EPISODE 329: Hormone Health and The Truth About Self-Leadership

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:33:12
Lisa
You built success that looks damn good on the outside, but inside it's costing you your health, your relationships, your energy. And no matter how much you do, it never feels like enough. Welcome to Congruent. I'm Lisa Carpenter, the coach. High performers call when they can afford to burn it all down, but they can't keep living like this either.

00:00:33:14 - 00:00:58:24
Lisa
Here we rip off the mask of success and expose what's real. The patterns that you keep running, the price that you've paid, and how to build success that fuels you instead of empties you. Real success is agency. It's powerful self leadership to run your life instead of being run by it. To let your drive and your well-being finally work together.

00:00:58:27 - 00:01:11:04
Lisa
Because the real win is success. That actually feels good.

00:01:11:04 - 00:01:30:26
Lisa
episode on congruence. And today we are talking about hormones, health and the hard truth about self leadership. So listen, hormones can change how you feel, but they don't change who you are. And no prescription can fix a life that's running on burnout and self abandonment. So today we're talking about what hormones can do.

00:01:30:27 - 00:01:54:16
Lisa
This episode is for the ladies, what it can't do and the deeper work your hormones are asking you to finally pay attention to. So if you are in perimenopause menopause post menopause, this episode is going to be for you. So there is a real wave happening right now of women hitting their breaking point. They're leaving. Marriages are quitting jobs.

00:01:54:16 - 00:02:18:07
Lisa
They're walking away from everything because they just can't hold it anymore. There's even an account on Instagram. I love her, it's called the I Do Not Care club. And every week she talks about the things that women just are unwilling to care about anymore. Like how many times we have to ask the same question because we legit don't remember the answer that you gave us?

00:02:18:08 - 00:02:38:27
Lisa
Maybe that's just me. But these are some of the things that I'm seeing online right now. And listen, it's important that you care about what matters. And I know for me, it's been really challenging, to be in the weeds when I feel like my brain and my body isn't going along with how it used to be.

00:02:38:27 - 00:03:06:09
Lisa
Meaning, sometimes I can't keep my thoughts straight. Sometimes I'm about to say something and I feel like somebody has wiped the whiteboard of my brain and I cannot access the information. So there are real things that happen during this time in our life. But we can't just use menopause or perimenopause to bow out of life. I don't want to be a person that throws my hands up in the air and says, I just don't care about anything anymore.

00:03:06:10 - 00:03:28:24
Lisa
That's never going to be how I am as a high performing woman who is here to do big things in this world and have a big impact. I'm really not available for the night care club, so I think it's quite humorous because some of the things are very real. But I care and I want to keep caring. So everywhere I turn, the conversation is it's your hormones, it's your hormones.

00:03:28:24 - 00:03:59:19
Lisa
And yes, your hormones are playing a role. When your hormones start to fall, when they start to decline, everything feels harder. I have definitely experienced this in so many ways, and I will get into this as we go through the episode. But there's also a real danger in believing that HRT or our bioidentical hormones, whatever you choose, is going to be the hero in this story, that you're just going to pop a pill and everything is going to feel better.

00:03:59:21 - 00:04:26:04
Lisa
No. Like, I would love for you to consider that hormone replacement isn't the whole story. It's a tool. It's a support. But it is actually not a substitute for the deeper inner work that you may want to consider looking at, because you're the one steering the ship. So if you're thinking that the pill is just going to fix it, you're still like, still, nobody is steering the ship.

00:04:26:04 - 00:04:51:06
Lisa
So, I have been on HRT for quite a few years now. My doses have gone up and down. I work very closely with a practitioner on this. And even with all of this, all the all the tools, all the knowledge I have, all the coaching experience that I have, all the tools in my toolbox for that. There are days that are that still feel really, really hard.

00:04:51:08 - 00:05:18:15
Lisa
And the difference is that I know that what I'm feeling is real. So to be completely honest with you, there have been I have for a significant time now because my hormones have dipped again, specifically around my testosterone, where I have had low levels of what feels like depression and low levels of anxiety. Now, everything in my life, I'm on the other side of a very stressful time.

00:05:18:15 - 00:05:49:10
Lisa
So the stress played into why my hormones took a dip. But the reality is, is my life is feeling really, really good. So what I'm feeling is real, right? What I'm experiencing is real, but it doesn't make my feelings true. Feelings are not facts. They are data. But I'm able to stay grounded when these emotions, when this low level depression shows up, when this low level anxiety comes up, I'm able to manage it sometimes better than other times.

00:05:49:12 - 00:06:14:10
Lisa
But for the most part, I'm able to give myself what I need to feel better. And that's what I want to talk about today. How biology, behavior, and self leadership all connect. Connect. So let's talk about what actually happens in your body with your hormones. So when your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone drop it impacts everything. I can't stress that enough.

00:06:14:10 - 00:06:39:12
Lisa
It impacts everything. Mood sleep, energy, memory, memory, libido. And it is even impacting my confidence because, you know, if I'm coaching a group of 1000 people and all of a sudden I can't find my words or I'm having a hard time retaining information, like my job is to listen and then to respond with a question and insight that's going to support that person finding their way.

00:06:39:15 - 00:06:57:19
Lisa
If I can't hold on to the information they're giving me, I'm not going to be a very effective coach. And I had a period where that was that was happening for me. And it was really hard because what had always come very naturally and easy to me felt like it took a lot of effort, a lot of focus and a lot of concentration.

00:06:57:22 - 00:07:17:25
Lisa
So what I want you to know is you're not you're not going crazy. You're not weak. You're not losing your mind. Your body's chemistry is shifting and that is a real thing. So if you've got low estrogen and I am not a hormone expert, I am a woman who has now worked with a lot of practitioners around this.

00:07:17:28 - 00:07:37:06
Lisa
My history in my own business was around a lot of health and wellness. I was a personal trainer and nutrition coach for decades. It's still a part of the work that I do, supporting people in their physical wellness. Not just their emotional wellness. But I am not an expert, and I'm going to give you names of people that you can follow or reach out to if you're looking for support.

00:07:37:06 - 00:08:04:24
Lisa
But if you're suffering from low estrogen and these are just a few symptoms, right? We're going to see hot flashes, night sweats, potential joint pain, mood swings, anxiety and cheerfulness for no clear reason. Brain fog, forgetfulness, poor focus, dryness in a place that you don't want to be dry. Low libido, loss of confidence. Estrogen support your serotonin and your dopamine.

00:08:04:24 - 00:08:35:12
Lisa
So when it shifts your baseline, your emotional baseline also shifts. I have experienced this as we're trying to level out my estrogen levels again, low progesterone, trouble sleeping or staying asleep. Racing thoughts at night. So maybe you wake up and your brain is like just going a million miles an hour. Anxiety that can spike before your period. If you are still getting your cycle, you can feel edgy or overstimulated, like you can't calm down because progesterone is the hormone that soothes us.

00:08:35:12 - 00:09:05:12
Lisa
It allows us to exhale. So now testosterone, testosterone, which mine I found out, is wickedly low. We'll just say that, causes fatigue. That coffee, just like coffee doesn't touch, it can lead to loss of muscle tone, strength and motivation. Chronically dry eyes decrease confident or drive. And not just sexual. Sexual, but just in life in general.

00:09:05:12 - 00:09:33:21
Lisa
Testosterone fuels our desire, ambition, and resilience. And when it drops, everything feels harder. So, and this is part of what I've been experiencing in my own world. And I've even had my coach, shift my workouts to support where my hormones are at right now, because driving harder is not going to fix the problem. Showing myself more compassion and grace in this period while I, while we're working on leveling out my body, is what my body needs.

00:09:33:24 - 00:09:53:25
Lisa
So it's not a I'm going to do more and I'm just going to push through this. It's how can I support my body in its healing process while we bring my hormones back online, while also knowing my hormones are meant to be declining right now? So yes, your hormones do matter, but hormones don't just tank out of nowhere.

00:09:53:27 - 00:10:28:11
Lisa
They reflect how you've been living. They mirror the cost of stress over functioning and self neglect. So I have been very honest about the fact that, you know, over the past five years, specifically the last three years, I have undergone a tremendous amount of stress that couldn't have been avoided, life lived, and this is what happens. So although I've had all the tools in my toolbox to really take divine care of myself through this time, our bodies are constantly responding to the stress in our lives.

00:10:28:11 - 00:10:58:15
Lisa
They're they're constantly to our nervous system. Is trying to keep us regulated. So there's no way to ever avoid stress. But for the type of women that I work with and men that I work with and the type of woman that I am, we are also how do I say this? It's like stress. We've normalized stress. We've normalized things in our life that aren't really normal because we've been pushing through for so long now.

00:10:58:18 - 00:11:21:27
Lisa
I've talked a lot about how I was grateful in 2023 that I had, gone through so much self-development growth that I was able to navigate in an impossible situation with more grace and ease and compassion than I ever would have in the past. However, in the past, I've also had massive amounts of stress. I was constant over work or overdue or.

00:11:21:29 - 00:11:49:00
Lisa
And then of course, when my husband, when I found out he was an active addict, way, way back in the day, over a decade ago now, that was obviously massive stress on my body just going through that process with him. So even though I take divinely good care of myself, you know, I work out, I eat well, I, you know, get outside, I drink my water, I get lots of sleep.

00:11:49:02 - 00:12:10:16
Lisa
Stress still impacts my body. Stress is still impacting your body. So let's dive into this a little bit deeper of things that you need to also consider looking at. So when it comes to stress and taking care of yourself, you also want to look at your gut connection. This is where your body and your emotions meet. So your gut health directly impacts your hormones.

00:12:10:16 - 00:12:33:24
Lisa
So I've had to look at my gut health and what's going on there, and what can I do to improve it, to support my moods and to support my hormones. So when your gut is inflamed, you're going to feel overburdened, sluggish, your estrogen isn't going to clear properly, and then it recirculate. And this can lead to symptoms like bloating, PMS, mood swings and weight gain, which no woman really wants to see.

00:12:33:24 - 00:12:54:07
Lisa
Weight gain, chronic stress, antibiotics, processed food, alcohol, and a lack of sleep all disrupts these things. So when I look at my own journey, the fact that I've been eating healthy and taking care of myself and getting lots of sleep and staying hydrated, all those things have definitely supported my body. But again, I could not avoid the chronic stress.

00:12:54:15 - 00:13:23:06
Lisa
I don't take any antibiotics, but. So even in doing the best I have done for myself, which is a lot more than most women do, and that's no shade on anybody. But here's the thing if you haven't been caring for yourself, this is where it's going to start catching up on you. When your hormones start to shift, it is going to be an even harder journey for you because you don't have a solid baseline of health for your body to even pull from.

00:13:23:08 - 00:13:47:00
Lisa
So I want you to consider I want you to consider that as we continue to move through this episode. So if your gut is off some of the symptoms you want to be looking for is that you feel more bloated or puffy after meals, you might feel more constipated or loose stools or alternate between both. And again, I'm going to give you some practitioners that you can reach out to to get more information on this.

00:13:47:02 - 00:14:14:11
Lisa
Your skin may look dull, or you might be having breakouts, and your mood and your mental clarity will start to suffer because 95% of your serotonin is made in your gut. So this is where it comes back to prioritizing unprocessed foods. Eating healthy, eating healthy. I can't even begin to tell you that is the foundation of everything. That is the quality of gas that you are putting in your car.

00:14:14:11 - 00:14:41:21
Lisa
You put crappy gas in a car, it's going to run crappy. The same is true for your body. So it's not about never being able to enjoy something indulgent that you love, but are you eating well? Are you truly getting in enough protein, enough fiber, enough vegetables? Fruit? Carbohydrates? Healthy fats, omega threes? On a daily basis, you want to be looking at how you can slow down your eating.

00:14:41:23 - 00:15:13:25
Lisa
Like most of my clients, everything is so fast and so hurried, so slow down your eating, chew your food. Digestion starts in your mouth. Look at supporting your liver because it's part of detoxing your hormones. Make sure you're including fiber, hydration and your micronutrients and your macronutrients. We need all sorts of different vitamins and minerals that we primarily want to get from our food and work with these qualified practitioners who understand the hormone gut connection.

00:15:13:25 - 00:15:40:16
Lisa
So the people that I'm going to recommend, we're going to put them in the show, notes Kara Foy, who works with really high performers on, their hormones and health. Over 40, weight if you want to lose weight. She's a great person to turn to. Jen Pike, who is also, nutrition and exercise expert. She's got a whole host of, resources online that you can check out and make sure you follow her.

00:15:40:22 - 00:16:01:28
Lisa
I'm going to put everybody's, handles, websites, everything in the show notes so you can see them. And Alyssa Moore, she is a gut expert, and she specializes around making sure that your gut is healthy so that you can have normal poops, which is very, very important. So I want you to consider to stop treating your gut like it's a side project.

00:16:01:28 - 00:16:24:24
Lisa
It is your second brain and your hormones live downstream from that. So again, it's like you can't just pop the pill and think everything's going to be better. You play a role and responsibility in your hormone health and getting your body online. So you can't have balance hormones without having a balanced gut, and you can't have a balanced gut if your nervous system is in chaos.

00:16:24:24 - 00:16:49:26
Lisa
So let's talk about that. The stress layer and how your life patterns impact your hormones. So your hormones aren't separate from your habits. Cortisol is your stress hormone. And it is the master controller. Now, as somebody who's gone through, massive burnout in the past, I was in burnout so bad that I would roll over and get dizzy because my cortisol levels were so low.

00:16:49:28 - 00:17:20:08
Lisa
And I had to go on support from my with my naturopathy doctor to get my body back online. So and this was caused from years of being in overdrive, overdoing worry, stress, anxiety that I wasn't even aware that I was feeling anxiety not to mention how hard I was pushing myself in the gym all the time. More was always better in my world, more was always better, and I was just going to push and do my way to the things that I wanted to achieve.

00:17:20:15 - 00:17:43:16
Lisa
Well, at the same time, working from an underlying belief that I was never going to be good enough and that nothing I did would be good enough. So we can't outwork the stories that we're telling ourselves. We cannot outwork our identity. So this causes a lot of stress in the body because your nervous system is constantly off line.

00:17:43:18 - 00:18:12:07
Lisa
So and your cortisol steals the raw materials your body needs to make progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. So chronic stress literally robs your body of hormone balance. So as I said, even though I've always taken really good care of myself, on the other hand, I haven't taken care of myself because for most of my life I was not dealing with the underlying emotional, patterns that I was in.

00:18:12:07 - 00:18:38:15
Lisa
I wasn't dealing with the toxic relationship that I was having with myself. I wasn't looking at parts of my identity that were working against me and not for me. So signs that stress is the real problem here. You're feel wired but tired. You simply cannot relax. You usually get a second wind in the evening, which is a little bit bizarre, and you are exhausted.

00:18:38:15 - 00:19:07:16
Lisa
When you get out of bed in the morning, you'll often wake up at 3 a.m. with racing thoughts, and you cannot fall back asleep. You might feel irritable, anxious, or numb. You can't remember the last time you felt deep joy or rest, let alone any sense of fulfillment. These aren't just emotional issues, they're biochemical consequences of how you are living.

00:19:07:19 - 00:19:33:01
Lisa
Okay, so I'm going to say that again, these are not just emotional issues. They're biochemical consequences of how you are living. So being overly responsible for all the things for all the people, all the places, overthinking everything and overthinking is a way that we try and work around fear. Fear of failure, fear of being judged, fear of feeling pain that we don't want to feel.

00:19:33:01 - 00:19:53:21
Lisa
So if we can just figure out and think our way through it and get it right, then we're not going to feel any pain on the other side. All right? We're going to avoid being human. So overthinking and overthinking causes so much energy. If you are an overthinker, you know this. You live up in your head. You are disconnected from your body.

00:19:53:21 - 00:20:18:11
Lisa
This was most of my life. I live from the neck up. I was completely disconnected from my body while simultaneously telling myself I was taking really good care of my body. I was doing the right things, but I wasn't like the internal state wasn't there. And how you think and feel about yourself determines how your body is going to respond to the world, how your hormones are going to support you or not overdoing.

00:20:18:12 - 00:20:44:26
Lisa
These are these are all nervous system patterns. They are all, behaviors that we learned in order to protect ourselves. And remember everything we do is about seeking love, safety, and belonging. So we might have learned to be overly responsible because we couldn't count on anybody else in our lives. And that might have been true. But that very thing that that kind of kept you alive when you were young is going to be the thing that destroys you.

00:20:44:26 - 00:21:07:04
Lisa
When you're older. Again, I went into why we get into overthinking and overdoing is the same thing. It's like, I'll just if I can just stay busy, then I can outrun what I'm feeling. I won't have to hear the voices in my head. It will make me feel important because look at me. I've got all these things to do and people will think that I'm awesome because I can handle all these things.

00:21:07:04 - 00:21:28:23
Lisa
And we often get rewarded for being overly responsible and for doing all the things. It's how we, it's how many of us show love, right? If I just take care of everything, then you'll know that I love you. And I'll feel loved back. But what often happens is we end up being in resentment. A lot of resentment.

00:21:28:23 - 00:21:54:11
Lisa
So. And you can't medicate your way out of this. So I hope you're starting to see like, oh, yeah, taking HRT is not going to fix the part of me that is chronically trying to prove myself all the time, or constantly caretaking or so desperate to be like that. I abandoned myself all the time, or the part of me that just wants to do it all, because nobody can do it as good as me, because I don't trust anybody else to do it.

00:21:54:18 - 00:22:12:16
Lisa
Yet at the same time, constantly worried that I'm not going to do it right. So HRT can help stabilize your physiology, but it cannot regulate your nervous system. That is a huge problem. So.

00:22:12:19 - 00:22:37:20
Lisa
Hormone shifts amplify what is already inside of you your anger, your resentment, your grief, and the fear that you've been suppressing for years. Hormone shifts. Pull the lid off of that shit. And, again, like, unless you choose to face what's been going on inside of you for years, no amount of HRT is going to fix that for you.

00:22:37:22 - 00:23:04:10
Lisa
So if you're finding yourself, suddenly you're weepy rage. Or ready to walk out of your life or burn it all down. What is really happening is your body is like, you need to face this. So our body sends us whispers all the time, and most of us ignore them. Right? Like my burnout didn't just happen. My body had been sending me symptoms for a long time, but I chose to ignore them.

00:23:04:10 - 00:23:37:05
Lisa
I normalize them, and the same thing is true with your hormones, your hormones are going to start to take a decline, and you're going to normalize some of the symptoms until your body just says, enough, enough. I need you to pay attention. So there's an acronym pain e I n which is really pay attention inward. Now. So this is a beautiful invitation into what is going on for me beyond my hormone shifting.

00:23:37:08 - 00:23:54:21
Lisa
And where can I be responsible for some of the changes that need to happen in me? Because, listen, you can throw a match on your life. You can walk out on your marriage, you can. You know you can. You can burn your whole life down, but you are going with you like you can't outrun the relationship you have with yourself.

00:23:54:24 - 00:24:19:06
Lisa
Those problems are going to follow you into a new relationship, into a new job, into whatever it is you're wanting to create in your life. Because unless the circumstances inside you change how you think and feel about yourself and the stuff that you've been suppressing your whole life, nothing's going to change on the outside, except now you will have created more stress for yourself because you just burned down your life, or you burned down your business.

00:24:19:08 - 00:24:40:12
Lisa
And this is where emotional intelligence really matters. To be able to come to a place where you can name what you feel with acting out on it, you win. So as I said earlier, it's like my what I'm feeling is real. This low level depression, it's real. It's there. This low grade anxiety, it's there. But it's not true.

00:24:40:20 - 00:25:00:11
Lisa
I don't need to act on it. I don't need to do anything with it. I don't need to lose my mind. I can talk to the people that I need to talk to about it. I'm very open about. I'm very open and honest about how I'm feeling, and I'm also very cautious about how I'm going to, how I give energy to it.

00:25:00:11 - 00:25:21:06
Lisa
Because again, in this case, it's not real. Whereas if somebody was grieving something, you would move through that differently. That's not necessarily being caused by hormones. If you just lost someone you love, you're meant to feel your grief. You're meant to be in it. You're meant to move that emotion. And sometimes we have to go into our emotions in order to move our emotions.

00:25:21:06 - 00:25:46:18
Lisa
We have to feel it, to heal it, so to speak. But when it comes to the stuff that's going on from our hormones and how we're feeling, that isn't necessarily real. It is an invitation to look at what may be and what may not be working in your world. And that's something I'm constantly evaluating what's working for me, what feels out of congruence, what needs to shift and change.

00:25:46:20 - 00:26:21:04
Lisa
That that's just a constant process for me. So this is a period of time where it learning how to pause before you react. So there's a difference between reacting and responding. When you're able to tune in to ask yourself, what is it? Am I feeling is this real? And how do I want to respond to this will change how you're showing up in your life, taking space instead of blaming other people for what's happening.

00:26:21:06 - 00:26:42:15
Lisa
So your your feelings, your emotions are valid messengers, but they're not facts. They are not facts. So we need to if somebody is up and down and sideways emotionally, I want to know what's going on with them. I do want to know where their hormones are at. Have they been tested because is this just turning up the volume on what's already in you?

00:26:42:17 - 00:27:05:13
Lisa
And how can we look at that factor? Well, also, looking at your hormones, it's really not an either or. It's both and both need to be addressed. So when you learn to listen without attaching to every thought that you're having, you will start feeling crazy. So right now my 14 year old is in like he is in the thick of it.

00:27:05:13 - 00:27:22:18
Lisa
He is. He is in the throes of hormones and there are so many confusing things going on for him. He's having a lot of thoughts and a lot of emotions and a lot of ups and downs, and it was a really beautiful thing to sit with him last night and have this honest conversation about, hey buddy, I get it, because I'm on the other end.

00:27:22:18 - 00:27:45:24
Lisa
So you're like walking through the gamut of all these hormones rising up and you're feeling some depression and you're feeling some anxiety and you're feeling some confusion and what's happening to my body. And I said, and I'm on the other side where mine are declining and I'm experiencing the same things. And what I said to him was, was, what I'm telling you is during this period, we don't want to make any big decisions.

00:27:45:24 - 00:28:03:00
Lisa
We want to be able to talk about what's going on for us. I'm so grateful he comes to me and talks to be about these things, but we're not going to make any big decisions. We're going to pay attention to depression. We're going to pay attention to anxiety. And we're also going to ask ourselves, what is it that I need to do to support myself feeling better?

00:28:03:02 - 00:28:24:23
Lisa
Has there been anything that I've been doing that would be contributing to this too much time online inside? And I mean his we monitor his, screen time. But this goes for anybody listening. Where are you spending your your time? Are you engaged in things that actually make you feel better? Or are you doing things that perpetuate you feeling bad?

00:28:24:23 - 00:28:45:09
Lisa
Because when we feel bad, it's we so easily want to succumb to those emotions. And this is where I've asked my clients in the past to build out a like a self-care list. The things that make them happy, the things that lift their spirits. So for me, it's definitely listening to music. Not music of today though. Music.

00:28:45:11 - 00:29:13:16
Lisa
Music from my generation. Getting in my car, putting the top down, getting outside, being in nature, you know, being around people I love, being around people that inspire me. I just came off of a weekend around all these phenomenal women, and that really helped to shift my energy to so really being responsible for the things that are going to support me, feeling better and just trusting that I will get to the other side, just like my 14 year old is going to get to the other side.

00:29:13:16 - 00:29:35:10
Lisa
One day he will be adult, things will level out. And, you know, it's teaching him about how to acknowledge his emotions, how to acknowledge the thoughts he's thinking, what is true, how to determine, do I have evidence that this is true, or is this just a thought that I can dismiss how to be in the chaos and the confusion of times like this in our lives?

00:29:35:10 - 00:30:00:17
Lisa
So it's not asking like, what's wrong with me? It's it's asking like, what is my body wanting me to know? How can I support myself feeling better and these small shifts can keep us out of judgment and criticism. And this is what it looks like to step into leadership. And I say like leading myself right now as my hormones are up and down and sideways is a full time job.

00:30:00:19 - 00:30:20:14
Lisa
Every day is about self-management because and my habits, following my habits, the healthy habits that I have in place because my hormones literally want me to stay in bed 24 over seven with the covers pulled up over my head. And that's not how I want to live my life. So it's not about pushing through. I. I'm honoring what I'm feeling.

00:30:20:14 - 00:30:48:16
Lisa
I acknowledge that it's there, and I'm supporting myself in feeling better. And I'm leading myself through this with love and compassion. So you don't have to believe every emotion to honor it. You can feel everything, and you can still choose how you move. We don't want to be ruled by our emotions. We want to acknowledge them, but they don't get to sit in the driver's seat.

00:30:48:18 - 00:31:17:11
Lisa
They do not. They are a very powerful part of our world, but they cannot drive the bus. So. I had the labs. I've done the HRT. Yes. It's helping. No, it's not because things are a little bit all over. As I mentioned, my testosterone is really low. So now I'm looking for solutions for that because testosterone and women is still like the Wild West out there.

00:31:17:13 - 00:31:37:23
Lisa
Now, the reason, though, that I'm navigating this with Grace, and I'm not going to say I'm navigating with Grace 100%, because that would be absolute bullshit. My best friend can tell you that there's some days that I can't even speak because I feel like I'm just going to burst into tears, and I have to just give myself the space and say, okay, Lisa, like, let's go.

00:31:37:23 - 00:32:02:28
Lisa
Let's go create something, let's go do something. Let's go put something out into the world that helps somebody else. That's a that's a really powerful way for me to shift my attention off of what my body wants me to feel and into, like, how can I channel this energy? But the reason that I can and navigate this with as much grace as I have, is because of the emotional work that I've done on myself, around my stories, my beliefs, and my behaviors.

00:32:03:00 - 00:32:24:10
Lisa
Had I not learned how to regulate myself, question my thoughts and honor my body, I'd probably be reacting like every emotional fluctuation was a crisis. And this is what I'm supporting my son and doing is like, it's not a crisis. This is normal. We can ride this out. I have had moments where I've thought like, God, can I do this?

00:32:24:13 - 00:32:52:09
Lisa
But I trust that I'm going to find the solution. I'm going to continue to support myself emotionally and physically. I will continue to surround myself with practitioners that can help me find the answers, and I will continue to be responsible for making the changes that I need to make to support my body, both physically and emotionally. I know that when I have these moments, I can pause and say, like, this is just a moment, Lisa.

00:32:52:12 - 00:33:18:29
Lisa
And 15 minutes from now, an hour from now, two days from now, you are going to feel very, very different. And if you can go back into remembering when you were a teenager and the angst that came with that, you know, you can look back on it now and think, man like God. The things that I thought about myself or the things that I wanted to do or didn't do, like thank God we didn't make too many decisions from being a teenager like I am.

00:33:18:29 - 00:33:42:25
Lisa
I'm so grateful that there are so many things that I didn't follow through on, that I have my parents guide me because, you know, you don't make great decisions when your hormones are offline, so that is the difference, right? It's a moment. It's not the truth. So my hormones may influence my moods, but my awareness is what leads is is how I lead myself.

00:33:42:27 - 00:34:09:11
Lisa
I am not immune to a human hormonal chaos, but I have built the muscle to hold it. So foundational health. Let's talk about it. These are the real non-negotiables because your body, as I said, is not separate from your emotions. If you're living in in chaos, your hormones are going to reflect that chaos. If you're living in alignment or congruence, your hormones are going to support that alignment.

00:34:09:11 - 00:34:33:15
Lisa
And this takes work. So foundations to protect your hormonal health, sleep, sleep I mean, to me, rest is an absolute success strategy. You need to be looking at 7 to 8 hours minimum and you don't get a badge of honor for burning yourself out or burning the candle at both ends. Now, if you're having problems sleeping, I highly suggest go in and get your hormones checked.

00:34:33:15 - 00:35:02:29
Lisa
Let's see where your progesterone levels are that may be influencing it along with your estrogen. I have come to realize that if I don't have to get up with an alarm, my body naturally wants nine hours of sleep right now, which is so fascinating to me. And I and I honor that as much as I can, but that has meant making changes to my bedtime routine, getting off screens earlier, and being committed to getting in and under the covers so I can get that solid night's sleep.

00:35:02:29 - 00:35:27:17
Lisa
Everything can rest. Because if I'm not rested. Listen, a tired brain is an asshole. I don't know how else to say it. Like it's hard enough to manage my, thoughts and my emotions right now. If I throw lack of sleep on top of that, that's like pouring gasoline on the fire. So if you are already struggling with hormonal imbalance and you're not sleeping, that is crazy making.

00:35:27:18 - 00:35:46:18
Lisa
If you've ever had children, go back to how when they were newborns and it was literally crazy making like, I don't know how any of us got through it, but we were a lot younger and we have way more robust hormones. Back then, number two, you want to make sure that you are getting protein and fiber at every meal.

00:35:46:20 - 00:36:07:11
Lisa
There's a lot more research coming out around the benefits of protein in terms of maintaining our lean mass. Keeping us full, helps to stabilize our blood sugar and stabilize our mood. Now, protein I've been eating protein at 4 or 5 meals a day for as long as I can remember. I feel like everybody is now hopped on the bandwagon, and I'm so glad they have.

00:36:07:14 - 00:36:27:02
Lisa
I was preaching this stuff before it was even, before anybody was talking about it. In fact, I was teaching about macros before macros were even a thing in the regular world. We had Excel spreadsheets back in the day to track everything but protein, and you want to make sure that you're getting adequate protein and really understanding what those protein sources are.

00:36:27:02 - 00:36:53:22
Lisa
So many of you are confused about, protein, what a protein is and what a protein isn't. So again, make sure you follow some of those ladies that I give you information on or reach out to me. And we've got some resources as well. I have a whole nutrition course that I built on how to understand different macros, protein, carbs and fats, movement, movement, exercise, whatever lights your soul on fire.

00:36:53:24 - 00:37:15:06
Lisa
I am a big believer in women lifting heavy as we get older, but it's also understanding the rhythms of your body so we have moved out of the like. I need to exercise because I want to look a certain way and, I want to lose weight a lot of women have baggage around. Exercise is almost as like a form of punishment.

00:37:15:08 - 00:37:46:09
Lisa
An exercise really. Movement is is such a high. It's it's such a beautiful way to show yourself how much you love yourself. And when I exercise today, I still do like to exercise for esthetic reasons. I like to look and feel a certain way, but I am also hyper aware of the fact that when I'm in the gym training, I am training for my 90 year old self who wants to still be able to climb the mountains and like Machu Picchu and around the world and not be limited by physical limitations.

00:37:46:11 - 00:38:10:14
Lisa
I don't want to have limitations. So our bodies are designed to move. It is your job to move them and find movement that feels good for you. Whether it's yoga, whether it's lifting weights, whether it's swimming, whether it's Zumba, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't really matter. But you need to get out and move. Even getting out and walking, getting in your 10,000, 15,000 steps a day is going to be beneficial.

00:38:10:14 - 00:38:35:28
Lisa
But really look at are you making movement a priority every single day? Okay, it is energetic hygiene. It's like brushing your teeth. You wouldn't not brush your teeth. I hope that would be disgusting. Movement is is energetic hygiene minerals and hydration is, you know, if you're living off of coffee, you are literally draining your body of the minerals that it needs to thrive.

00:38:36:05 - 00:38:56:18
Lisa
So making sure that you're drinking 2 to 3 to four liters of water a day, I don't know how many gallons that is. If you're in the States, and making sure that you are getting in all your vitamins and minerals, right. Your micronutrients from your fruits and vegetables and, you know, potentially even electrolytes, we do need things like sodium.

00:38:56:20 - 00:39:20:02
Lisa
As much as sodium was like poo pooed on, I actually salt my food every single day. It helps with my thyroid function and keeps my blood pressure at a good level. Downtime. So rest is not a reward, it's a requirement. And as I said, like, you know, rest is a success strategy. So making sure you've got blank space to do nothing and just enjoy yourself.

00:39:20:02 - 00:39:42:05
Lisa
And if downtime is a real challenge for you, that shows how wired your nervous system is to chaos. And we want to start to bring ourselves to a place where calm feels calm, not calm feels chaotic, which for many of my clients, that's where they're working from. So rewiring our nervous system so that you can support your hormonal health.

00:39:42:05 - 00:40:05:19
Lisa
Because if you are always on you think about the stress that that puts on your body and your physiology to always be on. No wonder your hormones go out of whack, right? Because your thyroid does play a role in this boundaries. Every time you say yes to someone else, you are saying no to yourself. Every time you say yes to someone else, you're saying no to yourself.

00:40:05:19 - 00:40:36:09
Lisa
So learning about boundaries and not just boundaries with other people, but boundaries with yourself as well. Where do you need to start saying no to yourself so that you can say yes to more rest, yes to more downtime, yes to more time with family and doing things that are non-work busy doing related. Because if you are constantly in this place of all responsibility, overdoing, over giving over all the overs, you are going to burn yourself out and it will impact your hormones.

00:40:36:09 - 00:40:58:13
Lisa
As somebody who used to be a chronic caretaker, people pleaser and over giver, I thought boundaries were I didn't even get them. I've done episodes on this. I didn't even understand what a boundary was. I thought boundaries made you bitchy. I didn't understand that boundaries were actually life giving. Boundaries are not about the other person. They are for you.

00:40:58:16 - 00:41:26:22
Lisa
They are for your emotional well-being. So your hormones are your body's truth teller, and they're going to whisper when you're out of alignment. And if you don't listen, they're going to start screaming at you. And as somebody who has walked this path, I cannot prevent it from happening from you. But I hope you take this episode as, an an invitation for you to look at what's going on in your own life and where maybe you're still trying to deflect responsibility.

00:41:26:22 - 00:41:48:02
Lisa
So what's interesting is you're responsible for all the other things out there. And when it comes to being responsible for yourself, this is the one place that you want to defer. So this is where this is where you get to step into okay. What role can I play in creating better health as I move forward. And maybe you're not in perimenopause yet and that's awesome.

00:41:48:05 - 00:42:15:17
Lisa
Start making some of these changes now because it will support you as you move forward and as you as you age, because we cannot avoid aging. So. If you are standing at this edge with me in solidarity and ready to take full, ownership and responsibility for your body, I want you to know, like you're not broken and you're not going crazy.

00:42:15:19 - 00:42:42:16
Lisa
It's it's your opportunity to move past feeling angry, tired, and ready to burn it all down. If you are depleted, under nourished and under supported. I'm asking you. I'm begging you to get really curious. Are you reacting to your life from this place of exhaustion, or do you truly have clarity on what you want and need? Because we we need less women to start stop.

00:42:42:19 - 00:43:07:10
Lisa
We need less women blowing up their marriages and burning down their businesses. At this point. Yeah. Are your hormones talking to you or is your heart you can still choose to change and you can do it from awareness and not reactivity. And remember that no matter where you go, you come with you. You cannot outrun yourself. And I've said this earlier, you cannot outrun yourself.

00:43:07:13 - 00:43:37:27
Lisa
So the problems you think you're leaving behind because it's your husband, it's your business, it's your kids, it's your whatever. Chances are that you are the problem and you also get to be the solution. So if you haven't built your relationship with yourself, no new body partner prescription is going to fix that. I believe perimenopause is an invitation into knowing ourselves more deeply, and women have been doing so much for so long.

00:43:37:27 - 00:43:59:27
Lisa
This is why we are feeling the impacts of perimenopause and menopause in ways that we never have in past history, because we are juggling so many balls and the impact on our body is finally caught up to us. The emotional neglect, the self abandonment, the, you know, unhealed childhood wounds that we're all carrying. And listen, we all have them.

00:44:00:02 - 00:44:22:01
Lisa
Like, there's no perfect parent out there. We all have stuff that we picked up that we made interpretations about, that we have now carried forward as beliefs that are that are driving our lives and they don't have to be there. So what I want you to know is that hormone therapy can change your chemistry, but only you can change your capacity.

00:44:22:04 - 00:44:43:19
Lisa
And HRT can help you feel like your self again. But you have to still be that woman once you get her back. And how do you want to be in this world? What needs to change for you so that you can really create the life that you want so you can feel the way you want to feel. Even if your hormones go to whack because you know, six months ago, my hormones had kind of leveled off.

00:44:43:19 - 00:45:02:00
Lisa
And then they took a dip. They took a dip again. And I think it's because I'm on the other side of the high stress that I was. I was going through. And it's usually on the other side, like when when life kind of goes back to normal. That's when we feel the impact on our bodies, because when we're in it, our body's just like, we got we got to work through this.

00:45:02:03 - 00:45:29:21
Lisa
So health isn't just physical, physical, it's also about emotional integrity, self leadership, radical self honesty. Like being being truthful with yourself, telling yourself the truth even when you don't want to hear that truth. But you know when you're lying to yourself, you do. We all know when we're lying to ourselves. So this is about stepping into being truthful with ourselves, because your body is always going to tell you when you're out of congruency.

00:45:29:24 - 00:45:53:12
Lisa
And please, I'm imploring you to listen to it before it has to scream this, this isn't the end of you. I mean, menopause is comes with a lot of beautiful things to, And it's such an invitation to lead yourself differently into this next phase of your life. It can be the best phase ever, but not if you're emotionally all over the place.

00:45:53:14 - 00:46:21:25
Lisa
So hormones can help you rebalance. But your habits, your beliefs, and your boundaries determine whether or not that balance is going to last. So before you burn down your life or change your life, it's really critical that you change the way you're living it. And if you need support with that, I really encourage you to book a 15 minute congruency audit with my team, and we're going to determine exactly the area where you're out of congruence with yourself.

00:46:21:28 - 00:46:49:01
Lisa
What is the most important thing that needs to shift for you in order for you to come into this place of emotional stability and feeling so much more empowered and able to lead yourself through anything that happens, not by pushing through or grinding it out, but because you can truly know how to navigate what it is you're feeling and how to support yourself, feeling better, and really be the boss of your own life.

00:46:49:05 - 00:47:11:11
Lisa
So thank you for joining me today on this episode. I know it was really packed. Make sure you check out the show notes. We'll put all the links for all these, amazing people that you can connect with along with how to book your own concurrency audit. And I will catch you on the next episode. And if this was helpful for you, please leave a rating and review.

00:47:11:15 - 00:47:37:29
Lisa
It's so helpful in terms of our podcast growth and if you know somebody that is going through this are a high achieving woman who is really like going through the wringer right now, it feels like everything in her life is kind of falling apart, even though it looks like she's got it all together on the outside. Please for her this episode and the podcast, because you don't know, she might hear the exact thing that she needs to transform her life.

00:47:38:02 - 00:47:41:29
Lisa
I will catch you on the next episode.