How Chronic Stress Hijacks Women’s Metabolism And What To Do About It with Molly McNamee

Many women are doing everything right—eating healthy, exercising regularly, and following the latest wellness advice—yet still feel exhausted, anxious, or stuck with stubborn weight gain.

In this episode of Chat Off The Mat, Rose Wippich sits down with hormone health coach and fitness expert Molly McNamee to explore the often-overlooked culprit behind these struggles: chronic stress and cortisol imbalance.

Molly shares how elevated stress hormones can silently disrupt metabolism, increase cravings, stall fat loss, and leave women feeling like their bodies are working against them.

Key Takeaways

1. Stress is the missing piece in most weight loss struggles—not willpower or discipline
2. High cortisol elevates blood sugar, slows metabolism, and promotes belly fat storage
3. HIIT workouts and intermittent fasting can worsen hormonal imbalances when you're already stressed
4. Low-impact cardio (walking, hiking, yoga) supports hormone balance better than intense exercise
5. Small, ridiculously easy habits are more sustainable than drastic lifestyle overhauls
6. Your body is unique—what works for your friend may not work for you

What You'll Learn

Undestanding Cortisol & Stress

The Exercise Trap

Intermittent Fasting Truth

Practical Stress Release Strategies

About Molly McNamee

Molly McNamee is a Los Angeles-based personal trainer and hormone health coach and founder of MFit Workouts. Since 2013, she's been helping women break free from the cycle of stress-driven exercise and discover a way of living that truly supports their bodies. Through her signature Safe Burn Method, she teaches short, effective, stress-conscious workouts and lifestyle shifts that leave you energized, not exhausted.

Free Resources:

• Download Molly's free ebook "Conquer Your Cortisol"
• Includes cortisol symptom checklist and workout modifications
• Free consultation call included with ebook download

Connect with Molly:

• Website: mollymcnamee.com

✨ The deeper work lives on Substack and in my book.

Rose Wippich — weekly essays on Remembering, Returning, and Reclaiming the energy, voice, and years that are yours.

If you're ready to stop fading and start reigning, meet me there. Substack Link

Rose Wippich is an Energy Alchemist & Empowerment Guide, Reiki Master Teacher, qigong and yoga instructor, and author of Empress Rising. She's here for the woman who knows she's ready for something more — the one who feels the pull of her next chapter but isn't quite sure how to step into it.

Through her book, podcast, and teaching, Rose inspires and guides women in midlife to reclaim their energy, identity, and voice — and step boldly into their Empress years.

📖 Book: EMPRESS RISING: Own Your Energy, Trust Your Wisdom & Rewrite the Rules of Aging. 

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend, subscribe to the podcast.

Please review  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ via Apple Review or Podchaser. 

Produced by Rose Wippich | Chat Off The Mat Podcast

© 2026 Rose Wippich

Transcript

Setting The Stage: Women’s Stress

Rose 0:00

Today's guest is a trailblazer in shifting the narrative around women's health. She helps high-achieving women break free from chronic stress, recalibrate their hormones, and stop blaming their bodies when the real saboteur is survival mode. Together we'll dive deep into why eat less, move more, often backfires. How cortisol is quietly hijacking your metabolism and energy, and what it really takes to signal safety, not punishment, to your nervous system. If you've ever felt stuck, exhausted, or looked like your body is betraying you, this conversation is for you. Stay tuned. Ready to unlock your most vibrant, authentic self? Welcome to Chat Off The Mat, where holistic wellness meets practical wisdom and extraordinary transformation. I'm your host, Rose Wippich. I'm a Qigong instructor, yoga teacher, and a Reiki master. So get ready for inspiring conversations with wellness experts who understand your unique journey, plus practical tools for energy healing, life transitions, and conscious and soulful living. Your journey to radiant wellness starts now. Let's create magic together.

Meet Molly And Safe Burn

Rose 1:20

Molly McNamee is a Los Angeles-based personal trainer and hormone health coach. She's also the founder of MFIT Workouts. Since 2013, she's been helping women break free from the cycle of stress-driven exercise and helps them discover a way of truly living in a way that supports their bodies. Her mission is simple to help you feel confident, strong, and at ease in your own skin. Through her signature Safe Burn Methods, she teaches short, effective, stress-conscious workouts and lifestyle shifts that leave you energized, not exhausted, so health can finally fit seamlessly into your life. Welcome, Molly. Thank you for being here.

Molly 2:02

Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you today.

Rose 2:05

Yes, me too. And I'm I'm really excited for the listeners to hear what you have to say because I know it's going to be really important and it will resonate with them. So so that they get a chance to get to know you a little bit bit better, could you tell the listeners about your journey and how you got into hormone health, stress coaching, and the concept of safe burn? Just where you got to, you know, here today, how you got here today.

From Concussion To Clarity

Molly 2:30

Yeah, so I am a fitness and hormone coach, and I'm really passionate about helping people understand how stress and specifically their stress hormones impact their ability to lose weight and just feel good. But I did not always specialize in that. So I've been working in the fitness industry for almost 15 years now, but it wasn't until the last five years that I really made this transition into being more of a holistic health coach. And I made that transition because of my own hormonal confusion. So I was in my mid-20s, which is not a time where people typically expect to have hormonal issues. But at that time, I had all of this fitness education, I had all of this nutrition education, and I was doing all of the healthy things, but I felt horrible. So I was bloated every day, I wasn't sleeping, I was exhausted, my anxiety was out of control, and I was gaining weight, even though I was exercising a lot and eating ridiculously healthy. And that was very confusing and very frustrating. I felt like I just didn't have any control over my body. And then I got a concussion, big left turn. So I got in a hiking accident, I suffered a concussion, and that concussion forced me to stop a lot of things. I was forced to stop exercising for a bit. I was forced to drastically slow down how much I was moving and active in my job. And once I started to heal from that concussion, I gradually started to introduce those things back in a little bit at a time. And something really funny happened. All of those symptoms that I was experiencing, all that bloating, that insomnia, that those weight issues, all of that started to go away. And I was like, that's amazing. But also, why in the world did this happen? And then I went into what I kind of consider detective molly mode, and I was like, okay, why did I feel so bad before? Why do I not feel bad now? And I started to put all of those puzzle pieces together. And I realized that it really was stress that was causing all of those issues before. And that stress was creating some chaos within my hormones. And I realized that my lifestyle and my workout routine and my diet, all of those things I was doing, were actually causing that stress to be so severe. Um, and once I realized that, I kind of went 180 with my business. I completely changed what I was doing, and I really just started to help people with this because I was able to get my body to heal, and then I was just wanting to help other people feel the same. And even though my specific story is kind of unique, I realized that my situation is not unique at all. So many people are dealing with this, where I work with a lot of people who are coming to me saying the things that I was saying, where they say I'm exercising, I'm eating healthy, but my body's not changing what's going on. And I help them figure out where

Medicine’s Blind Spot On Stress

Molly 5:27

that missing piece is. And very often it is stress and how stress is impacting their body.

Rose 5:33

Yeah, why doesn't anybody mention that when you're going to the doctors and you're trying to figure out what's going on? Nobody says, Well, okay, you know, what's going on in your life? I had this conversation with my husband the other day because I was having some issues. And I'm like, I want a doctor that knows the whole approach that says, okay, what's happening, Rose, in your life that is maybe creating these issues. And nobody ever mentions stress, right? They they do mention age. Oh, you're getting older. And I just want to I want to punch them in the face, I swear to God. I'm gonna get arrested, but I don't care. Because it's just it is so annoying.

Molly 6:08

It's so annoying. No, and it's it is the frustrating thing about modern medicine is it's really not set up for preventative care. Like it really is just a lot of band-aid fixes. Like, like you said, people blame age and they're like, oh yeah, that's the bummer about getting older, or if you're a woman, they're like, Oh yeah, it sucks. Your period is so bad, but that just happens, perimenopause happens, and they just kind of say there's nothing we can do about it. But there is actually a lot that you can do about it. It's just not, you know, within the scope of practice and of modern medicine.

Rose 6:42

Yeah. But so I've been told when I went, I go to an acupuncturist, and she's like, you know, she checks your pulse and she's like, Well, you're stressed. I'm like, okay. But then I don't feel stress, but maybe there is this underlying stress that I'm not aware of.

Molly 6:58

Yeah, well, in that specific circumstance, I think that people feel stress going to the doctors. So I think it's kind of hard sometimes to have those tests be the determining factor of what your health is because a lot of people are going to the doctor feeling kind of anxious. Um, but what you said really resonates with a lot of people of I don't feel stressed. Um, and that's something I see a lot. But sometimes we don't feel that external stress, but our body is really going through some stressful situations. So the two aren't always connected, which I know is probably really confusing for a lot of people to hear, but that is the reality where your body can feel a certain type of way, but externally you can feel totally fine.

Rose 7:40

Yeah. Yeah.

Spotting Hidden Stress Signals

Rose 7:42

So tell us about what are some of the ways that a person can tune in or listen to become aware of the stress, the stress signals in their body.

Molly 7:54

So I am a big advocate for symptom tracking or like keeping a little vibe check journal. So every day, kind of just like writing down how you're feeling uh regarding some specific points. So writing down, okay, how was my energy when I woke up? How was my energy throughout the day? Um, what was my mood uh throughout the day? Did I go to the bathroom? Like, did I like how often did I go to the bathroom? Uh just keeping track of some very specific things can help you start to notice some patterns. Because I feel like a lot of us are thinking just, oh, today I feel fine. But when you start to look at like a week, a month, several months of data, you may start to see patterns in how you're feeling and how you're reacting to things. And that can start to tell you a lot. And symptoms are one of the biggest ways that I help people figure out if they have some sort of stress hormone imbalance or if stress just in general is affecting how they're feeling. And a lot of the things that I'm having them questions I'm asking or things I'm having them check are things like, okay, how is your energy in the morning? That's a big one. If you're feeling really tired when you wake up, that tells me that there is something up with your stress hormones specifically, because you should have a jolt of stress hormones uh in the morning helping you feel alert. So if you're not experiencing that, that already tells me that something is up. Um if you're having something I like to say is if you're extra sensitive, so if your skin has been extra sensitive, if you've been extra jumpy, like if your spouse can walk into the room and you like kind of jump out of your skin, you're you're getting really scared really easy. Uh, that's another way that I determine if people are having some stress issues. We look at how you're sleeping. So if you're waking up every few hours, if you're having a difficult time going to sleep, that can tell me that you're having a stress issue. And again, you may feel not stressed. You may be like, oh, my life actually isn't that bad right now. I've had bad stress before. But if you're experiencing a lot of those things, then something's going on internally where your body is stressed out.

Rose 10:08

So, like anxiety?

Molly 10:10

Anxiety is a big one. And that that was kind of my big experience as well. Like my big glaring symptom when I had hormonal imbalances, specifically stress hormone imbalances. I was feeling my heart racing and having like panic attacks without really understanding why. Like I could be sitting here having a conversation like I am with you, and suddenly my heart will start to race. That's what I was experiencing. So that's another thing. If you're experiencing that, that tells me stress is going on.

Rose 10:40

So many women feel frustrated by stalled weight. You talked about that. Um, they do everything they can, they exercise, and they're trying to do all the right things. And then they have uh chronic stress. And talk about this elevated cortisol, silently block fat loss, blocking the fat loss and lowering metabolism.

Cortisol’s Metabolic Chain Reaction

Rose 11:03

There's there's a correlation with the cortisol. Maybe you could talk about, like explain what that is and how it it relates to stress and how that could block, you know, just being healthy, even or or trying to lose weight.

Molly 11:17

Absolutely. So cortisol is one of your body's main stress hormones and it impacts almost every organ and tissue in your body. So that means if your cortisol levels are doing what they should be doing, then you're better set up for all of those things to be functioning properly. But if your cortisol levels are not doing what they should be doing, which is typically what happens when you are dealing with chronic stress, then there's a lot of places where things can start to go awry. So a few things that really specifically relate to your ability to lose weight is when your cortisol levels are elevated, your blood sugar is also elevated. So those two things are connected. And obviously, having persistently high blood sugar can lead to things like insulin resistance or even type 2 diabetes. Uh, and that can make it hard for you to lose weight or be healthy or all of the things. Another thing though is when your cortisol levels are elevated, your body is in fight or flight. Uh, and when your body is in that kind of survival mode for too long, it can start to slow down your metabolism because it thinks, okay, we we need to prioritize other functions and we need to be conserving energy, we need to be conserving calories because we're in a dangerous survival situation right now. Your body's kind of responding to how it would if you were like in the woods, lost, and there's a bear near you. Like that stress response is the same regardless of what that stress is. Um, so as a response to that, your metabolism is gonna be slower, um, which means even if you are dieting, you're still not gonna be in a calorie deficit because your body is conserving as much energy as it possibly can. It's also gonna be very difficult for you to build muscle when your cortisol levels are high. And the combination of all of those things are just a recipe for disaster, to be honest, because you have high blood sugar, your metabolism is slow, you're not building muscle, you're storing more fat, especially around your belly. Um, and that's just means you're not losing weight, is what that means. And until you tackle that stress piece and that cortisol piece, that's just gonna keep happening.

Rose 13:30

Okay, that makes total sense. And thank you. You explained it perfectly. I think everyone can understand that. So, this cortisol level that we have that goes up uh when we're stressed. How do we know though? Like, how do we know our cortisol level? Where is it? Like, what's the baseline? That's the thing, too. You can measure it with your with your blood work. Like, how do you gauge that?

Molly 13:51

Yeah, so there are a few different ways. And you mentioned blood work for one, and that is one way you can get your hormones tested. I actually recommend, though, if you are trying to test your cortisol levels,

Testing Cortisol The Smart Way

Molly 14:05

you do a different type of lab work. You do a urine, uh, a urine-based lab work, uh, which is going to check your cortisol levels all throughout the day. A blood test is good, but it's only checking your cortisol levels at the time when you get that blood work done. And your cortisol levels, what they should naturally be doing is they should be high in the morning around 8 to 10 a.m. And then they should be low in the evening at their lowest around midnight when you hopefully should be sleeping. And what's happening for a lot of people is they're either always high or they're always low, or that is kind of flipped where their cortisol levels are low in the morning, they're really tired, and then they get high at night when they're supposed to be winding down to go to sleep. I think that that's a very common experience for a lot of people. Uh, so you can listen to your energy and how it fluctuates throughout the day, and that may tell you a lot actually about what your cortisol levels are doing. I also have a cortisol checklist on my website that has lots of symptoms that you can look out for. Uh, and there are so many that you can look out for, but I'll just like name a few that you can uh be tracking, some weirder ones, because we've talked about sleep. We've talked about like if you're waking up at 2 a.m. every day, that's a big indication that something's up with your cortisol levels. We talked about that jumpiness. A couple of other weird and obscure ones that I was experiencing is if you're bruising really easily. If you're um feeling you can also look at uh if you're sweating a lot or if you're peeing a lot or if you're feeling really dehydrated. Like some of these really obscure things that you wouldn't naturally think are related to your cortisol are things that you can look out for. And if you're noticing a lot of symptoms overlapping, then that typically means something's up with your cortisol levels, and you do want to adjust uh your lifestyle accordingly. And that's something that I'm really passionate about is yeah, when your cortisol levels are off, when your stress is high, you want to start to tweak some of your lifestyle things to get back to a balanced place, and then you can go off.

Rose 16:13

I love I love that you have a checklist, and you know, or everything about you will be in the show notes. So people just definitely I'm going to download it because I love to track things when you were saying before, manually track things. I'm like, oh yeah, this is definitely my jam. I love doing that because you do get to see trends. Yeah. You do have that. I mean, it's all statistics and it you get to know your body. So that's why people that's why women get up in the middle of the night to pee.

Molly 16:36

Yeah.

Rose 16:37

Also, you know, and sweat. Yeah. So the cortisol is is it your uh what organ is it? Your kidney or your liver? I think your liver.

Molly 16:47

Well, the thing that's interesting about your cortisol, like I said, it impacts everything. And it also impacts all of your other hormones. So if your cortisol levels are off, everything else is gonna be off too, like your estrogen, your progesterone, uh, all of those things. Uh, but your cortisol is your adrenals.

Rose 17:02

Um, your kidney. Okay, your adrenals. Right. Okay.

Molly 17:06

Um, but

Cravings, Cortisol, And Belly Fat

Molly 17:07

it it's never just like one magic thing, right? Like if something's off with it, everything else gets a little bit off. Oh, yeah.

Rose 17:13

Yeah.

Molly 17:14

Uh but what I find for a lot of people is starting by tackling that stress piece uh then influences everything else in a really positive way. Or you may tackle that stress piece and then realize, oh, okay, something's also up with my thyroid. So maybe I need to focus on that too. Uh but starting there is a really good place to tackle a lot of things.

Rose 17:34

I see. So reducing your stress level and then balancing out your cortisol levels can help with other issues that are going on in your life, right?

Molly 17:44

Absolutely. And uh just because you mentioned it, you were like reducing your stress levels. So that's usually what people think. Okay, so what can I remove from my life that's stressful? Is then probably the next question that people are thinking. And that's actually not the advice I give people because life is always gonna be stressful. There is no way you can remove all stressful things from your life. And you may not even realize some things are stressing you out in your life. Like there are environmental things that could be stressing you out. Maybe you've had like some mold exposure, or there's toxins in the air. Like, there are so many things. We can't possibly try to remove all of that stress. But how I really try to help people start tackling this is by just gently tweaking their lifestyle, introducing little habits into their life that can help relax that sympathetic nervous system and help their body calm down, even if they don't realize that that is happening, if that sympathetic nervous system is overactive. Just helping your body calm down at little points throughout your day is honestly the best place to start instead of just removing stress, calm the body.

Rose 18:50

Because, like you said, we'll never be able to remove the stress, right? But we can help balance it out, level it out. What are so so give us an example of something like you know, somebody's having a panic attack, which I do, especially after I drink coffee in the morning. I'm like, uh, you know, I'm like, I could feel it. So and I have to talk myself off the ledge.

Molly 19:11

Yeah. And I'm very familiar with panic attacks. I I used to get them all the time. But honestly, once I started, you know, working on this stress piece and this hormone piece, I luckily don't have very many panic attacks anymore. Um but obviously, if you're actively having a panic attack, uh, there are several things that you can do, like some deep breathing, some there are lots of little things that you can do to help when you're actively panicking.

Rethinking Exercise Intensity

Molly 19:39

But to help prevent that some, uh, some easy things that you can do is maybe before you drink your coffee, you close your eyes and you take three deep breaths. Maybe you make sure that you eat a little bit of protein before you have that coffee so that it doesn't affect you quite as much. Like it's little things that we're tweaking to hopefully influence the big picture. And it should feel ridiculously easy to do these things. Because if it's stressing you out, thinking, oh, I need to do these five things, I need to meditate for 30 minutes, I need to do all of this stuff, if that's stressing you out, that's defeating the purpose of it being stress relieving. So these little habits should feel ridiculously easy. And again, it can be as simple as a few deep breaths or just lying down and closing your eyes and starting there, honestly.

Rose 20:29

Yeah, and try to add them the the whole thing about you, you mentioned protein, eating something before the coffee to absorb it. Yeah, that's something someone else, the doctor, told me, and that I don't do because I feel like I need to have that first cup of coffee without eating anything, it's just more satisfying. But but then the result of the anxiety attack is not satisfying, so I need to do that. Um, and you can also sandwich a lot of these habits or these new habits with something that you're already doing, so they become like part of it, right?

Molly 21:00

Yeah.

Rose 21:00

So whatever, taking a walk around the block, even. And it doesn't have to be a walk around the entire town, just go for one walk around the block.

Molly 21:07

Yeah, no, I'm a huge fan of habit stacking, where it's like taking something you're already doing and just adding a small habit on top of that. Uh, so something like an example of that would be you're already eating three meals a day. Just take three deep breaths before you eat those meals. You're already drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, so why don't you drink it outside? Like, like just kind of hacking your life in that way, where it's just finding little things that you can do uh that better support your nervous system. And your nervous system loves fresh air, it loves morning light, it loves deep breathing, it loves when you relax. Um, so if you can incorporate those things, even like again, in the most subtle of ways into your day-to-day life uh with stuff you're already doing, your body's gonna love that.

Rose 22:00

I love that. I go outside in the mornings. I started doing that last year. I just go outside and I look around and I'm like, good morning.

Cardio That Calms, Not Clobbers

Rose 22:09

And I just like talk to the birds in the trees. And luckily there's no one around here that really hears me. And if they do, who cares? Maybe they just think I'm talking to someone in my house. But I'm like, good morning, birds and trees. And I just feel so good when I do that now. And I may just do a little chigong movement just to move my body and maybe not, but I love greeting the day like that.

Molly 22:30

And that's also amazing for your cortisol, because like I said, your cortisol levels should be highest in the morning, and getting outside and getting that morning light is reminding your body it's supposed to be awake and alert at that time. So it's just reminding your hormones how they should be operating, and it influences them to operate that way again.

Rose 22:52

So with the cortisol levels, you mentioned a urine test. Is it are we uh is that something available that we can get so that we can maybe take a day a week and check our cortisol levels, or is that something that has to be prescribed or so with that, you could order it yourself. You can, right? Yeah.

Molly 23:47

You could uh something you could Google is a Dutch test. Like that's just a Googleable thing to look up. That's something you can order yourself. Uh the one confusing thing will be you will get the results and not really know what they mean.

Rose 24:01

Right.

Molly 24:02

That's the one disadvantage of going your own way, but then the disadvantage of going the modern medicine way is they're probably only gonna recommend a blood test.

Rose 24:12

Yeah. And they do, you're right, because that's how mine have been checked. And it's only in that point of time when when you took that blood test, that's the indication of your level. Yeah. Okay.

Molly 24:26

So getting a test that's like a 24-hour collection is always going to be better when you're checking your hormones because your hormones aren't supposed to stay one way uh throughout throughout the day. And again, getting a test done is super nice because then you have that data. But if it does seem unrealistic or like out of your budget to order a lab test yourself, likely without insurance and like going your own way, uh, again, tracking your symptoms is one of the easiest ways you can start.

Rose 25:00

Like in the yeah, and you have your symptom tracker. I love that. Let's talk about cortisol cravings and how we store some of that fat.

Molly 25:11

Yeah. So cortis high cortisol levels can absolutely increase your cravings. And I very quickly touched on it before, but it also greatly influences

The HIIT And Fasting Trap

Molly 25:21

your um your blood sugar. So uh just the fact that cortisol levels are high means your blood sugar is also probably high, and then that can create some insulin sensitivity, and then you're craving more, you're eating more sugary stuff, you have some insulin sensitivity, and it's really just kind of this frustrating like combination of things that results in, you know, can can result in major health issues at the most, but at the very least, makes it hard for you to lose weight. Um, but high cortisol levels absolutely increase cravings. Um and where you store uh your fat will be in your belly. If you're having cortisol issues, it's like people a lot you'll hear that term like cortisol belly, and that is a real thing. Like those fat that fat storage uh is pretty targeted around that lower tummy, unfortunately.

Rose 26:19

And there's a lot of people, you know, people are talking about high A1C levels, like that, right? So everybody's pre-diabetic now.

Molly 26:28

Yeah. It it is also just interesting because I've worked with a lot of clients who are like, oh yeah, they're saying I'm like doctors are again, it's coming back to that doctor conversation, but clients will come to me being like, Oh yeah, they're saying that I'm pre-diabetic and they want to start me on medicine. I'm like, why are we starting there?

Rose 26:47

Exactly.

Molly 26:48

Why are we starting with you should just go on medicine? There's so many things that you can do first to try and try and tackle that issue on your own. But yeah, it's it's a problem. Like a lot of people are like in that pre-diabetic range. Uh and a lot of it's due to lifestyle, but a lot of it is also due to how your lifestyle is affecting your hormones and making everything worse for you.

Rose 27:15

But they don't talk about that. I even went to a functional medicine doctor and she was like, Oh, your A1C is high. You're eating too much sugar, too many carbs, you should work out more. Okay, but did she mention cortisol levels? No. You know, did she ask me anything else about what's happening? No. She's, you know, she's yeah. And and so I I got scared. I'm like, I don't I don't want to be diabetic.

Molly 27:38

It's very frightening to hear, and like I see it all of the time where people are like, this is what they're telling me. Like, I'm scared. They're telling me to exercise more and eat less, which is horrible advice. Because

Baby Steps, Habit Stacking, Relief

Molly 27:50

if the reason your A1C levels are high and you're pre-diabetic, it's like exercising too much is gonna stress out your body more. So if stress is the reason you're having these issues and you're trying to do a lot more and you're trying to eat a lot less, it's gonna stress out your body more and make your problems worse. So it really does require a much more nuanced approach than most healthcare professionals are saying.

Rose 28:16

Yeah, they just give you kind of like that canned answer. I I'm interested now here. I've been interested. I just interested in what you just said. Working out increases cortisol. So, you know, I was thinking the same thing too. I'm like, oh my god, I better get myself to the gym and start really working out and and and so so that's not gonna always help you.

Molly 28:37

Not always. Like I said, it requires a nuanced approach. Like I am a fitness professional, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you to not work out, but you do need to be choosing the right workouts and the right amount of exercise.

Rose 28:48

The balance, it's a balance.

Molly 28:50

Yeah, but exercising too much or at too high of intensity is like exercise in general is a stressor. So if you're exercising a lot or at a really high intensity, it's an even bigger stressor.

Rose 29:01

Yeah.

Molly 29:02

So we want to make sure your workout is structured to support your current stress levels. Uh so choosing the right workout and also the right recovery from that workout is really important because if you are just doing the most, your body's gonna continue to be stressed. And if the goal with the exercise is to lose weight, to lose body fat, to decrease stress, decrease stress, that's just not gonna happen. Uh, at least not if you're having a you have an existing problem. Like if you're totally fine, you're not stressed at all, you know, everything's good, you can exercise a little bit. I mean, who is that? Who are you? Yeah, right. I'm like, um, but

How Molly Works And Free Resources

Molly 29:46

uh if you have some underlying issues, doing too much can push you over the ledge where it becomes worse.

Rose 29:54

I could see that. Um so for me, I I I loved, I started, or I I teach yoga and I started taking yoga classes for me.

Molly 30:03

Awesome.

Rose 30:04

And right? And I feel really good. Like I feel less stressed, more in control. Just but is that enough? Like, would you tell me, and maybe I am looking for advice like would you say, Rose, we know you need to do a little cardio because my heart uh you know, I I think I need more cardio, so I'm not a runner, but I can walk, right? That'll still give me the same benefits because if I try to run, I'm just gonna stress myself out.

Molly 30:32

Yeah, I'm a huge fan. Of low impact cardio. So that can be walking, that can be cycling, that can be low impact aerobics. I have lots of workouts on my website that are all low impact because I am a huge fan and a huge advocate that you don't need to be doing high impact stuff, you don't need to be doing high-intensity stuff. Um so my advice for you you're consistent with your yoga, I would say walk, maybe hike if there are hills present.

Rose 31:01

Oh, we have a lot of good hiking around here.

Molly 31:03

Yeah.

Rose 31:03

Yeah.

Molly 31:04

So so I like using the talk test in your cardio. And if you are trying to work out a low to moderate intensity cardio level, which is what I would recommend for you, then try talking while you do that cardio. And if you're gasping for air after every sentence, that's high intensity. You don't need to be doing that. You should be able to speak a full sentence before you stop and take a breath. If you're speaking easily, I would say maybe push yourself a little bit more. Uh, make sure that you are getting to that point where you say a sentence or two and you need to stop and take a breath. Um I like that test.

Rose 31:39

You don't need any, yeah, you don't need any fancy gear. I was just gonna say, uh, you know, the target heart rates are yeah, I was gonna just have to I need to ask you, like, what do you think about target heart rates? Because I'm always looking at my it, uh, that's okay. I don't I don't care what it is.

Molly 31:53

It actually makes me giggle because I'm seeing so much of that online right now, people being like, oh, I need to do zone two cardio, I need to aim for this heart rate. And I'm like, I've been working in the fitness industry for 15 years. I have never once

Closing Reflections And Next Steps

Molly 32:06

told a client that they need to do zone two cardio or be in a certain heart, because they don't need to know that information. I need to know that information. What they need to know is just check your breathing. Check check your breathing, uh, and that's enough. Like, also, if you are aiming for a certain heart rate, a lot of people just, you know, wear those watches and they're checking their heart rate there, which is not very accurate. Like, if you're trying to get extremely accurate with the level of cardio that you're doing, you're gonna need uh a high-tech heart rate monitor that you wear, like uh around underneath on your bra strap or underneath.

Rose 32:42

Yeah, yeah.

Molly 32:43

Exactly. Um, and most people don't have that. So I and there are definitely gonna be fitness professionals that disagree with me, but I don't care what your heart rate is. I care how you're breathing and how if you're able to talk while you're doing that cardio. That is what you want to check instead.

Rose 33:01

Yeah, uh the breathing part is important, right? Okay. That that's thank you.

Molly 33:09

That was yeah, that's that's kind of my test though. And those are kind of like the rules of cardio that I have is like with the talk test, if you're not able to talk at all, like you're just totally out of air, that's an extremely high intensity. If you're gasping for air after every word, if you're like, I am so tired, like you're gasping for air, uh, that's high intensity. If you're able to say a sentence, then you need to take a breath. That's more moderate intensity. If you're kind of breathing heavy, but you can say a few sentences low intensity. If you're not gasping for air at all, then you're not really in a cartoon.

Rose 33:47

And find something you enjoy. Don't do something because like your friends saying, Oh, go out there and you know, play tennis. And I was coaxed into playing tennis. I hadn't played tennis in years. I was coaxed into taking some classes again and just like you know, relearning it, not just getting reintroduced to it. I was suffering. I it was so intense for me because the short spurts, I couldn't breathe. Yeah, and I was like, I can't do it. And I was okay with that. I I can't suffer because it was so stressful for me just to walk into that tennis court for that lesson. It was a group lesson, and I was like, I don't want to be here. And so I was almost grateful when I was like, I can't be here anymore, and I left.

Molly 34:34

And and the good thing is there are so many ways you can move your body. There is no reason to be doing something you hate. Right. Um but the fact I do want to touch on the fact that you said how it felt like super high intensity to you. So I would like to just bring up that conversation because a lot of people think they need to be doing HIT training.

Rose 34:52

Yeah, let's talk about that. Yes, please.

Molly 34:54

Okay, awesome. And high intensity training became so popular because it burns a lot of fat and calories in a short amount of time, right? That's why people really like it because you finish the workout, you're still burning calories long after you finish it. But the thing that people don't take into account is the stress piece. And if you're burning calories long after you finish your workout, that means your body is stressed long after you finish your workout. So even though the workout is short, the stress is actually longer and more intense. So it's stressing out your body more than a low-impact cardio workout would. Uh so if you are someone who is dealing with hormonal imbalances or chronic stress, HIT is really not a good idea for you. That's the first thing I, that's the first change I typically make for people that I meet with who tell me, oh yeah, I'm dealing with these symptoms, I'm doing HIT, I say stop doing HIT. And I, as a coach, I'm very much like, let's personalize everything to you. Let's like, like everyone's different, but the hit piece is something I am strongly passionate about. And if you're dealing with stress or imbalances right now, take a break from the hit.

Rose 36:04

I want to talk about intermittent fasting as well. So yeah, that that's huge now. I would everybody is intermittent fasting. And I just think that they're I don't know, I don't know enough about it, but I just feel it's maybe not the right thing for everybody. So yeah, let's talk about that.

Molly 36:24

And you're right, it's not the right thing for everybody in a similar way that we just talked about with HIT. Like fasting is kind of your body thinks it's in survival mode. So it's stressed because it thinks it's in survival mode. So if you're already dealing with underlying stress issues and underlying hormonal issues, fasting is only gonna make that worse for you. So I don't recommend intermittent fasting for people who are dealing with those types of things. And in general, intermittent fasting isn't the best for menstruating women, like as a rule. Um just because again, how it's stressing out your body, and our bodies are already going through so much stress every single month, we don't need that extra piece. And what I find is that fasting is best for men. Uh, not typically for women, but again, everyone is different. Uh, and if someone is a woman is listening to this and you're like, fasting saved me. Everyone is unique, but as a general rule, if you're dealing with the chronic stress, if you're dealing with the hormonal stuff, fasting is not going to be a great solution for you because it's keeping your body stressed. And this is coming from someone who fasted every single day when they were having all of those hormonal issues. So when I was dealing with all of my stuff, I was doing HIT and I was fasting all the time.

Rose 37:53

Wow, you weren't you, yeah. Your body was really feeling that.

Molly 37:57

My body was feeling the effects. And I was sitting there thinking, okay, why are these amazing HIT workouts not making me lose body fat? What's wrong with me? Why is this fasting not helping me lose body fat? What's wrong with me? And now, like outside, I'm looking in and I'm like, okay, well, those things are stressing me out so much that it was causing my body to cling to fat even more.

Rose 38:20

Yeah. And I heard I I I I've studied uh I studied Qigong with traditional Chinese medicine experts, and they said that fasting for women isn't always the best thing because it does affect your horse your hormones. You can even like prematurely age and you lose hair and your skin changes. It's like all of that is is occurring, and you know, offer losing a pound or two.

Molly 38:47

I know. It it's once I started doing my like hormone education, I realized like one of the first things I realized is oh, women are supposed to wake up hungry. And if they're not, that's an indication that something's up with their hormones.

Rose 39:03

Ah, interesting. But you know, what if what if you've never really eaten breakfast? I'm not a breakfast person. All right. So I mean, for me, I if I were to eat, then I'd feel like, I don't know. I wouldn't feel myself.

Molly 39:17

You can train your body to not be hungry or to be hungry. I had this one client one time where he was telling me, yeah, for some reason I'm hungry just like every two and a half hours. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong. And then we like looked at his day-to-day life and like he snacks every two hours. I'm like, you've trained your body to be hungry every two hours. So you can train your body to not be hungry. Like with like intermittent fasting, for example, for some people, it is hard to start doing that. But then once you do it for a few weeks, you're totally fine because you've trained your body to not be hungry in the morning.

Rose 39:50

So you can But is that affecting? But is that a so if you've trained your body, like this is I've trained my body for the last 60 plus years because I never really ate breakfast. So are my am I all jacked up in my hormones then? Or is it like my hormones said, okay, Rose does this, she's we're good here.

Molly 40:09

Like the that can absolutely be true. Where where your body's like, okay, everything else is fine. This one thing we'll we'll accept. Uh and everyone's body has different like limits of what they're willing to accept. Some people's bodies are just overly sensitive. I remember I heard some anxiety expert say this one time where it's like we're all different cars, and some of our cars like have that really sensitive car alarm where you just hear it going off every single day. Like some of us are just more sensitive. Um, so for some people, starting fasting, uh training their body to not be hungry, that can stress them out and create problems. For others, their body's like, yeah, we'll accept it.

Rose 40:51

Okay.

Molly 40:51

And that's probably a very annoying response to hear as a listener to be like, oh, we're all different, so there's no like cookie cut rule. But there's just not. We're all just so unique.

Rose 41:03

But there there shouldn't be a cookie cut rule for everybody. Because we're, like you said, I mean, we're all different.

Molly 41:10

Yeah. Our our bodies are very adaptable. Like our bodies will get used to whatever we're doing. Uh like our bodies, like if you're used to a certain level of stress, it'll be like, fine, we'll push through this. But what happens for a lot of people is eventually they start to see like those other symptoms and their bodies like kind of crawling crying out for help in different ways. Uh, but for other people, like they can keep doing certain things and get through it. We're all just so unique. Bodies are so weird. That's like any every conversation I have with clients, I'm always like, yeah, bodies are weird, but let's figure this out.

Rose 41:47

Oh, yeah. Uh yeah, it's like uh you need like a roadmap for your body. And I was saying using that analogy this morning, you know, you have to listen to your bodies that subtle cues, that cues that something is wrong because it's like, you know, on your it's like the little point on your roadmap, which way do I turn? Do I do this? Do I that? Yeah, it and you know, I I'm thinking as I as you're talking to for people who are highly stressed, their cortisol levels are high a lot, and they're doing all this stuff. When they redirect and try to pull back on some of those habits that are creating the increased cortisol and stress, are are they getting like withdrawal symptoms or are they like freaking out, or they're like, oh my god, I can't do this because I need to be in stress mode.

Molly 42:27

Like there's what's that transition like from so that's why I encourage like small changes, right? That's that's why I'm not going out here being like, ah yeah, you're really stressed. You should probably quit your job.

Rose 42:42

Like I'm I'm not gonna even though they want to, right?

Molly 42:46

Even though they want to. It's really about making small changes so that you don't feel that shock, which is also like the reverse happens for people where like they want to start exercising, they want to lose weight, so then they try to do something every single day. They try to drastically change their diet and that stresses out their body. The reverse is true, where it's like if you try to take away a lot at one time, it's also gonna stress out your body. So whether you're trying to do more or trying to do less, it's best to take baby steps in either direction instead of just overhauling your life. Because yeah, your body is gonna react and your body doesn't love drastic change ever.

Rose 43:23

Yeah. And Molly, this is where people like yourself come in. You know, and talk so talk about how you've talked, you talk about how you help people at the beginning. Talk a little bit more about you know, how you help your clients and how you guide them and maybe some of your offerings because why do it alone and why look up and see all these trendy fads? And there's some things we haven't talked about that I'm not gonna talk about. So, how do you guide people? How do you support them on their journey to being like, you know, less stressed and really managing their cortisol levels at their stress levels and their sympathetic and their nervous system?

Molly 44:04

Yeah, well, you had you just said like people need to listen to their body. And something that I really help my clients do is I help them translate what their body is telling them they need. That's my main thing that I do. I teach them what to track, what habits to build, and then I'm helping them understand what their body needs more. Uh, and I work with people in a lot of different ways. I do one-on-one coaching, group coaching, and I have some more independent programs as well. So there are a lot of ways that people can work with me, but that's the root of like what I'm passionate about helping people with. I make sure with every program that I have, I'm just helping people understand their body more and tweaking what they're doing to really align with what their body needs. Where I feel like a lot of diets, a lot of workout programs, they say follow these rules, you'll lose 20 pounds. I'm saying follow these rules so you can find balance in your body. And then it's easier to lose 20 pounds, is uh, and then we're we're finding the nuances of what that means for each person. Um but yeah, my business is entirely online. So I work with people all over the globe, really, uh, helping them do those things. And if someone was listening to this conversation, you're like, wow, I heavily relate to this. There are some free places you can start working with me if you don't mind me mentioning them.

Rose 45:23

No, and mention everything.

Molly 45:24

Yeah, okay. So if you related to this conversation, you're like, wow, I do need help with this stress piece. Definitely get my free ebook on my website. It's called Conquer Your Cortisol, and it's gonna educate you on why your cortisol levels matter. It's gonna give you that checklist that I talked about before. It's gonna teach you specific habits to start building to better support your hormones and also give you specific tweaks to make in your workouts so that they more align with your stress. And everyone who gets that ebook also gets a free call with me so that I can help you figure out like some of the nuances of what's going on with you. Um, so I definitely recommend your listeners take advantage of that. That's on my website, which is just my name, MollyMacNamy.com. And the ebook is Mollymacnamy.com forward slash cortisol. So you can get that there and you can take advantage of that. And then that also just kind of gets you into my world where you'll you'll get some emails that relate to all of this stuff, and you'll learn more ways that you can work with me from there. But that's the best place to start. I'm also all over the social medias. My Instagram is my business name, which is mfit.workouts. So m like Molly, fit like fitness, period workouts. Um, so you can connect with me over there and feel free just to reach out, send me a message. Like, I know how lonely it is to go through this stuff. Like it can feel like your body's working against you and there's no one to talk to. So don't suffer alone. Like you can reach out to me.

Rose 47:00

Thank you, Molly. And don't and and please people, don't just follow any trend that you see. Right? I mean, there's a lot of stuff out there, a lot of could be bullshit. And follow what guides you to like does a person resonate with you? Does the message, where do you feel it in your body, does it sound right? Like Molly, when I first met Molly, we had a little quick chat, and like I don't just like let everyone on this podcast that I feel has a message. So when I talk to her, I'm like, okay, she's the real deal. She you tell you could tell that she and I'm getting goosebumps that she really wants to help, and she knows her stuff because she's been through it and she's passionate about this message and helping people, and it's really important, especially for women. My audience is big. We we are a lot of women here, and you don't need to go it alone, and you don't need to do what your friend's doing, and you know, find the person that resonates with you and check out Molly's free things. Not everybody gives free things, or just go and and check it out, have a quick chat with Molly, and um yeah, and and start really thinking about what you're doing in your life and whether you feel, hey, this is feels good, or I'm just kind of doing what everybody else is doing. So I hope you didn't mind me adding that.

Molly 48:21

No, I really appreciate what you said. That's so kind of you to say. And yeah, exactly as you said, don't just follow the trends just because you think you should. A lot of us just like dive into something. Uh, and diving into something that's not right for you can actually make it harder for you to reach those goals. So, really do the research, like figure out what's really right for you.

Rose 48:41

Thank you, Molly. Thank you for being here too.

Molly 48:43

Thank you for having me. This was so fun.

Rose 48:47

Thank you for sharing this sacred time with me today. If today's episode resonated with you, I'd be so grateful if you'd share it with a friend who might need these gentle reminders. And speaking of support, your reviews help other women find our community. So please take a moment to leave one wherever you listen to podcasts. Ready to go deeper? Visit rosewippage.com to explore my personalized healing sessions, courses, and workshops. Until next time, remember, you are exactly where you need to be.