Find Your Lady Tribe

Sustainable Health and Natural Menopause Solutions with Lisa Holton

• Brenda Billings Ridgley

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Unlock the secrets to thriving through menopause and beyond with our special guest, Lisa Holton, certified personal trainer and nutrition coach. This episode is packed with expert advice on how to manage common menopause symptoms like night sweats and weight gain through diet and exercise. Lisa shares her own inspiring journey into the fitness world and emphasizes the often-overlooked importance of specialized menopause training among healthcare providers. Get ready to empower yourself with actionable tips for navigating this phase of life with confidence and ease.

Are you stuck in the all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to dieting? We tackle this challenging mindset head-on with strategies for sustainable changes that add up over time. Learn how to incorporate small, manageable actions such as increasing your water intake and gradually adding movement into your daily routine. We also discuss intermittent fasting and its potential benefits for hormone balance and longevity, while stressing the importance of personalized eating habits tailored to individual health needs.

Lastly, we explore the crucial role of nurturing connections and maintaining close ties with old friends and building a supportive network. We highlight the strength that comes from both virtual and in-person connections. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to thrive in midlife and beyond.

Connect with Lisa:
Instagram: @lisaholtan
Website: www.lisaholtan.com 
Youtube: @lisaholtan
Facebook: lisa.g.holtan

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back, beautiful souls, to another season of Find your Lady Tribe. My name is Brenda Ridgely, your host. You know there's a certain kind of magic that happens when women of a certain age come together. We've weathered some storms, discovered our strengths and are ready to tap into the wisdom we've accumulated to create our next big thing. This season we're diving deep into the wall spring of longevity. We'll explore how to nurture our minds, bodies and spirits so we can not only live longer but live vibrantly. Whether you're dreaming of traveling, starting a creative pursuit, building an empire or even saving the world Yep, that's right, saving the world. This season is your guide to building the foundation for a life filled with purpose, joy and an unstoppable sense of self. So grab your cup of tea, settle in and get ready to be inspired. But before we get started, I want to remind you to subscribe. Give us a thumbs up if you're enjoying the show and share it with your fellow midlife goddesses. Together, let's create a wave of empowered women who are redefining what it means to age gracefully, powerfully and with a whole lot of Lady Tribe spirit. Hey everybody, welcome to Find your Lady Tribe Spirit. Hey everybody, welcome to Find your Lady Tribe, the place for midlife women to connect and find their purpose again, connect to their people and get passionate about life again.

Speaker 1:

This season is all about longevity, you know. Naturally, science has given us the gift of living longer these days, with all the medical advances and all that. But there's a lot we can do on our end to make the most of those years, and I fully intend to do that. That's why I wanted to do this season on longevity, and today I am so excited to be having a conversation with Lisa Holton, who has a great amount of experience in diet as it relates to menopause. Oh my gosh, what a great topic. I'm so excited to talk to her today. She's been in the fitness and health space for 16 years. She's a certified personal trainer, nutrition coach and faster way to fat loss coach. Lisa specializes in helping women balance their hormones naturally through nutrition and exercise. Thanks for being here, lisa.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to chat with you today.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. Well, why don't you just start off by telling us a little bit more about you and why you do what you do?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I've always had a passion for health and wellness ever since I was a young girl. I always loved movement and just being active. I was not in sports though, which many people think. With my background I was maybe in sports, and I really am not a sports person. I don't love playing against other people, but I do love playing against myself. I'll say I loved like having challenges against myself that didn't really involve other people. So I think that's where my passion for being active and like like lifting weights kind of comes from, Cause when you lift weights and get stronger, you're only going against yourself. Like how much weight can I lift today? Can I get stronger than something I did last week or a month ago? And that's exciting to me is to see, like how far can I push myself. Yeah, so that's where my background for activity kind of came from, and I fell into the health and fitness space.

Speaker 2:

After having my son, I just decided that working in a cubicle in a business wasn't the best fit for me. So I did go back to school and became certified as a personal trainer and nutritionist, and at that point when you're starting out, you just kind of work with everyone. You know worked with athletes. I worked with males, females it kind of didn't matter what their goals were. Once I had grown in my fitness space, I really realized that I have a true passion for helping women live their best life. And what does that look like? I really wanted to help women balance their hormones, naturally, because so many of my clients were taking hormone therapy drugs, which is fine for fine for some people, or we're taking other things trying to fix their issues. But really it comes down to what's the root cause of these symptoms, Like why are we getting night sweats and hot flashes and unexplained belly gain? Why is that happening? And let's try to correct that naturally through diet and exercise.

Speaker 1:

I love it. So as you gravitated towards women in this middle age group, were you going through any of this yourself and did that help you kind of spark your interest in that?

Speaker 2:

So I was not at the time, because I am 43 now, so about 10 years ago when I started specializing, I wasn't going through that at the time but a lot of my clients were. So that's what piqued my interest in it was I was training a lot of clients that were ages 40, 50 and 60s. So you know, I went back and got some additional certifications and some specialties dealing with hormones, dealing with menopause and weight loss, because it is a very different time in our life. Nobody, you can't really understand it. Even myself, as kind of a specialist in the field, I don't even understand it until I started going through it a couple of years ago, and so I think you know it's hard for people that haven't gone through it to understand really what's going on in your body.

Speaker 1:

Well, yeah, it is a mystery, lisa, that is for sure. I mean, I guess I've officially gone through the change. At this point it still feels like a question mark to me because I don't know why. But it was not the cut and dry experience I expected to have. And I'm currently writing my next book and it's one chapter is on menopause, because I just it's for midlife women and I think this is such a relevant topic, and it's amazing that I just even recently read in my research that only a small handful of even OBGYNs are trained in menopause. This is crazy to me. I know this is crazy to me. Thank goodness things are changing and the conversation is opening up a little bit about this.

Speaker 1:

So anyway just a little side note there. So, lisa, why does weight management, in particular, become so much more difficult around menopause? And, just as a sidebar, why has it really become even more important at this stage of our life?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So it becomes more difficult right now because your hormones are fluctuating. So in our twenties most of us cause we're all around the same age in our twenties we were basically taught um, do some more cardio, exercise more, eat less, you'll lose the weight. Okay, right, that does not work for us as we get older. Because as we get older, we have a hormone called cortisol, which is a stress hormone, and it likes to store belly fat because its job is to preserve all the vital organs, and your vital organs are in your stomach area and your midsection region. So when your cortisol, that stress level, is high, your body wants to hold on to belly fat. Estrogen helps you to de-stress, helps you to release belly fat.

Speaker 2:

But as we go through perimenopause and menopause, what happens? Estrogen decreases, cortisol level increases. So now you've got hormones at play here, basically doing a tug of war of should we let them lose weight or not, and which hormone is going to win out. So you have to do different strategies in order to balance out your hormones so that you can lose that weight gain. And a lot of the times, you know, my clients are coming to me saying I already exercise, I already eat healthy, but a lot of times. Actually, you're under eating and I. It sounds weird, I know to believe that, lisa, it's so hard.

Speaker 1:

This is so unfair.

Speaker 2:

I know that's what they say. I'm eating healthy, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but you might not be eating the right ratio of foods for your body. Maybe you're not eating enough protein, maybe you're not eating enough fruit and vegetables. You kind of have to become a little bit more of a detective and learn what feels good for my body and you know what is going to help me reach my health goals. But then, going into your next point of why is it important to be healthy right now? And I think it's more than what the scale says. So we have to stop determining our self-worth and our confidence on scale or dress size. It really is about how you feel and how do you want to live your best life.

Speaker 2:

I know that most of us probably have children, probably have aging parents, and we need to take care of both ends of that spectrum. Right, and we still have to take care of ourselves. And if you're not healthy, you cannot adequately take care of anybody else if you're not feeling your best. And that doesn't mean you have to do all the things. But even if you start today with doing one thing, maybe you drink a little bit more water today, maybe you go for a walk today. Maybe you, you know, try to eat a little bit more protein at lunch. Just doing one thing today can help you feel better, which then causes you to do other things that help you to feel better things that help you to feel better.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's true, it's just one step at a time. Even I tell my clients you've got this big goal, don't? It's scary when you look at this, whatever, if you think it's weight loss, or if you think it's just overall wellness or whatever it is, and then, but just taking one baby step a day that feels good, even right, yeah, it can make a big difference. That feels good, even right, yeah, it can make a big a difference. Hey, lady, just wanted to take a moment and interrupt right now in the middle of the show to ask you to subscribe. Yes, press that button right now. This show is all about you, the midlife woman. Let's do this thing together. So join us, subscribe now. Um, I love something that you shared with me in your pre before we actually sat down here today and you talk about the all or nothing mindset. Lisa, I live my life this way. Help me.

Speaker 2:

So for those of you listening and watching that might not know what this is, this is just how I've always trained my clients. So I don't know if other people talk like this, but I call it the all or nothing mindset. What that means is you either feel like you can't have any of the cookies, or you're going to eat the whole bag of cookies. Okay, can't have any of the cookies. Or you're going to eat the whole bag of cookies, okay. So what we want to learn to do is live in what I call the gray zone, and the gray zone is where we learn how to eat one or two cookies, feel satisfied, and then we move on with our life. So most people have that all or nothing mindset because it comes from a diet mentality or like a scarcity mindset, and so, if you can first, first off, if you reach for the cookie or whatever it is for you, chips, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2:

First off, why are you reaching for that food group? Are you actually hungry? Because most of the time you're eating out of emotion, boredom. You know you're trying to hide something, maybe that you don't want to confront. So, step one why are you eating? Step two is this going to help you reach your health goal. So think about that and then step three if you decide to eat the cookie because I eat cookies, I love baking, I love desserts decide to eat the cookie because I eat cookies, I love baking, I love desserts. If you eat that, I want you to love that, enjoy that, savor that and then move on. So there's no guilt associated with eating a cookie. One cookie, one bag of cookies, is not going to derail you from your health goal. It's not going to make you gain 15 pounds. What does that is you spiraling out of control and continuing to eat all the cookies every day because you think that this one thing created failure, and it. That's not what happens yeah and I'm.

Speaker 1:

I'll just take it to another level. I don't necessarily have the problem with the cookie and that kind of thing. It's more like I'm either on a diet or I'm not on a diet Right, or I mean a lot of areas of my life I'm either in or I'm not in. So it's just like, uh, the gray area that scares the crap out of me. I'm like there's. It's hard to navigate. It's much easier to navigate black or white one way or the other. Any any tips for people on that besides the, besides the? You've gave some good tips, so anything else.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So it kind of goes back to just doing, focusing on the one thing you can do every day. So living in the all or the nothing, like I'm on the diet or I'm not on anything at all, that's again like that all or nothing mindset. So if you can just focus on what's one thing I can do today to move my health forward, and then once you get comfortable with that, say it's drinking water, then maybe after a month or two you can add in a second thing what's something else I can do? Well, the second thing maybe is some more movement. Can you lift weights, can you do some walking, and then you do that for a while.

Speaker 2:

The thing with the gray area the reason it's so scary is because you're not doing all the things right. You're just doing one thing or maybe two things. But that one thing, compounded over time, is what's going to help you feel better. It's going to help you lose weight, it's going to help balance your hormones. We can't think we got to do all the things or none of the things in order for it to work, because in order to be healthy and have longevity, you need to learn how to do all the things eventually over time and put them together.

Speaker 1:

Yes, okay, well, work in progress.

Speaker 2:

Yeah right, we all are a work in progress.

Speaker 1:

Yes. So, lisa, I noticed in um you have this faster way to fat loss, right? That's kind of in your title and if you look at it it's fast is kind of spelled in all caps. Does that mean you have some feelings around the new craze of kind of intermittent fasting or time to eating? Is that part of your approach at all?

Speaker 2:

So for some people the approach is intermittent fasting. It's not for everyone. So the program is research has come out showing intermittent fasting helps to balance hormones in women going through perimenopause and menopause. That's who it's best for. The problem with intermittent fasting is people are not doing it correctly. Most people think I'll skip breakfast, I'll eat lunch and supper. That's intermittent fasting. That's not intermittent fasting. So intermittent fasting is also used as a longevity hack so that your body has a longer time to like repair. You know cells do some cellular cleansing things of that nature Once you get into like hour 14, 15, 16, that's when your hormones start to balance out a little bit more if you're going through perimenopause and menopause. But again, the time of 16, 8 doesn't necessarily have to be for you. Not everyone is a candidate for intermittent fasting. I would say If you have like medical issues or medicine you have to take, you wouldn't do that, so it is very personalized to you. But those people that can do intermittent fasting, try it and you'll see a lot of success.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I feel like the science behind it and the reading that I've done, it just makes a lot of sense that breakfast was originally created to break the fast. That breakfast was originally created to break the fast, but a lot, I think. At one point in my life I was even at the point where I never really felt hunger because I was taught to eat every couple hours. You know that grazing mode we had years back ago and I'm not sure if you think that's still good or not, but I don't think it was good for me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it's personal to everyone. I have some clients that do like to graze, and as long as they hit their macros, that's fine. I have other clients or, like myself, I prefer to eat like three big meals throughout the day. I'm just because that keeps me satisfied and feeling fuller longer, and so that's what works for me, and those clients still see success with that too. So, yeah, it's all personalization and what kind of feels best for you and your body, right Totally.

Speaker 1:

So okay, Well, I wanted to ask you a little bit about what is your core takeaway?

Speaker 2:

I think the biggest thing is to try to remove the diet mentality that we all have. And again, growing up in the 80s and 90s, we were all taught to eat less and exercise more, and that's actually doing more harm for you as we get older than it's doing good for you. So you know, focus on eating more protein, focus on getting in fiber, so fruits and vegetables, focus on eating whole food. And what whole food means is whatever grows from the ground or comes from a mother you can eat. If it's processed in a factory, we should minimize how much we're eating it. So if you can't duplicate it in your kitchen, we really shouldn't be eating it very often. That's very simple. You don't have to buy fancy foods. I'm talking like oatmeal, rice, you know, seafood, chicken, beef, avocados, like all of that Everyone can find at a grocery store. You don't need to buy expensive diet food.

Speaker 2:

But if you focus on that, you will start to see your hormones start to balance out and you're gonna start to feel better. And once you feel better, you can start walking or adding in strength training, movement or even doing stress management. But when you're not feeling good inside, it's really hard to wanna exercise. It's really hard to wanna sit in prayer or meditation. It's really hard to want to like basically do anything, and that also is why you have hot flashes and night sweats is because your hormones are out of balance. So if we can get things back in balance by eating properly, moving our body and then doing some other strategies like possibly intermittent fasting or carb cycling or some other strategies that might work for you during this phase in your life that will all help get to those symptoms, minimize them, so that you can again feel your best and live your longest life.

Speaker 1:

Awesome. So what's your take on the topic of really trying to transition to a plant-based diet, vegetarianism, all the different variations of that, or even to the point of vegan and eliminating meat, eliminating animal products? Where are you on that spectrum?

Speaker 2:

as far as advice, I think that, just on this science I've read and how it affects everyone, I do think that we do need to eat all kinds of foods, including animals. That being said, I do have clients that do have success being vegan and vegetarian. It just they do have to take different supplements because they're not getting that iron in that you need, you're not getting your vitamin K, you're not getting your vitamin K, you're not getting your vitamin D, in that you do get from animal sources. So I think it's again all on what feels best for you and your body. If animal products don't feel good for you, then do plant-based and just know that you might have to eat a little bit more beans or legumes, tofu, edamame, in order to get more protein into your body and take some supplements. Again, talk with your doctor or someone who's certified in that, so that you are not missing out on nutrition that you need.

Speaker 1:

Okay, awesome. So can you tell our, let's say, one of our listeners is just kind of starting to notice the fluctuations entering perimenopause, having some hot flash issues, whatever, and all the things that progress, the 32 maladies plus, I think, and counting that menopause can bring upon us. Do you have two or three just starting points for ladies to kind of try to implement or, you know, consider?

Speaker 2:

ladies to kind of try to implement or, you know, consider, yeah, so one I would say how much water do you drink over the course of the day? As we get into our forties and fifties, we get busy. Like I said, you probably have kids and you have aging parents. You're working or possibly growing a business or you own a business. You're busy. You have a lot going on on your plate. You and I were just talking about how we drink coffee in the morning as well, and so I would say to you how much water do you drink?

Speaker 2:

Because water is very important for everyone at all ages, but it's especially important right now because it does help balance our hormones, it helps banish that bloat, it helps with pelvic floor health, which becomes really important during perimenopause and menopause as well. So, making sure you're drinking enough water we generally say half your body weight in ounces of water per day, but don't freak out if you feel like that's entirely too much. Just drink what you normally do and track that for one day and then the next day just try to drink eight ounces more and then the next day eight ounces more. Again, it's baby steps. We're not saying go from 20 ounces of water to 100 ounces of water. It's go from 20 to 28 ounces and then to. You know I can't do math whatever 36 ounces, whatever that might be.

Speaker 2:

Okay, great.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, drink more water, that's always good, drink more water.

Speaker 2:

And then the second thing that you can do that's free is move. So move your body. So walking actually is very beneficial in lowering cortisol levels. So we talked about cortisol, that fat storing stress hormone. We want to reduce that stress that's on us, and so go for a walk, whether you can get out in nature and walk, or you're walking on your treadmill, or you're going to a mall and walking, grab a friend, go out for a walk. It'll help you to reduce that cortisol level and move your body so that you're feeling good.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, awesome. Yeah, I was going to say and grab a friend, because we're all about connection here and talking it out with a girlfriend is definitely going to raise the lower those cortisol levels too.

Speaker 2:

Right have a whole conversation while you're walking. That's the kind that's like leisurely walking. That's what we want to reduce that cortisol level. If you're like power walking, that's causing stress on your body and your cortisol level is going to go up. So we want to leisurely walk, chat with a friend, call your mom, you know, if you don't have a friend nearby, call them and just talk with them the entire time you're walking so that you guys can get your movement in together, get that connection that you need.

Speaker 1:

That will help you both emotionally, physically and mentally Right right and, dietarily speaking, what are a couple things you've rattled off of? Some for sure, but if there were something that they should consider adding or getting rid of, I know get rid of processed as much as possible, I absolutely get that, but is there any? I know? I think I've heard in the past that some foods have hormones in them or something. Is that? Am I off base here? Or like they help with?

Speaker 2:

hormones. So some foods do help with hormones, like tofu, edamame. They do have some estrogen, so to speak, in them. It's a different like kind of estrogen, not to in them. It's a different kind of estrogen, not to get sciencey. It's a different kind of estrogen that you have in your body. But if you are low in estrogen and you know that, those are types of foods that you can eat to try to naturally, so to speak, bring your estrogen up.

Speaker 2:

But really, what helps is eliminating shit and honestly, I don't love telling people to avoid or eliminate stuff. I like to say let's add things in Because naturally, when you add foods into your diet that make you feel good, you will naturally stop eating as much sugar, you will naturally stop eating so much processed foods. So things that will help you to feel better and to avoid some things you should be avoiding would be adding in protein, because that reduces sugar cravings. So add protein in, whether it's in the form of, you know tofu, which would be plant-based black beans, whether it's an animal source, whether it's a dairy source you know yogurt, things like that. And then fermented foods helps with bloat as well.

Speaker 2:

Fermented foods helps with bloat as well. So, and gut health, which is really can be wonky when your hormones go kind of wax. So fermented foods is things like kombucha, sauerkraut fermented like cottage cheese, fermented yogurt, things like that. So I love kombucha and sauerkraut. I try to add those in. Apple cider vinegar is a great one you could add into, and those are some easy things you can try to add into your diet to help you feel better.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so like a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a 12 to 17 ounce bottle of water every morning, that's what I try to start off with, just to kind of give myself a flush and get up on the water. Right off the bat, I feel like you start off good First thing, when your feet hit the ground with some water, I do a lot better than if I find myself at lunchtime going gosh, I didn't, all I've had is coffee.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I agree. Agree. My personal rule is I can't have any coffee until I've had 12 ounces of water and I've done my workout. So that makes me do those two things, because I really want my coffee.

Speaker 1:

You really like the coffee, I'm with you. Well, I should maybe implement that.

Speaker 2:

It's kind of called, you know, it's kind of like stacking, like if you really want something, you like stack things with it that you don't want to do, so you don't want to drink water, or exercise, then put it with coffee, because then it makes you like feel good too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, I love it. Well, Lisa, you're just got a wealth of information. How do our listeners find you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so you can find me on Facebook as Lisa Holton, or Instagram. You can also find me on YouTube. All of the channels are Lisa Holton, h-o-l-t-a-n, and just feel free to drop any questions you have. I love chatting with people and answering all your questions and helping you guys live your healthiest life, because we all want to be 105, but we have to do it the right way.

Speaker 1:

That's right, and I'll put all of your information in our show notes. I always wrap up with the question, lisa, how do you tribe? And when I ask that for everybody else out there also, that our tribe is not this clique of women who go run around clubbing and doing all this stuff and maybe your, your tribe, doesn't even know each other. But who are the two to five people in your life that are your go-to people, the people that know, really know you, and how do you tribe is about like, what do you do to nurture those relationships and stay connected?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so that's a great question for me. I recently just moved to a whole new state, about a year ago. I don't know anyone. My kid is in college, so I don't have that school connection to try to meet people. So I am trying to meet some new people here, but I do stay in touch with my old tribe from where I used to live. We text weekly, which does always give me that boost. And then I do have a group of other entrepreneurs that we've actually gotten to know off Instagram. We've only ever met in person once, but we chat every single day and just hearing those ladies supporting everyone, hearing our struggles and how we can help each other, you know, really helps. You feel like you know that person. So when we met in person, actually just last week, it was like I feel like we sit down for coffee every day, even though it is over Instagram that we chat, but they're super special to me and just trying to find my in person tribe in my new home now.

Speaker 1:

Yes, well, you've got this, and that social media drip system is an excellent way to keep kind of current, so that's a great first step. And yet you'll find your new tribe. I'm sure I will. Well, I'm so grateful for you being here today, lisa, and I always sign off with you know you're're here, I'm here and our listeners are here. So when three or more gather, we are tribe. So thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me.

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Brenda Billings Ridgley

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