Today, we dive deep into the world of health and wellness for women navigating the glorious chaos of midlife. Our guest, Sara Preston, a menopause-certified fitness and nutrition coach, shares invaluable insights on how to truly nourish our bodies while embracing the changes that come with age. We tackle the often confusing relationship between hormones, nutrition, and fitness, aiming to shed light on why traditional approaches might be leaving us feeling frustrated and stuck. It's all about working smarter, not harder, and finding joy in the process—because feeling good is addictive! So grab your favorite beverage, settle in, and let’s get ready to empower ourselves with practical tools and strategies you can start using today.

Takeaways:

1. The birth control pill, while common for many women, has long-term implications that we didn't fully understand at the time, highlighting the need for greater awareness and education about women's health choices.
2. As we age, our bodies respond differently to alcohol, making it harder to enjoy it without consequences, which is frustrating but a common experience for many women in their 40s and beyond.
3. Strength training is essential for women over 40, not only for muscle retention and fat loss but also for building resilience against the stressors of life, emphasizing the importance of working smarter, not harder.
4. Nutrition should focus on whole foods and adequate protein intake, allowing for a balance that nourishes the body, especially during midlife when hormonal changes can complicate weight management and overall health.

I took the birth control pill for like 15 years when I was young.

Oh, yeah. We didn't think anything of it. We didn't know any better. I mean, that's just what they told you to do.

Remember how nice it used to be in my 20s and 30s, like, open a bottle of wine and, like, have.

A couple glasses, it is so much harder on us in our 40s. I know so many women who can't even handle one glass of wine. It's like, why is that fair?

But focus on getting strong and nourishing your body because those two things, they're really what are gonna serve you long term. And you can look good while you're doing that too. Am I challenging this muscle? Your last couple reps should feel hard. It shouldn't be easy.

It shouldn't be like, oh, I could do this for another 10 reps. Yeah.

When you feel good, that is addictive. Like, you know you want that in your life.

You don't realize how bad you had it until you start having it really good. And what I want women to understand is that we don't have to work harder. We just have to work smarter.

If you're doing all the right things, eating clean, working out, walking more, and your body still isn't responding the way it used to, this episode is for you. Today's guest is Sarah Preston.

Thank you.

A fitness and nutrition coach who specializes in helping women over 40 get lean, strong and healthy without extremes punishment or burnout.

Sarah is menopause certified, evidence based and refreshingly honest about what actually changes in midlife and what women are being sold that simply stop working after 40.

In this conversation, we're cutting through the noise around fat loss, strength training, fasting, carbs, stress, and hormones, and replacing it with real strategy, not shame. If you've ever felt frustrated, confused, or like your body suddenly changed the rules, you're not imagining it.

And you're going to walk away from this episode with clarity, confidence in tools you can actually use. Let's get into it. Welcome to the iconic midlife. Sarah, how are you doing today?

Thanks for having me. I'm super excited to talk today because this is right up my alley, talking about all things, you know, midlife.

Yes. Yes. There's so many, like, twists and turns. There's so many. We were never given a roadmap of what midlife looks like, you know, and so it's.

We're just kind of like day by day taking it and trying to figure all of these things out. Do you kind of feel the same yeah.

And I think the hard thing is. So when I first got into, you know, coaching women, it wasn't talked about very much.

So people didn't even really know what the word perimenopause meant. I would get questions on my Instagram all the time, like, what is perimenopause?

So this was, you know, maybe five years ago, and now everybody is talking about it.

And sometimes I think that's great because we're bringing a lot of awareness, but sometimes it just makes it even more confusing because there's so much noise out there. Yeah, absolutely.

And there's a lot of, like, ill informed opinions that are not grounded in evidence or science or, you know, things that really matter.

So I feel like having you on will hopefully clear up so much of the noise because I know for women in midlife, I know I experienced this myself, is, you know, this whole thing that's been happening to me, which is my body is just changing. It's just, you know, 10, 15 years ago.

Like, the things that I was doing to stay healthy and stay lean and just, you know, have my body in a place where I want it to be, those things don't work anymore. So it's kind of, it's a little scary because it's like, you know, you feel like your body's almost possessed at this point.

You know, it's like not your body anymore.

Yeah. Like, what is happening?

And that's, you know, I talk to, know, clients or friends or, you know, anybody, and they're just like, it's such a roller coaster because you can feel really great on top of the world one day and then the next day you wake up and you've got all these different aches and pains or your hormones feel crazy and so you never know what to expect. Even dayto day.

Yes, 100%.

But before we get into like, all the tips and all the amazing information you have with all of your great health and wellness advice, I want to know what kind of led you into this space? Like, what was the thing where you kind of, you know, felt like. And thank goodness you did because you do have so much great advice.

But like, what led you to this place?

Okay, so first I was a fitness, you know, kind of coach, was just kind of dabbling in it. Always loved health and fitness. You know, I always loved to work out. So I was doing all the things, I was trying all the things out there.

It was at the time, it was whole 30 keto, you know, Mediterranean diet, like all these different, you know, containers, measuring things Out I was trying all these things and I was working out. I was a coach myself, and I still was gaining belly fat. And I was in my early 40s and I thought, I am doing all the things.

How is it possible that I can't even keep this weight off? And I had low energy and just, you know, didn't. Didn't feel like myself.

And so then when I kind of came across this plan that I, that I follow, I mean, I had researched so many things, I finally was able to see results. I was finally able to lose the belly fat. And I was, like, shocked.

So that kind of took me down that path of like, okay, we need to do things a little bit differently now if we're going to, you know, no more of this, like, hit cardio every single day, trying to go low carb, eating as little as possible, you know, fasting all day. Like, these things just, they're not made for us as we, as we get into the stage.

You know, we're under a lot of, I don't know if you want to call it stress, but there's just a lot of things coming at us at that this age between teenagers and aging parents. And a lot of us have jobs, and we're kind of at the height of those jobs. Husbands are at the height of those jobs.

Like, there's, there's a lot expected of us. And we can't do the things like you said that we did in our 20s and 30s if we expect to really not just see results, but ultimately feel our best.

So when I was able personally to go through that process of not feeling good, not feeling like myself anymore, and to come out on the other side, that's what kind of led me into this. And then I got some other certifications and really dug deeper.

You know, it really piqued my interest into what's going on at this stage in different ways that I could help women. So I kind of went deeper after that.

And what do you think? Because you bring up a good point, you know, trying all the things that we always have done before. You know, I did whole 30.

I did this thing that was called the south beach diet way back in the day, you know, like all of these things, you know, and I mean, I actually, I felt really good after doing in the past when I've done Whole 30, you know, I felt really good and. But I know that, like, we have changing hormones and there's a bunch of, you know, bodily changes that we're going through right now.

So what are some of the Things that we used to do and some of the things that you hope that midlife women will sort of let go of or change with these new kind of bodies and hormones and all the things that are going on within us.

Yeah. So I think that sometimes we think we have to push harder. Right.

You got to go to orange theory and you've got to burn 800 calories or I have to eat less. I need to try to eat as little as possible if I want to see results, or I need to be low carb or I need to really restrict.

And I think what we need to think about is how can we nourish ourselves. So think less about how can we punish our body and into seeing results or into, you know, feeling better.

Ultimately, that never really makes us feel better. So when I would do Whole 30, yeah, it's great. I completely encourage whole foods as much as possible.

But, I mean, there's a couple reasons why that doesn't work. One of them is that how many times when you do that, are you counting down the days till it's over?

You can't wait to get to the end of 30 days so that you can go have a treat, or you can go have your alcohol, or you could go have your whatever it is. So it's just not sustainable. And so then we don't stick with it and we're just on this hamster wheel of restrict, you know, fall off the wagon.

Restrict, fall off the wagon. Instead, what if we could nourish ourselves with our food, with the workouts that we're doing, with our movement, with our nervous system and our.

In our cortisol, you know, regulation, so that we felt good enough that we could stay consistent and really enjoy and love what we're eating and what we're doing for, you know, for our lifestyle.

You know, I feel like. And that. That's a good point. I feel like I do all the right things, right? Like, I'm lifting heavy weights, I'm walking and getting my steps.

I'm, you know, trying to eat as clean as possible, but I feel like I still gain weight. So what is going on metabolically with us? Like, what is actually happening that is making us gain weight?

Even if you're doing all the right things, right?

So there's a couple things. I mean, hormones are definitely part of it.

You know, as your estrogen declines, you're going to see that you might become more insulin resistant, which means that, you know, your blood sugar is kind of all over the place. You're not able to handle the amount of carbs that you used to handle it stores into fat instead, which is, you know, the weight gain.

As estrogen declines, you're also seeing a redistribution of that fat. So you're going to notice a lot more belly fat.

Unfortunately, a lot of times we're going to see more visceral fat, which is the fat around your organs, which is that really dangerous fat that you know, can really cause disease down, down the road. Um, so yes, hormones are a little bit part of it. Definitely part of it.

However, I also don't want women to think that, okay, well, you know, my hormones are gone so I'm out of luck and I can't do anything about it because there's definitely things that we can do. You know, we just again, we have to tweak things and do things a little bit differently than we had. So we're also not moving as much.

Think about when you had toddlers and younger kids and you were, you never sat down.

Now we're at basketball games and we're sitting, we're driving kids in the car, we're sitting at work where even though we're going out for that walk, we're getting our 10,000 steps. It's just not the same as being kind of, kind of moving all day like we used to.

Yeah, movement during the day is really important, right. Whether it's like after you've eaten something, just taking like a 10 minute walk or even like piddling around the house. Right?

Just walk, getting up out of the chair, like just kind of moving, moving day to day moving.

Yeah, getting up and moving. And that walk after dinner is really, or after eating is really important for our blood sugar.

The other thing that I talk a lot to women about is this is the stage of life and I alluded to this earlier, we are less stress resilient as, you know, as we get into perimenopause. So our hormones are kind of all over the place. We have this stressor of, you know, the roller coaster of estrogen. It's up, it's down.

We never know what it's going to be from day to day. Progesterone's kind of exiting the scene. So with low progesterone you might not be sleeping well, you might be a little more.

Even if your stressors in your life haven't changed the way that your body is handling those, so you might have a little cortisol issue going on. Nervous system. So many of us at this age have, even though we don't realize that our nervous system is fried from all of the inputs.

The things that I said before with the teenagers and the parents and the jobs and the Internet, the social media, the noise, the information. Like, there's a lot. A lot of overstimulation.

So stress and stressors on our body from the hormones from all these things can also take a toll too, because then, you know, your cortisol affects your blood sugar, which affects storing fat. It all works together.

You know, you're menopause certified. First of all, what does that mean?

And then what do you think is the most misunderstood change that happens to us in perimenopause, in menopause that really affects our fat loss and the ability to retain muscle?

Okay. Yes. Muscle. So important. So I am.

I have several certifications, so I am an integrative health practitioner and a IHP, which is kind of an overall functional certification through Dr. Cabral, and then through Dr. Stacy Sims, who you may have heard about on, you know, kind of in the menopause space as well. I.

She's amazing, by the way. She is amazing.

Yeah, she is. Yeah. Yeah. So she has a menopause for athletes course. So, you know, that goes deep into different.

All kinds of different things when it comes to menopause and working out and, you know, how hormones affect all of that.

And then faster rate of fat loss is another certification that I have where I coach women through nutrition and fitness and kind of the lifestyle side of it. So misunderstood. I. Well, I just think that there's. There's not a lot of understanding on any of this for women in midlife.

Like, we, again, because we hear so many different things. I think women are just so unsure of what way they should be going, and instead they do nothing. A lot of times, you know, it's like, I.

You know, this is. I'm too tired, my hormones are all over the place. I'm too busy. I'm just. I just can't do it. And I.

And what I want women to understand is that we don't have to work harder. We just have to work smarter.

That's a great point. Yeah, you're right. Smarter, not necessarily harder.

And I think that carries over not only into just like, working out, but like, in all aspects of our lives. You know, it's like, yes, be smarter and more intentional about the things that you're doing. And I'm saying this to myself also.

I'm not preaching at all, but I'm saying, like, I have to remind myself and be like, be more intentional. Be smarter. Don't just work Harder and, you know, do that kind of old way. You really have to think about what you're doing.

Yeah. And don't try to be perfect because I think. And I do the same thing.

I think, well, if I can't do it, all right, if, if Sarah's telling me I need to do these five things and I can only do two of them, forget it. You know, I'm just, I'm not even going to do any of it. You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to have that, you know, all or nothing mentality.

It can be. We're just going to work on progress. We're going to start with one or two things and then you just kind of build over the years.

I mean, I, I've been doing this for so many years. I didn't start out doing it all.

You know, it's like, don't compare, you know, maybe where some of us are at on our journey to where you are, you just start with something. Start with what you can do today. Just kind of take it one day at a time and don't focus on trying to be perfect.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, I really want to talk about nutrition because it's so important.

Not, not only for us, I mean, for everybody, but specifically for us women in our 40s, our 50s and beyond. You know, let's talk protein, you know, fats, carbs. Because the Internet can be so incredibly unhinged.

You know, we're hearing so many different things. So what is like the real priority of those things as it relates to, you know, wanting energy and strength and having great body composition?

How would you prioritize those things?

Yeah. So first of all, we talked about this a little bit.

Whole foods are going to be the most helpful for you in being anti inflammatory if you're eating whole foods. And what I mean by whole foods are meats, fish, you know, meat, fish, beans, nuts, seeds, avocados, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, things like that.

Anything that comes from the ground or has a mother. So if you grow it, if it has a mother, you know, eggs, all those things are whole foods and like.

A single ingredient food, correct?

Yes. Yeah. If shop, the pro, you know, the outside, the produce section, all of that in your store versus the packaged stuff.

Now, I'm not saying you can't ever have that stuff, but if you're focusing mostly on whole foods, that's going to be a great start. It's going to be anti inflammatory, it's going to help you get more fiber, you know, you're Going to be off to a great start.

But like you said, you know, there are proteins, fats, and carbs, and those are all super important for many processes of the body. So if we talk about protein, that is going to help you stay full so that you don't have so many cravings and you're not snacking in the pantry.

It's going to help you to build muscle. Literally. Protein helps build that muscle that you want.

We can talk about muscle in a little bit, but protein, and I know everybody's hearing protein everywhere. This doesn't mean that you need to have only protein or be carnivore or, you know, have this huge disgusting plate of all chicken breast every meal.

It doesn't have to be like that, but just enough, you know, that it's. It's going to help you with your blood sugar because it can help blunt the response that you get from eating the carbs.

So you want to pair all of your meals with some protein. Ideally, you know, 4 ounces of cooked meat or fish, you know, a scoop of protein powder or two eggs and two egg whites.

Like, you want to try to get 30 grams of protein at each meal.

So. So what does 30 grams look like on a plate? Like, what is that?

Yeah, so that would be like a chicken breast. That would be one chicken breast. That would be probably, you know, it's a little more than a cup of cooked meat or fish or.

Now remember, you get protein from other sources. So you're going to get a little bit of protein from those beans or your vegetables or, you know, other things.

But generally the, you know, the highest protein sources are going to be your eggs and your sausage or meat or fish or, you know, a clean protein powder would be, you know, enough that usually has about 20 grams. So you probably want to add a little bit more to that.

But if you're eating those, most people, they're, they're eating those things in their diet already.

It's just a matter of having a little bit more than, you know, increasing that portion size and making sure, you know, you starting your day with a good amount of protein instead of, you know, two eggs is just not going to be enough. That's going to be about 12 grams of protein. So you're going to want more than two eggs for breakfast.

You're going to need to add something else to that. A lot of people will do, like a protein smoothie or add some egg whites or some breakfast sausage or, you know, whatever.

But learning that is, is key. I mean, it's eye Opening for so many people when they start.

And, and I we in with my clients, we do track our macros because I believe it's important to at least for a short time understand this.

It, you know, it's eye opening when you track it and you say, oh my gosh, I only had 75 grams of protein all day, you know, and I really need to get over 100 or 120 or something like that. And so but if you don't know, you can't change it.

So that's why paying attention to this and monitoring it, you know, if you don't want to track it, fine, just kind of pay attention, you know, throughout the day that you're getting, you're getting more at each meal. You know, three to four meals of, with a good amount of protein. So that's protein. And then carbs. If we talk about carbs, they're not the enemy.

Now, yes, we might become a little bit more insulin resistant as we age, but we still need carbs. Especially if you're working out, you're going to want those carbs. They're going to give you energy. Carbs give you energy.

So if you want to feel good, you need to eat enough.

In general, a lot of women are just not, you know, they're just kind of eating like a couple eggs and toasts for breakfast and then maybe a salad for lunch and then like a small piece of chicken and, you know, some vegetables or whatever for dinner, maybe like a little snack. And they realize I was this way when I first started tracking how much I was eating. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm only eating like a thousand calories.

No wonder my body is stressed. But we need the carbs. They help with thyroid conversion.

I have a lot of women who come to me actually with thyroid issues, hypothyroidism, underactive thyroid, trouble converting T3 to T4 because they've been low carb for so long. And so we need those carbs now. I'm not saying go out and eat donuts and croissants and, you know, let's stick to those whole foods.

Sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice, oatmeal, bananas, you know, berries, avocado, has a little bit nuts, have a little bit beans, those types of things. And you know, any vegetables are going to have carbs. So we want to make sure that we're getting enough to fuel our workouts.

They're going to also help us build muscle and really for our hormones. And same with fat. Fats are going to, they help Your brain, you need those healthy fats. You know, you want them for. For hormone production as well.

They're the building blocks of. Of our hormones.

So healthy fats would be like avocado or nuts, seeds, nut butters, olive oil, you know, those fattier types of fish like salmon or, you know, ground beef or chicken thighs. Those things have a little bit more fat in them. So we want to make sure that we're getting these.

And the best way to do that is to, you know, have a balanced plate. Just make sure that you're having a protein and a fat and a carb, you know, on your plate at every meal. And then, you know, and then that will help.

So. And.

But ultimately, if you want to lose weight, that's why where the tracking really comes in, because you need to know for your own body how much food you need, how much protein you need. And I really put an emphasis on fiber, too, because even though it's not a macronutrient, it's a micronutrient.

And that's, you know, something that a lot of people, I think the average American gets, like, and don't quote me on this, is something like 15 grams of fiber a day. And we really need 30 grams of fiber. Like, I recommend 30 minimum. It's going to help keep you full. It's going to help with your digestion.

And actually, fiber binds to excess estrogen.

So if you're estrogen dominant, which can happen, you know, and it pushes it out of the body, which helps with breast cancer prevention or disease prevention in general, it can help with cholesterol. So we want to make sure that we're. We're getting good fiber too. And that can come from chia seeds or avocado or raspberries.

It doesn't have to be just like leafy greens. Everybody for some reason thinks fiber is like leafy greens. But cauliflower, even nuts, have. Have fiber. So we wanna.

We wanna make sure we're getting fiber in our diet too.

Okay, good. I'm like, I'm doing the checklist in my head, being like, okay, what have I had today? I'm like, gotta work on the fiber. Gotta get some more in there.

Oh, yeah.

So take me through, like a day of good eating. If somebody wants to, like, lean out, let's say, what does that look like?

And how do we keep it under control as it relates to cortisol spiking, you know, glucose spiking, you know, with hormones? Because I found that I've had to actually change the timing of my Eating as I've gotten into midlife to kind of control those spikes.

So can you kind of take me through what that would look like, let's say, if somebody wanted to lose some weight, like, but having to keep all those things in check.

Yeah.

So the thing with the timing, so what I found a lot of times in midlife with the cortisol and all of that, it really does help to eat before you're having caffeine. So if you're having coffee, even if you're just eating a little something before that, it is very helpful. I am not against fasting.

I think it has a lot of. It has a lot of benefits for us. Not necessarily at this stage of life would I want somebody fasting, you know, more than 12, 14 hours. Some.

Some of my clients will do like 16.

But ideally, especially if you're having coffee, you are eating, you know, hour, hour and a half, you know, within an hour, hour and a half of getting up. It's. It's something that has 30 grams or more of protein. It might be some egg whites with eggs and a. And a smoothie and, you know, a little bit of.

Of carbs. You could have berries or fruit in that smoothie.

And then if you're going to go into a workout, after your workout or before your workout and make sure that we have some protein and carbs. Some people like to do just a little snack. What I do is I break up my breakfast.

I kind of have like a little bit before my workout, and then after my workout, I'll have protein oats. So I put protein powder in oats with some berries.

So I kind of do that before and after my workout to make sure we're getting, you know, good protein there. And then lunch, I do eat a salad, but it is a big salad like this has all the things on it.

Anything from my refrigerator that I can put on there, it's always four, four and a half ounces of cooked chicken or salmon or ground beef even. And then I throw artichokes and carrots and avocado and some olive oil for the dressing. You know, I make a little dressing with balsamic vinegar.

But I'm throwing, you know, that's how I like to get a lot of my vegetables in, you know, for the day. So I'll make a big salad and then sometimes a snack between lunch and dinner, depending on the timing. But then dinner will be, you know, we'll have.

We're pretty simple at our house, it might be. The kids want tacos. So I'M making ground beef and, you know, all the things to go with it. Maybe some cauliflower, some rice or sweet potatoes.

And the kids will have it on, you know, taco shells. And maybe I'll make it on a salad or a lot of times I'll do like almond flour tacos. We keep it pretty simple. It'll be salmon with a veggie and rice.

Typically I always, for dinner will cook a protein, a veggie and a starchy carb like rice or potatoes.

And then yes, after the meals, if you can walk around, it doesn't have to be a full outside walk, which that's great if you can actually do that and time it that way. But even just cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, you know, so that you can blunt that blood sugar spike.

Because it's normal to have blood sugar spikes. Totally normal. We just don't want them spiking too high and we want to make sure that they come down to our normal level within a couple hours.

And walking can do that. Actually, I read that just doing some calf raises actually helps with that too.

So you can stand there and just go up on your tiptoes, you know, do that like 20 times. And so what happens with glucose, with sugar, with carbs, is that also the more muscle that you have on your body, the more places it has to go?

So building muscle helps with blood sugar regulation because it gives that glucose somewhere to go instead of storing as fat. So that's another bonus of having, you know, muscle.

Oh, that's so interesting. Okay, so like, it's better to have kind of three separate meals throughout the day or like you're saying you kind of broke up the breakfast.

So is it better to have those little meals scattered throughout the day or is it like, better to have those three square meals when we're in midlife?

Yeah, so I think we were, we used to be taught that like, oh, you need to eat like six times a day to rev that metabolism. When for us, I, you know, I don't want to hold fast to like, rules.

But especially with that blood sugar, you want to give it enough time to come back down. So a couple hours at least.

And if you're eating, you know, enough protein, enough fiber, getting a good sized meal, you shouldn't be hungry for another three to four hours. So unless you're working out or unless you're doing a lot of activity, you really should be able to go three to four hours before your next meal.

Okay, that's good to know. You know, it's Intermittent fasting is just like, blown up, right?

It's like all the, I feel like all the Internet is talking about is Internet fasting. And, you know, I kind of have mixed feelings about it.

I can see where it definitely could be helpful, but then I think there possibly might be drawbacks as well. So from your perspective, what do you think about intermittent fasting for midlife women?

Do you think that it's helpful or do you think that it can mess with our hormones and, you know, our different levels? Like, what are your thoughts? Like, how should we use intermittent fasting if we're going to use it?

Yeah, so I think it's a tool. And like any other tool that we have, it depends. You don't have to use it all the time. You could use it sometimes.

Some people may use it, some others may not. So for example, if you have hypothyroidism, you might not want to fast more than 12 hours because you already have that stressor on your thyroid.

And we don't. It's another stressor. But, you know, exercise is a stressor. There's all kinds of different stressors that we put on our body that can be good.

Stressors are. There's, you know, there's nothing wrong with stressors.

They, they can do good things, but we have to be careful how many stressors we have on our body. So I always take this on an individual basis.

I don't, you know, I don't make a blanket statement for everybody because everybody's in a different place.

If you're feeling amazing, your hormones are really, really balanced, you are sleeping really well, you feel good in your workouts, you have a lot of energy, you' feeling stressed, you know, you don't have a lot of stressors going on. Then it might be okay for you to fast 12 to 16 hours, you know, on kind of on a daily basis.

And I love to see people fast at the end of the day more than at the beginning of the day. So have your dinner earlier. Have your. If you want to fast. Because there are a lot of benefits, you know, to fasting for our overall overall health.

It helps our body clean out those old dead cells, and that's a good thing.

Digestive rest is a great thing for our body so that it can do other things, it can do other processes, giving yourself that, that rest from eating instead of constantly eating. But I love to see people finish dinner by 5:30 or 6. And I know that's not the case, you know, in our, all of our lives.

So you might be at sports until whatever time. But it also helps you sleep better a lot of times if you aren't eating, you know, right before bed.

So, you know, finishing dinner at 6 and then maybe you're having breakfast at 8.

I mean that's pretty, that's, that's still 14 hours of fasting and you're still seeing the benefits and, and that, you know, there's been studies that said even 12 hours of fasting are still, it's still giving you, you know, all of those great benefits that, that you want to see. So I don't think that we have to push it. I don't think we need to, you know, stress ourselves to, to 16 all the time.

But again, it's really individual. And how, you know, how is your body at this moment and how do you feel?

Because yeah, I mean a lot of us right now with our hormones up and down and you know, thyroid suboptimal and stressors, it's just not another thing that we need to add.

We'd be much better served to focus on the nutrition that I talked about and the workouts and then, you know, really regulating your nervous system and your cortisol.

Good point.

Yeah.

I've heard that you really shouldn't eat within four hours of going to bed just to like give your body that time to digest.

And then when you're sleeping, I've also read that, you know, that's the time obviously our body is like detoxing and removing all of the things out of our body that we don't want the damaging the things that damage our cells and can lead to disease later on. So that is very important, you know. Absolutely.

Sleep is huge and unfortunately in midlife it becomes harder. There's not a woman out there that I've talked to that says they're sleeping amazing. There's just, yeah, there's just, it's harder to sleep.

It's a lot of times the hormones, again, the nervous system and I also just think we are, we're living in this fast paced world where we're not getting outside and, and we're not, you know, we're seeing so much blue light, we're not seeing the sun as much. And that messes with your circadian rhythm. So sleep can really be an issue.

Yes, it's really important too. When you wake to go outside, get some sunlight for like 10 minutes even just to go out, get your sunlight.

Because that actually doesn't it, it kind of levels the melatonin out and allows you to wake up like because we're inside so much. It's like your body almost needs that separation of like day and night in that way.

Yes. And if you can. And what I will do if you have to drive to work, just open your window. If you're at home and it's.

I'm in Michigan, so it's freezing cold at, you know, and sun doesn't rise to like 8 o', clock, I just open my slider door and stick my head out for five minutes.

Just getting that light on your eyeballs, you know, this is another reason why they say, like, when it's safe to do so, not wearing sunglasses, we want to get those. Even if it's cloudy, we want to get that light into our eyes because that helps to produce melatonin and it sets that circadian rhythm.

Even if you can get out at, at sunset to just to signal to your body that you know it, that is nighttime. And then what I do also is kind of turn the lights down in the evening.

I, you know, wear blue blocker glasses in the evening to try to really signal to your body that it's getting time for bed. And I sleep pretty well. And progesterone really helped me with that. I really wish I would have started that a lot earlier than I did.

Like, why didn't anybody tell me me that all I needed was some progesterone? Right.

Oh, my gosh, I love that you're bringing that up because I recently started my own HRT journey because, you know, my hormones were all over the place. And I will say because of the misinformation that was out there, you know, I really waited a long time to start it.

But now that I've been on it, it's been about a couple of months now. My sleep has gotten so much better. The progesterone has helped so much with that. And then also the.

The estrogen has really helped with like, clarity and, you know, energy and. And, you know, it just. It's really starting to become a game changer for me. How about you? Have you gone through that whole path yourself?

Yep. So I'm still kind of on it. Same thing. So I started progesterone almost two years ago.

I started with just like a cream that you can get over the counter that goes on your arm or whatever. And then I changed to the micronized. The pill, not the birth control pill, the micronized progesterone, which is the bioidentical.

And that was great for anxiety and sleep. I also take sleep. Breakthrough is this little powder that I Do before bed.

It has some L Theanine in it and some other things, and I think that really helps. Helps, too. But. And then I also just started the estrogen patch in October, so I'm still kind of getting the dosages right.

And I feel like it does take some time.

I think you have to be patient with it and do, you know, do blood work, see where your, you know, your estrogen is at your progesterone, and also, of course, go by how you're feeling. I. When I first started it, I had some kind of weird symptoms.

And.

But now that I've been a few months on it, I, you know, I do think that it is helping with that motivation, you know, because that motivation tends to, like, go out the window. Yes, it does. And it does. Yeah. And then, like, I had achy joints, which are feeling better, like, itchy ears, which is really weird.

Oh, you got the itchy ears?

Because I've heard about that. I've heard about the. Okay, okay. That's the thing.

Yeah. There's. There's so many things, and you don't. You don't realize that there are. There is support. You know, you just really. You really.

I do think it helps if you can work with somebody who, you know, kind of knows what they're doing with this kind of stuff and also be an advocate for yourself. So, you know, there's. Even the doctors sometimes don't really understand HRT quite yet.

So I think you have to do your research and understand, you know, and be an advocate. And just. Because a lot of times, if you're not having hot flashes, which I never really had hot flashes, I would get warm. I definitely ran warm.

Like, couldn't wear sweaters, got a little bit warm at night. Never really had the hot flashes. But a lot of times if you don't have hot flashes, doctors will be like, well, you don't need it.

But if you make a list of all the things that are going on with you, there's, you know, there's a chance that progesterone, estrogen, even testosterone may. May help.

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's so important to do the research.

Like, you really have to figure out, talk to doctors who are knowledgeable about, you know, HRTs and who are menopause certified, essentially, which I know that in med school, they don't really, really teach, you know, a lot about menopause and perimenopause especially. So it is important to find practitioners that know their way around that, you know, and that.

That aren't Afraid to talk about it, you know, And I think, you know, you just have to do your. Your research on that and figure out if it's right for you, you know.

And unfortunately, that a lot of the doctors just want to give the pill, the birth control pill, you know, and that. That's, like, all they know. You know, that's all they know to do. They're like, oh, you're having irregular periods. This is normal in perimenopause.

I had super heavy periods. I couldn't leave the house some days. Like, you know, the. The pill. The birth control pill is not the answer, so.

Right.

But that's all they know because that's what they've done their whole career, you know, so.

Right. And the. The pill is a synthetic hormone. Those are synthetic hormones.

Yeah.

You know, they're not bioidentical. Like, HRTs nowadays, you know, are usually bioidentical. I mean, obviously, do your research and make sure.

But, you know, I think that, you know, it really. Because there's been so much misinformation and people not knowing what they're really, you know, putting in their bodies.

I mean, I took the birth control pill for, like, 15 years when I was young.

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I know. We didn't think anything of it. We didn't, you know, we didn't know any better. I mean, that's just what they told you to do.

So right then you did it. You're like, okay, I don't want to get pregnant early, you know, like, and I want to have regular periods.

I mean, those are two of the big things, you know, especially when you're young like that.

It's. I think it's a good thing, though, that there is a lot more information coming out on it.

You know, they took that black box warning off of the estrogen, you know, just starting to. To, you know, have the conversation again.

Whereas for so long it was like nobody was talking about it because, you know, that's the Women's Health Initiative study that was. They're now kind of rolling back, saying that they didn't even use bioidentical anyway.

So this is a different, you know, a totally different conversation. Yeah.

Yes. Very faulty study.

Which is unfortunate because I think about the generation before us, like our moms, you know, and aunts and things like that, who suffered in the silence because they did not have the information. The correct information.

Yeah.

You know, which is a shame. Which is a shame.

Switching gears just a little bit, because I definitely want us to talk about this is strength training, which is kind of the other flip side of the nutrition. Right. Because in midlife, I mean, we really have to be cognizant of both of those things.

So, you know, with, with strength training because, you know, we hear it all the time, it's like lift heavy weights, you know, gotta be in the gym, gotta be working out, you know, doing all the things. And I know we definitely do. But so many of us, like we were saying at the top of the episode, are so busy.

You know, we're taking care of kids or taking care of aging parents, working, you know, just we have so many responsibilities on our shoulders.

So for strength training, I really want to break it down for our audience because, you know, because we are so busy, what is kind of the minimum of what women in midlife should be doing without becoming overwhelmed and like feel like they don't have time to do these things because that's, that's half the battle anyway, you know, you feel like you don't have time, so I'm just not going to do it, you know. So what is like the kind of minimum that we should be doing?

Yeah, so again, it's that whole let's work smarter rather than harder. We don't have to go to, you know, hour long class classes. We don't have to spend two hours at the gym.

You can do a really great workout in less than 30 minutes at your own home. And that would include a warm up and a cool down.

You know, it can be, it can be 25 minutes, 20 minutes of strength training two to three times a week. And you're going to build muscle. Of course you can do more than that.

You know, I, at this age, I don't see too many people who want or can do more than five times a week.

I always recommend at least two days of rest because for injury prevention we really need that mobility work and the stretching and just, just resting our muscles. So I'd say anywhere from, you know, when it comes to strength training, two to three, maybe four strength training sessions a week.

And then if you are feeling good and you're not too stressed or you have the time doing one to two short hit sessions or sprint interval training sessions in the week that are just like 10 minutes can be really beneficial for, you know, for many things, for blood sugar, for belly fat, for visceral fat.

But again, everybody's going to be individual as to how much time you have, how your body recovers, how much, you know, and that depends on how much sleep you're getting or how much stress you're under. So. But at a minimum, two to three days of strength training is really, is really going to be great. Especially if you're a beginner.

You're going to see great, great progress with just that.

Okay, how heavy should we be lifting? Because that's another thing, you know, it's like lift heavy weights. Okay, what does that look like?

How heavy should we, should we be lifting and how many repetitions? You know, like, really break that down too, because I feel like there's so much confusion out there with that.

Yeah.

And a lot of times if you're like on Instagram, you're seeing these women who are in the gym and they've got this big barbell that they're like deadlifting and you're, that's what you think of when you think of lifting heavy. And that doesn't appeal to a lot of people. So if you're just starting out, you could probably get two sets of dumbbells.

It could be maybe tens and 15 pounds, 10 pounds and 15 pound weights. And you could start there and you can do three sets of ten of four moves a day. And you know, you may want to work your legs one day.

Or if you like full body, if you like a full body workout, you do two arm moves and two leg moves, do three sets of 10 and do that, you know, three times a week. And that's going to be great. But what is considered what I consider heavy lifting is you feel, you feel challenged.

Number one, we don't want to go to these classes where you're lifting five pounds and you're just going through the motions and you're going as fast as you can and you know, it's like, oh, I'm lifting weights.

Okay, well let's, again, let's get smarter and more intentional and really have that mind to muscle connection where we're thinking about, okay, am I challenging this muscle? So your last couple reps should feel hard. It shouldn't be easy.

It shouldn't be like, oh, I could do this for another 10 reps. You want to think, okay, I could probably only do maybe like three more reps. So, you know that means I'm lifting heavy. So. So really focus on those last couple reps.

If you feel like you could keep going for five, six, seven more reps, you probably need to up your weight. So don't be afraid to challenge yourself. That's how the muscle grows. But that doesn't mean that you're going to start out lifting 40 pound dumbbells.

Like, please don't do that because you're going to injure yourself.

Totally. So is it more important to have a. Like the. The size of the weight, like the heaviness of the weight or the repetition number?

Okay, so both, really. It depends. It could be either you want to. You want to just tire out that muscle.

So you want, you know, and if that's by doing more reps with a lighter weight, say you don't have heavier weights at home, then, you know, if you only have 10 pounds is your max, or let's say you have 15 pounds is your max, and you're doing like a, whatever, a leg, you know, deadlift or a bicep curl, and you're feeling like, I could do five more. Okay, well, instead of 10, maybe you're doing 15. If you don't have a weight where you could increase.

If you do have a weight where you could increase, then you might start out even just doing like eight reps while you're working with that new heavier weight and then increase as it starts to get easier.

Oh, okay. That's a good point.

I know for me personally, and I love strength training, and I know we talk a lot about strength training in midlife, and it is so, so, so very important. But for me, I also need the cardio aspect as well in order for. For my body to lean out.

I notice, because I tend to carry weight more in my middle even before, you know, midlife and perimenopause, that was always my kind of like, problematic quote unquote area. So I know for me, like, cardio is really important as well. So what would you say about that? Like, how. How much cardio should we be getting?

Like, what should we be doing for cardio? I mean, I know for me, I do you.

Typically, I walk an incline on the treadmill with a weighted vest to kind of try to hit all those areas because, oh, my God, the weighted vest has taken a lot of its own in midlife.

Right?

Should have, like, its own, like, Instagram.

Yes. Yeah. And it's crazy because it's only like $30 or something. It's like one of the cheaper. It's like everybody can get one.

So two things for that belly fan, for losing weight. First of all, when you put on muscle, that's going to help you to burn more calories at rest. So you want muscle on your body.

It's going to help your metabolism. It's going to help you also to burn fat. But. And as far as cardio goes, walking, number one, walking is amazing.

Get more steps add 2,000 steps to whatever you're doing right now, and that's going to help you tremendously. Doesn't have to be any specific, like, zone or of heart rate. Just like, enjoy. Just like, enjoy it. Yes, Just enjoy it.

Like, we don't have to, we don't have to measure every single thing in our life. Go outside and enjoy a beautiful walk outside. Okay, so walking number one, and then short hit.

So short, meaning we're not going to an orange theory class. That's 45 minutes of cardio. You know, hard running, sprinting, that kind of thing.

The thing that works best is either sprint interval training or hit.

Which hit would be like a, you know, you, you could be doing jump squats or box jumps or burpees or, you know, anything that's like getting your heart rate up to that, you know, 80% of Max, but for a short time. So you're going to do it. Let's, let's just talk about how you would do this if you were sprinting.

If you're able to sprint, you may be a treadmill or outside. First of all, warm up. And then you're going to run as fast as you can for 20 seconds. So it's not very long. It's just 20 seconds.

And then you're going to recover for a minute or two and, you know, walking or whatever. And then you're going to run as fast as you can again for 20, 25 seconds. Then you're going to recover and you'll do that maybe six to eight times.

It doesn't have to take a long time. It can be very short. So you want. But you want it, you want to get that.

You've got to get to that point where you're really pushing yourself hard, but only for a short time. So it's kind of like, you know, there's a diminishing rate of returns. When you're doing this kind of stuff.

You want to do a little bit of it, but not too much that you're really stressing your body or, you know, causing any, any issues. But this, this can really help with. It helps with blood sugar. It really helps with that belly fat. But only maybe two times a week.

You don't need to do it daily or anything like that. So you could add it to another workout day.

It could be one of your workout days, you know, where you're just on the treadmill, you're getting your steps, you add in a few sprints, but they're super helpful. Or a hit workout.

You know, some people like to do a peloton or, you know, or a, or a on the floor hit like I was talking about before, before that type of workout. But again, in those, you can't, it's harder to get your heart rate up. So you might go like 40 seconds on those to really get your heart rate up.

But then you're resting for a good, you know, 30, 40 seconds after that.

And that rest is important in between the, the intervals correct because it lowers your heart rate again and then allows you to raise it quickly again. Is that like kind of, it'll, it.

Allows you to go hard again? Yeah. So it's, it's hard to do that. Go, go all out if you haven't recovered and let your heart rate come down.

So, and it doesn't have to be if you're sprinting, you know, you, you could rest 40 seconds, a minute, two minutes. Just see how, you know, how you're, how breathless you are.

And if you need, you know, it doesn't really matter how long you rest, you know, a minute, two minutes, whatever. Kind of feels like you're ready to go hard again.

And what about time of day? Does, does time of day matter when we're in midlife when it comes to working out?

Because I find for me, I like to work out early in the morning and just like, not only just get it over with, but like, you know, I feel like that's like when my energy is maybe higher too. Like I feel like it's a better pace and I feel like it kind of sets me for the day.

But is there a better time to work out or does it really matter as it relates to like, you know, our cortisol, our hormones, all that kind of thing.

So the best time to work out is when you can do it consistently number one. So it, you know, pick a time. What can you commit to most days of the week or three to four times, five times a week?

Pick a time that, you know, is it right after work? Is it before work? Is it, you know, lunchtime? What is, is, is where you can be most consistent.

And then I always suggest like, don't work out too late. It's going to be hard to sleep. If you're working out at, you know, 8 o' clock at night, you're really getting your adrenaline going.

And then early, early morning workouts, like if you're sacrificing sleep to get up at 4:30 in the morning to work out, really think about that, maybe you can do your workouts on the weekend so that you don't have to do that quite as much during the week because we really don't want to sacrifice our sleep.

And if you are, you know, let's say you're just going to work out at like 5:36 I the thing about that for me is I want to see you eating around your workout. So whether it's before or right after you put, you need to be getting some protein and carbs.

And I know a lot of people who wake up and work out at 5am they're like I do not feel like working out. So essential amino acids are really good to put in your water. They have the essential amino acids to help you build muscle.

So if you are working out fasted, those are good to put in your water. But really optimally we're trying to eat something, you know, within, either before or maybe within an hour of finishing.

And it should be like a protein based, right, Something that'll kind of, you know, help the not spike the glucose and kind of keep the cortisol at bay a bit, right?

Yes, protein for sure. Protein is going to help you build muscle.

It's gonna again, if you're, especially if you're doing those hiit workouts, you want to bring that cortisol back down right afterwards and food can help you do that.

You know, I think too we feel so much pressure to kind of do more, more, more, more, more, like more workouts, you know, more better, you know, having a better diet, like just all these things.

So when you're coaching your clients, when do you tell them that like less is more, you know, it's not just hitting the wall hard every single minute of every day.

Yeah, I talk about this all the time because again, if you are too stressed to, you know, in your life, you're not going to see results. Your body is going to hold on to all of that fat for survival.

If you are under eating too much, if you're working out too hard, if you're, you know, on the go, you're never setting boundaries, you're never saying no to anything. You don't take, you know, a few minutes every day to just like slow down and do some deep breathing, it's going to, it's going to backfire on you.

It might feel good when you have that adrenaline at first, but your body's going to have a really hard time releasing fat.

If your cortisol is always up and you're always, you know, you're always just on the go, you never slow down, you're trying to do it all and that doesn't mean that we can't do workouts.

I mean, I don't want to also take the other extreme that like, you know, we're in midlife, we have to be like fragile and just, just can't, you know, we can't do anything because we still need, there's, we still need to be moving and, and strength training and those things.

But again, it just is working smarter rather than trying to push and work harder because you know, a lot of times that's what gets you in this position in the first place is you're not nourishing your body, you're not taking care of your body and, and it shows because then you, you know, you see the weight gain.

So I know it's hard to believe, but when you eat enough and you fuel your body and you do, you know, replace maybe some of those crazy cardio hit classes with some, you know, slower strength training and build some muscle.

And then of course taking the time for, for, you know, either if you meditate or do some deep breathing or just a bedtime routine, something to, to really calm your, your body, you're going to see better results.

For those of us that might be under eating or over exercising and not controlling the cortisol properly, what are the signs that somebody like should be looking for, for to see those things so that they can change them, you know?

Yes. So if you. One real big sign a lot of people have is you are tired, but you are wired at night.

So you have, you know, you're tired but you can't fall asleep. Or your mind, you have that monkey brain where their mind is going a mile a minute at night or you're waking up at 3am and can't get back to sleep.

The 3am yeah, that could be different things that can be hormones, that can be blood sugar, but a lot of times it's cortisol. You have puffy, a puffier face. Like you just, you'll notice a lot of people have kind of that round moon face type thing.

You wake up after a good night's sleep and you're still tired. You have trouble getting through your workout. You know, you can feel when your body just doesn't feel at ease, it just feels overwhelmed.

You're constantly on edge. You know, little things bother you. Like little things that your husband says or your kids do or things set you off just really easily.

You're in that, what we call fight or flight. So you're always just like trying to put out different fires and it's a hustle culture too, where you're just constantly hustling, trying to do.

You know, you're always the one signing up for 10 different volunteer things or you always say yes. You know, I think that this, that's kind of the stage that we're in and we just have to recognize it and be okay with dialing back a little bit on.

On some things.

You know what I've really noticed too, especially in midlife, which I think didn't affect me as much before, is whatever I've eaten the night before for dinner will affect me the next morning. For example, two nights ago, I decided to have a huge bowl of pasta because you know what? I wanted a big bowl of pasta. So I had that bowl of pasta.

You know what? I woke up yesterday morning, morning with so much more brain fog and just like sluggish and just. And I, I didn't have any. I.

No alcohol at all, no wine. It was literally the food that I had eaten. And I find myself so much more susceptible to what I put food wise in my body now.

It will, it will show up like the next day and I will feel it.

Oh my gosh. Right? Yeah. Sugar. A lot of times people can't sleep because of, like, sugar.

Like, they had some ice cream after dinner and then all of a sudden their sleep is terrible. We know alcohol is like. And you mentioned alcohol. It's like, it is so much harder on us in our 40s and 50s.

It's like, you know, I know so many women who can't even handle one glass of wine. It's like they are, you know, it's like, why is that fair? But, but, you know, it disturbs yourself sleep.

And then you still feel kind of like low energy the next day. Liver. You know, our liver is processing a lot of hormones too, at this age, so it's a lot of times a little more sluggish with detoxing things.

So, yeah, a lot of just so many, so many things affect us these days. It's not fair. But, you know, the good news is, is that we can figure out what those are and we can.

And you know, we do have a little bit of control over some of it, so.

Oh, the alcohol of it all. I mean, remember how nice it used to be in my 20s and 30s?

Like, you know, my husband and I, we would cook dinner or order in or whatever and open a bottle of wine and like, have a couple glasses each. And it was just so nice. I could wake up the next day feel fine.

Feel fine.

The second I crossed over into my 40s. It, like that all changed. It's like I can literally have a glass of wine and feel like shit the next day.

Yeah. Or. And you just don't sleep, like. Or you wake up and you've got like this night sweats or whatever. And I know it's crazy.

It's the 3am Wake up call after a glass of wine and I'm like, what is even happening? Right, I understand. And I think I was looking at your social media. Is it true that you're kind of on a like, like sober journey right now?

You're not drinking?

Yeah, I was a nightly wine drinker, so nightly, like every night and same thing. I just, it was. I was fine.

So I had real, really no reason to cut back because I could have, let's be honest, it was two glasses pretty much every night and I could wake up feeling fine the next day. But then it's in my early 40s. It really hit me, like, it started hitting me so hard that I just. And I love my sleep. Like, I love my sleep.

So I try to protect that as much as I possibly can. And I went through so many, like, okay, well I'm not going to drink after 6pm I'm not going to like have more than one.

Okay, more than two, like, trying to set all these rules around it and none of it seemed to help. It's. Yeah, so.

So you kind of just. Did you taper off of it or was it just like one day? You were like, that's it?

No, it wasn't one day. It was years of, you know, taking breaks and like, okay, I'm gonna do like this challenge and then that challenge.

And you know, I go three months and then have, you know, so it, it was years of really just trying and I don't even want to say failing. Just like going back and forth like, oh, this, I cannot do this anymore. It drives me, you know, crazy how bad, how bad I feel.

So, no, it wasn't like just one day, but I definitely did a lot of, you know, 21 day reset things and dry January. And then I realized how good I felt. You know, like when I would do those, I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, the brain fog kind of goes away.

And I always say, and this is the same with food, with getting on a healthy journey too, that you don't realize how good you can feel until you start feeling good.

I have a lot of, you know, people that will tell me, oh, my gosh, so this is what it's like to wake up with energy and to be in a good mood and, you know, like, you don't realize how bad you had it until you start having it really good.

Yes. Well, and I think it's like there's so many parts to the puzzle, too. In midlife. It's like, it's not just nutrition, it's not just strength training.

It's not just sleep, but it is, like, all of those things. It's also, like, controlling your stress and, like, learning to take time for yourself and not feel guilty about it.

Like, take time away from your family, from your friends, from, you know, and just have time for yourself. It's like there's so many people parts. It's so intricate. Like, all these things that we need to do now to stay healthy and to stay feeling good.

Yeah. And, you know, sometimes people will get overwhelmed with that. Like, oh, my gosh, there's just so much.

I don't know where to start or I don't know what I should prioritize. And I always like to have it stack things so you don't have to do it all.

All but pick one or two things right now that you want to work on and add it to something that you're already doing.

So if you are, you know, already brushing your teeth, you know, maybe right after you brush your teeth, you stand in front of the mirror and you do, you know, some deep breathing or, you know, that's just an example. Whatever. Maybe when, you know, maybe you. You always take a walk, and so you do some. Some meditation while you're walking.

Just, like, add it to something that you're already doing so that it doesn't feel like, oh, I gotta do this, like, one more thing.

But also when you're doing it for feeling good, rather than thinking, this is something I should be doing, like, you're feeling like, you know, I'm supposed to be doing this instead. Think of it as these things make me feel good. You know, I don't work out because I feel like I have to.

I do it because I know it makes me feel good and I want that feeling. So think about the things that are gonna make you feel good.

Yeah, when you feel good, that is addictive. Like, you. Like, you want that. You know, you want that in your life, and it's. It really is so important.

And like, you're saying you can find it in all different ways. Like, for me, for example, I downloaded the Calm app, and I love it because at night, if I want to just do like a Short, even meditation.

Like, that's even a time when you can do meditation is when you're trying to, like, fall asleep, you know, because you're already trying to fall asleep. So why not do a little meditation with that?

It doesn't have to be difficult, you know, it can just be like, you're saying, doing something where you're already doing an activity where they can kind of dovetail together.

Yes, exactly. And you can build from there. You can build, you know, your habits.

So it's important, important to get habits in place so that you can be consistent and then you can build from there. You know, maybe you, for example, like, I have a sauna that I love. I love getting in my sauna. Have I always had a sauna? No, but I.

You know that after years of being healthy and of hearing of the benefits of sauna, we. I got a sauna, and now I add it on to my workout. So I work out and then I get in the sauna. Like, it's just. You can.

You can build onto those habits that you already have as you go along. Don't feel like you have to start out doing it all, you know, doing all the things.

Yeah, no, absolutely. Okay. So here we are talking about habits, right?

So for the women listening in the next 30 days, what are, like, three of the most effective things that we can be doing in midlife to really feel better, to see results, you know, because we do want to see results, too, and just, you know, put us in a good headspace for going forward.

Yeah, I would. The three things I would look at are, number one, with nutrition, I would start with whole whole foods and protein forward.

If you're getting those whole foods and you're making sure there's protein included in that, you're going to feel really good. Strength training, so important, even if it's just a couple days a week, I would say walking is also very important.

But we'll go with strength training and then just making sure that you are caring for your nervous system. So we want our bodies to feel safe. We don't want to be in this fight or flight. We don't want to be chasing, you know, all these things.

We want to feel calm. And I know it's not easy. It's definitely something that I've been working on myself. Then there's many different ways that you can do that.

Like you said, you have the calm app. Or maybe it's just getting that morning sunlight, or maybe it's doing some meditation or deep breathing or maybe just a walk.

Outside in nature with the no podcasts on, you know, just like taking, just maybe doing one thing for your nervous system. Or maybe it's just saying no to more to more activities and more scheduling and all of that. So I don't know about you, but.

I get so excited when plans cancel. I'm like, oh my God.

Yeah, there was a, there was a meme I think I saw that was like, don't, don't be sad about canceling plans with me because I'll be back in my pajamas within five minutes of your text.

Totally. I know there is something. Why do I know all of a sudden in midlife? I mean, that's like the thing. I'm like, oh, yes, plants canceled.

Yes, I know, I know.

Oh, and so those are kind of the top three things you would do.

I think our nervous system, like you're saying, like we have to pay attention to that, especially now because our nervous systems are fried in midlife, you know?

Yeah, fried. And that's something that people don't always pay attention to. So I think it's worth drawing, drawing a little attention to it.

You know, it's going to help your sleep, it's going to help your mood. It's actually going to help your fat loss. It's going to help, you know, all, all of these things that we've talked about today.

If you can feel more calm, safe in your body, not pressure, you don't feel pressure or, you know, your body's gonna relax and it's gonna do what it's, it's really designed to do.

Yeah. We must reset our nervous systems. I mean, that's like imperative. You know, it's just as important, I think, as like sleep and recovery.

You know, I mean, we've got to. Right. If we want all these things to kind of work together and really be effective. I mean, you have to kind of do a little bit of all of it.

Yeah, I agree.

It's not something that I, I used to, to think about, but especially in midlife, I think just with all the stressors and, and the lives that we, the lives that we lead now that are just so over scheduled and busy and, and the hormones that are going crazy, we really, we have to nourish again. Nourish our nervous system too. Just taking that time. It doesn't have to be a lot of time. It's just a little bit of a focus on that.

Just prioritizing yourself for a minute. Like that's huge. That's huge. Okay, so what advice would you give your 25 year old self.

I would say not to get caught up in skinny culture because skinny culture is just, it's not healthy. It's not going to, it's not going to do anything for you. Now I know we all want to lose weight and there's nothing wrong with losing weight.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to fit into your clothes. But I think we've kind of gone the, a little bit too far with that.

Sometimes I would focus on getting strong and nourishing your body because those two things are, they're really what are going to serve you long term. And you can look good while you're doing that too. So.

Fantastic. Yes. What is the biggest lesson that you have learned in midlife?

Oh, I'm learning new lessons every single day. Right? Yeah. Well, you know, I think just like personally that it's, it is okay to slow down.

You don't have to be hustling all the time and you can still lead a really great life.

You can still, you know, being present, especially in this world of social media and all the distractions, just like, like slowing down and being present with my family because these days are going so fast.

Like I have kids in college, kids in high school and the days are flying by and you never regret slowing down and being present with the people who are right in front of you.

That's true.

You, and you know, mortality kind of comes into play with that because you think in the future maybe sometimes and say when you look back, you're not going to regret spending more time with the people that you love, you know, and quality time, that's like probably one of the biggest regrets when you get that far anyway, you know, and I.

And the quality time, like you said, like not time and I'll, and I'll catch myself, my kids will say my name three times while I'm looking down at my phone and then I'm like, oh, sorry. You know, so really, really that quality, you know, over a quantity even.

How are you living iconically right now?

Oh my gosh, that's a good question. Well, how do you just define iconic?

You know, for me, for me personally, I feel like it's living as authentically you as possible. Like to your true, like being purpose who you are, you know, and not denying it. I think that that's pretty, pretty iconic.

Yeah.

You know.

Yeah. And I'm trying, I'm trying. Yeah, I'm trying just to same thing I am.

I'm a pretty authentic person as it is, but I'm trying to just Lean into, like, not worrying about what other people think so much and living, you know, what. What I feel comfortable with, what makes me feel comfortable in everything that I do.

So I, you know, I know that I don't have to answer to anybody else, that I'm ultimately responsible for me. And so, you know, I'm trying to live a somewhat natural lifestyle. You know, I'm very non toxic at my house and I still color my hair.

Yes, I know that's toxic, but I can't give up the dye on the hair yet. But I'm trying to live, you know, as naturally as possible with. But without extremes. And that just feels really good to me and just really balanced.

So I guess I'm trying to be, you know, natural in one sense without going. Going too crazy.

Well, I like that too, because I do think, I do think it's a scale. It's not like, all or nothing.

Like, in other words, yeah, you can eat organic but still get, you know, your hair highlighted and, like, you can work out, but still maybe enjoy a glass of wine. Like, I think that it's whatever's right for you.

Yeah. And we're not. You know, I don't feel. I don't want to feel bad about any. Any of it.

I just want to, you know, I want to do what feels good to me and I can. I can justify to myself not what I see on Instagram, not what, you know, I think I should be doing. But really, what. And, And I.

And I feel like we all should be doing. I think in your 40s, like, you start to give a lot fewer craps about anything.

Yes, yes, yes, exactly.

And not that you don't care, but just. I think it's a really. Just a. I'm almost.

I'm almost 49, so I'm almost through my 40s, and that's been what I have really grown the Most in my 40s toward is, is not caring, you know, what other people think.

Really, your bandwidth gets so much shorter for that kind of bs, you know, it's like you just don't have the energy, the time, like, the care to, like, be, you know, as conscious of that stuff as you did when you were younger, you know, which is a good thing, I think.

Yeah, I do too. Yeah, we should all be. I think we need more authenticity too. I think we just, you know, we're just.

Everybody's tired of seeing, like, the perfect this and that and not feeling like you can measure up. So I think we, you know, and we need to give ourselves grace which is why, you know, I don't.

I don't look to be perfect either, because we need a lot of grace this time of our life.

We all have good days and shitty days and ups and downs, so we gotta normalize that, you know? No, nothing is perfect. Nobody's perfect. And you. You do the best you can.

And we're in this together, too. Like, we. We gotta stick together. You have a great community here. Like, we've, you know.

Yeah.

It's important that we all have each other to kind of laugh about the things that we're going through, you know, and also, you know, support each other 100%.

100%. And I'm just so thrilled that you joined us here today on the iconic Midlife. Thank you so much, Sarah.

It's been so, so eye opening, and I just, I love all your tips, and I always, you know, like, I just love hearing from people like you who are passionate about what you do. So thank you. Well, thank you so much. And can you tell everybody where they can find you?

Yes. Well, thank you. I'm so honored to be on. I really appreciate you asking me. Sarah Preston, Healthy Living on Instagram.

So S A R A Preston, Healthy Living on Instagram. So I'd love to chat with people and really create. Create a community of, you know, people who, Who I can chat with about all the.

All the fun midlife stuff that's so exciting.

And do you have anything coming up that everybody should know about?

So every month I run a fitness and nutrition group, so you can find, you know, information about that. I also have a website, Sarah Preston, Healthy Living, if you want to check it out for, like, recipes and all that kind of stuff.

But yeah, I run a group for learning all about this.

These things that I talked about today, whether it's macros or strength training with hiit that you can do at home or, you know, some of the cortisol stuff too.

So very, very helpful. And definitely go follow her because she's. She's so knowledgeable in what she talks about.

You will love all the things, and they're very easy to kind of incorporate into your life, which I think is so important when it comes to these kinds of things.

Yeah, absolutely.

And thank you to the audience for listening and watching. I so appreciate you. And.

And if this episode or the show resonates, please don't forget to follow or subscribe on any podcast app or on YouTube and rate and comment, because it truly helps other women find this community.

And it's so important that we stick together like you were saying Sarah and just really band together and share all of our knowledge and just create the most badass midlife community possible because we can do it.

That's right.

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much.

Thank you.

This is one of those conversations I wish every woman heard before she blamed herself. If this episode gave you clarity or made you feel seen, do me a quick favor.

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