Overwhelmed by Wellness? How to Tune Out the Noise and Trust Your Body in 2026 - Episode 301

I reflect on the rising volume of wellness advice and share a calmer way to choose what truly fits your life in 2026. Through personal stories, insights, and practical reflection, I outline how to trust resonance, honor bioindividuality, and do inner work that lasts.

• shifting the show toward thoughtful solo guidance
• why balanced wellness needs body, mind, spirit and soul
• the cost of one-size-fits-all training advice
• bioindividuality across menopause and thyroid health
• separating hype from helpful context in social media
• building discernment and inner listening
• inner blocks, energy work and ongoing growth
• intentions for a gentler, wiser 2026

Be sure to follow my show, rate it, review it, and share it.  Email me Sandy@sandyknutrition.ca.  My website is sandykruse.ca.
If you feel called to join Brenda's course, which starts this month, her website is www.sobrilliant.ca.  Be sure to share it with someone you know might benefit.
And always remember, when you rate, review, subscribe, you help to support my content and help me keep going and bring these conversations to you each and every week.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Show Refresh
• 1:46 Philosophy Of Balanced Wellness
• 3:39 Subscribe, Connect, And Get Involved
• 4:22 Writing, Credentials, And Thyroid Focus
• 6:09 Menopause, Thyroid, And Individual Needs
• 6:53 Turn Inward: New Year Intentions
• 8:01 Drowning In Wellness Noise
• 9:25 Discernment And Quiet Voices
• 11:23 Bioindividuality And Context Gaps
• 12:44 The Social Media Conundrum
• 14:48 Purpose, Passion, And Origins
• 17:14 Just Start: The Podcast Story
• 19:12 The Layers That Block Intuition

Transcript

Sandy Kruse: 0:02

Hi everyone, it's me, Sandy Kruse of Sandy K Nutrition Health and Lifestyle Queen. For years now, I've been bringing to you conversations about wellness from incredible guests from all over the world. Discover a fresh take on healthy living for midlife and beyond. One that embraces balance and reason without letting only science dictate every aspect of our wellness. Join me and my guests as we explore ways that we can age gracefully with in-depth conversations about the thyroid, about hormones, and other alternative wellness options for you and your family. True Wellness nurtures a healthy body, mind, spirit, and soul. And we cover all of these essential aspects to help you live a balanced, joyful life. Be sure to follow my show, rate it, review it, and share it. Always remember, my friends, balanced living works. Hi everyone, welcome to Sandy K Nutrition Health and Lifestyle Queen podcast. Happy, happy 2026. I took quite a bit of time off. I took an entire month off. And I have, as most of you know, changed the way that I do my podcast. I have changed the structure whereby sometimes I do have guests, but more often than not, I do a lot of solo episodes, more so to help you think about your wellness versus my telling you how to think about your wellness. And I think the majority of you will really love my first episode, which I've also written an article on. Most of you know I'm the podcast host of Sandy K Nutrition Health and Lifestyle Queen. If you're not sure where to subscribe, go to sandycruz.ca. You'll see all of the links there. Sandy is S A N D Y. Cruise is K-R-U-S E.ca. Now, I'm also a registered holistic nutritionist. I'm also a certified metabolic balance coach. I've been in this industry of holistic W-H-O-L E Holistic Health for many, many years now. And I've seen a lot of trends. I've seen a lot of things in this industry. And really, my primary goal is to help educate others on how they can live a healthier, happier life and age better, but it's through body, mind, spirit, soul. I do not believe that we can be whole and healthy without balancing all of these things. And I know it sometimes seems hard, but you see some individuals out there who are all about the science. And while science is important, it's not always applicable to you and your bio individuality. I am going to ask you to hit subscribe wherever you are watching or listening so that you can be sure that you get updated every single week on all of my new episodes. Because I'm changing things up and I would like to hear from you more. I would like to hear from you about topics that you would like me to explore more. Maybe you want to be a guest on my show. Maybe you want to sponsor my show. Maybe you want to have more say in some of the topics that I talk about. Just email me sandy at sandyknutrition.ca. And now I am going to talk about something that I think is very applicable for the new year. And it's actually all about turning inward. Like more and more of us are really getting bombarded by a lot of noise. So I'm going to read you my Substack article. You can subscribe to my Substack. Most of you also know I am also a writer. My degree is in English literature. So I've released the Essential Thyroid Guide. When did I do that? That would have been in 2024, March. It is on Amazon. It is only a guide. It is not, and I'm not going to say only, I'm not going to minimize it. It's a great guide. And it's all about the thyroid gland. It is not a clinical advisory book. I am not a doctor. I do have numerous certifications in endocrinology, hormones, functional health, functional lab testing, all of those things. And I kind of combine that along with more of the holistic side of how to keep your thyroid gland healthy. Most of you know I had mine removed in 2011 due to thyroid cancer. So it's one of my passions and one of my greatest, greatest studies is all about thyroid health. And for most of you out there who are listening, most of you are menopausal women. Well, it's tricky when you don't have a highly functioning thyroid gland and you're going through menopause. And very few will talk about this. So be sure that you're following me on my Substack, sandycruz.substack.com. Follow me on my podcast. And now I'm going to read to you my very first article of the year. Turn inward, how to find your true path this year amid all the wellness noise. We are living in an era where health and wellness advice hits us from every direction. And the volume only cranks up over the holidays. Suddenly, everyone has an opinion about what you should be doing for your body, your mind, and your future. One minute it's peptides, NAD, and use my discount code for longevity. The next, it's the must repeat mantra that will supposedly fix your mindset for 2026. Then come the tarot readings, meant just for you, even though you found the post the same way millions of others did from your couch, scrolling on an iPhone. Adults over 50 who consume TV, social media, YouTube, and wellness blogs are being flooded with physical health advice, diet, exercise, supplements, protocols, mental and emotional health tips, spiritual wellness content, healing, mindset, trauma, commercialized wellness products, magical teas, miracle cleanses, hormone fixes. And the data shows this influx only intensifies from December through January. We are quite literally drenched in suggestions to improve ourselves, improve our lives, and strengthen our relationships. But here's the subtle message behind that noise. You must need this. You must be broken. You must require someone else's expertise to fix yourself. Maybe that's true for some people, but among all this advice, we are rarely taught discretion, resonance, or how to turn inward, how to drown out the noise, and discern what actually matters for us as individuals. Ironically, it's often the quiet, humble voices in this very loud digital landscape who truly teach you how to look within. Oh, sorry. I've gotten to know one whose true purpose and essence is to teach you about how to do this. And think about it. Pause. Why would the loudest, most influential voices want to teach you how to turn inward? Because if you did, you might realize that you don't need them. Sit with that for a moment. I've always been a deep thinker and analyzer. So this kind of discernment comes naturally to me. Yet I've even been duped in this industry. It's incredibly difficult to balance the noise with what feels right inside of you. It's hard to drown out that confident MD expert who insists that you must lift heavy over and over again in her viral reels. I listened to that advice right before menopause. I lifted as heavy as I could, and I ended up with permanent joint damage I'll likely need surgery for down the road. We are rarely told to use our own discretion or reminded of our bioindividuality. We aren't asked about our stress levels, our training history, our shoes that we wear, our hormone status, or whether we might be in late stage perimenopause. Social media is built on glimpses, on clickbait. And most people never look beyond that 30-second clip to understand the context behind the advice. We can always so can we always blame the wellness creator? Maybe behind that clip they are going deeper. The real question is: are we even trying to listen beyond those 30 seconds? It's a conundrum because several things are happening all at once. Wellness voices are coming at you from every angle. Short clips leave room for endless assumptions. Most wellness creators have agendas, sponsorships, sales, algorithms. People often hand over their autonomy to experts. Most individuals aren't tuned into themselves and don't know how to access inner awareness. With social media, AI, and constant digital stimulation, the noise will only get louder. Learning your own resonance, your intuition, your needs is essential, and it's not easy. And the path can be challenging, which is why this isn't about blaming public figures. Many still truly do want to help. I've lived vibrantly in this wellness and podcasting space for years, many years. I came into it honestly through my own heroes journey. Many in this field did. Humble beginnings often get lost. I've seen this time and again over the last eight and a half years in this wellness space and about to hit six years of my podcast. My passion has always been clear to help as many people as possible body, mind, spirit, and soul. That's never changed. And I'll tell you a little story because I think this is really fun. Before I started my podcast, and I graduated from nutrition college, it's not a weekend-long certification. A lot of people call themselves nutritionists from that. Please know true nutritionists have at least a college diploma to your diploma. So I graduated at age 49, and by the time this comes out, I will be one day away from hitting 56. Anyway, I sat with my husband on the couch. He's like, Yeah, you know, you are about the food, but that's not all you are. You also take into account so many different aspects of your wellness. So, you know, you need a megaphone. You can't just work only one-on-one with clients. You also need a megaphone. Start a podcast. I'm like, start a podcast. My God, how am I gonna start a podcast? And so I started recording off my iPhone, and that's it. I just started. I didn't know how to get it out there to people, I didn't know what to call it initially. And then because my husband was like, you know, you're not just it's not just about the food. Sure, call yourself Sandy K nutrition, but you're a queen of lifestyle, body, mind, spirit, soul. So that's how my podcast started, literally from my living room couch speaking on my iPhone. And here I am six years later. So I thought that was a good little story. So just a reminder: if you have something inspiring that you want to get out to people, and mine is that megaphone to reach as many people as I possibly can. If you have that passion, don't overthink it. Just do it. Just do it. Okay, I'll continue now. Passion alone cannot override the layers that we carry through this life. So you see, I've always been acting on my passion, but that's not to say I don't have layers of stuff. The traumas, the limiting beliefs, the buried emotional debris. No sage, smudge, or repeated mantra will clear that. I've also studied energy for over 15 years, and still I found myself facing many internal blocks. Those layers dim your light. Those layers pull you off your path. Those layers distort your resonance and intuition. What I'm trying to say is this I've had to do and continue to do deep internal work to clear the haze, the web, the webs, the noise that led me away from myself and continue to lead you away from yourself, your goals, your purpose. The layers are heavy, the noise is relentless, and this work isn't about a one-and-done approach. We are constantly changing, evolving, clearing, and discovering if we allow it. And you will never fully step into your path, clear your layers, or know what's right for you unless you do the work. But I will add in the work isn't for everyone. My friend Brenda Farrugia has been one of the most grounded, humble, integrative energy practitioners I've ever worked with. She isn't a TikTok personality or an Instagram famous voice. She's someone who has spent decades doing the real work, both in corporate environments and in the energetic space. Her teachings have supported me through some of my biggest hurdles. And I'm sharing her name for one reason only. Her work has been meaningful in my own journey. I don't receive kickbacks, commissions, or discount codes, nothing. She is running a course in January, and I want to support someone whose integrity and impact I trust. So happy 2026 with internal knowingness, resonance, wellness, and growth. If you feel called to join Brenda's course, it starts this month, and her website is so brilliant.ca. I will have it in there. But really, I think, and I'm not giving you advice because some of you might go, who cares? But the entire reason I believe in talking about Brenda, she's been a guest on my podcast a few times, is because I know a lot of you out there have had a really hard year. 2025 hit many of us very difficult in a difficult way and different ways. I'm one of them. I'm not one of those people that pretends that life is perfect, life is great. I also reserve the right to keep things private, but I've had a very tough year. And often I sit back and think, I'm grateful for learning some of the practices that I've been taught by Brenda. So if that's interesting to you, go ahead, check out her website and check her out. And happy, happy, happy blessings for 2026 for all of you and share this with somebody else who might resonate with this. Thank you. See you next week. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to share it with someone you know might benefit. And always remember when you rate, review, subscribe, you help to support my content and help me keep going and bring these conversations to you each and every week. Join me next week for a new topic, new guest, new exciting conversations to help you live your best life.