#242: Overcoming Challenges Through Faith and Functional Medicine

How can integrating faith, gratitude, and holistic practices transform your life and health?

Today's episode is extra special because I'm actually the guest! My friend and colleague, Dr. Tanya Paynter, had me on her podcast, The Christian Clinician.

In this episode, I share my personal journey of shifting from overworked to embracing divine guidance. I recount how faith has shaped my career in functional medicine, strengthened me during hardships, and guided my focus on work-life balance. From journaling and prayer to fasting and aligning with divine vision, you'll hear more practical ways to achieve personal, professional, and spiritual growth.

We talk more on:

• How prayer and journaling can foster gratitude and personal growth
• My faith-led transition to functional medicine 
• Encouraging spiritual exploration for healing and strength
• Trusting God’s plan for better health and fulfillment
• What the "Faith It" Method is (and why it works!)
• Aligning your life goals with divine vision and daily actions
• Embracing gratitude to shift perspectivesl
• Functional medicine tips for women’s health and lifestyle changes
• And more!

Ready to find out how you can start incorporating these things into your life starting today? Then let's dive in!

Connect with Dr. Tanya Paynter:
Website
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
Podcast

Thank You for Listening!

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Find all these transformative resources and more at FasttoFaith.com. Start your journey today!

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Dr. Tabatha's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@fasttofaith

Transcript

Dr. Tabatha [00:00:00]:
I would just invite you to maybe consider praying in a different way and instead of asking, just thank, thank, thank and really get out of the standard box of what you're thanking him for. Thank him for the troubles. Thank him for the adversity. That's been the game changer for me. That is how I've gotten through some of the hardest situations anyone could ever go through. You know, I had to code one of my friends for three hours after I did an emergency C section to save her baby.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:00:44]:
I'm thrilled you're here with us on the Christian Clinician where we join Faith with evidence based medicine to revitalize your health and renew your faith. Get ready for real and informative conversations with wellness experts and Christian scholars alike to gain a deeper understanding of our faith, explore our God given purpose, and discover how the strength of our relationship with God can impact our health here on earth. Welcome to another episode of the Christian Clinician. I am excited to be speaking with Dr. Tabitha Barber today. Dr. Tabitha has dedicated her life to giving women a voice and a choice when it comes to their health and well being. Overcoming struggles as a young girl, including self esteem challenges and the hurdles of being a high school dropout and teenage mother, she emerged as a successful physician through faith and perseverance.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:01:29]:
Her unwavering commitment to women's health is evident through her triple board certifications in obstetrics and gynecology, menopause and functional medicine as the driving force behind her thriving medical practice. Dr. Tabitha. Tabitha and her team provide compassionate support and care to women nationwide through the Gutsy Gynecologist show, her Gutsy Gy supplement line and her international bestselling book, Fast to Faith. She shares insights into the importance of gut health, hormone balance, mindset, and most importantly, nourishing the soul to truly heal and become whole. She's a beacon of light in a sea of medical darkness. Dr. Tabitha, I'm so excited to have you here today.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:02:05]:
How are you?

Dr. Tabatha [00:02:07]:
Oh, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you. This is a really important conversation.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:02:12]:
I love it. I love. Your book. Is amazing. Fast to Faith. Well, I'm sure we'll be talking about that in a minute, but you know, it's just so important for us to look at how faith can play a role in our healing journey. And I'm so excited to talk to practitioners who also have that same outlook. So would you just tell us a little bit about yourself and your personal story, kind of what led you to where you are right now?

Dr. Tabatha [00:02:35]:
Yeah, I would love to. So honestly I was a wild child. I didn't do well in school. I had no attention, intention of ever going to college or doing any of that. I wanted to be a rock star. And I found myself pregnant in 11th grade. I actually did get married for a while, which was pretty wild. In 11th grade, you know, you're 16 years old.

Dr. Tabatha [00:03:02]:
But I was put on Medicaid and food stamps because my family couldn't afford to really support me at that time. And I was given a doctor who made it clear to me that I was a second class citizen. You know, he would say things like, I'm getting paid 20 cents on the dollar to see you. And it was a rough time. I had a very traumatic delivery. And during those moments I had a come to Jesus moment. Honestly, I got to the point where I was, you know, begging for a C section. I was in relentless pain.

Dr. Tabatha [00:03:48]:
And when the doctor came in, I thought he was going to help me. Right? You, you look at that white coat and you're like, they're going to make me feel better. And when he came in, he put me up in stirrups. I had the most excruciating pain I ever had in my whole life. I almost blacked out. And it turned out that he used forceps to deliver my daughter and gave me a fourth degree laceration, which means like tearing front to back. And I was never the same. And while he was suturing me up and trying to fix me as best he could, I kept looking at my daughter and saying like, I will never let this happen to you.

Dr. Tabatha [00:04:33]:
You will, you will have a choice. You will use your voice. Like I, I just not on my watch. And so it was a real eye opening moment. Like I not only became a mom and a woman, but like a woman on a mission. And I had dropped out of school after 11th grade, so I didn't know, how am I going to like help my daughter? How am I going to help other women not go through what I went through? How am I going to use my own voice? And I just kept talking to God about it, you know, and he directed me to go back to school, get my ged. I went to a community college and it turns out I'm actually really good at school. It's just I didn't care before.

Dr. Tabatha [00:05:19]:
And so, you know, I got a four point for two years straight and transferred to Michigan State with scholarships. And I went on to go to medical school there, the only medical school I applied to. And like, I thought I was doing all of this because God was telling Me like, you need to help women have a voice and a choice in their health. And fast forward 20 years, I'm out in medical practice cranking through 40 patients a day, delivering babies all night, doing surgeries. And I was miserable. I was barely surviving. I was in excruciating back pain, I was exhausted, I couldn't remember my patients names. And I, I realized that this is not how God wanted me to live.

Dr. Tabatha [00:06:11]:
You know, that wasn't sustainable. And so I had to get real with myself and figure out like, how did I go from being directed by God to being so far astray and like cut off and disconnected. And so going through that journey has really taught me so much about how we take care of our bodies and how we interact with ourselves is a direct reflection of the relationship we are having with God or we're not having with God. Oh, that's good. And once I figured that out, I needed to share it, you know, and he spent slowly revealing it day after day to me. And I'm just so excited to share this with you and everybody listening because once you reconnect the body, mind and soul, like you become unstoppable when you're just focused on one of those, you just can't get very far because they're supposed to work together. It's like you're a holy trinity, right? Like you need all those pieces moving together for you to actually evolve into the person that God created you to be.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:07:32]:
That's, that's wonderful. What a great perspective that, you know, we're, we're fragmented and you know, as we go through life, we, we tend to have those, those our experiences can, can either pull us away from who we are and who God is, or it can help draw us closer together. And it sounds like you had a little bit of both, right?

Dr. Tabatha [00:07:50]:
And the hard part was like I thought I was being a good Christian because I was serving nonstop, right? Like I was always giving to my patients. I would special people, meaning like I would deliver them when I was not even on call because I would just always want to please and give to the detriment of myself until I had nothing left. And I came to understand that that is not actually how Jesus, you know, modeled us to be. He rested, he went away, he took time with God. He didn't work all of the time. He set boundaries and I didn't know what boundaries were. And that was literally destroying my health in all aspects. And in return, that pushed me further away from God because I was building resentment and I was getting frustrated and burnt out.

Dr. Tabatha [00:08:48]:
And I remember one night standing in a delivery, it was probably one in the morning, thinking, God, I don't want to be here. Why do I have to be here? I am so tired. And I looked at this beautiful woman and her husband and, and realized this is like the most beautiful moment in their whole life. And I'm over here adding this negative energy to it, like it was a slap in the face. And obviously I, like I shifted in that moment. I was so grateful to be there, but I was showing up in the wrong way because what I was doing, I wasn't living the way I was supposed to be living. And so what I've noticed is that is probably 90 plus percent of my patients coming in. These are the women I'm seeing.

Dr. Tabatha [00:09:43]:
They're not realizing that they're not living how they're authentically created to live. And that's why they're stuck. That's why they have medical conditions, that's why they have, you know, mood disorders and can't release weight and emotional eating habits and all the stuff. So we have to unpack all of that.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:10:04]:
Yeah, it's so true. Because we try to fit into what we think society wants of us. I mean, I've been going through that journey personally myself recently and it's, you know, I thought that a doctor should act a certain way and portray themselves a certain way. And I kind of lost myself. And it wasn't until I started realizing like, God made me who I am for a specific purpose and with my characteristics. And so, you know, we don't have to change based on what we think other people want. We just need to live into who God made us to be.

Dr. Tabatha [00:10:35]:
Absolutely. And, and it's hard to know that sometimes because we are stuck in our physical issues. I have women who are so focused on the diagnosis they've been given or the pain that they're experienc or the depression they're feeling that's really a hormone imbalance or gut problem. Like they think that is what they need to fix and they get so fixated on that that they actually can't fix it.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:11:03]:
Right, right. Yeah, yeah. I've been starting to kind of look at the idea that I think we have medicine backwards. Right. We work on the physical aspect and then also sometimes the emotional stuff that comes with it. But we never talk about spiritual. But if we flipped that and we really started focusing in on our spiritual health, then our emotional health changes and our physical body changes as well. And, and we have a ton of research that shows, like, our, our frame of mind and whether we're positive or negative thinkers, what we choose to focus on, all of that either positively or negatively, affects our physical health too.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:11:36]:
So it all, it all definitely ties together.

Dr. Tabatha [00:11:40]:
Absolutely. So I, I think a lot of people are living mindlessly, meaning they're well meaning, but they're not necessarily acutely aware of all the conversation that is happening in their head subconsciously that is driving their choices and their decisions throughout the day and how they handle things. And once you become aware of what's going on in your mind, you realize that you have way more control than you thought. Because your brain is a computer program, it's going to do whatever you tell it. So if you are constantly believing and saying things like, I can't do this, I can't lose weight, I can't feel better, I, you know, I can't, I can't, I can't. Your brain will find all of those hurdles and those roadblocks and focus in on those. But if you are saying, like, I am healthy, I am well, I can heal and I love my body and my body doesn't betray me, and you say all those things, your brain will look for those solutions to make that truth be real, because that is what your brain is meant to do. And so a lot of us, unfortunately, are just controlled by our brain.

Dr. Tabatha [00:13:05]:
And our brain was programmed incorrectly throughout our life, especially during childhood. And so you have to do a lot of reprogramming to change how you're functioning throughout the day. And that is how you break habits and build, you know, build new habits and create a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. And the amazing thing is God gave us this superpower of fasting that kind of speeds up all of it. Because when you fast your body, you deny your flesh and you become acutely aware of what it's saying to you. Then you can start to tap in and really find the strength in your mind to shift things. And you look to God for that strength. You stop trying to do it all on your own, because it turns out you actually can't do it on your own, right? So the truth, it's really powerful.

Dr. Tabatha [00:14:04]:
And oftentimes women don't realize as well that when you have a thought and a feeling, whether consciously or subconsciously, your body creates chemicals in response to that. So if I'm sure anyone listening, you've had a fight before, it really enraged you, it made you feel terrible. If you start thinking about that for about five minutes and like really get into it in your memory, your heart Will start racing, you will get sweaty, you will get jittery, and, like, angry. And like, gosh, I need to talk about this. I'm angry all over again. Even though it was five years ago, because your brain just told your body to make chemicals. And those chemicals go throughout your body and send signals to all the cells in your body to either be inflammatory and destructive or restorative and healing. It depends on what your thoughts were.

Dr. Tabatha [00:15:04]:
And so we have to become aware of this because we have way more power over our health than the white coats told us we do. And the Bible is clear about this. You know, I live by Romans 12, 2. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So if you want to shift your physical body, you have to start with shifting your mind.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:15:32]:
I love that. So you mentioned the chemical changes that can happen when you think negative thoughts. What impact do you find that faith and belief have on the body's physical response to treatment? In your experience?

Dr. Tabatha [00:15:46]:
Oh, my gosh. As soon as you get into an attitude of gratitude, those chemicals stop being produced. Because it turns out you cannot be in a stressed out, worried state and be in a space of gratitude at the same time. Like, your body has to pick. It's. We have two parts of our nervous system in our autonomic or automatic part of our nervous system. We have the sympathetic, which is like, we're stressed out, we're going to run or fight, or, you know, we're just. We can't deal.

Dr. Tabatha [00:16:19]:
We're overwhelmed. And then there's the parasympathetic, which is rest, digest, repair all the good things. They help us break down our food and heal our wounds, all of that stuff. And you can't be in both of those systems at the same time. So your brain helps your nervous system decide which one you're going to be in. And that also is dependent on the chemicals that you're making. So if you're making stress chemicals, you're going to stay stuck in this sympathetic state. And sympathetic sounds nice, but it's not.

Dr. Tabatha [00:16:54]:
It's destructive. It breaks down your cells. It increases your risk of cancer and diseases. So you don't want to be in that state all of the time. And the quickest way to shift out is to get a pen and start journaling. This is what I teach in my Fast to faith program. In the book, it's a practice called lectio divina. You have a scripture, you read it aloud, you meditate on it and ask God, what are you trying to tell me right now? Because the word is a living, nourishing word.

Dr. Tabatha [00:17:31]:
Like it is active for you in this moment every single day. It's not for men 2,000 years ago. Like, it will pertain to your particular situation if you read it with intention and start to hear from God and ask him, what do you want me to get from this? And then you put your pen to the paper and you start writing. And a lot of women struggle with this in the beginning. They're like, I don't know what to write. And I said, that's what you write. I don't know what to write. Dear God.

Dr. Tabatha [00:18:00]:
And just write the questions, the answers will flow because as long as stuff is jumbled in your head, you, you can't find a solution. You have to get some kind of flow of energy. And by journaling, the solutions will come and you will start hearing from God. And it is so powerful. And I just see women transform because here's the thing, I've done this for years without the faith piece and women get results and whatever and then they go back to their old ways after like three months and they stay stuck. So it's like two steps forward, one step back, and then three steps back when you incorporate the Bible and you start cultivating that relationship with Jesus and you are saying, I need you to get me through this every day. Let's have a conversation ongoing. Let it flow through me with the Holy Spirit.

Dr. Tabatha [00:19:01]:
That is transformative, that is permanent change. And obviously you have to feed it for a while and keep doing it until it becomes a habit. But then you get to a point where it's like, I can't do life without you, God. Like, what a difference, right?

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:19:18]:
Yeah, yeah. I sometimes get tired of praying the same prayer, God, show me what I need to work on and help me to do it, whatever the specific thing is. And it does get kind of repetitive and you're like, am I ever going to change? But also journaling, you know, journey, journaling your journey and the things that you pray for and the things that he's answered. And if you look back over even just a six month period, the changes that he's helped to make in you can, can really just help feed that when you feel like you continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again. I always think of Paul and when he said, you know, I, I don't do the things I want to do and I do the things that I don't want to do, and it's just so true. I Mean, we do, and we can't help it. But, but. But praying those prayers over and over again, like you, he does work his good works in you.

Dr. Tabatha [00:20:06]:
Yeah. And, you know, I used to treat God like a genie in the bottle. Like, did I. I would be begging him, like, dear God, remove this, take care of that. Give me this, give me that. I'm like, God is not a genie in a bottle.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:20:23]:
You can't. Then you get confused.

Dr. Tabatha [00:20:24]:
Wishing first. Yeah.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:20:26]:
Why is he not answering my question or my. My prayer? I was supposed to answer my prayers.

Dr. Tabatha [00:20:31]:
Exactly. He's trying to teach you something. Ask him for the wisdom and thank him for the trials and tribulations. It says it clearly in the Bible. You have to have joy during those times because it's evolving you into a better person. And so I would just invite you to maybe consider praying in a different way. And instead of asking, just thank, thank, thank and really get out of the standard box of what you're thanking him for. Thank him for the troubles, thank him for the adversity.

Dr. Tabatha [00:21:10]:
Thank him for the struggles. Thank him for that difficult person because it is just making you better. And that's been the game changer for me. That is how I've gotten through, like, some of the hardest situations anyone could ever go through. You know, I had to code one of my friends for three hours after I did an emergency C section to save her baby.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:21:36]:
Oh, my God.

Dr. Tabatha [00:21:37]:
And she didn't make it. And the way I made it through and I've come to understand and appreciate that situation is having that conversation with God and knowing that his plan is better than I could ever imagine. And I don't need to understand it. That's not my job. My job is to have faith and to walk by faith. You have to believe before you receive. Right.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:22:04]:
That's. That's such a good reminder that. That we don't have to know what he's having us do. And sometimes, like, the easiest time times in my life have been when I've just said, fine, and I just let go and I just walk where I know I'm supposed to. Of course, then I always take back that control or try to, and then it starts to go downhill. But it's. It's so true. Like, if we can just learn to.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:22:26]:
To trust Him. But what I found for me is that I couldn't do that. I had to keep praying. Holy Spirit, give me the strength to learn to let go. Like, show me how to let go. I truly want you to take this from me. I don't know how to give it to you. That was my prayer.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:22:39]:
It still is my prayer. I'm still working on it. But amazingly, the more I pray that the, the more I find myself not so wrapped up in having to control it. And the things that I think I have to do, they suddenly just don't seem that important. I'm not feeling called to doing them. And so it's totally upheaved. Upheaved. It's totally, you know, messed my life up from my own plans.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:23:03]:
But, you know, I have a contentment about it and it's just like, fine, I'll just, I'll just walk in that now. That's where I am in this period of my life. We'll see where I am in another four or five months. But you know, there's just something really peaceful about just letting go. And. But you really do have to pray earnestly. Like, that's really what I want. I want to learn how to let go.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:23:24]:
Show me how to let go. And that has been my prayer for the last six months. Just show me how to let go.

Dr. Tabatha [00:23:30]:
Absolutely. And then let your actions, you know, follow your words. So when I was stuck in conventional medicine and I was like completely burnt out, I had gone through back surgery, took six weeks off to heal, and I re injured my third night and I couldn't move. I knew, like, I can't do, like whatever I'm doing isn't working. You know, I have to do something different. And I had to completely go by faith because I ended up taking four months off of work, which was completely unheard of. And I found the world of functional medicine and I healed myself naturally and I tried to go back and see my patients, but once my eyes were opened, I couldn't. I couldn't do it right.

Dr. Tabatha [00:24:20]:
You can't. And I had to make the toughest decision ever. Like, I could no longer stay in that job that was killing me. But in, in the world's eyes, I had an amazing life. I had an amazing salary, job that my family thought I was rich because I come from nothing, right? I had a 401k and health insurance, which we never had growing up. I was chief of, of the hospital. Like, how on earth would you ever consider giving any of that up? That's crazy talk. And God said, I've got you.

Dr. Tabatha [00:25:01]:
We're going to go heal women with functional medicine and you don't have to worry about how any of it's going to happen. And that was the scariest thing I've ever done. But I Knew that I had to trust him yet again, like I did when I was 17. And it's been the best decision I've ever done. You have to feel the fear and do it anyway. If you are called and you know you're not living authentically, that is going to cause disease, that is going to cause cancer. That is how that works. And so I just.

Dr. Tabatha [00:25:36]:
If you're listening and you're like, feeling really stuck, it's time for that come to Jesus moment. I'm sorry, it is.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:25:45]:
It's hard.

Dr. Tabatha [00:25:45]:
So worth it. I'm on the other side. I went through the mountain and I promise you it's worth it. I have a thriving virtual medical practice. I see women all over the country and I help them feel well. And I don't do surgery anymore. Like, I used to do six surgeries a week. Now I do none.

Dr. Tabatha [00:26:05]:
And I actually heal women. Like, thank you, God.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:26:09]:
Yeah, that's amazing.

Dr. Tabatha [00:26:11]:
So.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:26:12]:
So when you are having conversations with people who are kind of in the thick of it and trying to let go of some of the phys, you know, control of the physical or the physical symptoms that they're experiencing, how do you approach conversations about bringing your faith and spirituality into that health journey?

Dr. Tabatha [00:26:31]:
Well, if they don't already know that I'm a Christian, you know, I will ask them, do you have any spiritual beliefs or do you, you know, have faith that you rely on through life? You know, and they'll answer me. And then we ask them if they're open to that kind of conversation. And I accept. Explain. Like, even when going to do school as a doctor of osteopathic medicine, we were trained the bind body connection and that everything's connected and that you can't have this soul that is dying and atrophying and then have a healthy, thriving mind and body. It just doesn't work. They're physically connected. So we always try to at least establish that conversation of, like, where do you get your strength when you just can't do it anymore? What do you tap into? Like, if you're all you got, you are going to continue to struggle because that is not actually how you were created.

Dr. Tabatha [00:27:33]:
You were created to be in community. You were created to be loved. And you were created to rely on your creator, and he's the one that made you, so he knows what you need to fix you. You know, you don't know. You didn't make you. And one of my favorite scriptures, First Corinthians 6, when I read this, this was like one of the pivotal Pieces that really solidified the fact that I needed to bring faith into the medical practice. It says, do you not know your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? You are not your own. You were bought at a.

Dr. Tabatha [00:28:13]:
Therefore honor God with your bodies. I was treating my body like a garbage can. I was dumping in Mountain Dew and Taco Bell and donuts and M M's from the break room and whatever I could find because that wasn't important to me. I just needed any kind of quick energy to go do a delivery or whatever. And I abused my body and I paid the price. My body was screaming for help. It was screaming at me to stop doing what it was doing. Of those symptoms, the back pain, the Hashimoto's, the depression, the heavy periods, I had everything under the sun and it was all just my body trying to tell me to do something different and pay attention.

Dr. Tabatha [00:29:00]:
And I wasn't listening. So if you get into a posture of like, oh my gosh, I only do get one body. And it was actually lent to me by God, like he wants me to use it for good. And you start honoring it and thanking him for it instead of hating it and telling it how fat and ugly it is and how it can't. You know, I'd be like, why can't you do this? Why do you have to be in so much pain? I hate you. I just, I hated my body and I was just sinning toward God. Like it was not okay how I was acting. And I find that we're all kind of doing that at some level.

Dr. Tabatha [00:29:43]:
And you know, I get people who say, well, you know, that's superficial. You shouldn't care about your body. You shouldn't care about your, your looks or how you feel. And that's not what the Bible is telling me. The Bible is telling me that you're here for an earthly experience on purpose. I gave you a body for a reason. It's not to be abused. It's to honor me.

Dr. Tabatha [00:30:09]:
And so that just shifted everything for me. I was like, oh my gosh, I need to pay attention to what I eat and how I move and how I interact with other people and what I do with my body. It matters.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:30:22]:
It does matter so much. So, so how, how would you recommend a patient like, this is kind of new to, to talk about faith in medicine, right? And not everybody has a, a physician who has learned that the mind and the body and the spirit all need to be addressed. So how would you suggest that somebody, a patient, bring up their faith with their doctor to kind of get this ball rolling. Any, any, any thoughts there?

Dr. Tabatha [00:30:49]:
Well, I will say that it's going to be difficult to bring up basic medical stuff with a lot of doctors. This is what I just hear from 20 plus years of age experience is women get dismissed, they get told they're crazy, they get all kinds of gaslighted. And so I wouldn't broach that conversation unless you felt safe to do so. And you had hints that your provider was along the same lines as you. Because I get women dismissed about straight up medical stuff that they shouldn't get dismissed about. And here's the thing, I don't want women to just do what they're told by the doctors. This age of paternalistic medicine is gone. Like we cannot let our interactions be like that.

Dr. Tabatha [00:31:47]:
You have to be your own health advocate and you have to get educated. And if you don't want to have difficult conversations because they aren't open to that. You know, there's a lot of doctors out there, they either think they know it all, they have an ego, or they mean well and they're kind, but they just don't know because they don't. I would, I would say look for another provider. I promise there are different providers out there who are thinking more like you're thinking and having those beliefs and they can help you navigate that because unfortunately the conventional medical system is broken and we call OB GYNs women's health experts, but we're surgeons. Like I did a four year surgical residency, I learned how to do a hysterectomy four different ways and stat C sections and procedures in the office. I didn't sit and study hormone intricacies and how the gut affects everything and how the adrenals play a part. And I definitely didn't learn about diet and lifestyle.

Dr. Tabatha [00:32:58]:
I had to go on and do many years of training with functional medicine, anti aging medicine, all of that, to understand that. So we're just looking to the wrong people for help, you know, so don't even be mad, don't even be upset if, if you try to start a conversation and it goes nowhere. They just don't have the tools. They're surgeons, they know how to cut things. So that's why I'm really excited, you know, to have gotten this book out there. Literally this was a download a year and a half, maybe two years at this point from God. He was like, you need to teach women how to nourish their soul and why it's important physically. And so the book is pretty much everything a woman needs to know from a functional medicine standpoint about all your systems, your gut, your immune system, your thyroid, your adrenals, your sex hormones, how it's all interacting together with your mind and your soul to create either a healthy you or a diseased you.

Dr. Tabatha [00:34:03]:
And then it has the 40 day fast to faith program, which I would say for over 70% of women, that's all you need. You need to start incorporating fasting as a lifestyle. Eating faith foods instead of franken foods, I call them, because we make all these foods in the, in the lab now. They're not real foods, they're like franken foods. You get back to eating faith foods. You treat your body the way God taught you to treat it. You will shift, things will change. And I talk about breaking up with sugar, how it's addictive and why, and what the problem is with gluten and some dairy.

Dr. Tabatha [00:34:42]:
And like, I really just break down a lot of myths, you know, how the low fat, no fat diet destroyed our health and our mental state and all the things women need to know so that you can stop feeling guilty that, like, how come everything I'm doing isn't working? Why is my body failing? You're not failing. Your body's not failing you. We are failing it as a medical system. So I think when women read this book, they just feel empowered. Like, I actually know what's going on in my body now. I can have a conversation with a doctor and know when they're full of it and when I need to move on, let's be honest. And so the more that you can take back control of your health, the more successful you're going to be, Honestly. Yeah.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:35:32]:
I think you touched on a few really good points. One of them being I'm a huge advocate for if you're not comfortable talking to your doctor, you need to find a new doctor. And sometimes that's easier said than done. But there is something extremely therapeutic about having somebody that you trust and that you can go and talk to about whatever it is. And if you don't have that look for that, I always say, you know, I don't want, I don't want a functional medicine doctor or an ND working on me. If I have a broken bone or need a surgery like emergency room, I want my MDs there. I want them to do their thing. That's where they're skilled.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:36:07]:
But when it comes to understanding how these symptoms are manifesting and how our body works as a whole, I want the functional medicine naturopathic doctor who has been trained in all of these things. So we shine in chronic medicine, MDs and DOs, and the conventional doctors really shine in that acute trauma medicine. And so we can have both as part of our team.

Dr. Tabatha [00:36:29]:
Right.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:36:29]:
It's great to have both on, but we want to make sure we're seeing the right person for the right things and.

Dr. Tabatha [00:36:35]:
Absolutely. Yeah. Like, I could save your life or your baby's life, but I couldn't reverse your autoimmune condition. Not until I, you know, became certified in functional medicine. Like, it's just totally two different worlds.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:36:50]:
Yeah, you're a gem. You can do both. You have the functional training and the surgery training.

Dr. Tabatha [00:36:54]:
You're.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:36:55]:
You're all in one.

Dr. Tabatha [00:36:56]:
I do feel a little bit like a unicorn or something. But it's good to know that perspective because that's. I know what conventional doctors are saying to these women. I know. And it breaks my heart because I used to do the same darn thing. So I agree. Like, you just keep searching. You find somebody, and if your gynecologist doesn't even talk to you about your sex life and your feelings and they're just trying to handle.

Dr. Tabatha [00:37:24]:
Hand you pills for everything, like, that's. Those are huge red flags. Like, you shouldn't be with them, honestly.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:37:32]:
Yeah. Yeah. So in the few minutes that we have left, I'd love to hear a couple of the. The tips that you have. So you've talked about one, to try to kind of get into the parasympathetic, that rest and digest mode that's so important for healing. And you talked about biblically journaling. So that.

Dr. Tabatha [00:37:47]:
That's.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:37:48]:
That's wonderful. Do you have any other suggestions for kind of helping to support that? Getting out of that fight or flight and into that. That rest and digest mode?

Dr. Tabatha [00:37:58]:
Yeah, I mean, I talk so much about all this stuff in the book, you know, how to shift your gut, health and everything. And the journaling that I was describing is actually part of a method I call faith it, where you get into this. This program of fasting so that you can start to focus on that relationship with God and stop listening to all the fleshly cravings of your body. You ask him for guidance, you ink it for clarity, you thank him, and then you have to hear from him. So a lot of times we pray, pray, pray, and then we don't stop to listen for the answer. Right. So we do need that piece of it. And then we do have to initiate action.

Dr. Tabatha [00:38:45]:
God wants us to be in active participant mir. You know, he's not going to make everything happen while we're just sitting here, like, you have to get out and start working toward that. And then trust his timing. That was a big thing for me, was I wanted everything yesterday, I wanted everything now. And I had to learn the hard way this past year that my timing is not as good as God's timing. God sees bigger things that you cannot see. He sees what other people are doing that are affecting you and the. The road ahead.

Dr. Tabatha [00:39:20]:
So just trust him that you're on this spot in your journey where you're supposed to be, like, just release any frustration or anger or regret. Like, I should have found this functional doctor sooner. I should have done this detox sooner. No, know you're on the timing that you're supposed to be on and lean into that. And I will say like, that if you could release that, that's just control again. And it helps you shift so much. And then one other thing which I absolutely love. It's in chapter eight in my book.

Dr. Tabatha [00:40:00]:
It's called Future Gazing with God. And I just walk women through this process of. Of seeing. How does God see you? Like, here's how I see me, but here's how God sees me. And then how do I get closer to how he sees me in the future? And I go through this exercise of, like, what do you want your life to look like in five years? Who do you want to be? How do you want to feel? What do you want to look like? What do you want to be doing throughout your day? And the more you can get crystal clear with that, like, I did this, and I got down to, like, I want to drink coffee while I see my patients. And that was like, the clarity I needed to create the life I wanted and that God had planned for me. And once you get that clarity, then you reverse engineer it. You say, okay, what is that woman doing every day? How is she moving her body? What is she eating? What time does she go to sleep? What time does she wake up? What kind of thoughts are she having? And you will start to step in to that future you.

Dr. Tabatha [00:41:12]:
That God has planned for you. So it's pretty powerful. And I recommend that you do it every so often, every time you're feeling stuck, every time you're like, just in your ego again, in your. In yourself again. You know, it's just so powerful. So I love future gazing with God.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:41:33]:
That's great. And I think that it's. I just want to reiterate what you had mentioned just prior to that is that, you know, talking to God and listening to what he has so it's not. Sometimes I feel like, you know, we. We always hear, think about what you want, and then it will happen, right? Or plan it, and it will happen. But if we really take that minute to pray on it and listen to what God has intended for us, which is going to be way better than anything we can think of anyway, if we hear him and write that down along, like, he's going to give us our desires, right? So if we. And I think that's what you're saying, like, if we get clear on what our desires are, those are going to be coming from him too. So it's that combination of, like, what do we want? And does that feel in alignment with what God is providing for us or has for us? And that's.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:42:18]:
That's really how, you know, we can start to walk in his will for us by understanding what he has for us. And because that. That was something that I had done. Like, I put all these. These, you know, boards and together in the pictures, and I was like, I'm gonna make this happen. And none of it has happened. But when I prayed about it, and I was like, why is nothing that I asked for happening? Here's this genie in the body bottle thing again, right? And he was like, do you really want that?

Dr. Tabatha [00:42:43]:
And.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:42:44]:
And when I stopped to listen, like, that's what I heard. Do you really want that? And I was like, no. And he's like, what do you really want? And I'm like, I really want to be at home and spend time with my kids and be able to work from home. And he's like, like, isn't that what you're doing? I was like, oh, so.

Dr. Tabatha [00:43:00]:
Oh, my gosh, that's such an important point. Like, I remember a couple weeks ago walking my dogs, being very frustrated and annoyed with them because I didn't have time to do it. Like, they wanted to go at the worst time and they wouldn't leave me alone. And I was walking them and I was, like, so angry. Like, why do I have to take care of these stupid dogs? And I heard God say, two years ago, you prayed to me and asked me to be able to walk your dogs every day because that's how crazy your life was. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I just keep getting everything that I've been praying for, and I'm not being grateful for it. So get back into that attitude of gratitude.

Dr. Tabatha [00:43:41]:
Be careful what you wish for, and, like, just acknowledge that he is. Is working powerfully in your life all of the time. But we are too busy to pay attention. Busyness is from the enemy. I promise you. It's just a distraction. You do not have to be that productive. Yeah, God accepts you.

Dr. Tabatha [00:44:07]:
Like, you don't have to perform to get your salvation, to get his blessings. You do not. That is why Jesus came. Right? So stop trying to overproduce and be so busy that you are living out of alignment.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:44:23]:
Yes, that is such a good point because it's so true. Like, we feel like if we have that hour to sit with our feet up, drinking a hot cup of tea and reading a book in the sun, that we're like wasting our day. And it's so not. It's okay to. I had that same prayer as well. It was just like I had my list of 75 things that I had to get done today and I couldn't stop to eat lunch. So I'm eating lunch in front of my community computer as I'm working and he's like, just stop. Go outside and sit for an hour.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:44:52]:
And I'm like, I don't have time for that. And he's like, yeah, you do. None of this is important. And it wasn't until you know those little things. And again, just like you said, just really stopping and listening when he's prompting you and not ignoring him because you think you have to do these other things and that's so important.

Dr. Tabatha [00:45:08]:
Yeah, just rest in his promises.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:45:11]:
Yes.

Dr. Tabatha [00:45:11]:
I mean, I used to work 70, 80 hours a week. Now I work probably 20, 25 hours a week. I make way more money and I love my life and I have my health back. Like, if you trust God, he'll take you there, I promise.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:45:31]:
And. And there's always those seasons of waiting as well, which I think are important to mention because those can be the hardest, where it's like, I'm doing the work. I'm not seeing anything happening. What's going on. And. And yeah, I think we just need to. That's where we really have to hold on to that faith and know that he's taking us somewhere. It's just not just yet exactly.

Dr. Tabatha [00:45:52]:
Trust is timing.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:45:54]:
Well, Dr. Tabla, this has been an amazing conversation. Thank you so much. Where can people find. So your book, Fast to faith, a 40 day awakening. Where can they find that and where can they find you?

Dr. Tabatha [00:46:06]:
Yeah, they can just go to fast to faith.com and if you. You are looking for a functional practitioner, you trying to get your hormones imbalance, all the things you can check out. Drtabatha.com it's three A's no I. Or if you're like, I need more medical stuff, I got all kinds of issues. The Gutsy Gynecologist show. We go into detail about all of this. So thank you so much.

Dr. Tanya Paynter [00:46:31]:
Thank you so much. And we'll talk to you guys all later. Thank you for listening to our podcast. Please subscribe for more topics like this, where we focus on bringing our faith and health together for a whole you if you have questions around your health or your faith, including doubts and struggles with what you've been taught about God, we'd love to have you send us an email@supportall.com.