Lauren Chambers on Hormone Health, Food as Empowerment, and Life with Ground Up

At Ground Up, we believe that empowering women is not just the mission behind our apprenticeship program. It is a value we see reflected in the community around us. The She's Empowered series spotlights women who are building purposeful careers, creating work that matters, and inspiring others along the way. This month we are sitting down with Lauren Chambers, nutrition and hormone health coach, mom of three, and author of Hormone Healthy Eats.

Tell us a little about you!

I’m Lauren, author of HORMONE HEALTHY EATS, a nutrition + hormone health coach and mom of 3 girls (Eloise 7, Amelia 4 and Frances 2) who inspire me in countless ways. Teaching women how to support their bodies, hormones and menstrual cycles through delicious, nourishing recipes is my mission in life, and it feels extra fulfilling because I know I get to help pave the way for future generations. I get excited knowing my daughters will grow up learning about how amazing their bodies are and how to celebrate and feel empowered by their cyclical nature, rather than stay small, restrict, punish or become a victim to their periods and hormones (which was the way I experienced my body growing up!) When I’m not nerding out on hormone health or cooking up family-friendly + hormone-healthy recipes I love to be in nature! We live by the Snoqualmie river near the Cascade mountains and prefer to spend our days outside; hiking, camping and swimming (when it’s not raining).

What was the inspiration for Hormone Healthy Eats? What is one thing you hope
readers (and home chefs!) take away from the cookbook?

Food is such a foundational element of hormone health (you truly cannot have balanced hormones and a healthy menstrual cycle without eating nourishing foods consistently), and yet a huge struggle for so many women (including my clients and myself in yearspast!) While yes, food is fuel, it also symbolizes so much more to us = connection, pleasure, joy, safety, nostalgia, etc. which makes “just eating healthy” a lot more complicated. I thought it was such a miss that there wasn’t a cookbook out there dedicated to helping women learn about how to support their bodies and hormones through recipes they actually wanted to make and eat! I know a lot of women also have partners or kids, and don’t want to cook multiple meals, so it needed to include recipes the whole family would love. Basically, I wanted to offer women recipes that were accessible and could seamlessly fit into their lives; that they would enjoy eating and that would help them reduce hormonal imbalance symptoms and feel better in the process. And that’s exactly what I think this cookbook does!

What do you do for work? Tell us about your professional journey.

I’m a nutrition + hormone health coach, cookbook author, and the recipe creator, developer and writer for my Substack Hormone Healthy Eats (which is like an extension of my cookbook where I create and share a new cycle-aligned recipe every week). I also offer digital services on my website,sofreshnsogreen.com, like my online course, The Hormone Balancing Blueprint, as well as e-books to help women support their cycles and boost their fertility through food. All that being said, I actually started my career in radio ad sales out of college and worked my way through various sales roles at tech companies, all the while feeling totally lost. The stress and misalignment began to affect me physically and hormonally, and I turned to food and cooking at home to help me heal. That helped me discover I had a passion for creating and sharing healthy recipes, and I started my blog sofreshnsogreen.com back in 2013, which eventually led to me going back to nutrition school and opening my practice, and here we are today! It was a long, challenging journey but I wouldn’t change a thing because it brought me here!

How do you stay motivated?

This is a great question! I am a very driven, hard-working person by nature, but honestly, I think a lot of that stems from a need throughout my life to pursue perfectionism and external validation, so I wouldn’t necessarily consider all of it a good thing! I think now what really helps me stay motivated is understanding what my core values are and what actions align with them, as well as what doesn’t. For example, I’m motivated to get up and move my body every morning because I know it energizes me, boosts my mood and keeps me feeling good physically and mentally, which aligns with
one of my core values of health and wellness. If something doesn’t align with my core values, I am way less motivated to follow through on it! I also focus on how I’ll feel after I’ve done something (i.e. the workout may feel challenging in the moment, but I know I’ll feel better after). For me, the reward is almost always worth the effort.

Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in starting a business/blog?

Yes! First and foremost, just START! Starting is always the hardest, but once you do, you’ll figure it out along the way. As Marie Forleo says, “We don’t get clarity from thinking, we get clarity from taking action.”

My second piece of advice would be to make sure you have another source of income
before you try to launch it into your full-blown career. I worked three part-time jobs for over a year while I grew my blog and coaching practice. I wanted to grow my business from a place of authenticity, not desperation, so having those additional revenue streams was really important while I was getting up and running.

What are your favorite ways to #spreadgood in your community?

Through food! I love bringing my hard-working mom friends, neighbors and kids’ teachers a homemade treat or meal when I know they’ve had a hard day, deserve to be celebrated or are in need of a little pick me up. I especially love bringing meals to postpartum moms, as giving birth and nursing are extremely nutrient expensive tasks, and eating nourishing foods during this time is absolutely essential to keep us from getting depleted and suffering from hormonal imbalance symptoms as a result. As a new mom, it’s almost impossible to cook yourself up a meal (especially in those first few weeks with a newborn) so being able to do that for them feels so rewarding (and I know they appreciate it too!)

Who is one person who inspires you and why?

This was a tough question, I couldn’t land on just one person because honestly everyone in my life inspires me in some way! I think I just really love hearing people’s stories (whether it’s on a podcast, in a book, or in conversation with friends) as every person has at least one hard thing they’ve had to overcome, and they often turn it into their greatest strength, gift or purpose! That’s really inspiring to me.

How do you work to stay centered and practice self-care in your busy day-to-day reality?

With three kids and a full-time business to run, my days can often feel chaotic, but my morning and evening routines are the anchors that help keep me grounded and centered. Every morning I wake up and meditate with a red-light mask first thing, then I write in my 5-minute journal and typically do a 20-minute strength training workout before the kids wake up. Then I make a nutrient-dense breakfast and we get the kids ready for school. Once I drop the kids off at school I go for a walk (my favorite part), then dive into my workday (and look at my phone/emails for the first time, which has made such a big difference!) At night I love to wind down with a hot beverage (right now it’s usually bone broth hot chocolate) and a castor oil pack while I watch a show or read. I turn my phone on airplane mode, and I always try to be in bed by 10 pm. Whatever happens in the inbetween, I know I showed up for myself during these moments, and these simple consistent habits have made a huge improvement in my health and overall quality of life.

What do you like to do for fun, when you aren't working?

I love to be outside! Swimming, hiking, camping, adventuring, being in nature, reading a book in the sun, etc. I also love hanging out with my family and friends, having good
conversations, cooking meals together and just being present. I joined a pickleball league this past year, and that has definitely been a highlight for me! I’m hoping this year I can focus a bit more on hobbies and doing things purely for fun.

What are some of your favorite recipes with Ground Up? Do you have a favorite flavor?

I have been an OG Snickerdoodle fan for years, and it’s still my favorite to incorporate into smoothies (I have a Snickers smoothie in the cookbook that it’s SO.GOOD. in). I also really love them drizzled on sweet potato toasts and chia pudding or oatmeal. I have a cardamom quinoa porridge recipe in the cookbook that your Honey Cardamom flavor tastes divine in! Basically, anything sweet that involves nut butter, I’m using one of your flavors to elevate it to the next level!

Inspired by Lauren's story? At Ground Up, we are surrounded by women building something meaningful every day. Learn more about the women in our apprenticeship program and the mission behind every jar.