Strength Renewed

00:16
Ha ha!

00:21
Beach edition from the big island Hawaii. I am wishing I was coming to you from the big island of Hawaii. I am coming to you from my very, very cozy office chair. But you know, I can pretend. I thought maybe I put on, I have this noise machine that has like a beach sounds. So just thinking of me like putting that on in the background. Like just like relax my thing. But it is so true because immediately as soon as we started our call, it was like, oh yeah, she looks totally relaxed. It's like your body just like.

00:51
you know, sat in like a very steamy hot bath, you know what I mean? And like all of your cortisol levels and all of like, you know, the, the stressors of life just kind of dissipated with you. And there is something about the island that will do that to you. Do you know, it totally is. And it's, it actually is, it's the warmth of the weather. Like it's beautiful. It's very hot. But in the evening time, it's just lovely. But also it's seeing the ocean and seeing the water. Do you see the water from where you are, Jess?

01:19
You can't, not from like, you know, right from where I am, but if you were not far, like I could drive like 10 minutes, you'd like through the tunnel and then we'd have this like, you know, beautiful view of the water of the bay. And it is really stunning. I never get tired of looking at it. Do you know there is research to show that both green and blue environments, so nature, forest plus the ocean.

01:44
actually does lower your stress hormone response and lowers and assists your nervous system to feel more, to switch more into that parasympathetic rest and digest state, you know? And even actually just viewing it either from afar or even like having a, like a picture of it on your wall just changes things, like, so, you know, and it's such a, it's a really powerful thing. And I think

02:10
that as humans, we often forget that we're animals as well, you know, like our natural environment is to be out there. My God, I always am reminded I'm a freaking animal. I'm like, yes, I feel very much in my animal body sometimes. I'm like, yes, that's exactly right. I feel that it's kind of, well, what you and I were, we were actually kind of talking about before we jumped into our

02:40
you know, obviously there's so many factors to our health. I think the main things that we sort of loosely talk about, right, our stress, our high, you know, cortisol levels, our lifestyle, it's our sleep, what's our actual nutrition. I think that, you know, how much are we exercising? How much are we strength training? Like we hear all these things kind of, you know, talked about in the course of our day, but I don't know exactly how much attention we're literally paying to them.

03:08
And so I think, especially as women, I think what we're hearing, and I know there sort of seems to be a very, very big push on making everything about hormones, right? So it just kind of, it's like, oh, well, if I'm feeling a little tired, oh, it's perimenopause. Oh, if I forgot my kid's homework assignment, it's perimenopause. Like if I have a little bit of acne, or I'm beginning to just feel like everything is related to that.

03:35
And I think you and I were also saying that it's not always going to be in that bucket. Some of the things are going to be the same. So I think we were kind of, you and I were sort of trying to figure out when people, when our clients and our friends, we were talking about this, how do we sort of help each other, us and the people around us, like differentiate from that? Yeah. And I think it's such a great question because whilst- Or do we just go to Hawaii and call it a day? I think so. I think that is actually what you do.

04:06
horrendously expensive here. So we could only go to Hawaii for a certain period of time, then we'd have to leave and go back to the mainland. But I think it feels like it's an easy thing to blame your hormones. Not blame, but it's an easy answer to some quite a complex question actually, because there are so many things at play. And I've had quite a few people get quite upset when I've said, hey, it is not your hormones, it is your...

04:35
habits and your lifestyle and they've immediately and I haven't framed it well actually and I think that's it and I've been guilty in the past of almost setting it up so people may feel like it's their fault and which I didn't mean for it to come across that way but I understand why people would perceive that instead of looking at it as well you know I mean it could well be your hormones but actually have you even considered all of these lifestyle things which if you were to pay attention to them.

05:05
it would actually assist in helping with whatever hormone issues are going on. Because it might well be your hormones, but that doesn't mean that you can't do anything about it. And there are just other things which I think that we need to think about. Yeah. Well, I agree. And I think I would love the idea of when people are feeling like, is it hormones or is it habits? You know what I mean? Just to take a quick inventory of like,

05:32
What have your habits been lately? You know, like have you felt, because I think, and I'm noticing too that like clients are saying this, that their doctors, they're coming in and like the doctors are immediately like, oh, well, you know, it's got to be a perimenopause. It's like this whole thing. That's whatever, all the things that are happening to you. They're almost just sort of quickly scooping it into that category. And I'm not saying that I'm afraid of perimenopause or that I'm afraid of hormones or I'm afraid of the, of it. Although I,

06:01
will tell you over and over and over again, like I'm really getting sick of how perimenopause and menopause is being marketed to women. Do you know what I mean? Like, beginning of the end is coming. Like we all should just jump off. It feels like the freaking Titanic, you know? Like, and I just, you and I have to put a stop, or at least like a little bit of a stopper to this like kind of sinking concept. So I really do like the fact that you were like, habits or hormones.

06:27
And maybe they're a combination of both, but as soon as somebody's trying to just immediately assume that it has everything to do with hormones, just take a quick inventory of what your sleep has been like, what has your nutrition been like, what have your stress levels been like. I think it's important. And I think that a good old fashioned notepad should be in everybody's desk. I think you should write notes, handwritten freaking notes. You know what I mean? Like just quickly drop them down and not on the freaking computer because I just don't think you need to open up a screen.

06:56
I really don't need to track. Yeah, and you don't need like a sleep tracker or anything like that. And actually to your point, Jess, I wonder how much of, you know, how potentially people's interactions with their healthcare professionals are sort of set up. Like it's a very quick visit. Like, right, physicians and GPs may have between eight and 15 minutes with you. And so if it can be a solution that is at the bottom of a, you know,

07:23
estrogen patch or a progesterone pill or whatever or even like I've had women in their 40s being prescribed oral contraception for a lot of the stress and the sleep. Oh yes, I hear this all the time. Yes. It's crazy to me. That is so not best practice. And yet they're like, well, my doctor told me I needed to have like a marina or whatever. So but I love your, I love what you said about.

07:52
just get a notebook because actually that's really sort of like bringing it back to paying attention to connecting like when like I still and I go back to research but I'm pretty sure there is research to show that if you actually put pen to paper you're like you're solidifying some neural pathway in your brain that is helping you assess a situation better because you're writing it down you know you're actually thinking you're putting some thought to it and so I absolutely love that.

08:21
What I will say as well is that I think something like tracking, like keeping notes, like doing a little bit of journaling, maybe you do it at the end of your day or at the start of the day and just assess how your sleep was and how stressed or otherwise you felt and whether you exercised and things like that because you will then be able to give yourself a

08:47
I guess like some data on what you're currently doing, because I think it's also really easy to just think I'm an active person, but forget that you hit the snooze button three times last week because you were too tired to get up to go to the gym. So our perception of ourselves can often be a little bit skewed as well. I like amen to that, I think.

09:11
all the time. Like sometimes we in we're just offensive. Like, you know, if we're feeling like we're kind of off or we're doing something emotionally or physically, we're just kind of quick to say like, it's kind of like when we blame somebody else for our own problems. It's the same thing. I think I think just a quick, a quick $4 notebook and a little bit of inventory would probably go a long way. And again, I'll just like go back to this because I was really looking for the way to decipher because

09:38
Even when people are saying, well, my doctors and everybody's telling me it's hormones, it's perimenopause, it's not like you can tell somebody, no, no, no, you're not crazy. It's not that. Perhaps it is, right? I am again not saying that it's not. It's just that I think it's really important to look at the whole picture, I guess. You know what I mean? Like, I just do. And even if that feels overwhelming, then pick just kind of.

10:06
maybe a little bit of what might have been stressing you out. We can talk about biomarkers. That word seems a little bit like, have you had your blood work done lately? I'll just put it under that category, maybe. And then, yeah, just lifestyle and nutrition and sleep, and legitimately exercise, because I think people always think that they've moved more than they have, have eaten more protein than they have.

10:34
But then when you go back through the day, you're like, oh crap, you know what I mean? I probably haven't. Or it's like they just kind of forget everything that just happened in the course of the week. You know what I mean? It's like Friday and you forgot what you did on Monday. So let's just try and kind of take a second and just start with, it's just a nice way to end the week. It's just a nice way to look at things. And if you can, since you only have 11 minutes in those.

11:02
doctor's appointment, it's a really good idea to bring that information to your doctor. Kind of let them know before they immediately diagnose you with massive perimenopausal symptoms or want to prescribe to you another birth control pill or antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications or the patch. All of these things are fine, they're useful, but let's just sort of look a little bit at the habits. Really, people, I think you're going to do yourself.

11:31
a massive service if you do. So I think for our listeners and just for our own sanity, Mickey and Jess, like habits and then hormones. Yeah. No, I love that. Maybe first, right? And what I'll also just mention is you mentioned the sort of blood work and biomarkers and so people who want to know like outside of, you know, taking a track of their diet and having a lot of exercise.

11:58
Do ask your doctor to run some really simple blood work and get your ferritin measured. In addition to ferritin though, get an iron panel done. So you want the full spectrum of what your iron status looks like, because that's a really common one. And a lot of the symptoms associated with perimenopause, the symptoms are vague, it could be a number of things. Thyroid is another one. So get your thyroid markers run, get thyroid stimulating hormone, but that isn't enough to...

12:26
to really get a good look at what's going on with your thyroid. So also get T4 and T3. Get your B12 and your folate run as well. Get vitamin D, like all of these things, to give you a picture of your nutrient status. And a lot of the symptoms that we experience with perimenopause and changing hormones are very much...

12:53
the same as what they can be when you have insufficient nutrients. So, I mean, they are just some super basic blood biomarkers that the doctor can run pretty easily. Okay. Well, and we definitely feel like we should talk specifically about biomarkers, you know, on another show too, because I think that's super important for them to just have like a little baseline. How frequently should you have your biomarkers tested? Yeah. So...

13:20
if you've got a history of being low, of like say having low iron or running super low B12, then you do want to get your biomarkers done every quarter actually. But if your periods have changed and they have started being a bit heavier, which can happen, you know, as we do head into perimenopause as well, then, and again, like Jess said, like it's not that it's not your hormones, but there are other things that could be going on that are causing

13:50
exacerbation of those symptoms. So low iron is super common for women if they have really heavy periods. So I would say either every quarter if you have a history of being low or at least annually if it's new. And at the very least get a baseline done. If you're listening to this and you you actually feel fine but you realize it's been some time since you've had these sort of blood biomarkers done, get a baseline done because then

14:18
in the future, if you start to feel differently or your energy starts waning, you've at least got a baseline to come back to to when you did feel good, you know? And this just builds your picture of your own health because we are all individuals and while there will be sort of optimal ranges with which you wanna sit in, everyone will feel different at a particular sort of level. So understanding how you feel, I think, is really important too.

14:45
I totally agree with that. I really do. So I think most important, hormones are complicated. And I think when we try to just shove everything quickly into this hormone bucket, I think we're actually not doing a service. I said just earlier, we need to make sure that we're explaining what hormones actually mean, what that means to your body, what perimenopause even is, right? I think we just hear it.

15:11
We don't necessarily understand it. We just think every single thing under the sun means that it's in that category. So, um, so just understand that we will talk more, a lot more about what that all means and how you can continue to like understand it, really educate yourself, but really simultaneously why you're trying to continue to like deep dive into your hormones, just understand that that is just one piece of it. It really is. It's an important piece, but the other, like, it's like these two things. Just think of a scale.

15:39
Right? Those like, you know, skills, like where they were balancing, you know, two things with the food skills or whatever it is or anything in a grocery store. Like the other, the other thing that our bodies and our life and our health are measured by these, our habits. So they really, I really see that our health and life, like it's, and I'm thinking, you know, again, I'm looking at one of those skills. I'm trying to remember what the heck it's called, but you know, like the old school, right? The one on each side. One is measured by like all of these habits.

16:04
And then the other part of the scale is measured, or hormones is measured by all of our habits. So sometimes if we feel overwhelmed on this side of the scale by the hormones, because we just don't know and there's so much we don't, that's okay, just leave it there for a minute. I really encourage you to kind of understand what your habits are, because that's more malleable, right? Like you can control it. You can control it. It's malleable and you can control it. And there's something immediately kind of like being at the beach where you just feel

16:33
a little bit of that edge, like, oh, I can control this. You know what I mean? This anxiety can be a little bit controlled. I can eat a little more protein for dinner. You know what I mean? I can add a thousand steps today, and then maybe I can try to get to bed 30 minutes earlier. It all sounds really simple, but it literally is the other part of the scale. So just think of these two things that you are managing, which is a lot, my friends, all my female friends.

17:00
But we're, Miki and I are here to help you do it. And maybe we'll just channel our inner Miki as you go to the beach and drink a Mai Tai. And what is your favorite drink, your favorite beach drink of choice? Actually, I'll tell you mine, it's super weird. Okay, well, to be honest, normally it would be a craft beer. That's what I figured. That's great. But I haven't had, I've been alcohol-free for like the last eight days, because I'm staying with a friend who's also alcohol-free. And I will say, Jess,

17:29
The feeling of being virtuous wears off after about four days. And I'm a little bit more boring now than I normally am. So I don't know, I don't know. Like I'm pleased that I'm doing it, but it's by no means a lifestyle that will continue for me to be perfectly honest. So a cold craft beer. Yeah, it's fine. That's good. You should like what you like. I love coffee. Please don't take it away from me. Like it's my ritual. I would really, I can try to be do a day or so if somebody is not trying to do coffee, but I don't make it trying to make it a habit.

17:57
But a cold craft beer on the beach is your beach drink of choice. Mine would be a ridiculous, it's so sweet and whatever, but it would be a pina colada. Oh, yes. Amazing. I love a pina colada with a little slice of pineapple on the side. So that is my beach drink. But I am here to continue to help our amazing...

18:27
viewers and our clients and our friends with our strength for new podcasts because it is exactly that. I want you, I want everybody to think that every day is kind of an opportunity to renew. Like a new spot, a new opening in themselves and there's so many bazillions of things we're going to deep dive into but I think this one is particularly important and I always have people to walk away with like something that they feel like they have control over in their bodies and their health because it's the only thing that matters. So if we can kind of, you know.

18:55
alleviate some of that anxiety as it pertains to like your health and I'm happy. So again, thanks to big buckets, hormones, habits, when a little more valuable and controllable. I love it. Thanks, Jess. Great to see you. See you later. Aloha.