On this episode of the Healthy, Wealthy and Smart Podcast, I welcome Erica Ballard on the show to discuss how to optimize your health and performance through nutrition.  Erica is the founder of Erica Ballard Health – a wellness company that optimizes individuals’ energy through food. Erica started her company after realizing health looks way different than what she thought, bought into, and sold for decades. Now, an evangelical about helping people do better, Erica teaches working professions how to truly take care of themselves despite their busy schedules. In this episode, we discuss: -The impact of optimal nutrition on performance -How to detect and remedy vitamin and mineral imbalances in your body -Mindfulness strategies to cope with quarantine stressors -And so much more!   Resources: Erica Ballard Website Erica Ballard Instagram Erica Ballard LinkedIn Pantry Essentials Playbook The Lies We've Been Fed Podcast   A big thank you to Net Health for sponsoring this episode!  Learn more about the Redoc Patient Portal here.     For more information on Erica: Erica is the founder of Erica Ballard Health – a wellness company that optimizes individuals’ energy through food. Erica started her company after realizing health looks way different than what she thought, bought into, and sold for decades. Now, an evangelical about helping people do better, Erica teaches working professions how to truly take care of themselves despite their busy schedules. Erica has her MS from Tufts University School of Medicine, got her CHC through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, is a regular contributor to WTHR 13, and has been featured by Women’s Health, Lululemon, and the Young President’s Organization.   Read the full transcript below: Karen Litzy (00:01): Hey, Erica, welcome to the podcast. I'm so happy to have you on. And now, before we get into the meat of our discussion, I would love for you to talk a little bit more about you so that the listeners kind of know how you got from point a to point B to where you are now.   Erica Ballard: Sure. So for most of my life, I have been a public health practitioner. People pleasing go getting type of gal. And so because of that, I thought I knew what healthy was. And so I was always trying to get there through the traditional means of, you know drinking the shakes, eating the bars, following the guidelines. But the thing about it was I never actually looked or felt the way I wanted to, which was again, so confusing because rule following people, please are working in public health. Erica Ballard (01:02): You think that I would look the way that I wanted to given that I knew quote, unquote, exactly what to do because I had these huge desires to not only have the body I wanted and look like the women I saw on TV or magazines, but I also had this like deep desire to be happy. And I thought that health or fitness, because I equated the two at the time was the linchpin for me because externally I had everything that one would desire, but internally I felt unfulfilled. And so the only piece that was missing in my exterior, you know, look was my weight. And so I was like, okay, that's it. So I did what everyone does, who tries to get healthy? I like, I count calories. I followed all the rules. I tried to outrun every French fry or glass of wine that I would have, and I just couldn't get there. Erica Ballard (01:57): And that all changed though, when I moved from East coast to Indianapolis, which is where I'm originally from, I moved here and I went to the Institute for integrative nutrition, even though everyone said, don't do it because I got my master's at Tufts medical. I had still student loans, all those things. I was like, no, this is the thing. And it was like, it was the thing. It actually taught me that, you know, food sleep, stress. Those are the drivers of health. And when I figured that out, I went out and I tried to share this information with people. And when I did, they were like, no, th