Latest / Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten / You Don’t Get Extra Credit for Suffering | Menopause in the Light Part 4

Transcript

You Don’t Get Extra Credit for Suffering | Menopause in the Light Part 4 · Faithful Fitness With Coach Alex VanHouten

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey Faithful, welcome to the Faithful Fitness Podcast. In a moment,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: my dad, Coach Alex Van Houten, will help you honor
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: God by making the most out of the body God's
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: given you. Today you can expect truth from the Bible,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: tools from science, and guidance for everyday life. So listen
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: close and get ready. Let's get 1% better today.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Hey there, Coach Alex here. Grace and peace to you.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: And welcome to part four. the final episode of our
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Menopause in the Light series. For these four episodes, I've
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: wanted to talk directly to you about something I've watched
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: women wrestle with for more than two decades, perimenopause, menopause,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: and how to faithfully steward a woman's body through this
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: enormous season of transition. Before we get into today's conversation,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: I want to remind you of something important about this
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: entire series. My goal has not been to give you
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: a hundred things to worry about, It's not been to
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: convince you that every symptom needs a supplement, medication, hormone panel,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: new diet, or training program. Actually, quite the opposite. I
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: want you to become better at identifying what matters. What
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: doesn't matter? Where am I doing well? Where am I
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: getting stuck? And what is my next faithful step? Because
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: information without clarity can become its own kind of overwhelm.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: And that's one reason I created the Faithful Fitness Assessment.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: If you've been listening to this series and thinking, okay, Alex,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: I understand more now, but I don't know what I
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: personally need to work on first. That's exactly what this
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: is for. It's a short assessment built around the four
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: faithful fitness anchors of integrity, grit, growth, and awe. You'll
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: get a personal report showing you where you're strong, where
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: there may be gaps, and where I think your attention
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: belongs next. And your assessment also reserves your place in
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: the next live Faithful Fitness workshop, where I'll help you
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: actually interpret what you found and decide what to do
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: with it. I'll tell you how to get it at
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: the end of today's episode. But first, let's finish the series.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: Because sometimes you can train well, you can eat well,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: you can pray, you can work on your stress, you
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: can create good routines, and you can still need help.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Medical help. And I want to say something right at
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: the beginning today. that some of you need permission to hear.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: You don't get extra credit for suffering more than you
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: need to. There's a kind of toughness that I respect enormously.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I've built much of my career around grit, doing hard things,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: keeping your commitments, learning that discomfort isn't an emergency. But
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: wisdom means knowing the difference between discomfort that should be
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: endured and suffering that should be treated. Those are not
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the same thing. If you're getting stronger in the gym
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: and the last three repetitions are hard, good. That's training.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: If you're waking up six times every night, drenched in
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: sweat for two years, and you're barely functioning, you don't
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: need me to tell you to have more grit. You
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: need some help. If intimacy has become painful because the
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: tissues down south have changed, if your mood has changed
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: so significantly that you don't recognize yourself, it's time to
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: talk to somebody. If you're bleeding in a way that
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: seems unusual, Don't assume, well, I guess that's just menopause.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Get evaluated. There's a difference between accepting the realities of
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: aging and needlessly surrendering your quality of life. And I
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: don't believe faithful stewardship requires the second. Sometimes stewardship means
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: lifting the weight. Sometimes stewardship means putting down the fork.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: And sometimes stewardship means making the appointment. Now, before we
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: talk about hormones, I need to clear something up. Today,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: we're going to talk about hormone replacement therapy. You'll hear
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: it called HRT, but you'll also hear menopausal hormone therapy
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: or MHT. And before I get into it, let me
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: make my role clear to you. I'm an exercise scientist
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: and a coach. I'm not your physician. I'm not prescribing
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: hormones on a podcast. And there are individual factors. Your
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: medical history, age, symptoms, family history, medications you're currently taking,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: cancer history, cardiovascular history, reproductive history. Quite a bit of
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: data that's specific to you that matters enormously here. So
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: this part of the conversation is about helping you become
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: an informed participant in your own health care. Not diagnosing
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: yourself and not buying hormones on the internet. Definitely not
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: walking into your doctor's office demanding a prescription because Coach
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Alex talked about estrogen. Today we're going to learn to
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: ask better questions. Hormone therapy is not the devil, and
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: it's not your savior. For years, hormone replacement therapy has
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: been discussed in incredibly polarizing ways. One side says, hormones
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: are dangerous, avoid them. The other side says, every woman
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: over 40 should be on hormones. I don't think either
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: position respects the complexity of the evidence. Menopausal hormone therapy
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: is medicine, and medicine has indications, benefits, risks, contraindications, different formulations,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: different routes, different doses, different goals, and different risk-benefit profiles
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: for different women. Current international menopause guidance identifies menopausal hormone
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: therapy as the most effective treatment for bothersome hot flashes
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: and night sweats. For the treatment of those symptoms, it's
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: typically considered especially appropriate in women younger than 60 and
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: within about 10 years of menopause onset, after individual risks
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: and benefits have been evaluated. Now that doesn't mean everyone
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: should take estrogen. It means the old culture idea that
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: hormone therapy is inherently reckless medicine is not an accurate
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: representation of the current evidence. And something major happened very recently.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: On February 12, 2026, the FDA approved labeling changes for
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: six menopausal hormone therapy products that removed references to cardiovascular disease,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: breast cancer, and probable dementia from their boxed warnings. That's significant.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: But listen carefully. Removing language from a boxed warning doesn't
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: mean that every risk disappeared. And that's exactly the kind
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: of bad interpretation I don't want us making. The ACOG
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: still emphasizes that that risks vary based on the woman,
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: the formulation, the route of administration, age, timing, and medical history.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Systemic hormone therapy is generally not recommended for women with
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: histories such as certain breast or endometrial cancers, stroke, heart attack,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: blood clots, or liver disease. So your coach's position is this.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Don't fear hormones because of outdated blanket statements. And don't
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: romanticize hormones because they're having a cultural moment. Evaluate them
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: intelligently with a medical professional you trust for your specific situation.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: But for your information, let's talk about what estrogen actually helps.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: The best established role for systemic estrogen therapy is symptom treatment.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Hot flashes, night sweats, and systemic estrogen also helps protect
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: against the accelerated bone loss that occurs in menopause. For
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: women who still have a uterus, systemic estrogen typically needs
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: to be paired with a progesterone because estrogen used alone
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: can stimulate the uterine lining and increase the risk of
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: endometrial cancer. That's an important detail because sometimes online hormone
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: conversations sound like this. Estrogen makes me feel amazing. Okay, well,
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: do you have a uterus? What else are you taking?
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: What dose? What route?
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Those details matter. And this is why advice related to
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: hormone therapy belongs in an actual medical relationship, not in
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: a TikTok reel. Here's an example. Oral administration versus transdermal
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: administration matters. Hormone therapy isn't one single thing. Estrogen itself
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: can be delivered orally, through a patch, through gels or sprays,
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: and even a local preparation that we can talk about
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: in a minute. Different routes have different considerations. The ACOG
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: notes that patches, sprays, and rings are may carry less
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: risk of blood clots than estrogen taken orally in some women.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: And this is exactly why asking, is HRT safe for me,
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: isn't exactly the right question. A better question is, for me,
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: given my symptoms and medical history, what are the likely
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: benefits and the risks of this formulation, this route, and
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: this dose? That is an adult healthcare question. Now with
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: that in mind, let me save you some money. you
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: probably don't need a $ 600 hormone panel. Perimenopause hormones fluctuate.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: That's part of the problem. Your estrogen on Tuesday can
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: look very different from your estrogen in another point in
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: the transition. So for a woman of typical perimenopausal age,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: with characteristic symptoms and menstrual changes, extensive hormone testing often
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: isn't necessary to establish that she's in perimenopause or to
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: begin discussing treatment. The ACOG specifically says that hormone testing
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: generally isn't recommended before beginning hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: because levels fluctuate so much during the transition that a
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: single measurement often doesn't give useful information. Now, there are exceptions.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: If symptoms occur, unusually young, or something about the presentation
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: doesn't fit, testing may be appropriate. But be careful when
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: someone tells you, we need this expensive proprietary panel of blood, urine,
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: and saliva tests to perfectly balance out your hormones. The
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: ACOG notes that there are no FDA-approved salivary or urinary
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: tests for steroid hormone measurement for this purpose. Your body's
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: not a dashboard where every hormone needs to sit on
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: some perfect middle line. Remember, we're treating people, not spreadsheets.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: And I've heard from many women that individuals selling various
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: hormone products and services have told them that they want
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: to test their hormones so, quote, they can get their
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: hormones looking a lot more like they were when they
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: were 30. Not only is that probably not the goal
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: we're shooting for, but unless you have significant hormone panel
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: information from when you were 30, there's no way of
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: using those numbers to figure out what 30 looked like
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: for you Now with that in mind, let's talk about
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: one of the most powerful marketing words in menopausal medicine. Bioidentical.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: It sounds fantastic, right? Natural. Customized. Designed specifically for your body.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: But here's where the language gets slippery. There are FDA-approved
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: hormones that are chemically identical to hormones produced in the
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: human body. So bioidentical does not inherently mean compounded. And
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: compounded does not inherently mean better. The ACOG recommends FDA-approved
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: menopausal hormone therapies over routinely compounded preparations when approved options exist.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: Because compounded productions don't undergo the same FDA review for safety, effectiveness, quality, consistency,
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: and potency. Could there be legitimate reasons for compounding? Sure.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: A patient may need a formulation that isn't commercially available.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: And there might be an allergy or another specific medical reason.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: But just note that custom is not always synonymous with superior.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: And natural is not always synonymous with safe. Boys and
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Ivy's natural too. So let's retire that argument. Does that
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: mean that everybody who uses the word bioidentical doesn't have
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: your best interest in mind?
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: No.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: But I simply want you to understand when you're being
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: marketed to as opposed to strategized with. And that brings
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: me to another increasingly popular conversation. Testosterone. Women have testosterone too.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: And there's evidence for testosterone therapy in a very specific area.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: And if you've got kids listening, this is your fair
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: warning that this conversation would be better continued when they're
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: not around. Certain postmenopausal women wrestle with something called hypoactive
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: sexual desire disorder. And current International Menopause Society recommendations recognize
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: that there's evidence of benefit for appropriately selected postmenopausal women
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: with HSDD. Now that's very different from every tired woman
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: over 45 needs testosterone. Or your testosterone is low, so
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: let's insert a pellet. You'll lose some fat, build some muscle,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: get your libido back, and have more energy while feeling
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: 25 again. Let's slow down a bit, huh? As of now,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: there's no FDA-approved testosterone formulation specifically for menopausal symptoms in
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: women in the United States. And the ACOG has specifically
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: cautioned against testosterone pellet therapy. because of limited safety data
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: and the inability to simply remove the dose once the
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: pellet's been implanted. Testosterone truly might have a legitimate role.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: That's exactly why it shouldn't be reduced to anti-aging marketing.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: And that said, it's time to put our big girl
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: pants on and talk about sex. This part matters, and
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: we're not going to hide it. As estrogen declines, tissues
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: in and around the vaginal wall and the urinary tract
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: can change, and they might become thinner, drier, less elastic,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: and lubrication can decrease. Sex can become uncomfortable or painful,
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: and urinary urgency might change as well. And some women
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: will experience more urinary tract infections also. Collectively, these changes
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: can fall under something called genitourinary syndrome of menopause, or GSM.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: And here's the part I really want women to hear.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: Painful sex is not simply the price you pay for
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: getting older. I need you to talk about this with
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: your medical professional. There are treatments. Lubricants and moisturizers might help,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: and for some women, low-dose local vaginal estrogen or other
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: prescription therapies may be appropriate. Local estrogen is different from
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: systemic hormone therapy because it's designed primarily to treat tissues
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: locally rather than produce the same whole body exposure. But
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: before you can do all that, Somebody has to say something.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: And this is one of those things that women can
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: suffer through for years because they're embarrassed. Please don't be.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: I promise, your doctor has heard the word vagina before.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: And you're not the first. Your sexual health is still health.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: And it's worth what might feel like an awkward conversation. Remember,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: there's no extra credit for extra suffering. And if you're
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: a husband listening, I want you to lean in. If
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: your wife tells you that sex hurts right now, I
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: need you to believe her. Don't interpret everything through she
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: doesn't want me anymore. There may be emotional or relational
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: issues that deserve attention, but there might be also actual
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: physical changes that are making intimacy uncomfortable. Compassion means becoming
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: curious instead of defensive. Be brave enough and patient enough
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: to ask, what's happening? What hurts? How can I love
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: you well through this? And wives, don't make him guess, please.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Silence creates stories. If sex hurts, tell him. If desire
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: has changed, talk about it. If your body feels different,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: say that too. Please don't let lack of communication slowly
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: build a wall in your marriage that could actually be
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: addressed with honesty, patience, medical care, and understanding. Marriage requires adaptation.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Your bodies will change. Both of them. And love teaches us,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: if we're willing, How to love the person standing right
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: in front of us right now. Not pining for who
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: they were at 28. You can do this. I believe
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: in you. Now I want to talk about sleep. Because
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: this may be one of the most underestimated issues in
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: this entire series. You're having night sweats. So you wake up.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: Then you can't fall back asleep. Now you're exhausted tomorrow.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: So training feels terrible and you move less. And you're hungrier.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: You crave easier foods. Your patience is lower. Your marriage
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: feels harder. Your work suffers. And then evening arrives and
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: maybe you use alcohol or something else to wind down,
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: which can further disrupt your sleep. And then we repeat
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: the cycle. Do that occasionally? Yeah, that's pretty human. But
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: do that for three years? Now we have a serious problem.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Sleep problems become more common during perimenopause and menopause. And
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: hot flashes aren't the only possible cause. Insomnia. Mood disorders.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Restless legs. Sleep apnea. medications, alcohol, stress, and other health
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: conditions can all contribute. So don't automatically assume my hormones
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: are keeping me awake. There's really nothing I can do.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Let's start with the basics here. Maintain consistent sleep-wake times.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: Make sure you're going to bed in a cool, dark bedroom.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Reduce your bright light and phone use around bedtime. Cut
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: off your caffeine intake by lunch. Don't let alcohol become
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: a habit every night. Train regularly and Get as much
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: daylight exposure as possible when the sun's up. And have
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: a wind-down routine. I know, it's all the boring stuff
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: everybody wants to skip while asking which magnesium formulation is best.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Do the boring stuff. But if you're doing all the
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: basics and you still can't sleep, it's time to get
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: some help. One of the things I see is that
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: some women try to supplement their way out of sleep apnea.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: If you're snoring loudly and gasping and your spouse notices
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: that you're stopping breathing and you're waking with headaches... and
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: you're excessively sleepy through the day, please talk with a
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: healthcare professional about sleep apnea. I know a lot of
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: ladies think it's a guy problem, but women can develop
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: sleep apnea too. And you won't fix obstructive sleep apnea
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: with melatonin or lavender oil. Find out what's actually happening. Likewise,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: if you have persistent insomnia or extreme difficulty falling asleep,
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: cognitive behavioral therapy can actually be really helpful with insomnia.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: And in some situations, there may be medications that play
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: a role in helping. The ACOG specifically includes cognitive behavioral
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: therapy among treatment options for insomnia. Recognize the problem and
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: treat the problem you actually have. If you haven't noticed,
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: that's going to be the theme today. And did you
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: know that sometimes treating the hot flashes will help your sleep?
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: This is where systems thinking matters. Maybe your primary problem
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: with sleep isn't sleep hygiene. Maybe you're waking up because
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: you're having severe night sweats. In that case, treating the
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: vasomotor symptoms may actually improve sleep downstream. that could involve
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: hormone therapy. Or there are non-hormonal prescription options as well.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: There are actually certain antidepressant medications that can reduce hot flashes.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: There are some medical cases where gabapentin has helped women.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: And just about every year it seems like there are
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: newer non-hormonal medications that are specifically targeting brain pathways that
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: help with temperature regulation. One current example, and I'm probably
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: going to pronounce this wrong, is Fezolinitin. In the pharmaceutical world,
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: it's sold as Vioza. It can actually reduce moderate to
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: severe menopausal hot flashes without estrogen. But, and this is
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: exactly why non-hormonal doesn't necessarily mean risk-free, the FDA also
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: added a box warning because of a rare risk of
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: serious liver injury and recommends liver testing around its use. Again,
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: there are options. Options have transplants. and that's medicine and
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: why these treatments need to be navigated with a professional
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: you trust. But here's a difficult one. Now we've talked
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: about physical symptoms, but what about mood? Some women describe
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: in perimenopause as, I just don't feel like myself. More anxious,
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: more irritable, less resilient, maybe tearful, maybe angry, maybe overwhelmed,
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: maybe all of them at the same time, or maybe
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: all of them at different times. Sleep deprivation itself can
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: contribute tremendously to this, but hormonal changes can contribute too.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: And life circumstances matter at the time. Relationships matter, and
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: mental health conditions matter. So we need to stop doing
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: two things. First, we can't tell every woman that her
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: emotions are just, quote, hormones. This is dismissive and oftentimes cruel.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: And second, We can't pretend that hormones and sleep could
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: never influence our emotional health. That's equally silly. If your
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: mood has substantially changed, especially if it's interfering with your work, relationships,
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: daily functioning, or your sense of hope, you need to
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: articulate that to somebody. That's appropriate with a physician, a counselor,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: maybe a mental health professional. And whatever the appropriate next
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: step is, You're not weak because you need help. Satan
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: operates in the darkness. So our best bet is always
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: to bring these things to the light. Now I'd be
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: remiss if we didn't at least talk a bit about peptides.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Because I know somebody's been listening to this whole series
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: waiting for this one. Coach, what about peptides? Here's my answer.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: Which peptide? Because peptide is not a treatment. It's a
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: chemical category. Saying I take peptides is a little bit
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: like saying I take chemicals. Okay, which ones? For what?
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: At what dose? Approved by whom? For what condition? What's
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: the evidence? What are the risks? Who's manufacturing your peptide?
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: There are peptide-based medications with very strong evidence for specific
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: medical uses. But there are also substances being marketed through
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: wellness clinics and online as anti-aging peptides, fat loss peptides,
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: healing peptides, growth hormone peptides, menopause peptides. And there the
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: evidence ranges from preliminary, to poor, to virtually non-existent. And
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: here's my recommendation. Do not confuse biological plausibility with clinical proof.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Just because we understand a biological pathway and think we
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: understand how we can manipulate that pathway doesn't mean that
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: doing so will improve your life safely. We're speaking specifically
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: to the Instagram crowd just because a mouse regenerated some
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: tissue after receiving an injection. doesn't mean it's right for
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: you to inject it into your abdomen after ordering it
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: from a website. Currently, the FDA continues to take enforcement
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: action against sellers marketing certain unapproved peptide products. And injectable
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: unapproved products create additional concerns because sterility, quality, purity, dose,
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: and safety all matter enormously when you're putting something directly
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: into your body. It's the Wild West out there. And
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: many peptide treatments make you a lab rat. So when
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: someone says, this peptide increases growth hormone, okay, what's the
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: outcome we're trying to improve? Did it actually improve in
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: people like you? And at what cost? What were the
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: adverse events? Do we know any long-term outcomes? And on
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: the flip side, is there a current FDA-approved treatment with
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: better evidence? Those are the questions worth asking. And while
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: we're here, Let's separate another category because people sometimes lump
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: everything together under peptides. Drugs such as semaglutide and trisepatide
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: act on peptide hormone pathways and can be extremely effective
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: medications for appropriately selected people with obesity, diabetes, and other
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: approved indications. But they're not menopause treatments. That is to say, Ozempic, Wagovi, Manjaro,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: a woman might be in menopause and also a candidate
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: for one of these medications. But those are two different statements.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: One of my concerns right now, especially for women in
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: this season, is preserving muscle while the weight's coming off.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: If somebody's using a weight loss medication and rapidly losing
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: weight while eating very little protein and doing no resistance training,
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: we need to talk about what else she's losing along
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: with the fat. Remember the whole series. Keep what matters.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: Muscle matters. Strength matters. Bone matters. So if medical weight
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: management becomes part of your strategy, nutrition and resistance training
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: become even more important, not less. And please, let's distinguish
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: FDA-approved medications obtained through legitimate medical care from unapproved or
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: compounded products marketed as though they're identical but aren't. At
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: the time of this recording, the FDA has recently intensified
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: warnings and enforcement around misleading marketing of non-FDA compounded GLP-1 products.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: And I don't see that changing anytime soon. So here
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: are the questions I want you to ask about every
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: new possible treatment. This is the framework. You see something online,
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: a hormone pellet, a supplement, a peptide, an injection, an herb,
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: an IV, a wearable red light device, whatever's coming next.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: And you ask, what problem am I actually trying to solve?
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Then you can ask, what evidence shows that this intervention
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: improves that problem? Then, what are the risks? Then, is
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: there a simple or better established intervention that I haven't
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: done yet? And then finally, who financially benefits from convincing
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: me that I need this? Now, that last question doesn't
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: automatically invalidate something. Doctors get paid. Coaches get paid. Pharmaceutical
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: companies get paid. Supplement companies can get paid. Everyone has incentives.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: The existence of money doesn't prove deception. But the incentives
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: really matter. I need you to know who's selling you what.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Whenever someone tells you that they've discovered the secret that
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: mainstream medicine, every major professional medical organization, and thousands of
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: researchers somehow missed, that's a sign to slow down. I
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: don't want you to be cynical. I just want you
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: to be really difficult to fool. That said, this brings
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: me to another trend that I need to talk about.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: Stop optimizing things that aren't broken. This is one of
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: my broader concerns with the entire longevity and optimization movement.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: You can become so obsessed with optimizing your biology that
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: you actually stop living. Blood tests every month. 20 supplements.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: 5 injections. Every bite tracked. Every heartbeat monitored. Your sleep score,
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: your recovery score, your glucose score, your hormone score. And suddenly,
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: you're supposedly doing all this to live better. But your
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: entire life is spent monitoring whether or not you're living correctly.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: There's a place for data. It can teach us things.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: I love data. You know that about me. I measure things,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: I learn, I adjust. But I don't become a slave
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: to measurements. And I don't want you to either. Sometimes
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: the goal is just to go hiking with your husband.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it's just play with your grandchildren or serve at church.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: Lift something heavy, eat dinner with friends, laugh, sleep, wake up,
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: and then thank God for another day. I know a
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: lady whose sleep score was making her life intolerable. She
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: had actually significantly improved her sleep, but her stupid Garmin
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: was telling her that her sleep score was still garbage.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: And it was really messing with her head. She had
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: gone from getting four and six hours of sleep to
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: getting a regular 7 and 8, and waking up feeling
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: refreshed until she checked her watch, which for some reason
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: was telling her that her sleep score had only improved
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: from a 48 to a 58, and all she saw
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: was that she was still failing. I had her take
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: a break from her watch for about a week, and
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: it was crazy how much more energy she reported having
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: in the morning. After the week was over, she was
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: so excited to put her watch back on and see
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: that she had improved her sleep, but what she found,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: for whatever reason, is that her sleep score was still
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: very low, despite sleeping a long time, feeling really good
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: about it, and having great energy in the morning. And
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: while it was a hard decision, we ultimately decided to
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: stop wearing the stupid garment altogether. Because while it served
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: its purpose in helping her focus on improving her sleep,
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: she had begun to put too much worth in a
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: number that actually didn't reflect the improvements she'd already made
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: and how she actually felt about it. Ultimately, what do
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: we want to see? A change in the data or
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: a change in our body? Don't become a slave to measurements.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: Health is supposed to increase your capacity to live. It's
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: not supposed to become your life. Now, I know we've
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: said a lot so far, so let's make this really practical.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: When should a woman stop saying, I'll just manage this myself,
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: and start the conversation with a healthcare professional? Certainly, if
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: symptoms are significantly affecting your quality of life, and if
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: you're having severe or frequent hot flashes, if sleep disruption
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: is persistent, if mood changes are concerning, if sexual pain
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: or urinary tract symptoms are interfering with your life, if
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: you're concerned about bone health or experiencing regular injuries, or
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: if you're experiencing any of these paramenopausal or menopausal symptoms
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: unusually young, and definitely if you're experiencing excessive or abnormal bleeding.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Don't hide these things. Don't wait because you're embarrassed. Don't
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: diagnose yourself from a podcast. Make the appointment. And while
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: I'm at it, I'm going to say something else here.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Sometimes women tell me, I brought this up to my
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: doctor and they basically told me it was normal. Okay,
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: it may be normal, but that doesn't answer the question.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: Can anything be done about it? Normal things can still
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: be miserable. Childbirth's normal. Kidney stones happen naturally. I don't
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: think anybody says, well, that's just part of the human experience.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: Good luck. You're allowed to ask questions. What are my options?
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: What are the benefits? What are the risks? Are there
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: non-hormonal options? Would local treatment make sense? Do I have
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: any contraindications to hormone therapy? Can something else be causing this?
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: Should I be screened for osteoporosis? Is it possible I
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: have sleep apnea? Is this bleeding pattern concerning? These are
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: all reasonable questions. And if you have a clinician, who
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: won't engage you with reasonable questions, then it's appropriate to
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: seek another qualified opinion. Now, I'm not asking you to
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: find somebody who simply tells you whatever you want to hear.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: That's not good medicine either. But you need a partner
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: in this process. Someone competent enough to tell you yes, no, maybe,
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: and here's why. And guys, I got one final section
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: for you. We've talked throughout this series about compassion. Now
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: I want to add action. Sometimes your wife is going
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: to be so tired of dealing with something She stops
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: trying to solve it. Maybe she's embarrassed. Maybe she's convinced
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: that nobody listens. Maybe she's spent years taking care of
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: everybody else and simply keeps putting herself last. I need
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: you to encourage her. Not, what's wrong with you? How
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: about we try, you've been dealing with this for a while.
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: I think you deserve some help with it. Offer to
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: go to the appointment if she's willing. Help her to
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: write down questions beforehand. Take care of whatever needs taking
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: care of so that she can prioritize her health. And
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: when she starts treatment, whether that's changing her training or nutrition,
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: or beginning a new medication, or starting hormone therapy, or
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: seeing a counselor, or treating sleep apnea, don't expect everything
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: to change overnight. Walk with her through it. That's marriage.
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you're the strong one. Sometimes she's the strong one.
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: And sometimes you just carry each other. But this isn't
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: just her problem. This is something you can walk with
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: her through. Again, I believe in you. And now ladies,
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: some of you are very good at taking care of everybody.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: You can organize the entire household and lead the team
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: and feed the family and care for your parents and
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: serve at church. Show up for your friends. Quietly fall
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: apart yourself. There's no medal for that. Let somebody help you.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: Tell your husband what's happening. Tell your friend. Tell your doctor.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: Tell your coach. Tell somebody. You don't have to turn
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: menopause into your identity. But you also don't have to
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: pretend that it isn't affecting you. Bring it into the light.
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: That's what this entire series has been all about. When
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: I started this series, my goal was to inform you.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: But not only to inform you. I also wanted to
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: inspire you and empower you to take action. Because knowledge
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: without action is just trivia. So after four episodes, here's
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: what I hope you understand. From part one, your body's changing,
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: but you're not broken. From part two, train it, get strong,
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: preserve muscle, load your bones, and keep your cardiovascular system capable.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: From part three, you gotta nourish yourself. Feed the best
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: in you, protein, plants, enough food, appropriate energy balance and
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: stop punishing yourself. And today in part four, get help
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: when help is warranted. Use medicine intelligently and in partnership
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: with a practitioner you trust. Treat your sleep seriously. Talk
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: about sexual health. Be discerning about hormones and supplements and
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: peptides and every other promise that somebody's trying to sell you.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: And through all four parts, Remember that your value has
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: never depended on you staying young. We started this series
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: in Proverbs 31. And I want to end there too.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: Strength and dignity are her clothing. And she laughs at
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: the time to come. Think about that picture. Not denial,
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: not fear, not desperation. Not somebody chasing youth because she
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: believes her best years are disappearing behind her. And that
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: means her value is disappearing with them. Strength. Dignity. And
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: a confidence toward the future. That doesn't mean the future
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: is easy. She can laugh at the days to come
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: because she knows who holds them. There are things about
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: aging that we will not control. There are losses that
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: we will not prevent. Eventually, all of us are going
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: to discover the limits of what exercise, nutrition, and hormones, medicine,
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: and every other health intervention can accomplish. This body is temporary.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: That's Christian theology too. We don't worship physical health. We
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: steward it. And there's an enormous difference. My goal for
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: you is not immortality. My goal isn't that somehow you
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: hack your biology well enough to avoid every evidence of age.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: My goal is that you take whatever years God entrusts
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: to you, and you show up for him. Strong when
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: you can be strong, wise when circumstances change, humble enough
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: to ask for help, and grateful for what your body
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: can still do. Faithful in the season that you're actually
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: in right now. And maybe that's the final thing I
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: want to leave you with. We tend to talk about
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: menopause in the language of endings. The end of fertility,
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: the end of menstruation. the end of a particular reproductive chapter,
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: when those things are true. But I wonder how many
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: women need somebody to remind them. The ending of something
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: is not the same thing as the end. God willing,
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: you might have another 30 years, 40 years, maybe more.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Think about that. Only God knows the decades of life
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: you still have. Decades of serving, leading, mentoring, traveling. building, teaching, loving,
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: training and praying, giving and becoming. There may be women
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: younger than you who desperately need the wisdom that you
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: haven't even finished developing yet. There may be grandchildren that
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: you haven't met. There may be ministries that you haven't started.
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: There may be adventures you still have yet to take.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: There might be work that God has for you that
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: he hasn't even shown you yet. So no, we're not
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: going quietly into some second half. We're going intentionally. God's
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: not done with you yet. Well, now we've spent four
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: episodes together. And maybe you learned something about menopause. Maybe
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: you learned something about training. Maybe your nutrition suddenly makes
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: a little more sense. Or maybe something I said about
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: sleep hit really close to home. It's also possible that
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: you realized that there's a conversation you need to have
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: with your doctor. Or maybe your biggest realization was simply this.
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: that you haven't been stewarding yourself very well lately. And
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: if that's you, I don't want your response to this
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: series to be, oh, well, I guess I need to
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: fix everything. You don't. You need to figure out what
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: deserves your attention first. That's why my invitation right now,
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: at the end of this series, is very simple. Take
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: the Faithful Fitness Assessment. I built it to help you
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: step back and look at your health through four lenses. Integrity.
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: Are your actions actually aligned with what you say you value?
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: Grit.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: How well are you continuing when things become difficult? Growth.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: Are you appropriately challenging your body and building greater capacity?
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: And awe. Is your pursuit of health still rooted in gratitude, worship,
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: and stewardship? Or has fear, shame, and vanity, or even control,
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: started to drive the process? You'll answer a series of
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: questions and receive a personal report. And instead of leaving
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: you with a score and saying, hey, good luck, your
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: assessment also includes your seat in our next live Faithful
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: Fitness workshop. That's where we'll take the information and turn
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: it into action. We'll talk through what your results mean.
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: We'll identify what actually deserves your attention. And you'll have
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: the opportunity to ask your personal questions. Most importantly, you'll
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: leave with a greater clarity about your next faithful step.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: The assessment, the report, And the seat in our seminar, $ 7. 99.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: Not because I believe $ 7. 99 is going to solve your health.
• 38:47
  Speaker 2: It can't. It's because I want the barrier to getting
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: clarity to be incredibly low here. So if you've listened
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: to four episodes about menopause and you're thinking, Alex, I
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: do understand more, but I don't know where I need
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: to begin. Begin there. Go to faithfulfitness.co slash assessment. Take
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: the assessment. read your report, and come join me live
• 39:12
  Speaker 2: for the next workshop because you probably don't need more
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: random information. You need to understand your situation well enough
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: to make a wise decision about what comes next. Again,
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: the links in the show notes, faithfulfitness.co slash assessment. So
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: if you're in the season right now, bring it into
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: the light. Train the body you have. Nourish it well. Sleep.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Ask questions. Seek treatment when you need it. Be skeptical
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: of magic. Stay open to good medicine. Let people love you.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: Keep getting stronger. And stop measuring the potential of the
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: years ahead by the body you had in the years behind.
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: May strength and dignity be your clothing. And may you
• 39:59
  Speaker 2: laugh at the years to come. There's still work to do.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: There's still people to love. There's still a kingdom to serve.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: And by the grace of God, there's so much life
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: still left for you to live. Thanks for walking through
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: menopause in the light with me. I hope to see
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: you at our next workshop. Until then, This has been
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Coach Alex Van Houten on the Faithful Fitness Podcast. Train hard,
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: but pray harder.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: What's up, Faithful? This episode helped you. Share it with
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: someone who needs to hear it. And don't forget to
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: subscribe and leave a review so more people can find
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Faithful Fitness. My dad's devotional, Faithful Fitness, is available now.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: And you can join our faithful fitness community by clicking
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: the links in the show notes. We all have a
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: cross to carry, but it's lighter when we do it together.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: See you later, alligator. But until then, train hard and
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: pray even harder.