Latest / The Original Self Podcast / Episode 20- Menopause, Metabolism, & the 8 PM Problem

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Episode 20- Menopause, Metabolism, & the 8 PM Problem · The Original Self Podcast

0:12
Welcome to the original self podcast. I'm Evet
0:16
DeCota, owner of DeCota Life Coaching and a psychology
0:20
informed life coach exploring resilience, mindset,
0:24
and the courage to become your authentic self.
0:27
This is a space for honest conversations about
0:30
growth, identity, relationships, and all the
0:35
messy moments in between that shape who we become.
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Between the salon chair and coaching sessions,
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I've watched people move through life in patterns
0:44
they rarely notice. Patterns that are subtle,
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familiar, and incredibly hard to see from the
0:52
inside. Last time, In episode 19, we discussed
0:57
how biology and generational patterns shaped
1:00
our relationships with food. Now, we will look
1:04
ahead to later in life and how the rules are
1:07
rewritten all over again. This is episode 20,
1:13
menopause, metabolism, and the 8pm problem. Hello
1:25
and welcome back. Over the years, I've listened
1:30
to so many women describe a similar experience
1:34
about how when they realized their bodies and
1:37
minds started to feel a bit unfamiliar to them.
1:42
They talked about how the same things that they
1:46
used to do didn't work any longer. The way they
1:51
ate, exercised. the way they managed stress,
1:56
how they lost weight, how they built up strength
2:00
in their bodies, how they could push through
2:03
exhaustion or handle basically everything on
2:07
their plate. It felt like all the rules changed.
2:12
Everything was completely different. And I think
2:17
maybe the most frustrating part is that Many
2:21
of us women are left asking the same questions.
2:25
What changed? Why does my body feel like it stopped
2:30
responding to me? To everything that I had always
2:34
known and done is no longer working. If you've
2:39
already gone through periomenopause or menopause,
2:42
you probably know the... cultural story, we are
2:47
often handed the moment our bodies begin to change.
2:51
Somewhere around midlife, most women hear a version
2:57
of, maybe not as strongly, but you've let yourself
3:00
go. Maybe it's implied. You've stopped trying.
3:04
Or you just need more discipline. And because
3:09
that message is everywhere, many women assume
3:13
the answer must be going back to what worked
3:16
before. That makes sense. The workouts, the eating
3:19
patterns, the strategies that we used in our
3:23
20s and 30s. What's so incredibly frustrating
3:29
about that, about those messages, is that the
3:34
same input no longer creates the same output.
3:40
But instead of asking what changed inside our
3:42
bodies, we often ask ourselves, what am I doing
3:45
wrong? That is one of the most damaging pieces
3:51
of conditioning women carry in this stage of
3:55
life. It treats a hormonal transition as a discipline
4:00
problem. It asks us women to solve a biological
4:06
shift with grit and mind control, which is like
4:11
using your old house key in the lock of your
4:14
new home. You keep doing it over and over again,
4:17
and then you finally realize, oh, this key doesn't
4:21
work in this lock. But what's truly happening
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is much closer to having a second kind of puberty.
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It's a system -wide renegotiation of hormones,
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brain chemistry, metabolism, muscles, sleep,
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and energy regulation. It arrives on its own
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time, regardless of how disciplined or healthy
4:49
or consistent someone has been for the previous
4:54
20, 30 years. The body is operating with a different
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set of instructions. The problem is that we were
5:06
most likely not told about the rules being changed.
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Instead, we are often trying to handle it with
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the doctor prescribed eat less, move more, count
5:19
every calorie. And if it isn't working, well
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gosh darn it, try harder. That's a good philosophy,
5:29
except the body's not asking for more punishment.
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It's simply asking to be understood. Because
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once you understand what's actually changing,
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the whole experience starts to make a different
5:42
kind of sense. I think this entire episode might
5:47
create a series of no wonder moments, such as
5:52
no wonder this feels different. No wonder what
5:57
was working before stopped working. Or no wonder
6:01
why my body feels like it changed the rules.
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So let's see what's happening inside the body
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that can make weight, appetite, and metabolism
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feel so different. Because a major part of that
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story starts with estrogen. Estrogen does far
6:22
more than regulate reproduction. It communicates
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with systems throughout the entire body, including
6:30
the brain, metabolism, and the pathways involved
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in hunger and fullness. As our estrogen declines
6:39
through periomenopause and menopause, some of
6:43
those signals begin to change. For instance,
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the systems that help regulate appetite and satisfaction
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may not communicate in exactly the same ways
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they did before. Hormones like leptin, which
7:01
help signal fullness in your body, and ghrelin,
7:05
which help signal hunger, they're part of that
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complicated conversation. And we talked about
7:11
that in the previous episode. As the hormonal
7:16
environment changes, many women notice that the
7:20
volume gets turned up on hunger and cravings.
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while satisfaction feels harder to reach. The
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result is not a failure of character or effort.
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It's the body responding to a new hormonal landscape.
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This same hormonal shift explains why fat often
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redistributes toward the abdomen during and after
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menopause. It's called visceral fat and The increase
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in visceral fat is well documented and connected
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to declining estrogen. Visceral fat is different
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than just fat beneath the skin. It's the type
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of fat that sits deep inside the abdomen and
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it surrounds organs like your liver or pancreas
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and intestines. It can have a huge effect on
8:19
your metabolic health. Again, this is biology.
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It's the body adapting to a different set of
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hormonal signals. And those changes don't stop
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once menopause is over. Research following postmenopausal
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women found that hormones involved in hunger,
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fullness, and metabolism, including ghrelin and
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leptin, and something called adiponectin, continue
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to change alongside body weight for as long as
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18 to 30 months after the menopausal transition.
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That means that the body doesn't adjust once
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and suddenly settle into a new normal. It continues
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recalibrating, which means that a woman can be
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years into this stage of life and still feel
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like the body keeps changing. So let's talk about
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a few of those changes. This is a part of this
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episode that I think most of you will recognize.
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I call it the 8 p .m. problem. For me, there
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are so many nights right around 8 p .m. I feel
9:33
the need to eat something even though I just
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finished dinner less than an hour before. I need
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something sweet, salty, preferably both, right?
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And throughout this series, we talked about some
9:47
of the reasons this can happen. I mentioned hyperpalatable
9:51
foods intentionally made with a combination of
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sugar, salt, fat, and enhanced flavors that activate
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dopamine pathways connected to reward, motivation,
10:03
and wanting. These pathways can create a pull
10:07
towards food even when you're not physically
10:09
hungry. We talked about food noise and the difference
10:13
between physical hunger and the constant mental
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chatter about food that you have in your brain
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the planning and the negotiating Cravings and
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thinking about food It all happens because the
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brain has learned to connect certain foods With
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emotions routines and memories and then that
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gives you comfort pleasure a reward, and sometimes
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relief. And the last one we talked about was
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the gut -brain connection, that constant two
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-way communication happening between the digestive
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system and our brain brought on through hormones,
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nerves, and chemical signals. The brain receives
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the information about hunger, fullness, and energy,
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but it also interprets those messages alongside
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memory, emotion, and reward, which then influences
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how strongly we feel the pull towards food. And
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here's another layer to that conversation. What
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happens when that already complicated system
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enters menopause as the hormonal environment
11:25
itself begins to change? I'll tell you. It's
11:31
that heavyweight champion cortisol, our primary
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stress hormone. In a well -regulated system,
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cortisol follows a daily rhythm of increasing
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in the morning to help us wake up and do our
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day, and then it gradually decreases throughout
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the day so our bodies can prepare to rest. Easy,
11:55
peasy, no problem. But you guessed it, periomenopause
12:00
and menopause disrupts that rhythm. Why, you
12:04
ask? Changes in hormones, increased stress sensitivity,
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eating patterns, and interrupted sleep all influence
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the way cortisol behaves. Instead of the body
12:17
naturally shifting into rest mode at night, the
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system stays more activated than it's used to.
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But cortisol doesn't work by itself. It communicates
12:30
with the same hunger and fullness signals we
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talked about earlier. But when sleep is disrupted
12:36
or the body is under stress, the ghrelin and
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leptin also may shift. This can change hunger,
12:45
cravings, and how satisfied we feel after eating.
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That's what's making me feel that I want to eat
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after 8 p .m. I have every intention of not eating
12:58
for the rest of the evening after dinner. But
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my brain and my body seem to be receiving a little
13:05
different memo. But your body doesn't feel like
13:09
that's enough, right? To just not feel satisfied
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and want to eat all the time. There's more. It's
13:15
more of a cycle, continuing. Hot flashes, night
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sweats, and disrupted sleep can make it all more
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complicated because poor sleep itself influences
13:28
appetite regulation the next day. A rough night
13:33
of sleep can change how hungry you feel, what
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food seems rewarding to you, and how easy it
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feels to make decisions around food before the
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day has even really started. That's another one
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of those no wonder moments for me. Sleep is one
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of the ways the body regulates the entire system.
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When your sleep is disrupted, hunger signals
14:01
can become stronger, fullness signals may become
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less effective, and then the brain's reward system
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can become more responsive to the foods that
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provide quick energy and comfort, AKA hyperpalatable,
14:17
ultra -processed packaged foods. And at the same
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time, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for
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impulse control, decision making, it doesn't
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function at its best when we're exhausted. The
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part of the brain trying to think long -term
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is competing with a body asking for immediate
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energy and relief. So the APM problem is not
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always about that it's APM. Sometimes it's the
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result of hormones, stress, lack of sleep, and
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biology having this little conversation behind
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the scenes long before you ever open that refrigerator
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door. Be gentle with yourself. The next piece
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I want to spend a little bit more time on because
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it's something millions of women experience and
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many have been told or have assumed that it simply
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resolves once menopause arrives. You may know
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this condition as PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome.
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This year, after years of research and much input
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from patients, clinicians, and researchers around
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the world, The condition was renamed to polyendocrine
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metabolic ovarian syndrome or PMOS. I mentioned
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the name change because the reasoning behind
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it really matters. The old name focused on the
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ovaries and cysts, but the condition itself is
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much bigger than that. It involves multiple hormone
15:55
systems, metabolism, and the way the body regulates
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its energy. PMOS affects roughly 1 in 10 women
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in reproductive age. That makes it one of the
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most common endocrine conditions amongst women.
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And for many years, the focus was on the reproductive
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systems, irregular cycles, fertility, and androgen
16:21
related changes. For me, the sign started with
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my first menstrual cycle. I had one and then
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didn't have another one for an entire year. After
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that, they were completely unpredictable. I started
16:38
losing my hair and I gained weight that felt
16:41
almost impossible to lose. When I was 17, my
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gynecologist put me on birth control just to
16:49
manage the symptoms, but told me I should consider
16:52
a hysterectomy. At 17. I've spent years dealing
16:59
with hormonal fluctuations, what goes along with
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that, mood changes, irritability, anxiety, all
17:08
while taking the earlier versions of the pill
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that were supposed to help with all of that.
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Years later, when more research about PCOS became
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available, I realized how grateful I was. that
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I didn't have that hysterectomy because it wouldn't
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have addressed all the underlying symptoms. Because
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PMOS doesn't simply disappear when menstruation
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stops. So taking out my ovaries wouldn't have
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helped. One of the biggest pieces of this story
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is insulin resistance. Insulin is the hormone
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that helps move glucose from the bloodstream
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into our cells for energy. A helpful way to picture
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it that is insulin acts like a key and the receptor
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on each cell acts like a lock. I like my key
18:02
lock analogies. With insulin resistance though,
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that key does not work as smoothly as it should.
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So the body compensates by producing more insulin
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to get the message through. Higher insulin levels
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influence hunger. influence cravings, and how
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your body stores energy. This is where menopause
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can add another layer to it. Estrogen helps support
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insulin sensitivity. So when estrogen declines,
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women who are already dealing with insulin resistance
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may feel even more of a shift. For some women,
18:49
Periomenopause becomes the moment when weight
18:52
changes and cravings and metabolic struggles
18:56
suddenly feel louder, even if they had previously
19:00
found a balance that worked for years. That was
19:04
my experience. For years, birth control somewhat
19:09
helped me manage some of the symptoms I was experiencing.
19:14
But when I stopped taking the pill in my early
19:17
50s because the doctor said I had a higher risk
19:19
of cancer, just being on it, the more my symptoms
19:24
increased. The message I received was that PCOS
19:29
improves after menopause because ovulation stops.
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I had spent years researching this condition,
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including writing about PCOS and menopause in
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college. the research was showing a much more
19:46
complicated story. The reproductive systems may
19:50
change, but the metabolic challenges can continue
19:54
or even become more noticeable. After stopping
19:58
birth control, I noticed my body changed again.
20:01
I gained more weight, I became pre -diabetic,
20:05
I lost even more hair, and eventually I had to
20:10
make it stop. called up my doctor and started
20:15
speaking to her about hormone replacement therapy
20:18
or HRT and could that help these symptoms? What
20:22
could it do for me? What could it do against
20:25
me? What could be the bad things that could happen?
20:28
We discussed my family history and how strongly
20:33
I felt about it. There is no cancer in my family
20:36
and so I did feel pretty strongly about taking
20:39
it. She explained to me that the HRT that is
20:42
currently used is much different than what our
20:45
mothers took. So I decided to take it. That is
20:48
my personal choice. I am not advocating for HRT
20:52
whatsoever. I just know I started to take it
20:56
and it does help a small amount. for my hot flashes
21:01
and clarity, like I don't have that brain fog
21:04
so much, so that's my claim to it. Only for me,
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not for anyone else. My doctor and I also discussed
21:15
GLP -1 medications, including medications like
21:19
ZepBound, becoming part of a menopause conversation.
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Zep -Bound, also known as Trizepatite, works
21:30
a little differently because it activates two
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hormone pathways, GLP -1 and GIP. These are natural
21:40
hormones involved in the communication between
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the gut, brain, and metabolism that help regulate
21:47
blood sugar, regulate the insulin response, and
21:53
help with your appetite and fullness. For some
21:57
women dealing with PMOS, along with menopause
22:02
and insulin resistance, these medications are
22:08
not just changing appetites. They're influencing
22:11
some of the same biological systems that have
22:15
been part of the struggle all along. That's been
22:19
part of my story as well. For me, it wasn't only
22:23
about weight. I noticed changes in food noise,
22:26
which I had spoken about, my hunger signals,
22:30
my metabolic health, and how my body felt overall
22:34
improved. My blood pressure improved, my sleep
22:40
improved. And for the first time in a long time,
22:44
the signals inside my body quieted down. Many
22:50
women describe something similar. They say there's
22:53
less food noise, fewer intense cravings, and
22:57
a different relationship with hunger. Of course,
23:01
medication, just like what I was saying about
23:05
that HRT, GLP -1s, it's a personal medical decision
23:09
that belongs between you and your doctor. I just
23:13
know that if symptoms improve when a biological
23:16
pathway is supported, That tells us that the
23:19
body was asking for a different kind of support
23:22
so in talking about menopause in ways of metabolism
23:28
estrogen hormones and APM problems We have to
23:34
discuss the brain. What about your brain and
23:36
menopause? because the brain has estrogen receptors
23:40
as well and I think when the estrogen changes
23:45
the brain does notice Neuroscientist Lisa Mosconi
23:50
and her team at Weill Cornell studied how the
23:53
female brain changes through the menopause transition.
23:57
By using brain imaging, their study changed how
24:01
we understand the relationship between menopause
24:04
and the brain. For years, the higher number of
24:08
women diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease was
24:11
often explained through women live longer. And
24:15
while lifespan does play a role, research suggests
24:19
it doesn't explain the entire difference. One
24:23
area scientists were studying is estrogen's relationship
24:27
with the brain. Estrogen does much more than
24:32
regulate reproduction. It also plays a role in
24:35
how brain cells use the energy. During the menopause
24:39
transition, there are changes in brain glucose
24:43
metabolism. including in areas involved with
24:47
memory and cognitive function. This is one of
24:51
those facts that changes the way you look at
24:53
the whole transition because the brain itself
24:57
appears to go through its own adjustment period.
25:01
It also helps explain why researchers continue
25:04
to study the relationship between hormone therapy
25:07
and brain health. Some evidence suggests that
25:11
starting hormone therapy closer to the menopause
25:15
transition may have better effects than starting
25:17
it later on. That's a complex decision that depends
25:21
on each woman's health history, risks, and goals.
25:26
Again, it belongs in a conversation with you
25:29
and your medical provider. I just want to give
25:32
you what the research is saying. So whether or
25:37
not HRT is part of somebody's story, understanding
25:40
what happens inside that brain matters. Because
25:44
some of the things that women have been describing
25:46
for years, such as brain fog, trouble finding
25:50
words, or feeling like their mind just completely
25:53
works differently. We can't multitask. It starts
25:57
to make more sense. For many women, these cognitive
26:02
changes are temporary. The brain adapts to a
26:06
different hormonal environment and finds a new
26:09
way to maintain balance. This is where food enters
26:13
the conversation again, not because we need another
26:17
list of rules, but because the brain is an energy
26:21
demanding organ. If we can support a stable energy
26:26
through enough nutrients, protein, fiber, and
26:30
balance meals, It can make a difference when
26:34
the entire system is trying to adjust. Research
26:39
around brain health often points towards eating
26:43
patterns like the Mediterranean or the MIND diet.
26:46
Those foods emphasize rich in omega -3s, omega
26:52
-3 fats, vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants. This
26:58
podcast is not telling you what to eat. I'm just
27:01
telling you what the brain food benefits are.
27:07
There's not one perfect brain food, right, that
27:10
fixes everything. But because the brain, like
27:13
every other part of the body, needs support,
27:17
trying to figure out what supports it helps with
27:19
the transition. There's also growing interest
27:23
in alternative fuel sources, such as ketones.
27:28
supporting the brain during when glucose metabolism
27:32
changes. Some early research, especially in people
27:36
experiencing cognitive changes, is exploring
27:41
that connection. Our goal is not to chase the
27:44
next perfect diet. The goal is support. That's
27:49
such an important distinction that you have to
27:52
keep telling yourself. We're finally starting
27:56
to expand the conversation around menopause and
28:01
the experiences women have described for decades.
28:04
They deserve to be studied. They deserve to be
28:07
understood and taken seriously. And it's happening.
28:12
It's starting to happen. Yay. So everything in
28:18
this episode points back to the same reframe.
28:22
The real question is not what's wrong with my
28:24
body The question is what is my body adjusting
28:29
to? right now Because before we can change the
28:34
story we tell ourselves about what's going on
28:37
We have to understand the story our body's been
28:40
trying to tell us So much of this transition
28:44
is happening Beneath the surface under under
28:48
everything the hormone shifting, signals changing,
28:52
and the systems adapting long before we fully
28:57
understand what is happening. When we understand
29:02
the biology, we can stop fighting the body and
29:05
start learning how to support it. Next time,
29:11
we turn from what the body is doing to the stories
29:14
we have attached to what the body does. Episode
29:18
21 is food addiction, food shame, and the cheat
29:23
day lie. That's all next time on the original
29:26
self podcast. I want to thank you for spending
29:29
your time with me. It means so much. And if you'd
29:32
like to learn more about working with me, you
29:34
can find all my contact information in the episode
29:37
notes. I hope you all have a wonderful day and
29:40
I'll see you next time.