When You Don't Feel Like Yourself: Navigating Perimenopause/Menopause (Part 2)

In this episode of The Fit Like Krys podcast, Krys continues the konversation about navigating perimenopause and menopause with actionable, foundational tips to help you feel empowered and take control of your well-being.

From optimizing your sleep schedule and staying connected to others, to setting up your annual appointments and managing stress, Krys provides practical advice that anyone can implement. She emphasizes the importance of holistic approaches like daily movement, hydration, and nourishing your body before exploring hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Whether you’re starting this journey or considering HRT, this episode will guide you through:

• Setting and adjusting a sleep schedule to improve overall health.
• Prioritizing connection to combat isolation and boost mental health.
• Scheduling appointments proactively to stay ahead of health concerns.
• Creating routines for hydration, movement, and proper nutrition.
• Exploring HRT as an option after trying lifestyle adjustments.

Krys also discusses the ripple effect of healthy habits and the importance of being your own health advocate. Tune in to learn how embracing simple changes can drastically improve your quality of life during this season.

Links and Resources:

• Email: fitlikekrys@gmail.com
• Website: fitlikekrys.com
• Menopause Support Resources: Menopause.org

Call to Action:

Have you tried these tips? Let Krys know how they’re working for you! Email her or visit www.fitlikekrys.com to learn more and join the konversation.

Transcript

Krys [0:00 - 23:51]: Foreign Next is sleep schedule. So again, this episode is all about the basic things that anybody can do to manage symptoms of perimenopause or menopause before going to hormone replacement therapy or anything of that nature and before letting it eat away at you, right? Like instead of, instead of just dealing with it or just kind of letting it. There are things you can do to feel so much better and embrace this season of your life instead of like, when will this stop and what's wrong with me? So we're really trying to get out of that and to empower you to put a little bit more effort in, in this season of your life so that you could take your life back and feel really good, not only, but like, feel like I'm. Once you get into managing these symptoms and you start feeling better, you're going to feel empowered and you're going to be like, why didn't I do this sooner? So sleep schedule is another one. This looks like giving yourself an hour window, p.m. a.m. To go to sleep and wake up. So let's say your hour window is from 9 to 10pm or more realistically probably in this world is 10 to 11. But let's say, let's say 9 to 10pm that's really dependent on when you wake up. It really does depend on when you wake up and what your schedule is. That gives you a time that tells you when you should be shutting everything else down. Right? Like if your bedtime is 9 o'clock, you should really be answering finishing emails and phone. And if you're, if you want to watch a show, if you, you know, what time is dinner, like all the things that you're doing between what time you're finished work and you know, spending time with your family, kids, like depending on your life situation is really going to affect this. But there are a certain amount of things that you either have to do or want to do or a combination of both before you go to bed. So giving yourself a schedule keeps you on schedule for everything else, but also maintains a space for you to be a priority. So setting a schedule, but give yourself an hour window because life and listen, structure is not routine. Structure is not. It's not a Sharpie, it's not metal, it's not a bulletproof window, like you can change it. So creating and setting a structure is really just something for you to start with and lean on and depend on so you don't have to think about stuff last minute and so that you're not completely off schedule and off your routine. So Set a, a time, a window, nighttime, wake up, stick to it for five to seven days, see how it feels. If it doesn't feel good or if it doesn't work, change it. And by the way, this should also include Friday, Saturday. So that's the challenging part for a lot of people. And again, on certain occasions, obviously if there's a special dinner or an event, like it's going change. But that doesn't happen all the time. So it's. It's a matter of committing to a structure and making sure that's a priority because you're dealing with these other symptoms that are going to affect your life so much worse. If you don't just do this one thing that's going to help you so much. So nine to ten we go to sleep. Six to seven we wake up. And give yourself a little bit of flexibility with the hour window. Commit to that time. And then that in and of itself is going to help so many things. It's going to help you get your movement in, in the morning, which also is one of the things I mentioned, because you're not going to be so tired. And then if, again, if it doesn't work after a week or so, just change the window. But the window should work. It's just a matter of when. And that can also change in seasons of your life. It doesn't have to stay the same all the time. Okay, next is staying connected. Feeling like you just don't care about anything. What's my purpose? I don't want to talk to anyone. Maybe everyone's annoying you. You're just literally the opposite of wanting to connect with people. That is kind of something you have to force your way through. Because I promise you, when you do push yourself to connect, you feel better after. Otherwise you're going to end up feeling really isolated and alone. And you're not. That's just going to be a feeling and something that you create up here, right? So you have to pull yourself out of that and stay in. Connected probably is. I mean, these are all important. But for me, the mental piece of this is so much more powerful than the physical piece of it because the mental piece affects everything else. And if you just don't care and if, like you're isolating and you're angry and you're depressed and you're, I mean, everything else suffers. So staying connected to people, especially people that are putting themselves as a priority as well, and people maybe that are going through similar things as you, so you could relate, but also help to lift each Other up is a really important thing to, if you don't have it in your life already is to find that menopause.org website. You can even find communities and there's a ton of communities online also just to be a part of. But creating a conversation as opposed to just shutting down is really important. So stay connected. And then this is a really great time as we're still in the beginning of the year to remind you, set up like all your appointments for the year. You can, you can call and your dentist has nothing to do with anything. But I just thought of a dentist first. But you could call the dentist and make a dental appointment. Actually it's all connected. I don't know why I said that. It does everything matters. Call the even of your car, your three year service for your car, your dental, your primary care, your gyn, your, you know, if you have specialty doctors, your rheumatologist, your cardiologist, your mammogram, like set it up for the year so that it's also spaced out. Because I know what happens is a lot of times you will get bogged down by just regular life and then all of a sudden shit starts to happen and you're trying to get into your doctor and you can't because you're calling when you have the problem and they're, they don't have availability for a month. So while we're at the beginning of the year, make a list of the things that need sort of an annual checkup especially again with this topic. GYN should be up at the top there. Maybe a registered dietitian would be really good for you to kind of review nutrition. Maybe a fitness or wellness coach. Right. Like I could, I could be help you through that. What, what should your routine look like? How should it change? And then just like regular doctors, like I mentioned before, regular professionals to make sure you're taking care of your body. A dermatologist, if your, your skin texture also changes, like your hair, like make a appointment like all of that stuff. Guys, like make a list of appointments that you know would be good for you. Some of them essential to do for some of you. You're getting to that place where it's like a colonoscopy. I don't even know what age that is, but I know that people have to do that at a certain time. There's certain exams that when you get to a certain age, if you haven't done it yet, you should probably do it, especially if it runs in your family. All right, so regular checkups but just scheduling the one for the year. And then. Because what's going to happen is if you go to your primary, especially if you're having symptoms, if you go to your primary and you go to these other doctors, they're going to refer you to someone else. So that's like another doctor's appointment. So instead of having all this stuff crunched or not getting to it until it's an emergency, just take some time in January or whenever you're listening to this, if you're listening to this, this is your sign that you probably have waited too long to go see a doctor and make some appointments. Just make some phone call. You're gonna. The feeling that I get when I put all my appointments in my calendar, it's so. Because it's just done, then it's just done. And then you could also something. This is, has nothing to do with perimenopause or menopause. But anytime I have a doctor's appointment, I treat myself. I either plan like a really good, like lunch trip after. I'm like, oh, I'm going here. I like look around the place. I'm like, what do they have around there? And I don't do take. So it's a really good opportunity for me to get some delicious takeout. Or depending on where the appointment is, if I have a friend that lives nearby. So I kind of make it a, you know, something to look forward to so that it makes me less likely to cancel the appointment. Because that is the other piece that a lot of women end up suffering for so long because you're not prioritizing these appointments and you keep pushing them off, pushing them off, canceling. So tie them to something that's fun, you know, so that there's a less likelihood of you canceling the appointment. And then. So those are all the tips before hrt. But then there is hormone replacement therapy. How do you know when all the things that I just told you. 30 days. 30 days of that. 30 days of being intentional, of educating yourself, of hydrating yourself, of sleeping properly, of moving regularly. Like it's a lot. But also if you plan it, it's just what your regular routine should look like. So after 30 days of being. And if, and if it. That's daunting, right? If that feels like too much, just commit to 30 days. Commit to 30 days of regular exercise, movement. It could be a walk, any kind of movement, yoga, whatever you like. Commit to 30 days of reducing stress. However that means to you, of nourishing your body, of hydrating okay. Of. Of all of these things, of connecting, you know, being intentional about seeing people, of educating yourself. And if after that month you don't feel better and things are getting worse, I mean, if you haven't got your labs done yet again, get your labs, check your hormones. I know some people that were told that they. Their hormones were fine and they weren't. So that's another thing too. Like, if you feel off and you've tried all these things and you still feel off and something doesn't feel right and your body and mind are slowly going down, okay, get a second opinion. And again, these are all things that take effort. But once you. The effort, honestly, is really just initiating the action. Once you initiate, you know, the appointment. Initiate sitting down at your computer to educate yourself. Initiate buying the book on Amazon. Initiate, you know, reading for 15 minutes before bed to educate yourself and to stay on your sleep schedule. A lot of these things combine also. Like when you move regularly, when you start eating better, when you're hydrating, when you're connecting with people. Guess what? You also do your stress levels reduce, right? Like your body starts to function better. So, like, you have a ripple effect or you have a. One thing kind of depends on the other. So write this list down. And if you didn't go back, let me just recap. For those of you who are lazy and didn't write anything down and you don't wanna go back and listen to it all, I'm gonna recap for you. The first is accepting that you're in a transition. Okay? Stop trying to have the body, the life, the thing that you had before. It ain't here, it ain't happening. Accept that you're going through a transition. Number two, educate yourself. Number three, daily. Daily movement and exercise. Number four, proper diet. Nourish yourself, and that includes hydration. Number five, supplements that should go after blood work. Don't start taking supplements just because you heard some beautiful actress slash model take them. Because she probably looked like that before she started taking the supplement. Stress management. What works for you? Okay? What makes you feel less stressed? Sleep schedule. I realize I stopped numbering things again. I always do that. I get halfway and then I forget what number I'm at. Sleep schedule. One hour window at night, one hour window in the morning. Stay connected. Schedule all your appointments. And the last, after all those that you're consistent with for 30 days, consider hormone replacement therapy. And how do you know if it's right for you or not? You're only going to know if you try it, right? So if your hormones are off and you're hesitant trying it, but none of this other stuff is working, you might just want to try it, and you can always get off of it. Right? That's a journey in and of itself, and it's a very personal choice. But if your quality of life is really being affected in these kind of simple tools that take effort, but anybody can do them, like the food, the water, the exercise, educating yourself, if that stuff is not enough, get your hormones checked, get a second opinion. Especially if they're saying your hormones are fine, but you feel like something is off and you're in your 40s and, you know, like, get a second opinion. Or even if you're in your 30s, and then maybe try it, you know, maybe try one of the a course of it. You know, try a. Try six months, commit to it, and just say, you know what? I'm gonna do this and see how you feel. And if you don't like it, you know the season is going to end. So that's also different for everybody. Your lifestyle and your choices that you make regarding your, what you consume, whether that's what you're watching, what you're eating, what you're listening to, the relationships you have in your life. Like, all of this stuff has such an effect. I have a program called Bikini Bootcamp, which the name is very misleading because it has very little to do with a bikini, but it's a very marketable, so I will not change a name. But during that program, we really focus on all of these things. Wellness. I, I approach wellness in a very holistic way because everything affects everything. And, you know, not even 30 days, two weeks in. I have women who come to me that are like, I've never had, you know, I'm so tired. I have belly fat that I've never had. I have, you know, I, I, I don't want to. I have no motivation. Like, I have women who come to me that all of a sudden it feels like they can't get it together. Right. And they may or may not attribute it to perimenopause or menopause. And two weeks into bikini boot camp, where they're being intentional about the nutrition, the movement, the mindfulness. Her symptoms, in my experience, 100% go away. It's not even like they lessen. They're gone. Their mood is better, their energy level is better. They care. You know, they have motivation. They're not as mean. No, because sometimes there was a there. I made a joke to one of my friends. I was having a Conversation. I don't remember who it was, but I've started eating. This is totally thanks to my boyfriend. Have to shout him out for this because he is a great cook and he cooks so, like, healthy and nourishing. And all of the food groups are represented, and we don't cut anything out, but, like, everything is so. Nourishing is the only word I can think of. But I was talking about this and the difference in my. My nutrition since meeting him, really, and how I've had to kind of meld the two and, like, adapt. I'm like, is that why I was a bitch for so long? I was just hungry. Like, I literally feel like I just wasn't eating enough for so long. And I was so much more snappy. I mean, I'm still very snappy, but I was very short and easily agitated. And. And this was in my late 30s and going into 40, it was getting worse. And honestly, I don't have. I don't have any, like, this. Any symptom that I would have is just like, a regular person. Like, sometimes I want to hit someone. We all do, right? Like, you know, it's. That's just part of being human. But, like, regularly, I'm in a great place. I have a ton of energy. Too much for some people. I'm motivated to do more and better, and I feel happy in my life. And there are times when I feel myself kind of getting into the state of the stuff that I started to feel when, like, my mood would really dip or. And it really has to. And it's when I'm not in my routine. It's when I've stopped eating properly. It's when I haven't hydrated properly. It's when I've not taught in a couple days and haven't prioritized my movement because it's cold outside. It's like, whatever. It literally is linked right back to my routine. And as soon as I get back into my routine, I really am asymptomatic, if that's the term. I don't have any symptoms. So, again, that is not everybody's story. This is 40 for me, right? For me and for my clients, a structure that they stick to has drastically improved, if not totally removed symptoms from perimenopause and menopause. So before you do hormone replacement therapy or consider that you can try all these other things, and you don't have to try all these other things. You could certainly just go right to hormone replacement therapy. I do always recommend a second opinion before getting on A medication that could change your body in life. I do recommend that, but that is for you to decide. Always be your own advocate. Know your body so well that you know if something is off so that you can have the conversations that you need to. There are pros and cons to everything. There are pros and cons to looking shit up on the Internet. There are pros and cons to going to one doctor and getting diagnosed. Because you could go to a doctor who's excellent, they could prescribe you something and it could work. You know, there are pros and cons to everything. But for me, I like to explore all the options, get myself educated so I could have a conversation and questions. Because even if I'm not an expert in something, I can have questions to the person who's an expert so that it makes more sense to me. Because that's another thing when, when you start talking about this issue. And this is why I really wanted to do this episode as well, because when you read and you talk about this like, it doesn't have to be so scientific and medically driven and statistic driven, like, you don't. That's great. You could educate, educate yourself on your own in that stuff and in that way. But if you just simplify and kind of take a step back, you don't even have to go there. There might be a time when you will, but you might not even be there yet again. Hormone replacement therapy is in the future of a lot of women. It might not be you yet, it might be you. Now, don't shut anything out totally. That could be an option. And. Or try not to. And try not to take one thing you read or one person's opinion all the way to heart. Make it a reinforced referral, reinforced resource, so that if you read or you hear one thing or someone told you one thing, try to get backup or dual information so that when you go that route, you know that you did your due diligence. You are the only one who is going to look out for you in the way that you need. You are the only one that knows how you feel every second of the day. No one will ever be able to understand that or feel that. And that is powerful. So I know that sometimes you might feel lost and like you're unsure about what to do. But I want you to step back from that feeling, step back from those feelings and know that you have so much information about your body. You have so much information about what makes you feel good, what makes you feel peaceful. So focus on that come back to the basics that's going to improve not only symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, but your life. And report back. If you're dealing with symptoms and you implement this stuff, report back and let me know how you're feeling. And of course, I'm always here to help. My email is fitlikechrismail.com my website is fitlikechris.com and every week you can learn a little bit more and educate yourself a little bit more on the Fit Like Kris podcast. Thank you so much for listening. I'll see you next time.