Latest / Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40 / 10. Five Things to Add to Your Plate in Midlife for Better Energy, Hormones, and Metabolism

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10. Five Things to Add to Your Plate in Midlife for Better Energy, Hormones, and Metabolism · Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, my friend, and welcome back.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Today we are talking about the five things to add to your plate in midlife.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I do not mean your metaphorical plate, the one that is constantly full and you feel like you can't fit one more thing, but I mean your real breakfast, lunch, and dinner plate.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: In order to help you look and perform optimally in this phase of life, we must get rid of this diet mentality and we must intentionally focus on nourishment.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: So this time of life is not a time for restriction.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna go in depth today about how you can eat more and also feel your best.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome back to the Midlife Glow Up Podcast, where we simplify fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits for women over 40.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Joan Dandano, your midlife health and wellness coach.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're ready to feel strong, consistent, and confident in this season of life, you are in the right place, my friend.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Before we dive in today, I want to invite you to think back about your story, your personal story about nutrition.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let's reflect together today.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: What beliefs do you feel like shaped your experience of food as you were growing up?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: What did you hear in your home or with your friends about calories, portion sizes, your body weight, the size of your body, the shape of your body, were there good foods and bad foods?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: What was your relationship with food in high school?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And what about college and early adulthood?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember feeling like in order to be quote unquote good, you should eat less or shrink your body in order to be more attractive?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Should you be more disciplined?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember feeling guilty for being hungry?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I really want you to ask yourself, do you believe that there are foods that are morally good or foods that make you morally bad if you eat them?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Do you still believe that women should shrink themselves in order to be acceptable?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder, do you still believe that restriction is the path to feeling better in your body?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or can you see that your body was never designed to run on fumes?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: That nourishment instead of deprivation is actually what allows your body to function properly.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I wanted to share from my experience.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: I remember in college, that was the age of snack wells.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so just if I didn't eat any fat, then I was good.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I remember loading up on Snackwell's chocolate chip cookies because if you turn the box over and you looked at the fat column, there was zero, a big fat goose egg under the fat amount, right?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I will I remember buying an entire bag of chips and a whole jar of salsa and just going to town because it didn't matter because it didn't have fat, right?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so there are these things that I think we have learned.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And some things, obviously, we have gotten smarter over the years, but I think other things have kind of stuck around.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that today's episode might be just a little reminder that what we are choosing to believe today really does shape the future of our lives and that we have the power to rewrite some of these stories that we've told ourselves.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we have the power to change our relationship with food and with our body just by choosing a different story and choosing a different path as we move forward.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you to now think about today.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you believing about food today?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Are you skipping your breakfast because you're too busy?
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you put all of your energy into making dinner for everybody else and your actual food and nutrition throughout the day sort of becomes an afterthought?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you these questions today because I think awareness is the first step in changing anything.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So when we pause and we look back at our history with food and with nutrition and try to look at it objectively without shame, and we just start to notice these patterns and these beliefs and these mindsets that were handed to us by diet culture, by our family systems, by the messages we saw in the media, we absorbed all of these beliefs without really realizing it.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that today we're able to shine a light on some of those patterns, maybe ones that you might be now ready to release so that you can make space for new ones, new beliefs, new patterns, new habits that support the woman who you are today, but also the one who we are becoming.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because midlife is this beautiful season where we get to rewrite our stories and we get to think about instead of restricting or shrinking, we get to think about how can we nourish and fuel our body so that we can live this life, this vibrant life that we want to live.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we're gonna jump into the five things to add to your plate in midlife.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: In this season, our body is shifting, our hormones are shifting, our recovery takes longer, our stress hits different, our nervous system is different, our metabolic needs have changed.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the most impactful way to show it for yourself in this age and stage right now is to expand our nutrition instead of shrink.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Most women that I coach are underfueled, not just by calories, but by nutrients.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And when we're underfueled, everything becomes harder.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: We don't feel as motivated.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: We feel like it's very hard to stay consistent.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: We have crazy cravings, we have sleep deprivation, we have mood swings, we have brain fog, our metabolism slows down.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: All of this is directly related to the choices that we're making in the kitchen every day.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to, as I'm walking through these most powerful things that we can add to our plate today in midlife, I want you to start thinking a little bit deeper than surface level about some of the things we're gonna talk about today.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to go into the why and the how and some of the science, how food is actually directly related to your hormones, your gut, your metabolism, and even the mindset piece of these five things we're gonna talk about today.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also going to weave in some stories about my personal life, but also the hundreds of clients that I have worked with over the years to help really showcase how, with some intentionality behind our nutrition choices, we can seriously change the trajectory of our lives.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's that powerful.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we'll start with my favorite, number one, protein.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: So protein is one of the most misunderstood and also most life-changing parts of nutrition for women in our stage of life.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: So most women are significantly under-eating protein and they don't even know it.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: We're having maybe a couple of eggs for breakfast, maybe a salad with a tiny bit of chicken at lunch, and maybe some protein at dinner.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if that sounds similar to what you're having, you're probably ending up around 40 or 50 grams for the entire day.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: When in truth, your body actually needs closer to 100 grams or even more.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why it's so important for us to get clear on how much we need and also how we can actually fit this into our lives to make it realistic and doable.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So in our 40s and 50s, something happens inside of our body, and it's called anabolic resistance.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And basically, it's your body saying, Hey, I'm not as responsive to protein as I used to be.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: So your muscles don't grow or repair as easily.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: You actually need a higher signal now to get the same effect that you got when you are consuming protein in your 20s.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's totally normal.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Just this is just what happens.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And most women do not have any idea about this.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So protein is so much more than just a muscle builder.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: It actually helps to stabilize our blood sugar, which means we have fewer crashes and burns and cravings.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: We have fewer emotional dips throughout our day.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: It also supports our thyroid function, which is huge for metabolism.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: When we increase the amount of protein that we eat, we actually increase our thermogenesis.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: That means our body is able to burn more calories just at rest by digesting protein rather than digesting carbs or fat.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that protein literally requires more energy to break down.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So if you ate a serving of protein, it would actually take your body more energy to burn that down than if you were to eat that exact same serving size of carbs and fat.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that protein does is it really helps to regulate our cortisol.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's our stress hormone.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So when women tell me that they feel easily overwhelmed, they're feeling like stressed out or triggered.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: This can often be traced back to what they ate or didn't eat earlier in the day.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to share where I really was introduced to the power of protein.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I have always eaten pretty healthy.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think I've shared before.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: My mom was very intentional about nutrition.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I grew up in a house where we had breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, my mom loved to cook and was always trying new things.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And she also did, you know, tons of vegetables and we had a very balanced diet.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: So thinking like I eat pretty healthy, I remember the first time I really understood the power of nutrition was when I was getting ready for my wedding.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I read a book and it was called The Fat Flush.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I followed this.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: It was the first like official diet I had ever followed.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I realized, gosh, just by being intentional with what I'm putting in my body, it really did change the way that I looked and how I felt and how I performed.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the second time that I really noticed a huge shift with this was when I had had my third baby and I signed up for my first uh bodybuilding figure competition.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And going into that, I had eaten healthy, you know, most of my life leading into that, but I had never really intentionally increased protein or realized how powerful protein really is.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I saw with just increasing protein, I saw my muscle definition improve.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I saw my strength in the gym skyrocket.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps most importantly, I remember just feeling like grounded in my hunger.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: My hunger was not controlling me all the time.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't, I wasn't thinking about food all the time.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: It gave me this sense of stability that I had never had before around food.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's mainly because protein is so satiating.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I remember just really being like, oh, when I signed up for my first show, I only had nine weeks to get ready for this competition.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And my coach was like, nope, you got this.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so I borrowed her belief in me because I certainly didn't have any belief in myself.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, Oh no, we're, you're, you're good.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're already healthy, but we just need to tweak a few things.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the huge things we did was just increase that protein.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: I've also watched this with my clients for years, women who have dieted for decades, thinking the only answer to reaching their goals is to deprive themselves.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden I'm like, can we focus instead on what you're going to add instead of what you want to take away?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so we would add protein instead of cutting calories, like keep the calories the same, even keep your carbs and fat the same, but just increase your protein.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly their body competition would shift.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: They're building muscle, they're raising their metabolism, they're feeling fuller, they're not overeating at night because they're actually fueling during the day.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then what happens is they feel more in control.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's incredible when we focus on nutrition, it bleeds over into every single area of our lives.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, my plea to you today is to make protein the anchor of every meal.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: So if you think about in the morning, start your morning with a high protein breakfast.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: What that's going to do is it's going to set the tone for the rest of your day.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: One of the easiest hacks that I recommend is using protein shakes really strategically.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: My favorite is the Arbon brand of protein shakes.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I've been using it for 15 years now.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's vegan, it's free of anything artificial or fake, it follows the European Union standards.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the European Union really abides by a much higher standard than the US does as far as the FDA being in control of supplements.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing is it tastes great and I use it very creatively.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So I make pudding or ice cream, of course, smoothies, and then I bake with it as well.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's such an easy way to get 20 to 30 grams of protein.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: It takes like two minutes, right?
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really perfect for the busy life.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then the other thing that I wanted to say about protein is if you have not listened to episode number five, I really go into my method, the four by four fist method, to really help you incorporate the protein in a way that makes you feel empowered and it doesn't keep you with a food scale and a calculator and tracking every macronutrient that you eat.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's sort of like an easy way to ease into increasing your protein.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, once you've got the protein solid, I truly believe we got to start with the protein.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you are not in a good routine with protein, please focus on that number one.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, once protein is solid, the next thing we want to focus on.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: So this is number two to add to your plate is color.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Color is not just pretty, it is beautiful when you've got a colorful plate, but it's also chemistry.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Every color that you put on your plate provides a different type of phytonutrient for your body.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So phytonutrients are plant compounds and they help your body reduce inflammation, they support your detoxification processes, they help metabolize your hormones, they improve your energy, they protect your cells from oxidative stress, and they support your brain.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: So let's break it down because this part usually is a little bit like, oh, seriously?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like food can become either medicine or poison for our bodies.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so if we're choosing the Twinkies and the Doritos and everything that has, you know, yellow number five and red number seven, that is actually poison for our body.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if we think about the red foods like tomatoes and strawberries, those are almost like medicine for our body.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: They support our heart health and our skin through compounds like lycopene.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Then we have our orange and our yellow foods like carrots and mangoes.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: These are rich in beta-carotene, which help your body convert vitamin A to be able to use in your body for vision and your immune function.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Our greens like spinach and broccoli and arugula, they're full of iron and folate and calcium, and they really support your detoxification systems.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And your liver loves the greens.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: The blues and the purples, like blueberries and eggplants, those contain anthocyanins, which support brain aging and memory.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then even white and tan foods like cauliflower, garlic, mushrooms, potatoes, those support your immune system and also reduce inflammation.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: So when you hear eat the rainbow, I want you to actually think about how that visual is going to help you cover your macro micronutrient needs, especially in midlife, when we need more antioxidant support in this stage of life.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: So to think about yourself and your relation with food and the colors that you have on your plate, do you feel like you get a good amount of colors throughout your day?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if not, I would love to encourage you to each week just intentionally pick up a different color food.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: When you're in the produce section of the grocery store or you go to the farmer's market, it's like, what color do I want to focus on this week?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Is it red?
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, if I normally have red apples and red peppers, say, what else is red that I might be able to add?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget fruit actually very much counts with our color.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Or another way to do this is to think about aiming for at least three colors during the day.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So think about bowls.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: I love the idea of just building bowls.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so one bowl could be a smoothie bowl for breakfast.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so maybe you throw some frozen strawberries and some frozen spinach into your smoothie and then top your bowl with some bananas and maybe some blueberries.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: So that would get like four or five colors right there.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: At lunch, maybe you do a grain bowl and add some uh kale and some chickpeas and some pickled onions, right?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: So there you're having another few colors.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, at dinner time, you know, just think about really layering those colors throughout the day so that you're really getting as much of a variety of the rainbow that you possibly can.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's move on.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about fiber next.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Fiber is one of the biggest superpowers that we have, and almost no one is getting enough fiber.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we need about 25 to 30 grams per day.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say most women, depending on their normal diet, are getting anywhere from 10 to 15 grams typically.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: So fiber is magical for our overall health, but especially in midlife.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So when we eat something that contains fiber, the microbes in our gut are actually what is digesting and fermenting that fiber.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens when that fiber becomes fermented, it produces a short chain fatty acid in our system.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And what those do, short chain fatty acids, actually lower inflammation throughout the body.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: They help stabilize blood sugar, they improve our insulin sensitivity, and they strengthen our gut lining as well, which that helps with bloating and food sensitivities and digestion and nutrient absorption.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: They also are huge in our hormone health.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we need fiber in order to create these short chain fatty acids in order to metabolize estrogen.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that is super crucial in perimetopause as well as postmenopause in order to support your hormone health, but also your immune system.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And another benefit, too, is that fiber, by way of these short-chain fatty acids, also support your brain health.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Your gut and your brain are constantly communicating with each other.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: So fiber is not just about digestion, it is hormone support, metabolism support, it even supports our mood.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: I like to say fiber is kind of like Draeno for your intestines.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a gentle, healthy way to clean out your body of the things that it no longer needs, like excess estrogen or toxins or waste.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: So most women feel puffy or sluggish or moody, and fiber is one of those simple things that you can add that will improve over time those symptoms.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the highest fiber foods might even surprise you too.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: Did you know that avocados, even though they are creamy, they actually have 10 grams of fiber by itself.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Pears are another one.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: They don't seem so, and when I think of fiber, when I learned about fiber, I thought of like you could visually imagine it kind of scraping the insides of your intestines.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So oatmeal, super high in fiber.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: You can kind of imagine it.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Anything that's like stringy, but pears, avocados, raspberries, lentils, chickpeas, all of these things are super high in fiber.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And just by adding one or two of these each day could completely shift your digestion as well as your energy.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, number three was fiber, super, super important.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, number four that we're gonna talk about is fat.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So many of us still carry that fat phobia that we had from the 90s.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Remember the snack wells era that I nodded to earlier?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty much everything that we saw in the grocery store was fat-free.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I remember even thinking that nuts were bad because they had too many calories and too much fat.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so funny because now, today, I would tell you, I think I was probably a squirrel in another life because I could survive on nuts alone.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: I love them so much.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: But they have so much packed into them.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: So protein, fat, fiber, it's like the perfect trifecta and it naturally occurs in our earth.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I always think like, I don't think that God would have put protein, fat, carbs in our world that were meant for us to consume if they were bad, right?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just about realizing that yes, we need moderation, yes, we need variety, um, and we need to not label any one food as good or bad.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's no like morality in a food.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's just, does it make me feel good?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Does it support my goals?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Does it help me perform well?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Does it increase my energy?
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Does it increase my metabolism?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is the actual benefit that we're looking for inside of our food?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's stop villainizing food and start really embracing it as something that can serve us and actually even be medicine in a natural form.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times, even it tastes delicious.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: So avoiding fat is one of the biggest nutrition mistakes of our generation, in my opinion.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Healthy fats are essential for our hormone production.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Healthy fats keep you satisfied, they keep you from having those crazy cravings, they also support your brain function, they also reduce inflammation, and they help you absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's really important.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing that fat does is support your joints.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: It also helps you regulate hunger hormones.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm here to tell you fat does not make you fat.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: It does not make you gain weight.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Imbalanced nutrition does, however.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where we have to be so intentional that we are getting the amount of protein, the amount of fat, the amount of carbs, and the veggies that we need paired together so that we are able to stabilize our nutrition and so that we don't end up overeating the junk because we're actually hungry.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: So adding avocado, again, I told you it's a great source of fiber, it's also a great source of fat.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Cooking with olive oil, snacking on nuts, adding seeds to your salad, eating salmon or sardines weekly, these are small additions that will make a huge difference in how regulated your hormones, your energy, and your inflammation feels inside your body.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, number five, the four-letter word, the carb.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: So this is one thing that more recent diet culture has told us to fear the most is the carbohydrate.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really sad because if you've ever experienced going low carb or even worse, no carb, then I don't even have to tell you.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: It messes with your brain function big time.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I have had clients ascribe to me the fog that their brain is in once they are not eating as many carbs.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just crazy.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how are we supposed to go do our jobs and go parent our kids or even drive without brain function, right?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's like actually pretty dangerous.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the thing about carbs they can absolutely be misused, but they are not.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Enemy.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your body needs carbohydrates, especially in midlife.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Carbs support our thyroid, which controls our metabolism.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And they help regulate our cortisol, which is our stress hormone.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: They produce serotonin, which is our feel-good neurotransmitter.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: They support our sleep quality and they fuel our brain.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: They support our muscle growth and repair.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: They make your workouts actually work and feel good.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they make your brain function so you have memory and focus.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Seriously, living without carbs is not smart.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I know a lot of people have tried low carb and they've tried putting their body into ketogenesis.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, whenever you cut out a food group, you're going to see a change in your physique, but it is not realistic to think that you are never going to have a carbohydrate again and it is also not healthy.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I was getting ready for the bodybuilding shows, and one of the things that we would play around with.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: So the protein would always stay the same, the fat would usually stay about the same, but the carbohydrates, we could really tweak and we could go, you know, days that are heavier on carbs and days that are lower on car carbs, depending on where I was within my training.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I have, I remember it was an unbelievable experience of brain fog and lethargy and irritability.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I could not think straight.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like trying to be a mom of three young kids, run a business and do that without carbohydrates in my system.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was like, it was like a joke.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, my body got lean, but the cost was high and I was not willing to pay that.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: So what matters really is balance.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we must pair those carbohydrates with our protein and our fat, which is why finding a balance is so important.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: When we are able to find the protein, the fat, and the carb all on our same plate, that's when we're able to keep our blood sugar steady.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: So carbs from whole foods are really the best option.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: So think sweet potatoes, oatmeal, quinoa, beans, rice, fruit, all of these are healthy.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: We should be eating them.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: I always recommend putting carbs at breakfast and at lunch earlier in the day to help you feel more stable throughout the day.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: And also thinking about combining the protein, the fat, and the carbs, not just having a carb by itself.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like even an apple, just having an apple, like, yes, there are benefits to that, but balance that out.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Can you put heart-boiled egg and some nuts on the side so that you now have a protein, a fat, and a carb together?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: Your body will thank you, your energy will thank you, your blood sugar will thank you.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, as we wrap up today, I want to circle back to where we began with your story with nutrition.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because I want you to remember and realize that in this stage of life, you get to decide which beliefs are coming with you into this next season and which ones you're ready to leave in the past.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: You get to choose whether diet mentality has a place in your future.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: You get to choose whether you're still believing in shrinking as the goal, or whether strength, energy, vitality, freedom are the new goals.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: You get to choose whether carbs are the enemy or if they're a source of energy and mood stability and support for your hormones.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: You get to decide whether fat is something to fear or whether it's a crucial ingredient for your brain health, your hormone health, your satiety.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: You get to decide if food is moral or if food is simply fuel for the life you want to live.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Midlife invites us into this new way of kind of challenging our thinking.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: We get to decide whether nourishment replaces punishment, whether curiosity replaces guilt, and whether intention replaces this autopilot that we just haven't challenged because we've been so busy.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to keep the beliefs that you grew up with.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to evolve your story with food.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're ready to step into this next season with more energy, more strength, more confidence, here's what I want you to remember.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: There are five foundational things you can add to your plate that will help you look, feel, perform, be your best self.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is protein.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: Think about protein as a way to stabilize your blood sugar, build muscle, increase metabolism, and give your body the structure, the foundation that it needs.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is color to nourish your cells, to support your hormones, to lower the inflammation and give yourself a rainbow of phytonutrients for your body.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: Number three is fiber, and this is to help regulate your gut bacteria, to balance out your hormones, support your digestion, help your immunity and your metabolism.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Healthy fats to keep your brain sharp and your hormones balanced as well and your joints comfortable and your meals satisfying.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then number five, finally, are carbs.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: And these are here to help support your thyroid, your cortisol, help you sleep better, help you be in a better mood, have brain function as well as strength.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: And these are not rules to live by.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: They're not restrictions.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just simply sharing the building blocks of nourishment, the things that are going to help your body function at its best in this season of life.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: And you get to choose them.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's the cool part.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's the power.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: You get to choose to eat in a way that supports the woman that you are today as well as the one you're becoming, not the girl that you used to be.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're listening and thinking, okay, I want to feel better, I want to be more consistent, I want healthy nutrition habits that actually become part of who I am, not just what I do when I'm being good and dieting.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then I would love to invite you to take a look at the 21-day midlife habit challenge that I just opened up registration for.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't start until January.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: So lock in your plan for Jan and then relax and enjoy the holidays.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: Your midlife reset is a 21-day habit challenge specifically designed for you, the woman in midlife, who wants to take back control of her health in 2026 so that you can finally have the energy and the routines and the habits that stick.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's your perfect jumpstart to kick off the new year with confidence.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: And the best part is you do not have to do it alone.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have a real step-by-step plan, a community of other women to cheer you on, and a coach in your corner who truly cares.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to learn more, just click the show notes and you'll find out the link and you'll have the link to join us as well.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's$21 for 21 days.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: In my opinion, this is a no-brainer.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Come join us.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: My friend, thank you so much for listening.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, progress over perfection and consistency over intensity.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep crowing, keep glowing, and bye for now.