S2 EP 6 : Nutrition, Neurodiversity, and Thriving in Midlife with Arianna Morgan

What happens when your body forces you to stop—and your mind demands a new way forward?

In this episode of The Midlife Awakening, I’m joined by health and nutrition coach Arianna Morgan, whose story of resilience and reinvention will speak to so many of us navigating midlife.

Arianna’s journey began with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis at 33, followed by corporate burnout and, later, an ADHD and autism diagnosis in her 40s. Through these challenges, she discovered the profound connection between lifestyle, nutrition, and emotional wellbeing—and learned how to rebuild her life from the inside out.

Together we talk about:

• How autoimmune conditions and burnout became a turning point for her
• The role of food, sleep, and movement in healing and thriving in midlife
• What a late ADHD diagnosis can reveal—and how it changes self-acceptance
• The importance of community and support during perimenopause and beyond
• Simple grounding practices to bring more intention and gratitude into each day

Arianna’s story is a powerful reminder that midlife is not an ending—it’s a chance to realign, reclaim our energy, and begin again.

🌿 Connect with Arianna:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/being.optimum/

🎧 If this episode resonated with you, please follow, rate, and review the podcast—it helps other women find these conversations. And don’t forget to share it with a friend who might need a gentle reminder that she’s not alone.

Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01.262)
Hey guys and welcome back to the Midlife Awakening. My name is Adelia and I'm your host. I'm so grateful that you're here. If you're a regular listener, welcome back. I've missed you. And if you're joining me for the first time, I'm really glad you found your way here. This is a podcast about transformation for women who are waking up to who they really are while navigating everything that comes with midlife. Today I'm joined by someone whose story I know will deeply resonate with many of you. Health and nutrition coach, Ariana Morgan.

Arianna's journey is one of resilience, reinvention and reclaiming health on her own terms. At just 33, she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis while also navigating the pressures of a demanding corporate career. That experience led her to uncover the powerful connection between lifestyle, nutrition and chronic illness, especially in a world where women's health is still so under-researched. In her 40s, Arianna received a late ADHD and autism diagnosis.

which brought clarity to years of masking, perfectionism, and living in survival mode. That diagnosis became the catalyst for her to step away from a 20-year career in content creation and behavior change and begin rebuilding her life from the inside out. Today, Arianna draws on both her professional expertise and her lived experience to help women in midlife navigate the layered challenges of autoimmune conditions, hormonal shifts, burnout, and neurodiversity.

She's passionate about functional nutrition, identity, and empowering women, reclaim their energy, focus, and voice. In our conversation, Arianna shares her story with so much honesty and insight, reminding us that midlife can be a turning point, a time not just of struggle, but of rediscovery and possibility. So let's dive in. Here's my conversation with Arianna Morgan.

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Speaker 2 (02:00.238)
Rihanna, thank you so much for joining us on the show today. And maybe you can start off by just sharing a little bit about your journey and what has led you to focus on health, nutrition and supporting women at this stage in their lives.

Well, first all, thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure to talk about this stuff. I can talk about it all day, literally. So, you know, thank you so much for the opportunity. Really what led me to this place is kind of a very long backstory, but I'll give you the short version. I think growing up, I always knew I didn't feel quite right. I'd get like a lot of stomach issues. I had eczema and I always just felt under par. And I think when you get...

you've always felt a certain way. You don't know any different really. So I kind of went through these just sort of phases of just feeling a little bit kind of low energy or, you know, had have this flare up of eczema and we didn't really know much about those things then. So you kind of just carried on sort of putting up with it really. And it was only in my thirties where I kind of had the perfect storm of a new baby, setting up a business.

and trying to do everything possible all at once that I burnt out. I burnt out emotionally, I burnt out physically, I had so much inflammation in my body and I got a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune condition where your body attacks its own joints. So this was a real wake-up call for me because, you know, I'd kind of been skirting that line.

pretty much a lot of my life where I was burning the candle at both ends in my twenties, know, going out partying and drinking and then kind of doing long hours in the office, trying to climb that corporate ladder and really sort of then going into motherhood and not really ever thinking about my body and what I was actually doing to it by working in this way or living in this way. And it was only when I had that diagnosis and I'd gone through the normal route, which is you get the blood tests, you get the diagnosis, you get sent to a rheumatologist.

Speaker 1 (04:07.182)
that I was offered the first line treatment, which is a drug which basically just drops your immune system so low that you're actually susceptible to so many different things. I was basically told you're going to be sick all the time. You're going to catch flu and colds and everything going. And I remember thinking, God, there's got to be another way. Surely not that, you know, it's either inflammation and joint pain or, you know, chronically feeling under the weather, which, you know, I kind of had a little bit of.

anyway throughout my life. So it led me to seek out a naturopathic and MD doctor that basically means a doctor that's trained medically and naturopathically so she had the best of both worlds and she wasn't you know sort of one-minded in one way she had all the tools available and she was going to help me the best she could and she set me off on a

a paleo diet, which is basically like a whole food diet where you cut away the foods that are likely to inflame somebody. And these are the culprits like typical stuff is dairy, gluten, even, you know, refined sugars, flour, those kinds of things that the things that kind of, you know, are common culprits that set off inflammation in the body. And it really kind of was a big epiphany for me because it opened my eyes to the fact that there was actually something I could do.

to influence my health. And I'd never thought of it that way before. And I think it's a bit like you kind of born into this construct of life. You kind of go in, you you live by these rules, you believe what you've been told and you don't think outside of that. And this was really that epiphany that made me think, gosh, you know, there's other ways to do that. And that, just that in itself was like a, you know, it was a great way to open your mind.

to be able to think in different ways. And that was the turning point for me that I really thought, you know what, there's other ways to do things in life. I was not living consciously before that, if that makes sense. was just living, I was just flowing along. And then it made me think I've got to live consciously. And through that diet, I felt so good. And I can tell you now, as crazy as it sounds, I felt better than I'd ever felt in my whole life. And that's a big statement. And that shows,

Speaker 1 (06:24.472)
that even with a chronic condition, that I was able to feel more energy, better skin, better health, better gut, you know, motility, all of the things that I'd struggled with, all of a sudden got better with a change in diet. And that for me was just the sign that this is so powerful and so unknown to people that I've got to get into this space. And it took me about 12 years to come back to that space.

and do it professionally, which is what I'm doing now. But yes, that's kind of the turning point for me was about 12 years ago.

And that's interesting because I think a lot of people don't realize that the real thing with autoimmune diseases is that it's not just that you've got the one autoimmune disease that you then become susceptible to so much more because the immune system is so it's not functioning. It's not functioning the way it should. And yeah, so that's really, it's really key that you mentioned that and that we should really have that curious mind about our health and we have to be advocates for our health because

small.

Speaker 2 (07:28.398)
I feel like medical profession is definitely there for a reason, but we also need to feel empowered through food because food is medicine at the end of the day, isn't it? And I think we're coming to that realization now, I think.

Thanks

Speaker 1 (07:42.008)
think you're right. think medicine does an amazing job, you know, with a lot of conditions. I think the problem is now we've such an increase in lifestyle related disease and decrease in communicable diseases, things that we originally got, you know, antibiotics for. Those are the things we now are very good at stopping, but we've forgotten to, well, we haven't forgotten, but we've just left, you know, our backs to all of these other conditions that are now actually, you know,

very much influenced by lifestyle. So a lot of people will say genetics, but your genetics are pliable to an extent. know, for example, we know a bit about epigenetics now, the fact that, you know, the way you live your life can switch on or off different genes and that can really have a different projection in your, in your future, you know, how you, you know, live your life. It can be very different depending on the choices you make. And I would say, you know, it's obviously,

Easy to, we have a lot of people blame, you know, the doctors and the GPs, but they have just gone through a system. Everybody has this speciality of way of doing things. And it's the system that's broken. The system that's not set up correctly. It's not their fault. You go and see a GP, they're not there to tell you about diet and lifestyle. Although some are aware of this now and a bit more kind of open-minded to it. But years ago, when I go and say, well, I've got an intolerance, they'd say, isn't there such thing as side allergy? That's the only thing we can prove.

There's no such thing as an intolerance. And I would say, well, why is it that when I have gluten and dairy, that I get a complete massive flare-up? When I don't have it, I feel much better. And it's because there's the way they've been taught is this is the way we, we, this is what we know. And we're not getting outside of that lane. And that's, that's the, you know, the way they have to do things, but it's almost like we need an intervention before you get there. Like a coach, for example, a health and nutrition coach can tell you, you know, these are the things you could try.

You know, not, we're not like, you know, instead of a doctor, it's just doctors and health and nutritionists can work together to really give you a, you know, a complimentary suite of advice, medication, whatever they need to, you know, to have for their condition. But I think it's about being, you know, not so binary in, in when managing your health, there's so many different things you can do. And it's very empowering.

Speaker 2 (09:43.448)
We're in tandem.

Speaker 1 (10:02.486)
as an individual to be able to influence your health. is like magic. It really feels that way.

Absolutely. And I mean, you've done wonders for yourself. you know, that's your story tells that. So you've lived at this intersection of chronic disease, motherhood, know, farming the corporate ladder, all of these things that most women these days, you know, we're faced with. So how did those experiences shape the way that you see health and wellness in your midlife?

you know, it's kind of like the thought in your mind that you want to go back and give that person a good talking to, you know, with also the kindness and compassion that I'm learning to have for myself. So it's kind of that dichotomy of feelings. Obviously it would be amazing if I had the hindsight knowledge now that I did back then that I have now, but obviously we can't do that. So I have to, you know, take on this kind of, you know,

kind approach to myself. I can only know what I know. And I came to this journey for a reason. And maybe that's the reason is so I can help other people prevent this situation happening to them. But ultimately, if somebody had told me back then, it probably wouldn't have made much difference because you have to come to that decision when you're ready. that's the kind of thing that I've had to learn myself because often, you know, we get sort of

We get, we kind of hear this white noise of information because there's so much out there. And it's only really when it's important that that was, they told me I should try that and that Anna should have tried that and you've got to come to it when you're ready. it was like the perfect storm really of everything coming together. And I kind of was trying to be everything to everyone. And I think so many women do this. We do.

Speaker 2 (11:36.713)
yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:55.416)
put ourselves at the bottom of the pile. And the kind of analogy I have is you are the center of the wheel. You're like that middle piece of the wheel. If that breaks, the spokes break, the wheel breaks, the wheels come off the car. We are not talking about a small thing here. You are central to everyone's lives. And that is just the way I think women pick up the slack for everybody.

to a fault because we always forget to do those things for ourselves. And I think I'm not quite sure where this has come from in a societal way, because I feel like it's not just me. You know, I see it in a lot of my friends. And I feel like that's something we need to work on. We need to talk about it because if we just say, it's okay for you to come first, we allow ourselves to come first, just now and again.

then we can stop these things happening and we stop people burning out because really it's about being aware of yourself and not ignoring those signs because your body is telling you stuff and you need to listen.

Yeah, and we don't, we don't because we're so busy putting everybody else first. Yeah, it's an epidemic for women that we need to stop.

Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (13:13.934)
Now you said that you were diagnosed with ADHD in your 40s, so midlife and this seems to be for many women seems to be a common theme that we're seeing now. And just I want to talk a little bit about finally getting those answers for you. So what was it like for you to receive that?

noises.

Well, I actually had both autism and ADHD diagnosis, I think it's... it is life changing. It's a grieving process. It's so much you have to go through. I'm still going through it. Literally now I'm still going through the acknowledgement and the acceptance of such a thing. Growing up with dyslexia, ADHD and autism left me feeling like...

On one hand, I feel so much more mature and sensible and older than my peers at school. But on the other hand, I don't get these questions that they're asking me. I'm getting zero out of 10 on my spelling. I must be stupid. How is that dichotomy working? They seem like infantile children to me and I'm like five years old and I feel so much more mature than them, but I can't get the spelling right and I...

I misinterpret the questions that are being asked to answer. I'm broken. There's something wrong with me. I don't understand how they're playing together. I'm going to watch those children interact. That seems really odd. I don't understand, you know, the way the things they're talking about seem so superficial. I don't get them. I played with boys because boys were really easy to understand because, you know, with the girls, it was a lot of stuff which was, was inferred. You had to read between the lines with autism.

Speaker 1 (15:01.974)
you want the direct, you don't understand the nuances. I was like, there's something off with me. I'm not right. I'm not right, you know? And I took that into my workplace and I was like, no, I'm going to be the best. And we did an insights report, which is one of these personality types in my corporate role. There are four types. get the...

The green, which is like your warm and your caring sort of side. There's the yellow, which is like the sunshine, the people person. You've got your red, which is your leader and you've got your blue, which is like attention to detail. I filled in the questionnaire and I got it back. And it was describing basically, imagine a Sergeant Major. It was like, gets the job done, leaves no one behind, helps the teammates, you know, like literally first one to answer the email, first one to get to put their hand up and.

you know, say, yes, I want to do the task. I'm like, you know, this like energizer buddy on steroids for like doing my work. And then I get home and I'm exhausted. Yeah, I am proving there's not something wrong with me to me. And everyone in my job thinks I'm like this machine that gets stuff done.

masking all day.

masking all that. And for me, I have so much empathy for people and so much care and so much love and I do not have any of green and yellow in my results. I was like, that's not me. That's so weird. That's not me. But then I realized that I have, you know, this hyper focus where I can get stuff done. And if I've got my mind on, I need to finish this job today, I'm going to work till it's done, you know, and that's kind of like a, you know, Sergeant Major. And then there's

Speaker 1 (16:48.558)
you times where somebody will say they're having a bad day a friend and I'll be over there and spend the day with them, take their mind off it. And I'm like, okay, it can be both things. so what is going on here? Anyway, so I kind of got through these phases, these ebbs and flows of kind of figuring myself out, but not really understanding. And it was only last year when I got my diagnosis and then understanding what that means to have both because the ADHD

is like the novel, the excitement, the kind of hyper-focus. You can have focus with autism as well, but it's like you can like get into the zone and really fixate. And with the autism, it's very binary. It's like black and white trying to, you know, when people have sarcasm, you might not understand that it was a joke. You're very ordered. You're very like methodical. So you can imagine if you've got both, they're like opposing sides. You feel like you're being constantly pulled and pushed. And it's almost like,

which one am I going to be today? know, which one is driving the bus effectively? And that's why a diagnosis is very difficult because each one of them is hindering or helping the other one. So you get the social aspect of ADHD, you know, and I would go out and have a drink and then the ADHD dopamine would hit and I'd be like the party animal. And then I'd be like, you know, the serious one at home when I was doing something with, when the autism was driving the bus. So yeah, it was very difficult to sort of

I didn't meet people and they described themselves, oh, I'm shy or I'm an introvert I'm an extrovert. And I'd be like, I don't know what I am. When I would really like mess with my head that I couldn't really say what is Ariana. So having the diagnosis after my children had theirs, which is always the way it goes, you know, in this generation, I think the kids get it and then they get told it's genetic. Yeah, it's really difficult because you have to, you reframe what you know about yourself.

through the lens of this new diagnosis. And you then feel bad that you beat up on yourself because it wasn't your fault. And this was really part of my self-acceptance journey. And from that point of view, if you're a person who has ADHD or autism and you are happy and you've gone through your life thinking, maybe I have, I've, my neurodiversity has actually been my superpower.

Speaker 1 (19:12.558)
Because a lot of people say it is. And it helped me be nerdy about my job, which I do and I love and my business and meet those people like that and sell through life. You don't need the diagnosis. Get it if you want, but you don't need it. But if you're a person who's always felt like I have, then having that really helps you to reframe things. And then you grieve, you grieve a lot because you want to go back to that little girl who's having those terrible thoughts about themselves, say it's okay. It's not your fault.

Yeah. And that was one of the questions I was going to ask because I'll be honest for myself, I suspect I might have ADHD, but for me it's been, I need the diagnosis? What is that actually going to help? So would you say to someone who's sort of in that position who suspects they might have ADHD or

Autism. It's a good question. And I think it's like anything. It's very individualized, like me growing up, always feeling a little bit under par, then having, you know, a lifestyle change and feeling, oh my God, this is what healthy people feel like. You know, because I'd always felt so just kind of not quite right. Um, so, so for me, it's like, I don't have to have this negative self talk. And a lot of it is coming from me saying, Oh, ADHD is driving the bus today. I've procrastinated. I'm so.

I'm so bad, I'm so bad about myself. It's like, no, you're procrastinating. Okay, that's fine. You have ADHD. Just it validates, know, that you're okay as a human being just as you are, you know, and you're not alone. And there are other people out there who understand you. I think that's the biggest problem, not being understood, not being understood. And it helps me explain myself to you, to other people. You know, I'm sorry I'm late. It's my ADHD.

It's the time blindness, you kind of think you've got a long time in this. How is it five minutes before and I'm not even left yet. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:10.286)
That's great way to think of that, think, is that just getting that validation and, you know, the breathing process, because I mean, I can totally resonate with that feeling like there's something wrong with you. Why can't I be like everybody else? Why can't I just like get my shit together? You know, or you can do it for a little while, hyper-focus, and then it all sort of crumbles again. You know, so it never lasts.

You know, the feeling like you don't know who's going to show up on the day. So I can't plan that I'm going to do an essay for my course on Wednesday evening, because on Wednesday evening, I could decide that I really, really want to rearrange my cupboards and I have to do that then. It's like that kind of thing. So I have to kind of have a week where I know I've got to do X amount of tasks and I kind of have them floating around in my head a little bit. And then, okay, yeah, I think today I could probably sit down and focus on that.

And that's the way I work. And that is a strategy. And strategies are really important when you are dealing with neurodiversity. So that understanding yourself creates the strategies. That's why I think it's important.

So let's talk a little bit about the mind body connection because we started off on that and I want to come back to that. So can you share how our emotional well-being shows up physically and how you help women to bridge that?

Speaker 1 (22:30.958)
So it's very complicated. So if you think about the body, if you talk to someone who's a specialist in one area, they'll tell you about the system and the body that they know about. And we only know so much about the body and the body and the mind and the gut. They're all connected, but we don't really understand the interplay to anything more than a very scratching the surface level.

So if I go to a neuroscientist, he's going to tell me that ADHD is to do with my brain. If I go to a therapist, they're going to tell me that my ADHD is to do with childhood trauma. If I go to a rheumatologist, they're going to tell me my rheumatology, it's just my body attacking itself, it's partly genetic and it's going to be an environmental trigger.

So all of these people are working in isolation, but what we can see, and we're only just learning about it, is that the negative thoughts that we have in our body create stress. So if you're stressed about something, it affects your breathing. If it affects your breathing, it affects your fight or flight system.

And all of these things cause stress and stress can lead to a fluctuation in hormones. It can lead to you holding onto body fat. There are so many different things that are connected that you can just put a lot of, know, how you're physically feeling connected back to what's happening to you mentally. And I think that, yeah, mean, having a whole pillared approach, this is what I try and do.

really kind of tackles all of the things at once. That's what, you know, the lifestyle thing is. I know it's a word we kind of bandy around, but it's your sleep. Because when you sleep and you have enough REM, your body is active in REM and it burns fat. People who think they can just cut sleep and still, you know, they're looking to lose weight and they can't understand why, you know, especially when you're dealing with hormones, this is, you know, a huge, a huge factor, your sleep.

Speaker 1 (24:47.342)
you know, getting sunlight, being outside, we're all inside, we're all sitting down with sedentary, movement is so important. You know, the food we eat. So, you know, don't even get me started on like the 90s diet culture and low fat. We need fat. Women need fat in their bodies and it's not going to make you fat. Good fats do not make you fat. They help regulate your hormones. And, you know, alcohol is a huge issue with our

demographic in our age, know, women drinking far too much. And that creates, you know, an imbalance in your hormones. You know, I had very high estrogen and not the good kind, the one that's, you know, linked with cancer because I was drinking too much. Wow. And, you know, it's so normalized in this country and Western cultures to drink. It's even encouraged. I mean, I've seen videos of women with these sort of cups.

And they put a teabag string and fill it up with wine. I'm like off to, you know, soccer, I'm off to see the boys play football. And it's like, ha ha, that's so funny. It's like, that's alcoholism, you know, that's not cool. And especially if you're driving the car. So I think we've normalized the drinkings so much that it's, it's a problem. And it's, it's so accepted that even when I spoke to my GP, she said, it's a conversation that GPS don't even want to have because, know, it's a difficult one. Yeah. It's a very difficult.

one. So tying that all back to what you asked me about the kind of physical symptoms, you know, all of these things, all of these lifestyle things will affect the way your brain works and the way your brain works is going to affect the way your body works. And then the way your body works is going to affect your energy. it just all, it's all, it's all working together. Yeah. all tied in. It's cellular level. Yes. Hormone cellular level, you know, your hydration.

your nutrition, you know, that's such an important thing. And I was eating really well, but I was drinking and that's just going to deplete, you know, my body of the vitamins from the really nice, you know, nutrient dense organic food that I'm spending a lot of money on. Really to just divert my digestion to my liver, to clear it out of the alcohol and not be able to absorb. Cause your body can't do the two jobs, you know, simultaneously. So it's going to first go, my gosh, there's a load of toxins. Let's get rid of those first.

Speaker 1 (27:13.92)
And then your digestive system just gets very sluggish. So yeah, there's a lot of interplay with everything. And I think really beginning with self-acceptance, because without accepting yourself, you can't change. It's a famous quote, actually. And I think what it means is you have to say, this is who I am and where I am right now, and I'm not going to beat up on myself. And it just takes off. I was thinking of Atlas with the world on his shoulders.

talking about physically how that turns up, I've got a lot of problems with my upper back and I'm constantly trying to, when I work out, trying not to engage my shoulders and traps because it's stress, it's stress, you hold your tension. So if you see someone like this, they're not relaxed, you know, and I'm constantly thinking about these things because physically it hurts, you know, I'm unable to train properly if I can't relax, if I can't breathe and if I can't, you know,

just get my body to work in harmony. So all of this comes from what's going on up here. And most of the time we are thinking about stuff subconsciously and we don't know what's being set up there. So we have to tune in to our thoughts and we have to reframe the narrative. And I think it's good to have friends. And I think this is like a really important thing for anyone, but particularly women at this age, you need friends who really support you.

You need that sense of community. need someone to say, you you're doing a great job. I'm proud of you because that is just a little bit of encouragement. You need to take that, turn that negative self-talk off or think, my gosh, someone recognized something in me and that makes me feel good. So having friends have your back is huge. Amazing. Yeah.

Yes. So I really love what you said there about like how a subconscious mind sort of links into everything else. And we really need to start being conscious about our thoughts and what we're thinking.

Speaker 1 (29:14.338)
I think it's the lifestyle we live as well. It's not set out to really support us to be healthy. If you think about, know, can you imagine generations ago, you'd be living next door to your grandmother and your auntie and your cousins, and you're all part of a very loving, supportive community where they love you because you're family, but they're also different to you. And they can, you know...

pass down information to you or help you when you've just had a baby. And we don't have that anymore. Everybody is very desperate in the world. Families fly out and live overseas and you've got a missing part of your tribe. Humans have evolved in tribes to really survive. And if you think about how we've evolved over time, we haven't, as our bodies and minds have not evolved.

in line with the lifestyle that we're living. And so it's very much, it's very counterintuitive the way we live to our evolutionary bodies and minds. And I think just trying to accept that the life is not set up really for the best practice of human beings. And then it takes the pressure off you a little bit, but it also gives you the opportunity then to create your own communities. you know, the saying, takes a village, it's so true.

And I think you've got to create that village. And then back to the mindset stuff, I think another thing that's really important is if you think about what's around us, is the world is in a state of depression and misery and wars and politics and there's so much happening. If you tune into that, you're going to think like that. It's not to say don't be aware, but it's about focusing your mind on the things that you can control and that matter to you. And also practicing gratitude.

is really important. Reframe your day. What went well? Don't just think about the things that went wrong, because there are so many things we could focus on that are negative. And it's about really kind of relearning to look at the positives, which is not naturally instinctive for everybody. It depends on your mindset, but it will help you to be grateful for what you do have and the life you do have and the good things about it.

Speaker 2 (31:34.606)
Absolutely. Well said. Thank you so much. I mean, that's amazing. And the gratitude piece, that's really important. I think we tend not to do that. We get so focused in on the negative because the negatives are so much easier. So if you...

Do you have some? So much of it.

Yeah, yeah. Do you have some like grounding strategies or simple practices that listeners could try to try and regulate and reconnect to themselves?

Speaker 1 (32:01.378)
Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing I would say is in the morning when you wake up, I am naturally kind of a positive person in the morning. I know firsthand that not everybody is like that. I think there are very two distinct camps of people. But I think it's about waking up and almost saying, you know, whether you're spiritual or not, just say out loud, I'm grateful for another day.

Just something like that. We'll say it in your head if you feel a bit self-conscious that your family's gonna think you've gone a bit woo-woo. But it's about framing your day for it's gonna be a good day. I'm grateful for another day. Today is an opportunity. A day is a chance, right? It's a chance to do something good. It's a chance to live. It's a chance to have fun. It's a chance to be kind of intentional. So you've got to think, like I said before, when I was coasting through life, I wasn't intentional.

you start off your day just thinking something intentional. Today's a good day, I'm grateful for another day. What I really like to do is get outside in the morning and I know that sounds great now where it's kind of tailing off the end of summer but you can imagine in the thick of winter it's not such a kind of exciting prospect but what it does is it just grounds you with nature, it grounds you with your circadian rhythm and I know we don't have a sunrise until much later in the winter but

Whatever you can do to sink into your rhythm, that really helps you to set yourself up for a good day because your rhythms of your body, you need to keep yourself as kind of rhythmic and natural as possible. And that's the way you start your day. think win the morning, win the day. love saying this. So yeah, I would say be grateful. Say thank you for a new day. It's going to be a good day. Go outside. If you have a coffee, whatever you do, let the dogs out, stand outside with your coffee. If it's not...

pouring with rain and snowing and freezing. And just if there is sunrise and even if it's cloudy, just kind of look up to the clouds, to the sky, you know, and just acknowledge there's light coming through it as it's a new day. And that's kind of like where I start with my day. And I have got into a routine. Discipline is really hard, right? So, you know, if you're trying to do things that you normally...

Speaker 1 (34:24.459)
don't want to do, it's quite difficult. So I find that I try to change one thing and then when I've got that down into a routine, I add in another thing and I'm still doing that. And sometimes things change and they don't work for me anymore and I change that, but I'm enjoying that process. And I think that's a really good tip for anyone who's trying to improve their kind of lifestyle. Start with a small change. Wake up in the morning at the same time every day.

You know, you can fluctuate that with the seasons a little bit by an hour, but try and keep in the inner rhythm and try and eat within half an hour of waking. And I always think about my food. I know it sounds crazy, but I've been one of those people who's like at my desk, know, shoveling it down in the past, not even conscious of what I'm eating. And now I've kind of gone through this process. I understand there is a mental connection to your digestion.

So if you're a person with IBS or any issues, you know, you can actually take some time to breathe, to take your fight or flight down into your parasympathetic nervous system before you eat, and then you can think about your food. So for me, I have eggs every morning and I say, I'm so grateful. It might be in my head, but I'm really grateful for these organic eggs, for the chickens that laid these eggs.

so that I could have this delicious breakfast and feel that I've put the right nutrients in my body. So I think that's the things that I try and do. So I try and go outside, I say it's gonna be a great day. I don't look at the news, I don't go scrolling on mindless social media. I eat my food with a mindful mind and say, grateful for this food, I take my time, I sit at the table. The amount of people who stand up and sit down.

and helps your digestion. watch TV while they're at it. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, it's a watch TV, yeah, on your lap. So, and it's not to say that we can't do that ever, but you know, it's about when you're building those habits, the really important ones that matter are the ones you do every day. So I had this great analogy. It was, you go to the hygienist every six months and they give you very lovely clean teeth, but it's not the hygienist who really cleans your teeth.

Speaker 1 (36:50.176)
It's you, every single day when you wake up in the morning, you brush your teeth and you do it before bed. That's what counts. And I think that's the thing that a lot of people miss when they're trying to change their lifestyles. Like I want the quick thing. I want to lose weight quickly. I want to, you know, fix this thing now. I want it, I want to be this weight by this date. But actually the most important thing is just gradually building in healthy habits over time that you can stick to.

And I think this concept was explained really well in James Clear's book, Atomic Habits, where he really talks about that incremental. And you think you don't have a habit, you do have a habit. just, is it a good habit or is it bad habit? And how do you change that? And I found his book was quite impactful from that sense of just breaking everything down into smaller pieces.

So there's this really good line that I've heard which says, if you have a really good routine and you break your good habit once, that's a mistake. If you break it twice, you're creating a new routine, a new habit. yeah, it's kind of like, it's a good way to think about it. you're not going off onto a different tangent. It's so easy to happen because as a human,

Being our instinct is to go for the easiest route. Yeah, yeah. Pick the easiest option.

Yeah. And then we tend to when we've broken the habit once and we throw in the towel and we're like, well, that's it. I've done it now. It's broken. Well, might as well carry on, but actually, exactly. So let's talk a little bit about perimenopause now, because this is really a hot topic.

Speaker 1 (38:24.078)
Now, I've got it.

Speaker 1 (38:31.038)
I just might streak.

Let's see.

Speaker 2 (38:39.744)
not only for women in midlife, but I think it's really sort of coming to the fore now and people are starting to talk about it a lot more on social media and it's getting the spotlight that it deserves. And it's something that we all face, you know, as we hit midlife. But we're really unprepared for it because up until this point, I mean, I'd never really heard about it. never, I mean, I'd heard rumblings about it over the years, but not really truly understanding what it means.

Bye!

Speaker 2 (39:09.4)
How does diet and nutrition play a role in easing some of the symptoms? And I'm asking this question because I know there's this whole movement of HRT and it's great and wonderful. I'm not saying to anybody, don't take HRT, but this is also for those ladies that have tried HRT and it hasn't worked, or they've got the increased risk and have decided not to go HRT. Or if maybe you feel like your symptoms are not as intense and you want to try the holistic route first, how does nutrition and diet help us?

Yeah, well, I mean, it's, it's the whole lifestyle thing is huge when it comes to your hormones, right? So as I mentioned earlier, we are, we are from a generation of a low fat diet culture, and we now know the important role that good fats play in regulating your hormones. So I would say to make sure you're getting some good fats in your diet for starters. Also, so good fats, just for people who don't know that's things like

avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds, really lovely like omega-3 rich salmon, oily fish, things like that. So you can eat those kinds of things regularly and that will help you to get really good fats into your body, right? So that's important, number one. And I think people, a lot of women that I work with are very much getting to that point and doing the wrong things.

from the intention of losing weight. So it's a case of, I'm suddenly getting this kind of extra fat around my belly. I know, I'll do what I did 10 years ago when I lost weight before, and then it doesn't work. And what they're actually doing is restricting calories, fasting, cutting their breakfast out, and all they're doing is rising cortisol, getting their body to be in a stress state and holding on.

to more body fat. So I think it's about understanding your body's changed and so your strategies must change too, right? So first thing is eat a proper breakfast within half an hour of waking and try and include protein and good fats. And then I would say eat regularly, have three meals in your day, just normal advice. know, it's nothing controversial. It's going back to common sense. Eat whole foods. You don't want to have your insulin.

Speaker 1 (41:38.986)
spiking throughout the day. things that are, you know, white carbohydrates like pasta and bread and pastries and so on are going to have the same effect in the body as sugar. So if you're eating a lot of carbohydrate rich foods throughout the day, your insulin is constantly spiking and that's going to have a negative impact on your overall health. So eat lots of fish, meat, fruit, veggies and whole foods basically.

and have three normal meals a day and keep it within your window of movement. So you're fueling for your day ahead. It's nothing crazy scientific, although there is science behind it, but there shouldn't be because it just makes sense. You know what I mean? You shouldn't have to prove that that works. Sleep is a huge thing. And I know that women are struggling with their sleep, waking up with hot flashes, that kind of thing. So I know it's, again, a thing that

People don't want to hear, but alcohol is kind of like one of the worst things for, for your hormones and perimenopause. It rises, you know, the negative estrogen. If you're drinking a lot, like I was, it disrupts sleep. It disrupts your hormones. Your adrenaline will spike in the middle of the night. And then even when you stop drinking, your body is so used to being in that pattern that it takes a while for homeostasis to happen. And I'm really glad I read that because if you read online.

What happens when you stop drinking? Well, within 24 hours, you feel great. Within a week, it's just not true. It's not true. So if you're in a long pattern of regularly drinking, it takes a long time for your body to rebalance. And particularly in this phase where everything is being thrown at you, your hormones are out of whack, body's changing shape, you're feeling bad about yourself, you're not sleeping. And then what are you going to do? You think, just take the edge off, know, have a glass of wine. And that's going to impact further.

I know it's an unpopular thing, but reduces your alcohol as much as possible and see how you feel. It's like sometimes I think we forget how good we can feel when we have a break.

Speaker 2 (43:47.712)
And I read that you tend to become more sensitive to insulin as you sort go through when the estrogen levels decrease. So that's why it's so important.

Yeah. Okay. It is. And I think people will say, but my whole life I've been eating this bread and now it just, it's just affecting me. And I'm, I've had something to eat and I'm hungry again. It's like that insulin is spiking and then dropping you're getting that crash and then you want to have more. So it's that when you have whole foods, you feel satiated fat, satiate you, you know, they keep you full for longer and they digest more slowly. So you're not feeling like that, you know, emptying your tummy all the time.

And another really big one is exercise. know that that's kind of outside of the health and nutrition that I sort of teach, but I have found that there is, you know, no substitute for really good exercise on top of your routine. I now go to the gym more than I've ever gone in my whole life. And that's crazy. I'm 47 and I'm literally at the gym five, six times a week. And I need that. I need that. I need to go to the gym in the morning.

I need to raise my dopamine, particularly because I have ADHD. I need to be in my community so I can come back, feel good about myself and carry on with my day. And I know for sure the days when I don't do that, I struggle much more to be productive. So by going to the gym in the morning, it really boosts that. And not also the effects of the exercise on the body, weight training, functional training, doing cardio.

know it's really important to have a mix of everything and to keep your mobility going as well because dropping an estrogen is going to you know impact your body in many many ways you know so you want to keep everything working as best you can.

Speaker 2 (45:40.268)
women who are listening and they're juggling the roles that we have, know, we feel burned out, especially in midlife, you've been a caregiver, you've been climbing the corporate ladder, and maybe you suspect that you have ADHD, or you're trying to navigate periodontal pause. What's one small compassionate step that she can take today?

to support us. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (46:05.742)
Unfortunately, the step is quite a big one. Because I think you've got to get to a point where it's self-acceptance. I wish there was a quick step. I think the first thing is to acknowledge that. You've got to acknowledge it. You've got to say, I'm doing too much. I'm not looking after myself. I need something more than this. Because without that,

you can't move forward. it's the acknowledgement is really important. I think as well, it's okay. It's okay that I'm not able to juggle all of these things at the moment. It's okay because it's too much. And I think if you have, if you are able to have that conversation with people in your family, that's really important because otherwise it sits inside you and then you grow resent.

resentful and you grow grudgy about what you're doing because you're internalizing everything and that's really bad for you and that's going to compound everything you're feeling about yourself. So it's about being able to talk about that, about saying, hey, I don't know what I'm going to do about this, but I'm feeling this way. And maybe you talk to your family, maybe you talk to your friends, but someone you've got to get it out and not in a ranty way, but like,

There's something's got to change. You're allowed to say that things aren't good. You're allowed to say you need help. You're allowed to say it's tough and you're allowed to ask for help. Well said. you. that's really important to, yeah, to kind of not feel like you've got to do it all and stop feeling guilty. Ladies, stop feeling guilty because you don't have to do it.

really down and that horrible guilt feeling and that imposter syndrome and all that stuff. You know, you're more amazing than you think and you're more amazing than you know, and you've got to own it. And that's where you need best friends and of women to tell you like how awesome you are.

Speaker 2 (48:16.578)
Yeah, community is important. Community is so, so important for us.

So it's one of the biggest factors of longevity is community. So it's more important than we know. Yeah.

If you could go back and give your younger self, you know, before the burnout, before the diagnosis, one piece of advice, what would that be?

Speaker 1 (48:44.654)
I think it would be to just remember to put yourself first sometimes. As much as I think it would have fallen on deaf ears, I think that's what I would try. I would have tried to communicate the importance of putting yourself first and just, you know, being able to say, it's okay that I need that time. It's okay that I need, you know, me time.

And I don't think we do that as women as much as we need to. It's really important. It's really important.

You've started your own business called Being Optimum. So what's next for you and your business and the work that you do?

Lots of exciting things coming up. I'm teaming with a very good friend of mine who is an extremely experienced personal trainer and we're creating a program which is going to help support women in our age group who have got, know, who've tried all the things that have been, has been out there before when it comes to exercise and diet. And we're really focusing in on a very specific program for women our age.

And I think that it's great to see the emerging science that's coming out now that is really designed around women. As you might have seen, only 7 % of studies are done on women. So when we hear information like fasting and ice baths, they're really designed around the benefits that they have for men. So we are looking at female-focused science and creating programs that really work to support our health and longevity so that we can live long and strong.

Speaker 2 (50:28.846)
Amazing. That sounds amazing and I'm really excited to watch that journey and maybe participate myself.

Yeah, I'd love to have you. We're actually doing a 10 day reset in September. So that's a free reset that we're just doing as a community for friends of ours and people we have in our space. And it's really that sort of reset after the summer holidays. I think everyone's focus on dry January and kind of going back to the gym. But actually that's only after two weeks of Christmas holidays. If you think about the summer holidays of six weeks, it's like, please, need a, I need a routine.

the

To get organised, that's it, that's what we're doing.

Yeah, as much as the kids are clamouring up the walls that they need routine so do we.

Speaker 1 (51:15.565)
not actually that.

Yeah, so finally, so where can our listeners find you if they want to connect, if they want to work with you?

Speaker 1 (51:25.88)
Thank you. I'm on Being Optimum. So it's being.optimum and that's on Instagram. That's mainly where I operate, but I do have the same handle at Facebook too. But yeah, go for Instagram and that's where I'm more active. And I've got a link tree there so you can link out to all my website and my programs that I'm running.

Okay, amazing.

Speaker 2 (51:49.984)
Amazing. Thank you so much, Arianna. Thank you so much for coming and talking today about health and nutrition. I think it's a really great topic and it's really important for us in midlife. And yeah, that was fantastic. Thank you so much.

It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much.