The Elevated Health Podcast

The holidays are not joyful for everyone.
For many, Christmas and the holiday season intensify grief, loneliness, and emotional pain. In this episode, Amanda Jones sits down with licensed clinical social worker Shelly Moss, LCSW, to discuss how to navigate grief during the holidays.
You’ll learn:
• Why loss feels heavier during the holiday season• The difference between grief and seasonal depression• How traditions can trigger emotional pain• Practical coping tools for holiday gatherings• How to set boundaries while protecting your mental health• Ways to honor loved ones while creating space for healing
Grief does not disappear because the calendar says it is time to celebrate.
If you are navigating loss, strained relationships, infertility, illness, or unmet expectations during the holidays, this conversation offers compassion, validation, and practical guidance.

Why do cravings feel stronger during the holidays?
In this episode, we break down how stress hormones — especially cortisol — impact blood sugar, appetite regulation, and emotional eating. Holiday stress does more than affect your mood. It changes your physiology.
You’ll learn:
• How cortisol influences insulin and blood sugar• Why stress increases cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates• The connection between sleep loss and hunger hormones• How chronic stress contributes to weight gain• Practical strategies to regulate cortisol during busy seasons• How to enjoy holidays without metabolic backlash
Stress is not just emotional. It is hormonal and metabolic.
If you struggle with holiday overeating, late-night cravings, or seasonal weight gain, this episode explains what is happening in your body and how to regain balance.

The menstrual cycle is more than just a period.
In this episode, we break down the 28-day menstrual cycle, explaining what happens hormonally during each phase and how estrogen, progesterone, and ovulation shape mood, metabolism, energy, and fertility.
You’ll learn:
• The four phases of the menstrual cycle• What estrogen does in the follicular phase• How ovulation affects energy and insulin sensitivity• Why progesterone rises in the luteal phase• Why PMS symptoms occur• How cycle timing influences sleep, cravings, and workouts
Understanding your menstrual cycle is foundational to hormone health, fertility awareness, and metabolic stability.
If you want to better interpret mood shifts, cravings, energy changes, or irregular symptoms, this episode offers a clear, physiology-based guide to what is happening each week.

This episode is one of our most listened-to conversations — and it is worth revisiting.
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges today. But what actually drives it, and how do we move toward peace?
In this conversation, Amanda Jones sits down with licensed clinical social worker Shelly Moss, LCSW, to discuss anxiety, stress, nervous system dysregulation, and emotional resilience.
You’ll learn:
• What anxiety is from a clinical perspective• The difference between stress and anxiety disorders• How nervous system dysregulation fuels chronic overwhelm• Therapy tools that help restore emotional balance• The connection between physical health and mental health• Practical strategies for moving toward peace
This conversation remains timely and relevant — especially in seasons of stress, illness, or burnout.
If you struggle with anxiety, emotional overload, or persistent stress, this episode offers both compassion and clinical clarity.

What does it really take to build a functional medicine practice from the ground up?
In this five-year anniversary episode, Amanda Jones reflects on launching Elevated Health in 2020, navigating COVID-era pivots, expanding into telemedicine and metabolic care, and growing a practice centered on root-cause medicine.
You’ll learn:
• How functional medicine fits into a modern healthcare landscape• The realities of entrepreneurship in medicine• What building a private practice teaches about patient care• Lessons learned about time, energy, and sustainability• Why metabolic health and realistic nutrition remain foundational• The importance of community, resilience, and long-term vision
Amanda shares both challenges and milestones — from travel testing during the pandemic to opening a downtown clinic, growing a team, expanding GLP-1 and wellness services, and launching a podcast.
This episode is not just a celebration. It is a reflection on what sustainable healthcare, business ownership, and patient-centered medicine require.
If you are a clinician, entrepreneur, or patient curious about the behind-the-scenes of modern functional practice, this conversation offers honest insight and practical perspective.

Self-care is often framed as indulgent. In reality, it is physiological.
In this episode, Amanda Jones sits down with Gloria Hargrave, Licensed Massage Therapist, to discuss how chronic stress, muscle tension, and nervous system overload impact physical and emotional health.
You’ll learn:
• How chronic stress dysregulates the nervous system• The connection between muscle tension and emotional strain• Why massage therapy supports parasympathetic activation• How burnout affects hormones, sleep, and recovery• Practical ways to incorporate sustainable self-care• Why rest is a biological requirement, not a reward
This conversation reframes self-care as a survival strategy in a high-stress culture.
If you struggle with chronic tension, stress overload, or burnout, this episode explains how body-based therapies can support nervous system regulation and long-term resilience.

Is Body Mass Index actually a reliable measure of health?
In this episode, Amanda Jones breaks down the history of BMI, why it was never designed to assess individual health, and how it can misclassify muscle, bone density, and body composition.
You’ll learn:
• Where BMI came from and how it became standard in medicine• Why BMI does not distinguish fat from muscle• How height, sex, and ethnicity influence BMI interpretation• Why some athletes and metabolically healthy individuals fall into “overweight” categories• The role of clinician bias in weight-based assumptions• Better tools for assessing health, including waist-to-height ratio, body fat percentage, fasting insulin, triglycerides, and HDL
Health cannot be reduced to a single number.
This episode offers a more nuanced, evidence-based way to evaluate weight, metabolic health, and overall wellness — without shame or oversimplification.
If you’ve ever been told your BMI defines your health, this conversation will help you understand what matters more.

Can you enjoy vacation without undoing your progress?
In this episode, we discuss how to approach travel, social events, and time off without food guilt or metabolic backtracking. A protein-forward plate and the 80/20 rule create structure without restriction.
You’ll learn:
• How protein supports satiety and blood sugar stability while traveling• Why extreme restriction leads to rebound overeating• What the 80/20 rule actually means in practice• How to build balanced meals in restaurants• Simple strategies to avoid vacation weight gain• Why metabolic flexibility matters more than perfection
Healthy living is not about all-or-nothing thinking. It is about consistency over time.
If you want to enjoy vacation, holidays, and social events while protecting your energy, blood sugar, and weight goals, this episode gives you a realistic framework.

Chronic sinus pressure, headaches, TMJ pain, and breathing dysfunction are often treated with medication. But what if the root cause is structural?
In this episode, Amanda Jones sits down with Audrey Lamberson, DPT, to discuss the Nasal Release Technique (NRT) and how specialized manual therapy can improve airway function, cranial alignment, lymphatic drainage, and nervous system regulation.
They cover:
• What the Nasal Release Technique is and how it works• How turbinate restriction affects nasal airflow and sinus pressure• The connection between TMJ dysfunction, headaches, and breathing mechanics• Concussion recovery, brain fog, and tongue-tie considerations• Why pelvic floor coordination and airway function are linked• What patients can expect during treatment
Audrey shares real patient examples, including long-standing headache relief after tongue-tie and nasal work, as well as Amanda’s personal experience recovering from facial trauma and brainstem surgery through coordinated breathing, pelvic-floor, and cranial therapy.
This episode highlights a holistic, whole-body approach to complex symptoms that span posture, breathing, pain, and emotional health.
If you struggle with chronic congestion, sinus headaches, jaw tension, mouth breathing, or unresolved post-concussion symptoms, this conversation offers a structural perspective beyond medication.

Recovery is not just physical. It is metabolic, hormonal, emotional, and nervous system driven.
In this episode, we explore what true recovery requires — whether you are healing from surgery, intense workouts, illness, or chronic stress.
You’ll learn:
• Why protein intake is critical for tissue repair• How hydration and electrolytes support healing• The role of sleep in hormone balance and immune function• How stress and sympathetic overdrive impair recovery• Why movement matters, even during healing• Practical strategies to support faster, more complete recovery
Recovery is about shifting from a sympathetic stress state into parasympathetic repair. Without that shift, healing is delayed.
If you are navigating surgery recovery, burnout, illness, or simply want to optimize resilience, this episode gives you a clear framework to support your body’s repair systems.