Navigating Menopause: The M Factor and Women's Health with Christina Finnerty

On this episode, we welcome Christina Finnerty, a family nurse practitioner, to dive into the M factor and its impact on women's health. We're excited to finally discuss menopause, perimenopause, and how they affect everything from brain fog to frozen shoulders, hip pain, and even abdominal weight gain. Christina shares the knowledge that many of us missed, even in medical training, and emphasizes the importance of advocating for yourself when seeking treatment options, including hormone replacement therapy.

We touch on the importance of finding the right healthcare provider, understanding hormone fluctuations, and the disparity in women's healthcare. Plus, Christina offers tips on managing perimenopausal symptoms through sleep, exercise, and nutrition. This episode is packed with insight and advice for women navigating this challenging stage of life. Whether you're approaching menopause, in the thick of it, or supporting a loved one, this conversation offers knowledge and validation that you are not alone—and you're not going crazy!

Tune in and learn how to take charge of your health and well-being during this pivotal time.

Transcript

That menopause is not just an anatomy ovary issue, an endocrine issue, but it's a neurological issue. So yes, there is a reason why we feel like we're going crazy when we're going through menopause, because estrogen is anti-inflammatory, and when you have too much information on your brain, it's fuzzy and we can't think straight. Today on the We Share podcast, family nurse practitioner Christina Finnerty talks with us about the M factor and women's health.

Welcome to the We Share podcast I'm Julie. I'm Alex. We share ourselves and we provide a platform for others to share. We believe everyone has a purpose and a story to tell. And we're back on the We Share podcast. I'm Julie and I'm Alex, and today we have a knowledgeable guest. Sometimes we have somebody with a lot of life experience.

I think Christina has life experience, but she also has immense knowledge. Why don't you tell us who's with knowledge, life experience, beauty, all the things. Things? Yes. So welcome. Christina Finnerty. She is a nurse practitioner here locally in town. A friend, a mother, a mentor, giver of life and all things women's issues. And we're going to cover that today, and we're like, let's just introduce her and get talking about their own factor.

Welcome, Christina. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you. It's a great honor. We are just excited because this has been a topic that Julie and I have wanted to cover for a while now, as we are approaching that in our lives, and we know so many women that have been talking about it and struggling with with menopause and what and perimenopause and yeah, leading up to that and after and, and what we can do to help that.

So yeah, we are so excited for you to share. Well, amazing. And I love what you just said. About 100% of women will go through this. Yes. So it's not it's not if, it's when. And someone would breeze through it and really just feel like they don't have any signs and symptoms. Or what I oftentimes think now is so many women are suffering from things that they don't think are related to menopause.

So we think of hot flashes and we think of night sweats and and maybe difficulty sleeping. But I didn't even know until I started diving deeper into it. And, you guys can't see this, but right in front of me, I have a list of six different books that I've read within the last probably 6 to 12 months, because this isn't something that even as a nurse practitioner, that we are taught in school.

And so a lot of what's coming out right now is even OB GYNs that are talking about we didn't get this information in school. This isn't just common knowledge. And so what I've really been excited to learn about is I had no idea that things like frozen shoulder and hip pain and, the abdominal weight gain and thinking that we're getting dementia, brain fog, brain fog, all that changes with our skin.

So we think of the basic things, but there's so much more that goes into it. You know, difficulty with enjoying sex and painful intercourse and dry vaginas and, and and just the fear of even being able to talk about it. Because a lot of times we do go in to our providers and say, hey, you know, I think I want my hormones checked.

And if you're not past menopause and you haven't stopped having periods for a year, you kind of get this almost deer in the headlights looks from your provider sometimes like, oh, well, there's no point in checking your hormones right now. You're still you're still having a cycle. But women start to go through perimenopause as early as age 35.

Well, and I know from my recent appointment and asking for my, levels to be checked and then being told that if I wanted to do treatment to increase my testosterone, estrogen like testosterone wasn't covered. And I am very low and I need it. But that's not covered for females. It's covered for males. So they can give me all the estrogen I want all day, every day, even if I don't need it.

Yeah, but if I want what I need, then I have to pay. Yeah. Which it is. You know, I'm hoping that that will change with time. The more that we talk about the disparity. But the other thing is, is it is obtainable. So it is something that's around $35 a month. There are various different forms. There's creams, there's what are called Cherokees that go in between the cheek and the, the teeth and just kind of dissolves over time.

There are pellets, but it is and and there's injectable for women also at appropriate doses. So it's not as expensive as people think it's going to be, but it is discouraging, for people that are like, well, why was it why is it not covered by insurance? So that'll change. The more that we're talking about it, the more that this is now a it's a it's a great time to be a female.

It's a great time to be a woman. Because finally people are talking about it. And the M factor, which was just released yesterday, October 17th, is now on PBS and it is a lot of knowledgeable OB GYNs and different types of doctors, urologists that are talking about the disparity. And also how do you find a provider that's going to listen to you?

And, and my thought process there is you really need to do your own research, because when you go into your provider, it doesn't just because we have nurse practitioner or PA or MD or DL behind our name, doesn't mean that we've gotten all of the information. And so one of the best books that you could read, I know not a lot of people are like lovers of reading medical knowledge or reading.

I think it's fascinating. Yeah. But, there is a really, really good book called Estrogen Matters and it goes through every single study from prior to Women's Health Initiative, post Women's Health Initiative. And I'll talk about why that that Women's Health initiative is such a big, topic. But even articles as, as early as six months ago are in this book and it goes through all of the studies that have been done.

In 2002, the Women's Health Initiative came out. And that is why all females are scared of going on hormone therapy. They think they're going to get breast cancer. They think they're going to have a stroke. They think they're going to have dementia. They think they're going to have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. And that study just did so much disservice to females.

So the doctor's really going through what is the knowledge. What do we know now? What what are called post hoc what what evaluation has been done since then. And so as a female, it's very important to educate yourself and know where to find the information so that when you do go to your provider and your provider may come back with some information and say, oh, no, we're not going to do that because such and such and such, you have the knowledge.

Don't just go off of what your medical provider says or what your friend says or what your grandma says. You you really need to educate yourself. And then you have the knowledge for yourself because everybody's situation is different, right? Stress level that I was just going to say that we have three women sitting here with completely different heritages.

Yeah, yeah, different backgrounds, which makes a difference. DNA make up, which makes you handle menopause differently. Yeah. And all of that is kind of play into it. So you do have to figure out you also have to be really aware of your body or at least this is the way I feel, because those perimenopausal symptoms that you were talking about, we can as women, we explain stuff away all the time.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I'm busy. I'm a single mom, I have careers, I yeah, this, that and the other thing. Well, even so I am a medical provider. Like I, I talk to women all day long every day. And I was wondering like, why am I so anxious? Why do I feel like I'm overwhelmed all the time?

And I just I did, I explained it away. Well, I'm busy. I, you know, I'm a single mom. I own multiple practices. I this and that and the other thing and I started thinking, you know, hey Kristina. Like, yeah, you're 50 years old. Ding dong. Perhaps maybe this is hormone related. Here's the even funnier part. Funny. Not funny.

I've been having night sweats for years and did not attribute it that it was night sweats. Hello. Like, because I only sweat from the waist down. So I thought that it was a side effect of one of my medications that I just was like, it's fine the minute that I'm not even kidding you. The minute that I put on my estrogen patch, my night sweats went away and I'm like, okay.

So even as a medical provider and I tend to think that I'm fairly, fairly smart and, you know, sometimes I wasn't recognizing it. And the, the feelings of just that overwhelming feeling and the feeling of like, okay, what was that person's name like? I know I've known them forever, but all of those subtle, subtle things. So be aware that those are all part of perimenopause and menopause and that there are so many things to do to fix it.

And it doesn't mean you have to do hormones. I think hormones are amazing. They're not for everybody though. And maybe it's not estrogen. Maybe it is just test tossed around. Maybe you don't need progesterone yet, but maybe it's that you need to talk to somebody about the fact that you're not sleeping. Because the only time that we put hormones out, literally the only time we heal and put hormones out, is in deep, slow wave sleep.

So if you're not getting it because you're snoring or you have other issues going on, you have restless legs, then that's a reason not to pull hormones out. So, talking about sleep, exercise, you know, we need exercise. We need to look at the way that we're eating. There are so many toxins in, in our environment, from our makeup to our lotion to our plastic water bottles to everything that's around us.

And so even eating late at night, insulin resistance, how we handle stress. So, so many more things go into just, you know, well, I need hormones for my perimenopause. You need to find somebody that really also does lifestyle coaching. And and that's one of the things I really love to do is help people understand all the other things that go into being a healthy human being.

Right? And taking control of. Yeah. Like, what are your vitamin D levels? What are your ferritin? Ferritin is the protein that stores iron. And if that is off then your thyroid is off. And if your thyroid potentially and if your thyroid is off then your other hormones are off. If you're vitamin D deficient, which literally everyone in Idaho is, if they're not taking vitamin D, that's a pro hormone.

It helps all your other hormones communicate. Insulin is a hormone. If you have too much insulin going on, it's going to override what your other hormones are trying to do. So really recognizing that we are complicated, but that there are people out there that really want to walk you through that whole process and really help through all of the hard times.

And so you don't have to sit there wondering why you're feeling crazy or, you know, having somebody tell you, like, you should probably just take it down a notch or be a little more, a little less emotional alert. So all the things women are shamed a lot. And I think perhaps on your shoulder crazy. All the time.

All the time. So on the way here I was listening to this book called You Are Not Broken and it's a book by one of the women that's on the doctor doctor caste person and she's a urologist. And I feel like every human being, men and women, any age, need to at least listen to part of this book because it really goes into even just the difference between male and female anatomy.

Like how many there's there's so many of us that don't even know what our own anatomy is called and, or that we're shamed into, like, why don't you want to have sex during this period of time? Or, and women thinking like, okay, well, there's something wrong with me because it hurts or I don't want to do it, or it's the last thing on my mind, or you're just not in the mood.

So then you're in the mood, and then you feel guilty. Because when you feel so this book, you are not broken. So, so good. Okay, say all that again. You are not broken by you are not broken by, Kelly cast person. And I'll make sure to include that. And the other one is Estrogen Matters by Avram Bloomin and Carol Travis.

Like life changing a little dry because it is all very medical. It's very medical. But if you want to be knowledgeable on why you are or are not a candidate for hormone replacement therapy, you've got to know the statistics and the studies so that you're not just told you're not a candidate. Or I hear all the time, all day long, I don't want to do hormones.

I have a family history of breast cancer that does not make you not a candidate for home replacement therapy, or even just, testosterone. You know, I don't I don't want to do any of that. I, my friend did that, and she grew a mustache and got acne, and it's like, that's why we just do laser hair.

And. Yes, you're just kidding. Just come to us for that. Do, two other ones that I think all females should be aware of. And even if you just go to YouTube and watch the YouTube videos, which, you know, not everybody has time to listen to books. The Menopause Brain by Doctor Lisa mosconi. She's also one of the doctors that's on the M factor, and she helps us understand that menopause is not just an anatomy ovary issue, an endocrine issue, but it's a neurological issue.

So, yes, there is a reason why we feel like we're going crazy when we're going through menopause, because estrogen is anti-inflammatory. And when you have too much information on your brain, it's fuzzy and we can't think straight. You are like singing my mind this year. It's our churches. I will tell my clients that, you your brain can have inflammation too.

And they're like, no. And I'm like 100%. So I have I have been listening to podcasts. I have been paying attention since Covid. And so I oh yeah, I had a pericarditis flare up. Yeah. And I had to figure out where am I inflamed that is causing that pericarditis flare up, what is going on in my body. And I had this awakening of your brain can be inflamed.

Yeah. Now that I know about it, I can actually tell on the days when it is. Yeah, because I've made myself aware of the symptoms and what I'm how it reacts in my body. And how it be. And that's why it's so important that you need to know how your body is reacting to these things. Yeah. I can visibly see when I'm in.

Yeah. An inflammatory response. Yeah. Little puffy little red. Yeah. Your skin gets a little bit a different texture to it. Ready. Yeah. The other book that's really good is the menopause. The new Menopause by Mary Claire Harper. So I would say these books have changed my just the way that I think the ability to communicate to other females and males.

And, and so those are all really, really good new information that have just come out. And in 2023, 2024, the, the menopause brain is the first studies that have ever been done on female brains pre and post, estrogen therapy. So what happens when we lose our estrogen? What happens when we can replace estrogen. They did functional MRI which actually show the parts of the brain that light up and don't light up.

And the different changes that happen during perimenopause, during menopause and with treatment. And it quite frankly, is fascinating and really helps people understand like, okay, I'm literally not going crazy and I have to be kind to myself and I have to deep breathe. And I have to. All of these things affect our ability to prevent cancer, to prevent cardiovascular disease, to prevent Alzheimer's.

It's not just the hormones that are helpful, too, but also just the way we talk to ourselves and we think about everything. So really, I'm just excited because it really is an empowering time to be. It's like, yeah, the cusp of change. And yeah, okay, so maybe let's just start at this at this one point because I think that even this is a controversial topic in the medical field.

What panels and what blood tests should women be having run if they're 40 years and above? Yeah. So, I really think that a comprehensive panel and one that I do on almost everybody, and the conversation that I have to have is these levels need to be coded appropriately, so that, because a lot of people will say, well, only run what my wellness panel tracks a wellness panel will only check a complete blood count, which is all your red blood cells and white blood cells, comprehensive metabolic panel, which is kidney function, liver function, electrolytes, a thyroid stimulating hormone, not the whole thyroid panel.

So I always add in a free T3, free T4. Those are the active thyroid hormones. It will cover an agency, which I do think everyone needs to know. That's your three month average of blood sugars. I always add in a fasting insulin because 93% of the population is insulin resistant, and that is huge. That's staggering, is absolutely staggering.

And why? Because of our processed food. What is in a hurry? We eat too late at night. And so I always add in, and I would encourage people to ask for a fasting insulin, a lipid panel, should be fasting. It doesn't have to be, but it's going to be the most accurate if it is fasting that will be part of a wellness panel.

I do a vitamin D 25 hydroxy that's the actual vitamin D level that will tell you whether you're deficient or not. And I do everybody's levels. A lot of providers don't do that because it's not covered by insurance. But if you code it as vitamin D deficiency, it is covered. And I've not met a human being yet that I check that unless they're on supplementation, that isn't vitamin D deficient.

In Idaho, we don't get enough year round sunshine. Our food isn't as healthy as it used to be, and everyone should be on at least 5000 I use now. I always check levels because you can get too much vitamin D, so you do have to be careful that you don't get toxic. So that's why I draw everybody's levels.

And then I repeat a normal level is 30 an optimal level of 70 to 100 the higher that you're vitamin D not toxic not over 100, but the higher that level, the lower rate of inflammation, the increased rate of immunity, the increased rate of calcium being driven into the bones and not the arteries. And, so helps with osteoporosis, and lower risks of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

When you add in, it's a no brainer. Yeah. It's not. That's exactly like, why would anyone should be everyone should know. Yeah. And so and 5000, 5000 minimum okay. Most of my patients are on 10,000 to 20,000. And I always add and so d3 k2 k2 is another fat soluble vitamin that helps the calcium drive into the bones, not into the arteries.

What else? I always check if there are ten. I didn't used to do this because iron deficiency should not be common. But our food, again, not as healthy as it used to be. Our cows are not as healthy as they should be. So we don't have enough heme iron. And ferritin is stores of iron if it is under 75.

How many people have complained about hair loss in the last few years? Oh yeah, I, I'm going to raise both hands on that one. Yeah. Covid menopause, perimenopause. So a ferritin level over 75 is optimal. 19 to like 285 is a normal range. So any who I don't go above normal levels I go off of what's optimal.

So a lot of times you go to get your blood work done and it's like, oh, okay, everything's normal. You're at 22, you're fine, you're fine. Yeah. No. So you kind of want to know what are optimal ranges. B12, a lot of people are deficient in B12. And then when it comes to hormones so post-menopausal, you can do estradiol, testosterone, progesterone, FSH and LH at any time because you're not ovulating anymore.

So the definition of menopause is you have not had a period for 12 months. So here in lies where it gets tricky when you are still having a cycle, then estrogen need estradiol needs to be done on day five. So day one is the first day you bleed and so you do an ester diol. On day five you do a progesterone on day 21, you can do testosterone at any time.

But that's where it gets a little confusing because therein lies it's a little bit more detailed. I need to see you. You need to walk in on day five. You need to walk in on day 21. And then we'll see you back for everything else. And then throw another little wrench in there. Okay, well, I've had a hysterectomy, but I still have ovaries.

Then what do you do? Well, then it's just kind of a crapshoot. Like we really are just guessing. Literally. You have to dry your blood on day five and. Yes. Okay. And and this is like so sting unknown to women that their blood should be drawn at a certain time in their cycle. Yeah. Because they're not going to be accurate if you just have it all done at the same time.

And so when you do so honestly, typically I get my blood drawn like, right, well every year around my birthday. But I make sure my cycles complete. So I'm probably around day 7 or 8 when I go in. Yeah. Which day seven is okay? They say anywhere from day three to day seven. So I kind of say like, okay, day five, target is five and everybody has a different length of cycle.

So it's not a it's not an exact science, but it's a little bit more precise when you can get that done. And so then if you've had a hysterectomy but you still have ovaries, it's like, well, in the whole perimenopausal, which again, anywhere from 35 to 51, the average age of menopause is 51. But we just happen to be 51.

We're about 51 and I'm not in menopause, so that's good. And I was just going to say my whole life, my cycle has never been as long as Alex. I'm a three day girl, so day seven would be too late for me. I would need to do it by for five. Three? Yeah or three. Yeah, yeah. So in the perimenopausal time you have to do hormones at multiple different times because the ovaries are working and then they're not working and then they're working and then they're not working.

And you never know when they're in a, like, I'm really going to do, I'm going to work for you right now. Or when they're like, I don't feel like working. So that's why a lot of women feel like, no, I know my hormones are off, but then they have their hormones drawn and the providers like, no, they're fine.

And it's like, I know I don't feel fine. Are you sure they're fine? And that's where you have to find somebody that will do a little bit of experimentation, recheck things. And yeah, so that's what I would say as far as bloodwork goes. And I answer your question. Yes, it does. And the beauty of a podcast is people composite rewind it and write all the time, right, to make sure that they're getting the right ones, because it is a lot.

Yeah. But the other thing is, is that I think it's so important to find a, provider that is concerned about the way that you're feeling. Yeah, yeah. Because there is no set answer you. They've just recently and by recently, say, the last couple of decades really been starting to study women. Yeah. I'll tell them they were judging what they were doing on men's studies in nice.

Yeah. It doesn't make any sense because we're so different. Completely different. Yeah, yeah. And they're the you know, the frustrating thing about medicine is, mainstream medicine has gotten to the point where, in order for a provider to make money because insurance has cut reimbursement and cut reimbursement and cut reimbursement. That's why medical providers see a patient every ten minutes.

And that's so frustrating. As a on the flip side of that, you I, I, I all my appointments are 30 to 45 minutes. I can't even begin to think straight. If I do a ten minute appointment and you just you can't address everything that needs to be addressed. So there are different levels of providers and if you want to go in and get your medication and just have the basics done and then there, then there's great providers for that.

But if you want to go in and have somebody that really will sit down and say, okay, tell me what your concerns are, let's start here, but I'm going to need to see you pretty frequently. Like, let's get some bloodwork drawn, come back and see me in 2 to 3 weeks. We're going to go over that bloodwork. Okay.

I'm going to have you come in every 6 to 8 weeks so that we can make sure that we're getting to the place that you want to get to. And so some people want that. Some people don't. And and so the patients that tend to gravitate towards me are the ones that want a little bit of, of somebody that listens and somebody that holds their hand.

And I tell the majority of all my patients, give me 12 to 18 months. This is not going to happen overnight because lifestyle changes and really monitoring takes time. And there's no cookie cutter approach. I can't tell one person, you know, to do intermittent fasting for 16 hours when they can barely go ten hours without eating. And, and so there are a lot of providers out there that will do that.

And kind of what you, what you want to search for is people that, that say they do preventative medicine or functional medicine or cause medicine, those those of us that do that type of medicine really focus on why is it happening in the first place, what's going on with all the most basics, with your sleep, with your food, with your stress, with your water, with your exercise, and your gut health?

We could have like a million different podcasts on Got Help. Yeah. The basic things I, I focus a lot on what's called mastering the basics with my patients. Like, let's at least master the basics and then we can get more complicated after that. But so many people just aren't even. They're not sleeping. They're not eating right. They're not taking care of their emotional health.

Another really good book for women. And it's funny because as I was driving over here feeling like the Russian woman, there's there's a book called The Russian Woman Syndrome. It's by Libby Weaver, and she really talks about why so many things are off balance, specifically in females, because we are always doing a million different things. I'm gonna show you not all.

I mean, we all have a list in our head, and I'm constantly going through my list, checking things off my list. Right. Yeah. And so how does that affect your cortisol? How does it affect your thyroid? How does it affect everything? So, Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I all of this has been fantastic information. And I was just going to say can you if you, if in a podcast you can drill it down to three things that people have got to get a hold of that we take away from this.

What are the three things? So, sleep number number one is sleep because if you are not sleeping you're not putting out the appropriate hormone. So if you're snoring, then you could potentially have obstructive sleep apnea. And you need to see a provider that specializes in that. I'm a sleep specialist. And so sleep number one you could not do anything more important than sleep.

So if you're struggling with sleep, it does not mean you need to get on sleep. Aids. It means you need to find somebody that that focuses on sleep and helps you to get sleep. There's so many things, so many natural substances. L-theanine magnesium, glycine, eight things that improve Gaba. So sleep is imperative. Do not cut short, sleep short.

So many people do that. I'm going to interrupt you right here because I feel like this happens a lot. If you are the person who either shames people for protecting their sleep, or you feel shamed by people for protecting your sleep, wipe that out of your life. I know, like, oh, I'd that'd be nice to sleep in. And you're like, there is literally nothing more important in your entire life than sleep.

It is the only time your brain detoxifies. It is the only time that you put out hormones. There is nothing more important than sleep. And in medical school, doctors get zero, maybe seven hours of education on sleep. So, huge. There's a book called Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson. Groundbreaking. So sleep is number one. The next thing I would say, do not eat three hours before bedtime.

Your body has to be in a state where it can metabolize and burn fat and get into deep, slow wave sleep. And if you're eating three hours before bedtime, you're messing up that process. And, I would say drinking water. So many people don't drink water. Every cell in your body needs water. So drink water. Simple to also kind of balance electrolytes.

Put a piece of Celtic Sea salt on your tongue a few times a day. You'll balance all your electrolytes. You'll feel so much better. Take. You gave me that advice more than a year ago. Yeah. You do the salt. I do the salt every day. I love it since you gave me that advice. I have this little jar and I carry it with me.

I'm in Spain. Celtics, and I make Neil take it too. Yeah. So Celtic sea salt versus Himalayan sea salt. And I literally just learned this. Yeah. I can't say salt has 3 or 4 more minerals in it than even pink Himalayan sea salt. So pink Himalayan sea salt is still great. But Celtic sea salt is kind of the new thing to talk about.

And honestly, it's just because it has a few more minerals. And how much do you you really just literally can put like a crystal on your tongue or under your tongue. They're like little teeny baby rocks because I do that. Himalayan. Yeah, little teeny baby rocks. And I'll stick two under my tongue. Yep. And I can even talk with it in there.

Like, sometimes I think about it right before we go in off of a commercial break. Yeah. And I'll hand two to Neil and I'll also in my mouth. And we do it every morning. It's so huge because it helps to drive. It helps to balance your sodium, your potassium, your magnesium. And, and the reason, that I brought it up to Julie so long ago was that also, if you're feeling hungry and you put a little pink sea salt under your tongue, hunger goes away instantly.

It really works. Doesn't really work. It's it changes the brain chemistry and gives you just a few minutes to think about, like, I'm not really hungry, I'm just stressed out. I wonder if it would make me want a margarita. I.

I mean, I do have this thing for a nice solid taste. Like a dream to happen. Yeah, I'm like obsessed. You know what? Because I'm deficient. That also is something that we didn't talk about. And, and how, how alcohol actually in our liver and, and, and how many people's livers, you know, so many people are trying to lose weight right now, and that's not what we're talking about today.

But, when your liver is bogged down, it is very difficult to produce hormones to, you know, to, clear everything. So anyway, that's a side note. So water, deep breathing. I really like exercise is important, but even even more so is building muscle. So a lot of people are focused on I got to get on the treadmill and I gotta go bust my tail.

And, when I go to the gym and I see people just sweating bullets and just, like, looking like they're going to die, I'm like, that's good for people that love it. Like, that's probably Alex, right? I'm like, I love that. Yeah, but sometimes I don't like some days I do, really. I lean muscle during the perimenopausal and menopausal age is the key to healthspan.

So healthspan longevity. I love the word healthspan. I don't want to live for freaking ever. But I do want to live without having a stroke, having a heart attack, getting Alzheimer's, getting dementia, breaking a bone, all of those things, getting cancer. And so there is so many studies that show building muscle is the key. You can go to Rose, Mark, and or Titan Radiology.

And for 25 or $35, get a Dexa body scan for done that and it tells you percentage of fat percentage of lean muscle. And that is the key. And so you don't have to go to the gym. You don't have to be pumping weights. You can do simple things at home, even isometric exercises, which is just holding that muscle as tight as you can and then releasing that I think is a key.

A huge key is maintaining muscle and building muscle. Yeah, I, I also I want to warn women here to put your fears aside. I strength train all the time and I, I can become a really muscle girl. I have it in my DNA. My dad had a huge barrel chest, had lots of muscles even when he was 55 years old.

So I always had this fret that, oh, my, I mean my muscles to get too big if I strengthening it's non-existent. People. Oh, right. Do not be scared about picking up 2,020 pounds. Dumbbells. Yeah. And doing squats and doing RDL. And you will not get to that place. It's absolutely imperative. And here's another thing to think about is the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism, your insulin you have insulin receptors in your muscles.

And so the more muscle you have, the more your insulin will work to burn fat, not store fat. So go get a body composition Dexa scan and know what your percentage of lean muscle is. And I guarantee you, if you're struggling with weight and you can. And just to be a human being, focus on building that muscle and you will see so many different things improve.

Yeah, bone density. Yeah. You're so target huge strength train 3 to 4 times a week. Yeah okay. Yeah, yeah. And even for women that like don't go to the gym and they don't know even how to exercise YouTube building muscle. How do you do a wall sit. How do you do a squat. How do you push ups.

Well, I was going to say if you forward the dumbbells because dumbbells can be expensive. I built a home gym during Covid because I had a membership up until then. But they shut them down and I'm like, I'm not stopping my exercising. So I just started, like, grabbing different things and putting them in my house. But if you can't afford the the dumbbells, use a soup can.

Yeah. Or get your those bands spend $30 yet the bands you put around your legs. Yeah and start moving TJ Max always has your own suburb 99 yeah yeah. Kettlebells, dumbbells. Yeah. Anything doesn't have to match your dumbbells. Not have to match my go of the OCD. Yeah. And get some because don't have to match your. I don't want my cortisol levels to rise.

Yeah I'm a big proponent of strength training. I have felt much better since I incorporated that because prior to that, I mean, when we didn't know any better, all I was doing was cardio. Absolutely. And I love I love cardio, I do a six mile walking loop, but walking is not enough. Yeah, I have to do is good for your brain.

It is good to increase what's called Bdnf, which is brain derived neurotrophic factor, which helps to, increase the connectivity within the neurons in your brain, prevent things like dementia. But we've got to have both. We have to have a little bit of cardio. Doesn't have to be a lot. Even for people that hate to work out.

I say do 15 minutes of high intensity interval training. Just get it over with, you know, do your all out intensity for two minutes and then walk for a minute all out intensity for two minutes. That's 15. That's how I run. Now I don't run like miles upon miles. I just do little bursts of a minute and eight miles one hour and then I walk.

And. But that's the beauty of strength training that once you figure out your body, you can raise your cardio level and strength train at the same time. Exactly. They work at the same time. It's you just I wouldn't recommend it right off the bat. You to figure out your muscles. You got to build them up a little bit.

Not everything. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We. Yes. It's so good. And I know we could talk for hours and hours and hours today as we finish out this podcast with you to share with us your your little favorite piece of life advice that you give people. The thing that represents Christina Finnerty. So I learned a, technique I was in actually a network marketing convention one year, and, a man named Shawn Achor who wrote a book called the For happiness and, The Happiness Advantage.

And he had us do an exercise, and I do this every day. And I really think it sets the tone. And so, when I wake up in the morning, when I even just think about maybe even if I haven't even opened my eyes yet, I physically force myself to smile. It changes the the brain chemistry and it puts it on a positive wavelength.

And I say three things I'm grateful for. And so if there's anything that I could say, it's do that because so many people and I do too. I get caught up in the, the, you know, times are hard right now and everything's so stressful. And but if you slow down, you say what you're grateful for and you deep breathe, deep breathing literally changes your brain chemistry.

So if you can breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for six. I don't care the count. But just do it when you're feeling overwhelmed and it changes your brain chemistry. It rebalances your nervous system and gets you out of the fight or flight gets you a little bit into parasympathetic. So I would say, if anything, love yourself, try and be as positive as possible.

Recognize that some days are just funky and try to get the next day in. The sun will come up tomorrow. And yes, yeah. And some. Sometimes days are just hard and I just tell myself like, okay, I'm in a funk, but tomorrow's a new day. Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present.

Yeah. Perfect. Thank you. Christina. You'll come back again? I come back again. Let's cover other issues. And people tell us, like, what do they want to learn about? I would love to do more. And then M factor is now on PBS. Is there certain days of the week or is it so? I have no idea. Honestly. Yeah. It's been M factor PBS.

It's going to be all over. Think it's going to be on YouTube any any time. Yeah. When you're talking these kind of things, if you look up the authors that she listed huge, there is a wealth of knowledge on those people out there on YouTube. You can go find it. Yes, there. And we will we will list the books on our post.

And if you're looking for somebody that just understands all of it, come see me and I'd love to help you through the journey. That's Sam. Yes, yes. Didn't say medical. Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Christina. All right. Thank you.

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