Latest / Healthy, Period. / Ep 33: It's not as simple as "just low progesterone"

Transcript

Ep 33: It's not as simple as "just low progesterone" · Healthy, Period.

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome back to the Healthy Period Pod.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: And to today's episode, I'm really excited about because a lot of the women that have been coming into my world recently have really been struggling with low progesterone.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that is what we're talking about today.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've been dealing with PMS, anxiety, sleep changes, irregular cycles, fertility concerns, heavy periods, weight changes, fatigue, hair loss, and you've also had a sneaking suspicion that you're having some thyroid issues, or maybe you have a diagnosis like hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's, and you're wondering why your cycle still feels chaotic, why you're not ovulating consistently, why your progesterone symptoms are still so present, or why you're doing all the things and you still don't feel like yourself.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing: low progesterone is part of the story, but for many women, it's not the entire story.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So before we just dive right in, because this is a lot, this episode, buckle up, girls, we're gonna be here for a while.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I do want to be very clear.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I am not anti-progesterone supplementation, and this episode is not medical advice.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is a chit chat for the girls and for education.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: For some women, being prescribed progesterone can be genuinely life-changing, and I'm not gonna take that away from anybody.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a tool that we can use, and it can be incredibly valuable as a piece of support.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not always the answer for everyone.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to think about what else is going on.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because if low progesterone is showing up alongside the list of symptoms: fatigue, hair loss, constipation, feeling cold, low mood, anxiety, weight gain or weight loss resistance, irregular cycles, fertility struggles, poor sleep, and a nervous system that feels like it's permanently running on fumes.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I also want to dive into a thyroid conversation.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: I want to look at your nourishment, I want to look at your digestion, I want to look at your blood sugar, your sleep, stress, your training load, recovery, and the overall inputs your body is receiving every single day.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because your body adapts to inputs.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's always responding.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Symptoms are not your body being dramatic, broken, or failing you.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: You guys know I say this all the time.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Symptoms are the way your body communicates with you.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So today I want to chat through the connection between thyroid function and progesterone, why this matters so much in your late 30s and 40s, why normal labs are not always the end of the conversation, and what I would want you to consider if you're dealing with low progesterone symptoms.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of this episode, I'm also going to tell you about my free masterclass, It's Not Just Low Progesterone, that is coming up on Wednesday, October 28th at 5.30 p.m.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, all right, let's chat about progesterone.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want to start with addressing that low progesterone is not always a progesterone problem.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by this is when women come to me saying I have low progesterone, what I often see is PMS that feels intense or increasingly unbearable, anxiety, especially in the second half of their cycle, poor sleep or waking in the night, breast tenderness, heavy or irregular periods, shorter cycles or cycles that have become unpredictable, spotting before their period, painful periods, fertility struggles, mood changes, low libido, or simply feeling like they're not coping the way that they used to.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And again, progesterone may absolutely be part of the picture, but progesterone is not just a random hormone that disappears for no reason.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Progesterone is produced primarily after ovulation.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: So if ovulation is inconsistent, weak, delayed, or not happening regularly, progesterone production can be lower or more variable.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that means when we're talking about low progesterone, we often need to zoom out and ask what is affecting ovulation?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: What is affecting the communication between the brain, the ovaries, the thyroid, the metabolic system, the gut, the nervous system.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where thyroid hormones become very relevant because your thyroid hormones influence far more than whether you feel tired or whether your metabolism is fast or slow.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thyroid hormones influence energy production at a cellular level.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: They influence how your body uses carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: They influence glucose regulation.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: They influence digestion and gut motility.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: They influence temperature regulation, mood, skin, hair, and bowel movements.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they also influence ovarian function and the communication required for a healthy menstrual cycle.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So when thyroid function changes, the body can struggle to create the conditions needed for regular ovulation and a healthy menstrual cycle.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now here's a long list because that can feel like irregular periods, longer cycles or shorter cycles, absent periods, heavy bleeding, fertility issues, lower progesterone production, mood changes, fatigue, weight changes, hair loss, constipation, feeling cold, dry skin, and brain fog.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that list can feel overwhelming, but it's also why we cannot look at symptoms in isolation.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've been told you just need progesterone, but you are also exhausted, struggling to get through the day without caffeine, not recovering from your workouts, constipated, you feel cold, you're losing your hair, and you're finding that your weight has changed despite eating less and maybe you're working out more, I'd want the thyroid conversation to be on the table.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Especially if you have hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's, a family history of thyroid issues, or a history of being told your lives are normal while you feel anything but normal.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to make this as simple as possible for you to understand.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: So your thyroid produces hormones, including T4.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: T4 is often described as a storage or precursor hormone, so your body then needs to convert T4 into T3, which is the more active thyroid hormone that can do more of the work at a cellular level.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that conversation and that conversion is not happening in a vacuum.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is influenced by things like adequate nutrition, energy availability, stress, inflammation, illness, nutrient status, blood sugar regulation, liver health, gut health, and overall physiological load.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And this is important because many women are functioning in what looks like a very healthy lifestyle from the outside, but their body is getting the message that resources are limited.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're under-eating without realizing it.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe breakfast is coffee in a protein bar.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're restricting carbohydrates because you are scared of waking.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're training intensely five or six days a week.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're doing HIIT while not getting enough sleep.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're in a job that requires you to be switched on all day, you have kids, and you're carrying the emotional load at home, and your nervous system just doesn't have a genuine off-switch.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're dealing with bloating, constipation, reflux, loose stools, food fear, or years of dieting.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Those are not small things, and those are all inputs.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And your body adapts to inputs.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Your body does not know that you are doing HIIT workouts because you want to feel strong, or restricting food because you want to feel confident in your genes, or pushing through the exhaustion because you're ambitious and capable.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: All our bodies are doing are simply receiving information.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is there enough energy available?
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is it safe to ovulate?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is it safe to reproduce?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Can I prioritize digestion?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Can I rest?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Can I recover?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Do I have enough resources?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is why we cannot separate thyroid health, psychology, metabolism, stress, nourishment, and recovery into these neat little boxes.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to talk about how insulting it is to hear that your labs are normal because I know I'm not the only one who has had this experience.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about my story on the pod before, but before I was diagnosed with endometriosis, I was fighting with doctors so often who had terrible bedside manners, dismissing me when the labs came back normal.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: It got to the point where I literally stopped scheduling the doctor's appointments.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think that there was a point in it just to be told again and again that everything looks normal and come back when you want to get pregnant.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like that is gross behavior.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's behavior that I refuse to put up with now.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we finally make the appointment.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: We finally explain the fatigue, the hair loss, the anxiety, the irregular periods, the constipation, the weight changes, the inability to recover from workouts, and maybe we talk about our fertility concerns.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: We get the blood work done, and then we get a quick message in our portal saying that everything is normal.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we are left thinking, okay, but I don't feel normal.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to be mindful here because a lab result alone does not diagnose the entire human being.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that everyone with symptoms has a thyroid condition or that you should self-diagnose based on this one podcast episode.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I am saying that normal is often an insufficiently helpful answer when symptoms are ongoing, significant, or affecting your quality of life.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: A reference range is not the same thing as a complete clinical picture.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: You deserve to have your symptoms taken seriously, you deserve appropriate follow-up, you deserve to understand what has been tested, what has not been tested, and what other contributing factors might be present.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: So some labs you may want to discuss with your GP endocrinologist or qualified practitioner include TSH, free T4, free T3, thyroid antibodies.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: So you can just ask for a full thyroid panel there.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Ferritin and iron markers, vitamin D, B12, blood glucose markers, insulin markers, and sometimes there's broader markers based on your personal history and symptoms that we would need to ask for.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And again, this is not me telling you to self-order, self-interpret, or self-treat.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's simply a reminder that you can ask questions and you could advocate for a fuller conversation with your doctor.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if someone is repeatedly telling you that everything is fine while you are dealing with significant fatigue, hair loss, menstrual changes, fertility issues, or worsening symptoms, it is okay to get another opinion.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to pause there and jump over to perimenopause real quick because there is some confusion here sometimes, and I want to address it.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Perimenopause is not one day you have regular cycles and then the next day you are suddenly in menopause.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: It is a transition.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And during that transition, ovulation can become less predictable.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I do have a three-part perimenopause series on this.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So go back and listen to that if you want more in-depth conversation about this specifically.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: But in past episodes, we've also talked about how progesterone is primarily produced after ovulation.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So when ovulation becomes more inconsistent, progesterone levels can become more variable and decline earlier than estrogen in perimenopause.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: So that is why progesterone-related symptoms can become very noticeable in the late 30s and 40s, sleep changes, increased anxiety, more intense PMS, irregular cycles, heavier, lighter periods, shorter cycles, mood changes, breast tenderness, and feeling less resilient to stress.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it can be incredibly frustrating because many women say, nothing in my life has changed, but suddenly everything is different.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: But internally things may be changing.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And progesterone also has a relationship, like we just talked about, with thyroid hormone activation.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: So progesterone supports the conversion of T4 into active T3.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: So when reproductive hormones fluctuate during perimenopause, and particularly when progesterone becomes less consistent, thyroid symptoms emerge, worsen, or become more obvious.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that does not mean that progesterone is the sole answer to every thyroid symptom.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it does not mean that every woman in perimenopause has a thyroid disease.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: But it does mean that when someone over 40 tells me that they are suddenly struggling with more fatigue, mood shifts, poor sleep, weight changes, hair shedding, constipation, cold intolerance, irregular cycles, or a sense that their body is completely different, I don't only want to look at one hormone.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: I want to zoom out.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why progesterone supplementation can be so helpful and life-changing for some women, because it does support sleep, mood, cycle symptoms, and quality of life in a huge way.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: But for other women, it may be one important part of the picture, but not the whole picture.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because if the underlying landscape includes poor nourishment, inadequate recovery, blood sugar dysregulation, digestive dysfunction, chronic stress, nutrient depletion, or thyroid concerns that have not been properly addressed, then adding progesterone alone may not explain or resolve everything that's going on.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna give you an example.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just one person, it's actually a pattern that I see over and over again.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So this woman is probably in her 30s or early 40s.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: She is smart, high achieving, and she's using like she's used to being able to push through.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: She has eaten well or eating clean for years.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: But when I look closer, she's also spent years of dieting, restricting, tracking, cutting out food groups, trying to keep calories low, and feeling like she has to earn her meals.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Breakfast is usually a coffee or a coffee with something small.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: She might eat a very light lunch because she's very busy, and by the afternoon, she's starving, craving sugar, and relying on caffeine to get through.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: This woman trains hard.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: She might be in HIT classes, running, lifting heavy, doing intense circuits, boot camp style workouts, four or five, six times a week, and she genuinely loves exercise, which is important, but she's not fueling for it.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: She's not recovering from it.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: She's sleeping poorly, waking up at 3 a.m.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: and feeling wired but tired.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Her digestion is off, she's bloated, maybe she's constipated, maybe she swings between constipation and loose stools, maybe she has reflux, maybe she feels like every food suddenly causes symptoms.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, does this stuff sound familiar?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Then her period starts changing.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: PMS gets worse, her anxiety gets louder, her cycles become irregular, she gets spotting, she can't lose the weight the way she used to, or she gains weight even though she's trying harder than ever to lose it, and her hair starts shedding and she feels exhausted.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: She gets some blood work, she's told it's normal, or her she's told her progesterone is low, and that's the whole explanation.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not that she's lazy, weak, broken, or failing at her fitness.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Her body's just adapted to years of inputs.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: The low progesterone symptoms, they're not random.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: The thyroid type symptoms are not random.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: The digestion changes, the cravings, the anxiety, the poor sleep, the inability to recover.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a character flaw.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's your body communicating to you.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we stop asking, what supplement do I need to fix this?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we start asking, what is my body trying to tell me?
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: What inputs have I been giving it?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: What inputs is it receiving?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: What foundations have I been glossing over?
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest things I assess with low progesterone symptoms is whether someone is eating enough.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to hear this with so much love in my heart.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Many women have been chronically dieting for years, not always in an obvious way.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it looks like being really healthy, and it looks like small meals, low carbs, skipping breakfast, and only eating when you're hungry, which sounds simple, except your hunger cues may have been ignored for so long that they're no longer giving you clear information.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: It can look like clean eating, intermittent fasting, saving calories for dinner, or exercising intensely while trying to eat as little as possible.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Your body needs adequate energy to run all the things that it needs to run.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: It needs energy for your brain, your immune system, your digestion, thyroid hormone production and conversion, stress resilience, muscle repair, menstrual cycle signaling, ovulation, progesterone production.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: The body is not going to prioritize reproduction when it perceives a lack of resources.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: The body is not going to prioritize reproduction when it perceives a lack of resources.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that does not mean that you have to eat perfectly.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: It does not mean that you need to force feed yourself.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: It does not mean that you can never have a physique goal, exercise goal, or a health goal.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: It means that we need to be honest about whether your current intake is actually matching your current life and your output.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Are you eating enough protein?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Are you eating regularly enough?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Are you including enough carbohydrates to support your activity, your brain, your thyroid, your cycle?
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Are you eating enough overall?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: In my practice, a simple starting point for many women is building a more substantial breakfast, often aiming for 30 grams of protein-ish, alongside some carbs, some fiber, and some fats.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Not because protein is magic, not because you need to obsessively track every gram forever, but because starting the day with a coffee and a tiny snack does not create a strong foundation for stable energy, blood sugar regulation, cravings, mood training, or stress resilience.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: And blood sugar regulation is another huge part of this.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you're skipping meals, eating very little during the day, living on caffeine, then getting ravenous in the afternoon or evening, you're likely on a blood sugar roller coaster.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that roller coaster can affect energy, mood, cravings, sleep, stress hormones, and the overall conditions your body needs to feel supported.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is not about making food another source of anxiety.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about needing to avoid every food that affects your blood sugar.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's about consistency with your meals.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Can you build meals that actually sustain you?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Can you include protein, fiber-rich carbohydrates, fats, and color on your plate?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Can you avoid going from coffee at 7 a.m.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: to your first meal at 2 p.m.?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Can you have a snack before a late workout if you need one?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Can you eat after training rather than acting as though refueling is something you need to earn?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Those small shifts can create a very different signal in your body over time.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's digestion.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Your gut is not separate from your hormonal health.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you are not digesting well, if your bowel movements are irregular, if you're chronically bloated, constipated, dealing with reflux, loose stools, or food reactivity, those things matter.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Digestion affects nutrient absorption.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: It affects how nourished you feel.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: It affects inflammation, immune signaling, comfort around food, and your ability to actually utilize the food you are eating.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And when someone has Hashimoto's or other autoimmune concerns, digestion and gut symptoms are especially worth taking seriously as part of their broader health picture, with obviously appropriate medical support where needed.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: We cannot simply just pile on more supplements on top of a digestive system that is struggling and expect that to solve the bigger issue.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Supplements can be useful, they can be appropriate, they can be supportive, but they are not replacement for the foundations.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: You can have the most incredible supplement stack in the world.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: But if you are under-eating, barely sleeping, overstimulated, anxious, overtraining, and not giving your body any opportunity to downshift, there's only so much that a stack can do for you.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: So let's jump to nervous system regulation because I think this phrase has become like this conversation online has turned into just slow down.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: But like, is that realistic?
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: I consider myself a high-achieving woman.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: I love productivity, I love multitasking.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: I actually identify as being wildly good at multitasking and task switching.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: So the idea of just slow down does not work for me.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: This idea of nervous system support being to eliminate all stress, don't do anything hard, it's literally ruining women.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Nervous system support is not just buying a candle, taking a bath, or doing a five-minute meditation while the rest of your life is completely unsustainable.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Those things can be great, sure, but true nervous system support is also looking at the practical reality of your life.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: Are you sleeping enough?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Are you constantly rushing?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Are you saying yes to everything?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are you consuming content that makes you feel behind or not good enough?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Are you training in a way that your body's not recovering from?
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Are you eating meals sitting down?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you standing at the counter scrolling on your phone?
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Are you giving yourself any transition between work, caretaking, training, and sleep?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Are you asking your body to perform at an exceptionally high level while offering very little space for rest, fuel, connection, and recovery?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Stress is not just emotional, stress is also physiological.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Your body can be under stress without you feeling stressed out.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: Undereating is stress, poor sleep is stress, overtraining is stress, blood sugar crashes are stress, digestive distress is stress, chronic inflammation is stress.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And your body does not neatly separate all of those categories, it responds to the total load.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are doing every supplement protocol, every hormone tracker, every seed cycling routine, every expensive trend that's out there, but your body is still receiving the message that life is relentless and resources are scarce, it makes sense that the symptoms will persist.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Again, not because you've done anything wrong, but because your body is adapting.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to speak directly to the exercise conversation because I see this pendulum swing all the time.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, I'm so over it.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: A woman learns that stress, underfueling, and excessive training can affect hormones, and then suddenly she's scared to work out at all.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I do not want that for you.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Movement is valuable, strength training is valuable, cardiovascular fitness is valuable, being physically capable, strong, mobile, and connected to your body is a beautiful thing.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: The answer is not just to stop working out.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: The better question is does your training load match your current capacity?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Are you fueling enough for the exercise you are?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Doing?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Are you sleeping enough to recover?
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Are you doing HIT because you truly enjoy it and it fits into your well-supported routine?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or because you're terrified of gaining weight?
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: Could you manage the volume, frequency, intensity, or timing of that workout differently?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Could you swap one or two intense sessions for strength training, walking, mobility, or less demanding form of movement?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Could you actually take a rest day?
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe eat before and after training.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Could you stop using movement as punishment?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: You do not need to fear hit, and you do not need to decide that your body is too fragile to exercise.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: But if your cycle is irregular, you're not sleeping, you're constantly sore, you're fatigued, you have low progesterone symptoms, you're losing your hair, your digestion is struggling, and you're barely eating enough to support your baseline needs, then six high-intensity sessions a week is not the most supportive input for you right now.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's not failure, that's an intelligent adjustment.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is to not do less forever.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is to build a body that has enough capacity, nourishment, and recovery to do the things that you love.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I know this episode was a little harsh at times.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: If it hit too close to home, I'm not sorry.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want you to panic and I don't want you to assume that a thyroid condition is on the way for you, but I do want you to take your symptoms seriously.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to take a look at your symptoms and actually take them seriously.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at your actual daily inputs without judgment.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at your digestion.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to look at your training and recovery and your sleep and your nervous system capacity because low progesterone symptoms don't just exist in a vacuum.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thyroid symptoms do not exist in a vacuum.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're not just a collection of unrelated body parts.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: You're an entire human being living inside a real life with real stress, real responsibilities, a history with food and exercise and a body that's doing its very best.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: And this is exactly why I created my free masterclass.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just low progesterone happening on Wednesday, October 28th at 5:30 p.m.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Eastern time.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this masterclass, I'm gonna go beyond the idea that your symptoms are simply just a progesterone problem.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about the big picture why ovulation and progesterone can be affected by nourishment, blood sugar, digestion, stress, sleep, training load, recovery, and the total physiological load that your body is carrying.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: And you are going to leave that masterclass with a clear understanding of the foundational areas that may be contributing to your symptoms and whether you can begin without needing to overhaul your entire life or add another overwhelming protocol to it.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: So this free masterclass is happening on Wednesday, October 28th at 5:30 p.m.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because the more you understand your symptoms are communication, not as something to suppress, ignore, or push through, the more empowered you are gonna be to ask better questions, seek appropriate support, and create a lifestyle that actually supports your body.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to see you there.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: So you can DM me on Instagram.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: My Instagram handle is underscore coachkate.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you DM me the word masterclass, I'll send you the link to join directly to you.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, I will see you in the next podcast episode.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Bye, guys.