but not bell. Peppers definitely off.
(39:47):
And interestingly, it's something I wonder if your body, I think your body has this knowledge, right? Bell peppers, eggplant is something that growing up I always hated and then I started loving them in my twenties. But now if I eat them, I definitely feel a reaction. So it's interesting. I'm like wonder if my body knew back then. Most nuts, cashews sometimes, but most nuts are okay. I do find that legumes, I have problem personally with legumes. It seems to create some irritation, inflammation. So I mean the key things that I'm definitely not bringing back is gluten, dairy, soy.
Jaime Hartman (40:33):
So to wrap things up, is there anything that you wish you had known earlier that you now know?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (40:43):
I wish AIP would've been presented to me. My doctor would've told me it was a protocol and not just a diet. I think it took me a long time and actually a very long time because it was when I took the AIP Certified Coach training that I was like, oh, okay, that's a whole thing. And then how it was clear and then applying it to my clinic and seeing the benefit of like, ah, there's a key, the balance on both sides. So I wish I knew that before. I wish I knew that the connection with your body, I would see it as different. My body's inflamed. Why is my body inflamed? And then judging it, I wish I knew that symbiotic relationship between what we put in our body, how we absorb it, how that impacts our health. Just that whole concept. I wish I had that in the back of my mind before instead of seeing everything as separate pieces. Because it makes it harder when you're chasing all these separate pieces and trying to fix them all when it's like's spring 'em all together, it's all connected. That holistic reminder if functional medicine mindset, if I had known that before, I think that would've brought me a lot of peace knowing that, okay, let's look for the root cause. It was very scary, very stressful at first, and I didn't have Alzheimer. I wish I knew that right away.
Jaime Hartman (42:16):
I can't imagine how terrifying that must've been to hear those words. All right. And then looking forward, what's something that you see in the future for you and this whole movement of the AIP world?
Marie-Noelle Marquis (42:30):
Yeah. I find the AIP movement so exciting and I feel so excited and honored to be part of it. Add a little part to it. I want to grow my practice. I want to grow urban AIPI want to make it as accessible as possible and have it be everywhere without selling to craft. Bringing that, just growing the presence and just bringing more tools to the community, I think is what really excites me. I would love to build a wellness center and have a physical place for Urban AIP people to eat and then have this whole holistic place clinic that people can go to. Just the mindset being offering that support and those tools to the community.
Jaime Hartman (43:35):
Thank you so much for being so open and sharing your story with our listeners. I know that they're going to really enjoy and appreciate getting to know you and continuing to getting to know you even more as we progress through our coming episodes. So again, for our listeners, we want to reiterate the importance of understanding that AIP is a protocol as we were just talking about with multiple branches, multiple ways that it can be approached. The way that Marie-Noelle approached it and the way that you'll hear about me approaching it in our next episode, not the only way. There are multiple ways you can do that to achieve results, but we are here to guide you through this process and to bring you resources so that while you can do AIP on your own, you don't have to do it alone.
Marie-Noelle Marquis (44:21):
Thank you so much. Thank you, Jaime, for making space for my story and honor to be able to share that with you guys. And thank you for listening. We'll be back with another episode in two weeks, so make sure you subscribe to this podcast if you haven't already.
Jaime Hartman (44:33):
We are excited to continue helping you to use the power of the Autoimmune Protocol to elevate your wellness journey to new heights. The AIP Summit Podcast is a Gutsy By Nature production. Content presented is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
