Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
#77 - Rebecca Holland: Balancing hormones naturally with tips for stress and gut health
1.9k Plays1 year ago
In this episode of the Kate Hamilton Health Podcast, I chat with Rebecca Holland, founder of Health with Holland and a health coach specialising in helping women achieve natural hormone balance. Rebecca shares her expertise in areas like stress management, the vagus nerve, and gut health, providing invaluable insights into how these factors affect overall wellness.
We delve into practical strategies for regulating blood sugar levels, managing PCOS, and navigating perimenopause. The importance of strength training for overall health is also highlighted, along with Rebecca’s personal journey with hormone imbalances. She offers actionable tips on implementing small, incremental changes in nutrition, exercise, and self-compassion to improve long-term health.
This episode is packed with tips for anyone looking to balance their hormones naturally and enhance their overall wellness.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with friends who might benefit. For more health tips and updates, follow me on Instagram and TikTok @katehamiltonhealth.
Disclaimer: The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any significant changes to your health routine.
Music by LiQWYD Free download: hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb [http://hypeddit.com/link/xxtopb] Promoted by FreeMusicPromo [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbycji-eySnM3WD8mbxPUSQ] / @freemusicpromo1
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Kate Hamilton health podcast. So have I got a treat for you today? This was an amazing conversation. One of my favourites with Rebecca Holland. Rebecca is a health coach and she specialises in hormone balance. So you might have come across her on Instagram or on Facebook and she gives out a lot of really valuable content on how to kind of balance our hormones. and just generally live healthier. But we had the most amazing conversation all around all things hormones, and all things healthy lifestyle and all things nutrition.
Key Health Topics Discussion
00:00:46
Speaker
And I have learned so much as a nutrition coach myself, as a health coach myself, and I've got to be taking so much from this. So we talk about everything from stress,
00:00:58
Speaker
stress management cortisol. We talk about the vagus nerve and how to regulate that. We talk about food quality, gut health, and gut health in relation to mental health. We talk about blood sugar levels, PCOS, perimenopause, menopause, metabolic health, and the importance of strength training. We talk about ghrelin and leptin. We talk about gut bacteria. We talk about probiotic, prebiotic and what's the difference and the importance of eating more plant-based foods. Yeah, it's just an amazing conversation. We also talk a little bit about habits and how they need to be done in a very step-by-step approach. And which is basically what I preach, which she explains why it's so important from a hormone point of view. And and we talk a lot about then kind of, you know, the
00:01:45
Speaker
difference between instant and delayed gratification and how much of an understanding that I've been able to manage that and how much of a difference it makes for you to reach your goals. Anyways, I'm not going to hold you on it any longer. I really hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. Without further ado, here is Rebecca Holland.
00:02:12
Speaker
Rebecca, I am so excited to have you on the podcast today. Thank you so much for coming on.
Rebecca's Personal Health Journey
00:02:16
Speaker
Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be on a podcast when you know, like connect with someone, the conversation is just going to be great. Yeah, exactly. It kind of feels like a little catch-up, doesn't it? You know, after it being away together and just really kind of our first time, I suppose, getting stuck in talking about proper health kind of things. But yeah, no, I've loved i was always just saying but off air, I've loads of stupid questions for you. But I suppose before we get into all of that and not stupid questions, but. you know questions that we're all thinking and then sometimes maybe afraid to ask. But before we get into that, would you mind just telling everyone a little bit about you, what it is you do, your background that brought you to kind of where you are?
00:02:54
Speaker
thank you for So my name is Rebecca Holland. I have a coaching service called Healthwood Holland and I'm a health coach. I have a team now of health coaches and we specialize in hormone balance and predominantly we deal with the hormone cortisol and regulating that which basically is for any woman that's stressed and dysregulated which is most of us.
Stress and Health Management
00:03:16
Speaker
There's a dysregulation of cortisol and then we notice know We're tired and wired, we have difficulty losing body fat, we have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight, difficulty feeling calm and just present. And that seems to be one of the biggest causes why women fall off track with health behaviours.
00:03:34
Speaker
so That kind of started my coaching business because I experienced that all through my twenties. A lot of hormone imbalances from pyroids to cortisol to insulin, you name it. I had the different types of imbalances show up with hair loss, jawline acne, ah losing my period for majority of my twenties from under eating and over exercising. So I really understood how and how easy I suppose in this day and age it is to become imbalanced and your hormones become imbalanced. So that's where I'm at now is showing busy stress women how to regulate and balance their hormones in the most simplistic way possible because I think it's very easy to get caught up in trying to do many things at once but we all know we'll do none of them.
00:04:19
Speaker
unless things are slow, steady and incremental, a busy lady isn't going to take action and sustain the habits. So that's the premise of my whole coaching and working with people is thinking of when I was extremely overwhelmed and stressed and dysregulated, what steps would I take? And the blueprint I used with myself and i suppose it's nearly thousands now of women has been so effective because it's that mantra progress over perfection and i think you bring that so well into your coaching as well Kate in the sense that you know we're dealing with a lot of a similar person who's that woman that has kids or is in parry or post-menopause there's a lot on their plate there's so many plates spinning
00:04:59
Speaker
And if you take on too much, you'll notice that that dysregulation, of course, just feels like you're constantly chasing your tail. And that's the exact situation where you can't change behaviours. You can't get on top of things. You constantly fall off the bandwagon and then it's very difficult to get back on, you know, physically and mentally.
Behavior Change for Hormone Balance
00:05:18
Speaker
So I think that's like a really important piece of the puzzle that women listening now need to think about is, are you in that state of being so dysregulated that first you need to tackle your stress management and you're regulating before you can actually tackle nutrition or exercise or any of the pieces we we want to tackle and we want to build behaviours in. So I think that's why so many women find it refreshing to work with a coach like myself or yourself because it's slow and incremental. And we all have this real big, I suppose, problem where society thinks we need to do everything fast
00:05:58
Speaker
And that's the worst thing we can do in behaviour change. Usually we want to do things really well, master it and then move on, not rush it. So I think like that's kind of the foundations of behaviour change and hormone balance is when you do things strategically with intention and not too much things at once. Yeah, no, this is like, I'm so excited to hear this because like this is literally what my whole yeah coaching blueprint is based around as well. That this step by step approach where like we need to drop that all or nothing mindset where it's like we're trying to change everything. We're trying to fix everything about ourselves. We're trying to take on all these habits on top of an already busy lifestyle, which has led us to be in the position we're in in the first place. So it's like stripping it right back. How is your sleep?
00:06:44
Speaker
next thing, can you move your body in some way today, even if it's a 10 minute walk, you know, building from there and obviously everyone's at different stages of it. So I'm really interested to hear this from a hormone kind of cortisol point of view, because for me, mine is very much kind of habits based and kind of lifestyle based.
Understanding Hormones
00:07:01
Speaker
Whereas you have kind of the hormone knowledge behind it as well, which will just be a really, really I feel like I will learn a lot from this also. So I suppose the first question really then will be, when we're talking hormone balancing, so I hear you know in your in your on your social media a lot, you talk about hormone balancing. What hormones are we talking about? So you've mentioned cortisol, this what else are we talking about? That's a really good question because I think the term hormone balance is extremely vague and broad. And a lot of people think, what even is hormone balance? And we have so many hormones, but the ones we would mainly focus on and hear about are your cortisol, thyroid. So cortisol being stress hormone, thyroid being your you know metabolic function, melatonin being your sleep. Okay. So they'd be like three really important ones.
00:07:47
Speaker
insulin been your blood sugar balance which is a huge one to pay attention to when you're peri-imposed menopause or you have PCOS or you have any type of blood sugar imbalance or insulin resistance. So they would be like the major ones you'd you'd regularly hear of. I'm trying to think am I forgetting any glaringly obvious ones, thyroid, cortisol, and melatonin, insulin. Good health is good health to do with hormones
Gut Health and Diet Diversity
00:08:13
Speaker
or is that? Yeah, good health would be super connected to hormones, especially ghrelin and leptin, the hunger hormones. So when, and this has been such an interesting conversation in my group coaching, I brought in a good health expert a few times and every time she comes in, everyone's like, oh my God, I can't believe I've been ignoring this.
00:08:31
Speaker
and there was one thing that cropped up in the conversation the other day and we spoke about like people with a really large appetite especially in the evening and people saying okay they're under eating during the day and then therefore obviously under eating leads to overeating in the evening okay that's not groundbreaking. But when it comes to ghrelin and leptin, so leptin is the hormone that tells us we're full and ghrelin gives us hunger. So a lot of people have leptin resistance because the gut bacteria they have in their gut microbiome isn't diverse enough. So basically, in the most simplistic terms, that means many women are eating quite a bland diet and they're regularly eating, you know, the chicken rice, your one veg,
00:09:15
Speaker
but they're not eating enough diversity of herbs, spices, seeds, nuts, vegetables. And you're not giving the gut enough of that good bacteria thrives off. So that impacts your hunger regulation. If you don't have enough of the good gut bacteria for meeting that very diverse diet, often that impacts your hunger and your leptin and ghrelin hormones. So that is like a fascinating part of maintaining a healthy weight and fat loss. is actually having that diversity piece. And there's huge research, especially Tim Spector, like one of the leaders in kind of that gut health space. And he was the guy that ran the Zoe study and spoke about that. And there's so many studies to show how important that diversity is. So we're really missing a massive trick when it comes to sustainable fat loss and weight maintenance. When we're not telling clients the importance of diversity. And yes, of course,
00:10:07
Speaker
Simplify your meals and you can have meals on repeat so but even just change the spice in it or change the veg to a seasonal vegetable every few weeks. You know you can make small tweaks to a main meal to make sure your guts getting more diversity. So I think like that piece alone in my coaching is so important to gut health because it's very hard to balance your blood sugars or you know control your hunger. if you don't have like a flourishing, gosh, microbiome. So I think like that in itself is a really interesting piece of the puzzle.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah. and Look, what I find really fascinating about that is its its relationship to actually being able to recognize feeling full. And, you know, we're in a world where like and myself included, you know, that a lot of coaches will will talk about calories and macronutrients and how important getting the right balance of macronutrients is. And if you want to lose body fat, that you are and in a calorie deficit. And I know from talking to you personally that with your coaching, you do not track calories, that you focus much more on food quality and Yeah. And gut health. And this makes so much sense. Now I work with clients that there were like, for a lot of clients, we will, you know, if, if they have a goal, we'll work with with calories because, you know, like it's easy way for them to measure where they're at. But I would have a lot of clients where, you know, it's triggering if you've got a history of, you know, disordered eating or, you know, it's just tracking in general is just too stressful. It's not going to benefit you to, you know, adding that extra stress. So I do have clients that we will just focus on food quality, hand portions, but that's a really interesting point.
00:11:36
Speaker
ah but So what, I suppose my question there really is, what should we be eating to improve our good health? Do we need to go down the route of like fermented foods? Do we need to be taking supplements? Or are we talking basically, let's just eat more colour. Yeah, I think there's a few tiers and I always talk about like level one, two and three of nutrition for a client, right? Which level are you at? Like if you're at level one, you're just saying, right, I just want to try two new recipes a week. That's going to give me a bit of extra diversity. If you're level two, then you're thinking, okay, maybe I can try any eat more meals that have like more spices, herbs and seeds, right? That's a great way. And also Tim Spector, the gut health guy I always mentioned,
00:12:18
Speaker
he says to aim for 30 different plant-based foods per week. So that could include herbs, seeds, spices, nuts, vegetables, right? So if you had a curry and you had like sweet potato in it, a few different herbs and a few different spices, that's going to take off like 15. So in the week, 30 is very manageable. Like 30 plant-based foods, is it? Yes, and a plant-based food is classified as herbs, seeds, nuts, spices, and vegetables. So it's very achievable to get so many in during the week, but like my level one and level two clients on their nutrition, like they'd tell me what level they're at when I show them kind of the things to be focusing on. That's what they're focusing on. Like two recipes a week that would have lots of seeds or spices in them to make it easy. Or they're just trying to eat seasonal veg each week. They're like looking, Googling, what's seasonal in my local area this week? And they're trying to buy that.
00:13:11
Speaker
and But then if you're like level three and you're someone that's, you know, hitting your nutrition, you're hitting your protein, you're having a bit of diversity, then you're looking at the probiotic foods and the probiotic foods then are your sauerkraut, kimchi, key for the yogurt with the live cultures. And then them probiotics, our gut loves them. They're just giving us that good gut bacteria that we flourish on. So I don't do the calorie counting. I've never done it myself. And I've lost a significant amount of weight in my 20s. It was over two stone. And I did it without calorie counting. And I do think it's a great tool for some people that are coming from very low amount of knowledge of the amount of energy they're consuming.
00:13:51
Speaker
but Like another alternative to that, I suppose, is focusing on blood sugar balance and gut. That gut outside of things is just so significant because as you know, the more like good whole foods be, the more good things we give to the body, the more hunger is going to be regulated anyway. And then on top of that, if we focus on blood sugar balance, like you're really onto a winner. around to a winner with eating more whole foods, been more satisfied not having the sugar cravings you would have. That's what used to drive my hunger the most is my gut wasn't a good place and I had massive sugar cravings because I wasn't eating probiotic food, I wasn't eating enough fat, I wasn't eating enough protein. So it's really interesting when you focus on that side of things how impactful it can be because it shows oh wow I actually just need to make some small tweaks that will make a massive difference
00:14:38
Speaker
yeah and Tell me, what is the difference between probiotics and prebiotics? Your probiotics are like them bitter sour ones, like you know your sauerkraut and your kimchi and your kefir. They'd all be an acquired taste. like A lot of people try to couldn disguise them. Say kefir, for example, you'd put in a blender with berries and seeds and cinnamon and a bit of sweetener right because they're all sharp. Your prebiotics then are your vegetables like your bananas, onions, Most people just remember prebiotics are most vegetables, and then probiotics are like the more sharp tasting um fermented foods. You kind of have to go out of your way for the probiotics, or it's the prebiotics that couldn't just happen. Yeah. Absolutely. But you know what? Probiotics now in the last few years are everywhere. Even a little Aldi, Tesco, probiotics are like quite affordable, but they're also very easy to make. Like you can make sauerkraut, even pickled cucumbers and all that. That's all probiotic. You know, anything you pickle and then you're ferment.
00:15:33
Speaker
So like sauerkraut recipes loads of people make them at home in big batches same with kimchi now is a bit more of an art but like they're quite doable to make them at home too but again they're easy to buy now I usually just buy them I used to make them now I just buy them and does the job. Yeah so tell me how much if I'm like because I if I'm being completely honest I do not eat probiotic foods. Most people don't have to be fair it's just like that it's because I don't know where to start but um I do think you're right it's so much more ah readily available but I also like how much fermented food should we be eating? That's kind of ah a hard one. It's like how much calories should you eat in a day? There's so many different factors depending on, but I think for most people, like a tablespoon of sauerkraut or kimchi in one meal a day is perfect. Like you don't need big quantities at all, or even like a small glass of kefir or even putting in a bit of that, I don't know what you'd say, kefir or kefir. It's like yogurt anyway, on top of your porridge, you know, or in a smoothie. So a spoon or so of something. Yeah, it less yeah it's more isn' than enough. Oh yeah, it's not big quantities at all. Like I'd have that jar of sauerkraut in my fridge for ages, absolutely ages. And I'd only be using like a tablespoon of it every day or two. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to start experimenting. <unk> Like that's the thing. I'm not mad about the taste of sauerkraut. So I just put it on the side of things. I wouldn't mix it into a meal. I kind of do that with my vegetables. Sometimes I'm a bit like, like lunch time like I'm not a big fan of like throwing loads of salad into my wrap or veg. So I'll always just chop it and eat it on the side.
00:16:58
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah but go routine like youre gonna do routine I love some of them now, whereas I initially hate them. they don't You get used to them, definitely. Yes. Okay. Right. This is literally going to, I'm putting this on my list now for next week. I'm going to just start just try, I'm going to try something different each week. And that's what I like. Yeah. Right. And so just buying like one jar, I would say of kimchi, right? And they're just putting it with a meal every day or two. They're just putting it on a tiny bit in the side of a meal, just getting used to it slowly, incrementally, like putting it on the side of things. So it's, it's really easy to implement it through, you know, once you buy it at the last rate. You say like kimchi would be a good place to start.
00:17:37
Speaker
I personally love kimchi, but it's spicy. Yeah. And I think the one where people start with usually is the live culture yogurts. So like, you know, a yogurt that you buy that says it has live cultures isn't overly pasteurized, isn't heated too much in the pasteurization process. So that can be a really easy one to start with. It's just more of like natural yogurt. Yeah. And you know what, with my yogurt, I'm like, obviously always trying to hit my protein target. So I'm i'm ah like, I'm a bitch for Greek yogurt. So like i I eat quite a lot of yogurt, but I'm like, I could probably switch, switch some of my Greek yogurt to get a little bit of live yogurt in there as well. Oh yeah. Like mix them do half and half, but I think you can buy Greek yogurts as well. That'd be fairly good for the gut. Yeah.
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah, I must have a look. I also forgot there, right, when I was talking about hormones initially, glaringly obvious ones, progesterone, oestrogen and testosterone never even mentioned them three. I'm going to get to that, we'll get to that.
00:18:37
Speaker
But before we move on from gut health, i'm that this 30 plant-based foods per week, any of my clients listening now will be like, oh, for fuck's sake, Kate, I'm going to make this a challenge for one of our weeks for my clients.
Gut-Brain Connection and Mental Health
00:18:49
Speaker
Can we include whole grain carbohydrates or do they knock out? I always just stick to the plant-based ones and use the, like the complex carbohydrate vegetables instead. Okay. yeah Yeah. So stay, with so not bread, pasta, rice. We're talking just, yeah. Okay. Vegetables, nuts, seeds. Yeah. There's loads to work with there. Right. yeah this Like look, if you have a spicy dish, a curry or something, that's like five spices. Yeah. you know I'm actually just really interested to count it to see how many I already do in a week. You know, that would be interesting.
00:19:22
Speaker
When you go into a supermarket and you buy them pots of like basil, coriander, parsley, right? And then you just keep clipping them and making them regrow and then you always have them to put on meals. That's, they're really handy as a garnish shop. Yeah, for an extra little bit. Yeah, that's great. And I suppose, oh, actually last question on goat health. and I know this will open up a whole other can of worms that we maybe don't want to go too much into, but we hear at the minute, a lot of talk between the connection between gut health and mental health. yeah so What is the the thoughts there? like yeah I think one of the most well-received masterclass I've ever made has been on the gut-brain connection ever. and It was like such a penny drop moment for so many clients because we looked at the connection,
00:20:11
Speaker
like the gut-brain axis. And it's only really in recent years, there is so much evidence to show how it's bi-directional, like how much your thoughts impact your digestion, for example, and how much what's in your gut impacts your mood, like in all the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, how much the two are connected. So if your gut's in a state, like a lot of the time it's impacting your mental health and vice versa. If your mental health is poor, you've all these issues with IBS, with digestion, with gas, with bloating. So understanding how deep that connection is, is so important for like females trying to tackle their mental and physical health. You really can't get away with a really poor diet and expect to have good mental health. And the same goes for, you can't expect, you know, to have great digestion and your your mental health's in the bin.
Vagus Nerve and Stress Management
00:21:01
Speaker
So they they're so intertwined and connected. It's actually scary. And when people talk about, oh, you know, we are what we eat and all that, you know, what's important to remember is how much your mental health is it impacted by what you eat as well. And I think once we understand that and we're eating, it's funny, we're eating for so many reasons. We're eating for like the social element, the nutrition element. We're also eating for the mental health element. So it's so important to bear that in mind and to understand Like you can improve your gut health so much by just, you know, ah that challenge alone, eating 30 plant-based foods a week. Like that's a massive improvement. And same with, that's why I suppose a big part of coaching now is and nervous system regulation and doing, increasing your vagal tone, which just means that vagus nerve, which runs from your gut to your brain, right? We want to stimulate that as much as often so we can, you know, be in rest and digest mode or that calm state. so
00:21:59
Speaker
and And that's why that's become such an integral and key part of my clients succeeding when they understand how to be more in rest and digest mode through their nutrition, but also through their stress management activities. So like vagus nerve stimulation, which would be anything from breathwork to cold exposure to humming to manually massaging the vagus nerve. There's so many ways to make sure you're in that regulated state. And often, when people see massive success, and I'm sure you see this, when they get into a state of regulation, then they can start thinking about implementing new habits. But when you're totally dysregulated and you're rushed and you're not able to be present, how are you meant to execute the habits you want to execute?
00:22:52
Speaker
you're you're always chasing the wrong things. So when you're in that state, you have a bit of headspace, you're present, you're calm, then of course it's going to be way easier to stick to your nutrition plan, stick to your steps, stick to your schedule for the gym. So it it's just pure common sense, but it's such a part that people are neglecting. They're saying, okay, I'm going to do this um you know eight week challenge and I'm going to get my nutrition and ex exercise in place. But it's totally unsustainable because you're so dysregulated, you'll never be able to continue these habits. So like it's it's just such a ah key piece.
00:23:25
Speaker
Yeah, no, this is and this actually brings it nicely into because i I did want to talk more about stress and cortisol. And actually, I literally have like a question here written here. Vegas nerve exercises, question mark. because i see I see you talk about it a lot. So just for anyone who doesn't know, what is the Vegas nerve? I know you kind of briefly got it. But where like, where is this nerve? And what like, what do we do? It's obviously tied in with stress and but balancing your cortisol. So then I suppose to talk a little bit then about but where do we start? Uh-huh. So it's known as the wandering nerve, because it wanders from the brain all the way down to the gut. And when you hear people talk about stimulating the vagus nerve, that's the thing that I mentioned, like the humming, the cold exposure, the breathwork, and, mass you know, massaging the neck, massaging the ears. I suppose what's more clear lately is a lot of people have low vagal tone.
00:24:17
Speaker
which means say if they do the vagus nerve of exercise, it's not going to be that effective because like a muscle, they haven't built the muscle yet. It's not effective yet. So it does take time and consistency of doing stress management and regulation techniques in order to see the benefits. So honestly, the there's thousands of messages I got on a day-to-day basis when I did um this challenge on my Instagram stories, right? And so much people said like I need ah daily plan for this. So I made the course I'll conquer guide specifically for that. It's a guide that shows all the different exercises you can do and how to habit stack them so they become an automatic part of your day. So
00:25:00
Speaker
The key is, I suppose, with vagal toning and stimulating the vagus nerve is consistency. And knowing that it might take a month to three months before you start to notice your body's feeling calmer, your digestion's improved, you're you have more head space. But it's the premise of, I think, in my opinion, it's the premise of like true behavior change when you can become regulated through all of them stress management techniques. then you're putting yourself in a great position to be able to make behavior changes in all the other pillars. So like the pillars I always speak about are nutrition, nervous system regulation, circadian health been a big one, mindset and exercise. So, you know, if you want to get a handle on them five areas, the key areas of female health, you know, you have to pay attention to each one, not just putting too much focus on any one or two.
00:25:50
Speaker
So someone listening who's really stressed out, I mean like I want to make changes, everything you're saying is making sense, but where in God's name do I start? Yeah, and that's the thing. I always say this to the person that's super stressed and dysregulated and they don't know where to start. You're always starting with only one thing per day for the first week. So you're literally saying when I get out of bed, that's my cue to do some deep breathing for like put a two minute timer on my phone. That is it. You're not reinventing the wheel and sitting down and doing in meditation for an hour.
00:26:24
Speaker
off the back of doing nothing so it's just so important to like pick one thing and do it daily for at least a week master it then you can add on another thing. you can add on a 10-minute daily walk without your phone in your hand. Like that is all contributing to you having more stillness, more headspace and more regulation. It doesn't have to be anything major and in fact it's actually doing the small habits really well that are a lot more effective than you say I'm going to do three different exercises per day you know and it's not sustainable or realistic. So I think for anyone that's really stressed doing some level of breath work
00:26:59
Speaker
for like a few minutes per day is going to be massively helpful. Breath work is always the one I say, like start with the breathing, control the breathing. When you do an exercise, try nose breathe as much as you can. Try stop as much time throughout the day and just listen to your own breathing. You know, a lot of women are shallow breathing the whole day. They're in a spot of fight or flight. They're not breathing from their diaphragm. At least get your breathing under control. You've completely changed the game for yourself. Yeah, so we're talking breathing in through your nose for count of Four? Yeah, like there's um so many you can do. You can do four, seven, eight, which is inhale for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. You can do box breathing, which is inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four. The physiological side, which is inhale,
00:27:47
Speaker
sharp inhale, exhale through your mat. Even two or three rounds of any one of them, when you wake up, there's so many ways to skin a cat, but even just sitting down and listening to your breath. I think this is where people go wrong. I think it's like, they're so strange, but I have so much to do. I've got, oh my God, I've got to cut out all the junk food and then I have to replace it with all the fermented food. And you know, it's like, no, just add more plant-based foods in. They think then, oh, I need to be doing meditations every day and I need to be massaging my vagus nerve and I need to, and it's like, no, just breathe for five minutes in the morning before you get out of bed.
00:28:24
Speaker
But that's you just hit the nail on the head, right? That's what most people think. They're actually getting stressed because they have so much stress management activities penciled into their day and they're not doing them and it creates more stress.
Patience and Delayed Gratification in Health
00:28:35
Speaker
Like less is more when it comes to behavior change. I have a clinical psychologist that helps me structure my programs because I was like right I'm no longer as dysregulated as I used to be so am I living on another planet where I don't really understand like what's feasible for a person that's super stressed and she said that like the way we stagger a program the way it's really slow and incremental
00:28:59
Speaker
that's going to piss some people off because they want more and they want a lot of things to do at once and they're used to feeling overwhelmed and they want more more more like that is not behavior change behavior change is slow and steady wins the race, progress over perfection whatever mantra you want to put in place And I always talk about like that busy lady disease, that woman that is always chasing her tail, is always shallow breathing, is doom scrolling at night, is not eating all day than overeating in the evening. Like that's
00:29:31
Speaker
my woman. That's my woman and probably your woman as well that is the person that is actually the person that will come to you and say I need more things to do when they're not nailing the basics. Nail the basics. You know there's a lot to be said for just doing simple things well and not over complicating things. Yeah. And the patience that comes with it, like I would, you know, work with a lot of women that, you know, initially they're like, why isn't the scales moving? Why am I not making progress? what And I'm like, you there's so many foundations that need to be in place for all of that to fall into place. And then the thing is it it can be slow at first, you know, like dropping pounds or body fat can be a little bit slow if you've got all of these foundations to lay, but then suddenly
00:30:13
Speaker
everything just starts to move and you build momentum and the process does speed up. It's not it's a snail pace for forever, but it does like taking the time to really work on your stress, to work on your mindset, to work on the but those basic habits is like, it's the only way in my opinion. It is, and and it's actually funny as well how that snowball effect you just talked about in gaining momentum. I just laid foundations with clients the first four to six weeks, right? No expectations of any, just learning how to be more self-compassionate, understand delayed gratification and realize that if you set yourself up for accept success with them really solid foundations, then you'll snowball. But you can't just snowball from day one and like, you know, cut calories and do loads of exercise and expect that to be sustainable results.
00:31:00
Speaker
But that's what a lot of us are programmed to think is normal because of social media. you know So it's so important to understand that like you need to move slow to speed up. And like you really do need to initially move super slow, get all your ducks in a row, and then you'll notice the progress will speed up. But like that's a lot of people's problem. They can't not see results initially. like They need to see results in order to progress. But it's the person that can do the delayed gratification, see no results the first two, three, four weeks, but they can keep going with the daily non-negotiables. That's the person that would see the results. Yeah. And it's it's funny, I actually just shared a little reading piece on delayed gratification with my clients today, but you know, that you can put little
00:31:46
Speaker
kind of instant gratification things in place for yourself. But, and like, I think the best way to do that is by a little bit of daily journaling. And again, simple journaling. What's feeling better? Like really, like we're focusing on the wrong things. Like why do, why, why are we looking at numbers all the time? Yes. I know if, you know, someone is in an unhealthy place that they need to get these numbers down and they need to, you know, in order to be healthy, but Surely that starts with how we feel. And with our day-to-day activities, you know, it feels easier to walk my child to school, you know, enjoying going for a walk again, little things like that, but sleeping better. i'm but All of these things that we we take for granted that I think if we can just like make, even just note one thing every night before going to bed, yeah it adds up. And then when're when we're feeling a bit lost, then you can go back and you can be like, okay, look at actually all this progress, I'll make it. And that's it, like that's kind of,
00:32:41
Speaker
I suppose the psychology and the premise behind gratitude is so much more powerful than most people believe because if you can go into that growth mindset rather than the gap and you can just continuously applaud yourself for the tiny things like I, when I first really needed to improve my relationship with myself, with food, like every day I was saying, okay, it's great. I can hear the birds singing out my window. I noticed today I was pain-free and like today I, because I, I had really bad plantar fasciitis. Another day I was like, wow, today I didn't want to have a nap. I used to be a PE teacher.
00:33:15
Speaker
and every day at lunch I would have to have a nap like that sounds mental now but I was so my blood sugars were so unbalanced I was sleeping so poorly I had to nap otherwise I couldn't do the rest of the day I would literally have to go to bed so I was like oh I'm so grateful I got through the day without a nap or like I'm so grateful i today when I was eating my food I did it mindfully without rushing Or like just the more you do that, the easier it is to recognize how well you're doing. Like I did some of the other day in the group messaging me and was like, I didn't think I was doing great. But then I journaled about these things and she was like, this is the first time in my life I'm sleeping eight hours a night. I'm more present with my husband. I'm more self compassionate. I'm speaking to myself nice here.
00:33:57
Speaker
I'm doing better at work. And she had like all these massive wins. She wasn't even focusing on because she was so distracted by the scales. And like ironically, then, when you do all them, appreciate all them things. It's actually easier to see success with the scales anyway. You're less likely to self-sabotage. That's it. then you Then you're actually ready. You're ready then to make those little changes to, you know, reduce down maybe like your snacks or whatever else, you know, you're ready for it. And that's when that that all falls into place. and And for me, like the hierarchy of wins is like, Like my tears are like sleep. Do I feel I'm regulated? And then like way down there is like the fat loss part because like the byproduct of having good circadian health, having good nutrition, good relationship with food, enjoying exercise, you know, enjoyment of exercise and enjoying the process. Like they are the wins because that means whatever result you get is sustainable.
00:34:54
Speaker
So like, it's a byproduct. Fat loss is the byproduct of all of your ah great habits you're building now. And they're the things you need to celebrate, the the process, you know, the process, not the
Life Stages and Hormone Balance
00:35:04
Speaker
end results. And, you know, there's so much people that that are big in the world, like Andrew Huberman, Chris Williamson, all of them will say like, it's about the journey. and And that's like that cliche phrase tells you so much about human behavior, because you dialing in into enjoying the process is the key to sustaining the result. It really is. And I hate that it's become so cliche because it's so true. It really is all about the journey. Like there is no end destination. Our our lives are always moving. So there'll always be something else. And it's okay to have goals, but it it is so, so important to enjoy it. Otherwise, what's the point?
00:35:41
Speaker
Exactly. and And even when you look, right, the age of my clients goes from 20 to 70. Look at all the chapters we have, right? Even my own life, right? I had the hormone imbalance 20s. I had like the 30s where I separated from, I have three-year-old twins, separate from the twins dad, dysregulated for that point. Then I had like, now I'm in the flow, right? But I'm 34. In a few years time I'll have perimenopause, then please God will reach postmenopause. There's so many different chapters that are going to impact your hormone balance. Some of them will be you know obvious, puberty, perimenopause, postmenopause, but then you'll have other chapters of your life of like high stress. That'll impact your hormone balance. and There's just so many
00:36:24
Speaker
It never ends, like hormone balance is continuous, it's continuous of adjusting and changing strategy and sometimes you'll just want to have way more rest. Other times there'll be years in your life that you're loving like the exercise, so it's like different reasons for different seasons and knowing that things aren't black and white, there's so many grey areas, like someone's stress management plan might be learning the art of boredom and they just sit down for five minutes every day and stare into space. Whereas in other persons they might be at the point where they can do you know an hour of meditation a day plus you know a mindful walk for half an hour and this like amazing morning routine. It's different for everyone so like I think that's the thing of like running, geez I throw out so many cliches, but like running your own race it's so important to know like there's no right or wrong for you and you best know what your day to day routine is based off your lifestyle and your needs.
00:37:17
Speaker
And I think like a lot of women don't really trust themselves to say, this is what I need. They're like looking for a coach to tell them, like I can tell you a daily plan. You can tell them a daily plan. But at the end of the day, you're the person that needs to action it and needs to be realistic for you. So I think that's a huge part of like health at the moment is women i have it like feeling way more empowered and saying actually i know best for my body and that's where there's all this anger towards people in the medic like medical professionals because they're saying like you must do x y and z and then there's that mindset of the woman saying i must do x y and z because doctor told me to do x y and z but also you have to come you know
00:37:57
Speaker
be informed and be able to articulate your needs and give more of a backstory. So I think it's so important like to understand your part of, I suppose, the role you play in your health journey. It's not somebody else going to give you all the answers and it never will be. Yeah, that's that's so powerful. And it actually reminds me of And we had someone on doing a ah seminar with clients there a couple of months back and like that talking about female health. We had another one then about perimenopause and I think both separate coaches said, were was talking about having to advocate for yourself with doctors and going for second opinions if, you know, and
00:38:35
Speaker
Actually, a huge one, one that a coach told me was that, you know, often women just say, or if you're if you're going to be tested for it like PCOS or something like that, and the doctor asks you to step on the scales, that you don't have to step on the scales unless they're going to prescribe you medication, because quite often, what a doctor will do is tell you, oh, this is it's because you're overweight, or it's because you're underweight, rather than treat you that this is happening to women. and So it's just, I suppose it it is not to just take no for an answer if you know there's something not right that you need help with. I think that's such a good point because I think like if you look if I talk to ma'am or any of my mother's generation right the doctor knows best and that's it black and white you listen to the doctor and you do it right the doctor's one piece of a large health puzzle there's also all the other lifestyle components you have to add to that
00:39:27
Speaker
what you know If a doctor prescribes you a medication for insulin resistance if you have PCOS, for example, and you're trying to lab balance your blood sugars, the doctor isn't going to tell you. You need to eat more protein and fat in each meal. You need to move after each meal. You need to eat more vegetables for your blood sugar balance as well. He's not going to tell you the step-by-step process more than likely of the lifestyle component. He's probably not going to tell you either, oh, also you need to really pay attention to nervous system regulation. because that often really triggers PCOS symptoms. And he's probably not going to tell you as well, your circadian health is a massive piece of the puzzle with helping your PCOS symptoms. So you need to be doing this with your sleep hygiene. You know, they're not going to tell you that. Like, so it's very rare you're going to get a doctor that's going to tell you all the lifestyle pieces of the puzzle for PCOS or endometriosis or even peri-impose menthols. So you, you have to bear that in mind. Like in this day and age, we
00:40:20
Speaker
Luckily, we have a lot of access to information, but you have to piece it together for yourself unless you're very fortunate to work with somebody that can help you piece it together. And that's the thing. We had this conversation. There's plenty of coaches in the world, but you need to find a coach you resonate with and that works well with you for your needs. So that's really important. We actually had a ah conversation um a while back in the UK and we talked about like and there was a coach and they were working with ah women in peri-imposed menposiers and his knowledge of peri-imposed menposiers wasn't high so some of them were getting results and some of them weren't and it really is looking at like some of them women went to him as a coach because he's the only coach they know
00:41:09
Speaker
But it's about you going out and looking at like 10 different coaches and wondering which one matches my needs, like which one has the skill set and has the experience that can help me get from A to B. And that's the thing, I've worked with many coaches and I worked with them because at the time they were the only coach I knew of in that realm, like a mindset coach, for example. But it didn't mean they were the right coach for me, same with your doctor. The doctor mightn't be a specialist in the area you come to them for. So you have to go out and, like you said, look for second opinions, look for someone that resonates with you, look for someone that's listening. And the art of listening is you know an important skill in that itself that lots of people don't have.
00:41:48
Speaker
Yeah. And I think quite often talking about it to your friends or your peers or your, you know, your sister or whoever it is that, you know, if you're having difficulties, you know, finding a doctor that's listening or, you know, with symptoms or whatever, quite often when when you start talking about it with other women, you end up kind of, someone will, someone will point you in the right direction or be like, listen to this podcast or watch this coach or you I have, I know this doctor. And it's when you it's if you when you get out of your own head and you start talking about it, that the information that you need will kind of present itself to you eventually. Absolutely. And that's the thing. One of my first ever clients said PCOS and she was just like so shocked that I think she just thought that she was weight loss resistant and it was like full stop. That's it. Like when you have PCOS, you can't lose weight. She didn't understand anything about nutrition that was going to help with that.
00:42:43
Speaker
like Imagine how difficult that feeling is and frustrating when you think, I can't get a handle of my nutrition, so therefore I'm going to you know have to stay with this excess body fat. so It's actually amazing like how much people are not in the know, even though there's so much information out there. so yeah I think that's such a good point. like When you do talk to other people, And even like it's probably the same with yourself in the group coaching container in your, when your clients speak to each other, you learn a lot because people that are going to a coach are already interested in.
00:43:17
Speaker
you know, health. So you're already amongst people that know more than most people that aren't working with the coach because they're seeking answers. So who you're surrounded by is so important in your health journey. It's like the person that's not talking about their health to anyone and they just know the basics. Imagine the comparison of them, you know, them working with a coach and then they're entering into community of people that are like minded.
Blood Sugar and Healthy Eating Habits
00:43:41
Speaker
Like the difference is unbelievable, but you don't know what you don't know. Yeah. And I think this is how you build, you've said that a lot of women don't trust themselves. This is how you build the trust in yourself. And it ah again, it's all very much small step-by-step kind of actions. So start reading, start listening, however you you learn best, start talking. But I suppose talking about PCOS there, we talk a little bit about blood sugar levels and kind of how to so yeah balance, I suppose, insulin levels and you know what why why that's important, I suppose. Yeah. And I think this is a really good example for everyone really. Everyone can take a leaf out of the book of blood sugar balance. And anyone with PCOS, we always talk about insulin resistance. So they focus a lot on blood sugar balance. So anyone with PCOS, it normally has to focus on like that protein rich three meals per day. And and that's really important to keep their blood sugars balanced because they're not as insulin sensitive as someone with normal blood sugar levels, right?
00:44:41
Speaker
But that's the same for someone in perimenopause. Cause as we age and have less muscle, we're less insulin sensitive. So at that stage of your life, you have to work on blood sugar balance more as well. So ah it's it's really talked about a lot lately, the protocol with blood sugar balance to keep it really simple of having your protein rich breakfast with some fat. So that's, you know, your two boiled eggs and your bit of avocado, you know, all them kind of ones we see a lot. And then also movement after your meals. So like five minutes tidy up or walk after each of your meals will help blood sugar balance.
00:45:13
Speaker
you're eating vegetables at the beginning of the meal to help soften the glucose spike and like that kind of simple protocol already really helps you towards blood sugar balance but a lot of people are experiencing blood sugar imbalance because they don't have enough muscle they're probably not doing at least two strength sessions per week and also they're sedentary and they're eating a lot of processed food so that's why you know, blood sugar has become really unbalanced. And a lot of it is due to, as women, not, you know, doing enough strength training as well. And that's why strength training, like I'm such a big advocate for it, because it so impacts blood sugar balance too. And I think, isn't it important to note that
00:45:57
Speaker
You don't have to be in perimenopause or have PCOS for your blood sugars to to need regulating. This is something we should all be doing. Do you know what's crazy? The statistics in that have come out in the US of how much people have some degree of blood sugar imbalance, it's like over 80% of people that you know on this and the scale of like you know very minor blood sugar balance to insulin resistant. and Like majority of people have some degree of it. So we know like the sedentary life, the processed food, like there's a lot of revamping to be done, but it's simplistic things like mentioned, like just eating more of the good quality source of protein, a small amount of fat in each meal. That's why I had such blood sugar imbalance. I was eating a very low fat diet and that really created massive sugar cravings for me because of blood sugar imbalance. Same with under eating protein.
00:46:50
Speaker
big sugar cravings and you know it just shows i changed my diet and within like a very short space of time my sugar cravings were massively down and i had extreme sugar cravings for years years and years years so like them principles of just that bit of extra fat like be it nuts seeds avocado you know good quality extra virgin olive oil whatever eggs you know having that small amount of fat in each meal doesn't need to be any more than like a thumb size portion is so important for blood sugar balance and in turn by you eating that small bit of fat you're going to consume much less calories because you're satisfying your hunger hormones you know and your hunger so it's like it's not rocket science but it's a huge part of um fat loss is blood sugar balance.
00:47:37
Speaker
Yeah. And this like ties very much in with the principle that I have of initially crowding it out. Like I think this is where a lot of people go wrong with dieting as well. They take everything away. I can't have chocolate. I can't have crisps. I can't have processed food. like I have, and they take everything away. And then we have the whole kind of slimming club issue of, you know, people being afraid to eat avocados or use real oil in to cook this kind of stuff. So we're like, yeah, we're taking away the fats that I think if you can take the mindset that, okay, I'm going to add a little bit of fat into each meal. I'm going to make sure I have a bit of protein in each meal. I'm going to try and eat my 30 plant-based foods or just a bit more plant-based foods, whatever.
00:48:18
Speaker
that by putting those in, you're naturally going to eat less. Like I love chocolate. I have chocolate every day. Now I try and keep it to kind of, I have it after dinner, kind of as my little dessert. I'll have a little bar, sometimes too, depending. And that's actually and and a piece of the puzzle I forgot to say, like having your desserts after your main meal is another way to help let you bounce. So I'm doing this anyway, but what I found here, like when I wouldn't have had as good eating habits, I'd have, you know, be having a chocolate bar with my coffee at 11 and, you know, maybe something else sweet after lunch or but whatever, you know, and then I would crave it all day. So I know.
00:48:51
Speaker
that from my own body that if I don't have a high protein breakfast with plenty of fiber and if I start eating chocolate early in the day, I'm gone. It's gone for the day. And it's it's because it's the blood sugar levels gone haywire. That's just the best example ever though of everyone listening to this would think, Oh, just watch, right? Watch the day you have cereal for breakfast, right? and watch what happens to your hunger for your lunch and how much you're going to graze in the evening. Whereas if you put in you know the effort with the breakfast right and you have the avocado and eggs or you have you know the protein oats or you have anything that's like protein dense right, your hunger the rest of the day is just so leveled. It's just so leveled and it can be
00:49:35
Speaker
you know that one change for someone of just having a breakfast they eat mindfully that's high in protein can completely change their relationship with food and the way their food and their food behaviours are. So that's such a good example. like just how It's so simple, yeah. and it makes huge And it actually changed, like I took when I changed, when I last, like I've last about three stone after I had, I don't know what that is in kilos, after I had my smallest. But it was, it was very much like, you know, I did the whole Slim and Club thing and stuff for a while, but you know, then it was like, okay, I want to be healthy. So it was, it was putting the stuff in. And if I got to the stage that I was like, okay, I i was he using protein powder because I, like I still use protein powder to help me reach my protein targets. But
00:50:21
Speaker
I was like, I didn't like the taste of it. So I was like, oh my God. So I created this like protein smoothie. I was like, right, we put berries in there. No, that doesn't mask it. Greek yogurt in there. and ah So anyway, i have I've kind of created this and I have put seeds and everything in there now. So like, it's like little superfood smoothie in my opinion. and But anyway, I started having that Monday to Friday. And it changed my whole diet for the rest of the day. But on Saturday and Sunday, it was still having my toast and jam, all right? And I'd really look forward to it. So I did that for a long time. But then I found on Saturdays and Sundays, my whole day would spiral because I'd had toast and jam for breakfast. So then what I did was, I was like, right, we're in this crowding out kind of mindset. I'll just, I'll have the smoothie first and then I can have my toast after. So for a while I did that. I had the smoothie and I didn't have the jam because the smoothie was sweet, but I just had my toast and butter after it's right. And I was so full after it. I was like, oh God. So then after a while I was like, I really don't need the toast anymore.
00:51:17
Speaker
And I just stopped and now I will literally just have my high protein breakfast. Now sometimes it'll be smooth, sometimes I have my weedabix recipe that I love now, but I don't have toast and jam anymore for breakfast. I sometimes will have it for like a little supper treat. Yeah. I'm gonna have it for breakfast. That's it. It's that mentality like I did ah many years of really disordered eating and as a person I'm very all or nothing. My discipline will be through the roof but i can channel it in the wrong way and i channeled it into food and it become become a big issue and how i moved away from that like very restrictive mindset like was additional additional subtraction so i kept thinking right the mantra was if we eat more of these nutrients
00:51:56
Speaker
I'm going to be less inclined. I'm going to be more inclined to have more control over what I eat. So it was a control thing for me. I wanted to be able to eat the food in like a normal way. When you see a woman eat a meal and she's not like mad for a massive dessert after like, ah you know, I was just living for the dessert after the meal.
Perimenopause and Self-Care
00:52:13
Speaker
and i just wanted to be that person that was just like satisfied and they added a bit of the food and they had a bit left on the plate and it wasn't like this big deal right so in order to get to that place it was additional it was continuously saying right how am i going to get more spices into this meal how am i going to get more protein into this meal and the more i thought like that the more i noticed
00:52:33
Speaker
Every meal became more enjoyable because i wasn't it was more a mindset thing, I suppose. I wasn't in the restriction mindset. And that never really sunk in properly until very, very recently when I spoke to a client and she started to eat in that way and like addition over subtraction and she just said to me and it was like watching like a mirror of myself a few years ago she was like I had a meal today and I just edit normally like there wasn't this chaotic rush of eating it worrying about it wanting dessert after and I've been like this frenzy you know and it was just it's so nice to know that if you just focus on like you say
00:53:09
Speaker
eating more of the good stuff. You're you're just so less inclined then to want to just go wild and off track. We're still gonna go wild and off track the days that we skipped the breakfast or the days we're at a party or whatever, like when I go to the kids' birthday parties. You still have your off days, that's fine, but it's just knowing you know how to get back on to the bandwagon. Even if you're hanging on by like you know a finger, you're still able to get back on, because you know the principles of blood sugar balance. You know what your body reacts well to like. Yeah. And that's it. We're not preaching perfection. It's not like you can never touch a chocolate bar again, or you can never have a piece of cake or whatever. It's like, just get your ordinary every day in this good balance and over time, step by step. Oh, absolutely. and And that's it, like the 80-20 rule.
00:53:58
Speaker
That's like best case scenario because we're not robots. 80% of the time you're going to be on track, there's going to be 20% where things go to shit. And that's like completely normal. Like but this expectations I have for myself since I had kids that are completely different to pre-kids because now it's about like, I take pride in that progress over perfection. I actually am like, this is how I want to do things. I don't, I'm not aiming for perfection. I want to have that 20% of flexibility to not have to do everything to the T, you know? And like with that, you have to tie self-compassion to that because it's like a mindset of there's so many women that are like perfectionists. And that's like the the least progressive mindset to be in. In relation to kind of everything we've talked about, so
00:54:43
Speaker
If we're going to quickly, obviously, you know, keeping an eye on time here, if we're going to talk a little bit around, I know you talked a little bit around perimenopause, postmenopause already, but ah particularly perimenopause, I suppose, because it's where, where women kind of suffer the most really, isn't it? Is there anything else that you'd add or is, is basically what we're talking about how we should be living through perimenopause as well? Oh, absolutely everything we spoke about is, is the key, but we ah also have to understand what happens in perimenopause when we do get a shock because that calming hormone progesterone drops and it's the first time we felt that. So we have this newfound anxiety and all these other crazy symptoms that we don't really understand and actually some people think like
00:55:25
Speaker
they're getting some terrible illness because it actually feels so difficult for your progesterone and your estrogen to drop to levels that we've not experienced before. So that's why with perimenopause, like that slowing down and the regulation piece is so important because you want to keep progesterone not drop too low. And that's why perimenopause symptoms can be so severe. Because if you think about it, in your early forties, when perimenopause hits, that's when you probably have kids to look after, parents, and you're up the in your career like you're in a more a bigger position right so you have all these spinning plates you didn't have together even exacerbate the symptoms more because you're more stressed and rushed that's why i like for anyone that's experiencing difficulty in perimenpos
00:56:11
Speaker
This is your opportunity to really delve into getting back more rest, more self-care. Even if you have a load of kids to mind, you have to be carving out even two minutes per day to get your head space, because that's the difference between someone that's going to be able to get through perimenopause and then bearable menopause, where it can be a slippery slope if you don't tackle that piece in perimenopause and progester and gets lower and lower and drops to uncomfortable levels. Well, then you're in this anxiety loop. So, you know, more additional nutrients working on the gut health, more in the blood sugar balance. Plus the regulation is like such an important combination for peri-imposed menopause. Because as we know, like from 30 on, we're losing muscle. Every year, you know, we're moving, we're losing it. So we have to be strengthening and we have to be focusing on blood sugar balance to, you know, have a ah positive experience with peri-imposed menopause. And I have, um my mom's one of six sisters and they all kind of got through menopause
00:57:10
Speaker
They did fairly well, you know, but one of them the other day said to me, and I was so sad to hear, she's in her 80s and she was just like, aging is just really hard. And she was like, it's just really, really difficult. But when I look at everything she's done in the last 30 years, she's lived through like the 80s of like the low fat, the no self care, the no rest. Like she's done all the things that have made aging really difficult. So if we had to like reverse engineer that, What can we do now to avoid that happening? Like resting more, nourishing our bodies more, kinder self talk, you know, not been that woman that always puts everyone else first. Like all them things are so important. So I'm i'm hoping that like the tide will change in terms of us knowing that it's not something we just power through. Like there has to be some level of that my body is changing. My hormones are dropping. I need to, like, I need to do something the to counteract this.
00:58:06
Speaker
Yeah, and we're going to strength train twice a week. ah Exactly. i like it month That's it. I do say like put a school bag on your back and fill it with books and you can do squats in your sitting room. You can do trestle dips off your couch. It doesn't have to be going into again. Of course you'll pull off your kitchen kitchen counter. there's like there It literally, you know, and like I have a lot of clients that work out at home, most of my clients work out at home to be honest. and and ah that there That's all that's it's all that's needed, your own body weight, some light dumbbells perhaps, and you know you can but you can build up. If you get really into it, you can you know buy more over time as it gets stronger. It's not about trying to absolutely kill yourself. Like you said, it it is whats like I try and look at my training, and sometimes I veer off because like that, I i can be quite hard on myself. you know That kind of hard worker can sometimes channel a little bit into, intimate and I have to take a step back with my training sometimes.
00:58:54
Speaker
where it's like, you don't have to be lifting the heaviest weight. You don't need to be going four or five times a week. You can go two, three times a week, whatever suits you, go or do it at home and do it as a self-care practice.
Exercise as Self-Care
00:59:06
Speaker
It's your alone time. Like for me, like my big headphones go on, I listen to the music I want to listen to or a podcast, depending on my mood. And it's me time. And I don't check my phone and I don't talk to anyone. Well, sometimes I talk to people, but I try not to. And it's me time. And I think if you can frame it as that, and it's a gift that you're giving your body, it doesn't have to be like, you don't need to be stressing, am I working hard enough? Just just the consistency of it, I think. And that's it, like, from my 20s to my 30s, the 20s, my 20s, it was complete external motivation, like it was for keeping lean.
00:59:39
Speaker
My third is it's completely from my mental health. like Yes, okay, I sometimes think about heart health and all the rest of it, but it's mental health like and it's my time, my space. And I think that's the most important thing to remember about exercise, is again, the process of the enjoyment of it. and like You know, I've plenty of clients that have started off and made 10 minutes a day, twice a week of just bodyweight resistance, no equipment workout in their sitting room. You know, it does not have to be anything wild. We just gradually build up until you're enjoying it. Yeah.
01:00:12
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And making it fit into your lifestyle. You know, we're all busy. We're all stressed. We're working on our stress. We're working on our sleep. We're working on all of that and just finding somewhere to fit in 20 minutes, half an hour, 40 minutes, whatever you can fit in a couple of times a week. Yeah. That's it. And I didn't have that idea. Like it's not negotiable for me two days a week. I am going to be, you know, specifically working on some level of resistance training. Yeah. Yeah. And there's so many different options, home classes, yeah like fun ways of doing it. Like there's, there's so much. And it is so like, even when you're like, Oh, I hate resistance training or i hate weights or i hate the gym or i hate this. It's like, that's a closed mindset. Get out there, try different things. It might take a while to find it. Like we said, baby steps, you'll find something you enjoy and it's about finding something. Yeah. That makes you feel good that you know that you're putting in those, I suppose putting in those reps for as you get older. Yeah. And that is a target.
Conclusion and Contact Information
01:01:04
Speaker
like there's so many options now it's crazy but people still think like they have to do five days in the gym a week or they have to do these Chloe Ting workouts or whatever like it's important to know this flexibility like now I rotate a lot where every week I'm doing something different at least one day just to keep things fresh and then you know train for running another part of the year like it can be fluid it can be changing throughout the year you might say I'm booking into 10 weeks of your classes or I'm booking into, you know, all these different things you can do. And I think a lot of people think they have to page and hold themselves into one type exercise, but you should do what you want. Yeah, definitely.
01:01:45
Speaker
Now, I think that's such a good place to finish. Um, there's so much, so, so, so much value in this. And I'm actually really excited too, because now I'm kind of focusing on my own health a bit. I've had a stressful few months myself, but I haven't kind of kind of neglected myself a little bit. So I'm like, now is, now is time to really focus in on me. So there's so much that I'll be taken from this. And I know that the listeners will, um, definitely as well. If anyone wants to reach out to you, uh, where's the best place to find you? I know you have. e-books, you've got courses, different things to check out. yeah On Instagram, helltvilleholland, and then in the link in my bio has my website and my programmes and guides. And then you can just drop me a message if you want. to But I think there's so much value in what you said there, like you're a great coach, and you still go through periods of high stress, losing habits. From January, February, March, April and May, I really lost a run of myself and loads of my good habits went out the window. Because I was spinning too many plates, too much going on.
01:02:41
Speaker
It's just important to remember that like we we're human. Yeah. Yeah. And we're never at the point of no return. It's just about bringing ourselves back to ourselves. A hundred percent. Lovely to talk to you, Kate. Thanks so much for having us. Thanks so much, Rebecca. Appreciate it.
01:02:59
Speaker
I just want to say thank you so much for listening to the podcast. It really means so much to me that there are people out there actually listening to what I have to say and to the conversations that I'm having with others. So thank you so much. If you are enjoying the podcast, could you please make sure that you are subscribed? And if not, if you could hit that subscribe button, it really does make that much of a difference. Also, if you would like to leave a review on any of the episodes that you listen to, that you particularly enjoy. I would love to hear what you have to say. And also, if there's an episode that you've enjoyed, please do share it on your social media, in your WhatsApp groups, with your friends. If you're sharing it on your stories, please tag myself in it and whoever I'm interviewing. This it would be greatly appreciated.
01:03:41
Speaker
Also, if you're interested in working with me and my wonderful team, please do you contact me about applying for coaching. So you can contact me at KateHamiltonHealth at gmail dot.com or on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all Kate Hamilton Health, and you will be able to comp apply for coaching. We can organize to have a chat and see if it's a good fit for you and get you moving towards your goals.