Perimenopause Nutrition Reset

Your body can feel like it’s being run by a completely different management team in perimenopause and it’s not because you’re doing everything wrong. Nutrition, sleep, mood, energy, and stubborn weight changes can all shift as estrogen and progesterone move in a messy, unpredictable pattern, and “eat less, move more” often stops working the way it used to. We name what’s happening, validate the frustration, and then get practical with a hormone-supportive nutrition framework you can actually use. 

We walk through a simple food toolkit organized by what your body may be asking for right now: estrogen balance, progesterone support for calmer nights and fewer 3 a.m. wake-ups, testosterone support for energy, motivation, and muscle maintenance, thyroid nutrients like selenium and iodine, and cortisol balancing foods that help when stress is driving the symptom spiral. Along the way, we connect the dots between liver support, inflammation, healthy fats, and why restriction and “punishment workouts” can keep your nervous system stuck in threat mode. 

Then we clean up the online noise with a quick myth round, including carbs, soy, and the outdated “six small meals” rule, and we share what this can look like on a normal Wednesday with realistic meals, not a perfect scorecard. If you’re overwhelmed, we’ll help you choose one symptom, pick a few staple foods, and build consistency over time. Subscribe for more midlife hormone and nervous system support, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more women can find the clarity they deserve.

Download the free guide, "Foods That Support Your Hormones" at this link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cSD96oRdWmXTfPhx7

Connect with Amy Wilford on social media at @amywilfordhealth, or on her website at wholebodyharmonycoach.com

Connect with Heather Fontenot on social media at @embodiedrejuvenation, or on her website at embodiedrejuvenation.com

If you'd like to talk to us about our new joint program, Whole Body Real Life, email us at:

Amy@AmyWilfordHealth.com or Heather@EmbodiedRejuvenation.com 

Transcript

Welcome And The New Management Metaphor

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Body Drama Shift, where we move from confusion to clarity without guessing. Because your body isn't broken, it's communicating. If you're a woman in midlife dealing with stubborn weight, low energy, mood swings, or poor sleep, you're not imagining it and you're not alone. I'm Amy, creator of Whole Body Harmony.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

And I'm Heather, creator of Embodied Rejuvenation. Together we help you decode your symptoms by addressing both biology and the nervous system. Because real change happens when both are in alignment. Let's shift.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Hello and welcome back to the Body Drama Shift. Today we are going to talk about nutrition, which is a big one in perimenopause, because nutrition can look a lot different in perimenopause than it does when we're in our 20s and 30s.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

If somebody asks you this question, why does my body feel like it's run by a completely different management team than it was five years ago? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

I would say yes. That's not an answer to why, but yes, I know what you're talking about because it's like there's new management, the same building, which is your body, but nobody trained the new hires. So nobody knows what's going on, even though you're in the same place, but you're under new management. So we're gonna talk about that and why that happens. And it's actually very biological because your body just needs different things as it gets older. Like you have a car, your car gets older, it starts to need different things, right? Not that you're breaking down like a car might be. I'm not saying that, but you it might need different things as it ages. So, what I want to talk about is what to actually eat, why your go-tos might not be cutting it anymore. I just talked to someone the other day. She's like, I'm eating the same things I used to eat and it's not working anymore. And I've also got a visual aid for this one that I am going to put into the show notes at the end so that you will have access to that.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Prop episode.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yes, a prop episode. I love that. So I've got this graphic pulled up foods that support your hormones, and

Why Hormones Make Food Different

SPEAKER_01 2:14

it breaks things down by category. Look, we're gonna talk about estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, cortisol, and then a general extra support bucket. And we're gonna go category by category. We're gonna talk about why it matters, specifically in perimenopause, and we're just gonna have a conversation about this.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Can we just start by validating something? For years, eat healthy basically meant one blanket instruction. Vegetables, protein, whatever, drink your water, call it a day. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

And it actually kind of worked well enough that nobody ever questioned it. So that whole eat less, move more, all of that, I call BS on that. It is total BS when you were in perimenopause. When we're younger, things work differently. But when we get a perimenopause, it doesn't work.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Perimenopause is the first time in my life I've had to think about food and hormones as like an actual system, not just calories in, calories out. An actual system was moving forwards.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Because your hormones aren't dropping in a straight line during perimenopause. And that's what people don't expect. It used to be more of a straight line, but not anymore. So estrogen and progesterone are doing this jagged, unpredictable dance that could last five to 10 years. Sometimes estrogen spikes higher than it ever was in your 20s. And a few months later, it craters. Progesterone tends to decline earlier and more steadily, but it's not a clean slope down. It's turbulence. And I know that some of you can feel that turbulence, super unpredictable.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

And I want to add here, Amy, um, because this week I just had a client um in my class and she's in perimenopause. And over time I've helped her with she has some SI joint stuff going on. And over time I've helped her with that. And she came back recently and said, My pain is bad. And we noticed that around her cycle, because she is she is in perimenopause, so things are starting to change, right? So around her cycle, the week before her cycle is when she experiences the pain. So we are working on changing her practice to support the SI joint during that time. So I I want to name here like a it's so individualized, it depends on what a person is going through. They're experiencing hormonally in different phases. And also like for this person in particular, she has a lot of life change happening too. So there's a lot of destabilizing events happening in her life. So it's it's kind of destabilizing that SI joint, especially around the phase before cycle.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah, and being able to recognize and know that that's coming and being aware of it helps you to manage it because you can predict it.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah, and we can prepare for it because I'm gonna write her a totally different practice to do to help stabilize it that week before menstruation.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, and that goes right along with our individualized approach. You're creating that specifically for her based on her cycle and her pain. So I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

So, which is why I think this graphic is actually useful because it doesn't just say eat clean, it splits out what's actually happening. Estrogen support is a different conversation than cortisol support.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Yes, it is a completely different conversation. And that's the mindset shift that we want people to walk away from today. So instead of a generic diet, what you've been told, been ingrained in you, I want you to build a toolkit for you. And you can pull from different categories depending on what your body is asking for that week. And like we just talked about, it might look different right before your cycle. It might look different during your cycle, it might look different after your cycle.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

And even if you're not menstruating anymore like that, that changes in the nipples rather than nipples.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Yeah. And it takes a little bit more listening to your body to be aware of when your body, because you're still cycling, even if you're not bleeding every month, your hormones are still shifting and changing.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Yeah, I like thinking about it that way, less rigid, more responsive.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah. So let's go through it category

Estrogen Balancing Foods That Help

SPEAKER_01 6:44

by category. So the first category is estrogen balancing. And those foods that we're looking at for that are broccoli, cauliflower, kale, pomegranates, black seeds, and carrots. Cruciferous.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

You know, thank you. That's a hard word to say. I'd say it today.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Crucifysis, cruciferous. It was not coming out. It was on the tip of your tongue. So that's right. That's the theme. The broccoli, the cauliflower, the kale, those cruciferous veggies contain compounds that help your liver metabolize excess estrogen instead of letting it recirculate through your system. And often our livers are already overloaded. So they need help metabolizing that excess estrogen and they can use all the help they can get.

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Which matters a lot in early perimenopause when estrogen can actually spite before it eventually declines. Everyone assumes perimenopause means low estrogen the whole time, but it's messier than that, like you said.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Yeah, it's definitely messier. And sometimes people, we hear the term a lot estrogen dominance. And it's not that you have too much estrogen, is that you don't have enough progesterone to balance it out. And we're going to talk about progesterone in a little bit. So I actually didn't understand all of this myself until a few years ago. I just assumed that perimenopause was estrogen slowly disappearing or again having that abundance of estrogen. But it turns out that some of the worst symptoms, the ones like breast tenderness, heavier periods, moodiness, they can actually happen when estrogen surges, not just when it drops.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

That reframes a lot for me, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Yeah. And then the flax seeds are in there for the lignins, which are plant compounds that have a mild, gentle balancing effect either direction, depending on what your body needs. And they're not going to swing anything dramatically, but they support overall regulation. So flaxseeds are a really good thing that you can just toss into your meals.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I've started adding some flaxseed into my oatmeal months ago and honestly didn't even connect it to this until we started prepping for this episode.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah. And that's the thing. You are already doing it. So sometimes there can be things that we're already doing and we don't even realize it.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

So would you say also carrots are in this list? And I feel like nobody talks about carrots as a hormonal food.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Yeah. And I think carrots put a bad wrap sometimes because carrots are a little bit higher in carbs than other vegetables might be. But carrots have a lot of really good fiber that can help to uh bind the excess estrogen in the digestive tract. So it actually gets excreted instead of recirculating.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

The unsung hero of the bodies eye off.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Yeah, go carrots. So the next one I want to talk about is progesterone support.

Progesterone Support For Sleep And Calm

SPEAKER_01 9:42

And that one would include foods like oranges, bell peppers, strawberries, spinach, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, turmeric, and avocados.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

This is the one that hits home for me because progesterone is usually the first hormone to start declining in perimenopause, right? Before estrogen even really shifts.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Yep. That's right. And progesterone drop is a lot of what's behind the sleep disruption and the anxiety spikes that people don't expect. Because progesterone has a calming, almost sedative effect on the nervous system. So when it dips, that calming buffer disappears and that causes the sleep disruption piece.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

So the 3 a.m. wide awake for no reason club. Exactly. So people call me about.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

Yep. Yep. So I remember when that happened to me and I thought something was wrong, but it's incredibly common in this stage. So I went for a really long time with those 3 a.m. wakeups. And then I was also in a pretty significant state of stress and anxiety. So it wasn't a wake up and fall back to sleep. It was a wake up and my brain spinning, spinning, spinning of all of these things that I needed to do or that I was worried about. And then I wasn't falling back to sleep.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

And I love that, like again, you know, Amy can explain it from that hormonal side. And for me, it's like when I do an assessment with somebody, I can look at and say, okay, what time are you waking up? And that really shows us a lot about what's happening in the body, specifically at certain times. So even if it's not 3 a.m. for you, if it's a certain time, if it's from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., the things that we would give you, the tools that we would give you, I would give you, will be very different than if you are waking up from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yeah. And it can also go back to liver dysfunction too. If your liver is overloaded, that can cause those sleep disruptions as well. So if we specifically talk about oranges and bell peppers, those are, and a lot of the foods in this category, they're all vitamin C rich foods because vitamin C is also tied to progesterone production, particularly in the second half of your cycle, if you're cycling, when your body is still producing one. And then pumpkin seeds and chickpeas can bring zinc and magnesium into it, which your body also needs for hormone synthesis in general, not just progesterone. And pumpkin seeds are something that I love. I throw those on my salad every night. Nice and crunchy and salty. And those are a really easy one to incorporate into your nutrition.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

And turmeric's in there for anti-inflammatory, right? You want to add black pepper too.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

I think that's not something I knew. Can you explain a lot behind that?

SPEAKER_00 12:31

It helps digest the turmeric or activate the turmeric.

unknown 12:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

All right. So what the turmeric helps with is inflammation and hormone balance way more than people think. So chronic low-grade inflammation can actually interfere with hormone signaling. So turmeric's not just a trendy add-in, it's actually doing real work.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

I want to say this too. Like, what I love about this is for people who've had like a really a negative relationship with food, because I can say that I've struggled with that for most of my life. If you've had a negative relationship with food, for me, this like helps you understand that you're supporting your body rather than looking at it from a place of, oh, if I eat this carb, it's gonna make me gain weight. We're not doing this for necessarily for weight loss, but it's really to support our bodies so that we can we can feel better and healthier. And like we talked about in the last episode, we can experience more joy. We can experience the goodness of love.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yeah, because we shouldn't spend all our time worrying about what we're eating. We can't let that consume us. We still are allowed to enjoy food. This is just a way for you to, like Heather said, support your body in a different way. And when we support our bodies in that way, then we don't necessarily want the foods that are not supporting us as much.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

And I think it changes the relationship with food. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yeah. And the whole, I had dessert last night, so I'm gonna punish myself today by only eating X, Y, and Z, or I am I'm gonna fast all day because I didn't eat well yesterday. Like, this is not about punishing your body for a treat that you may have had.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

And I think too, to name that, like all of those things keep you in a chronic state of stress. Correct. Which increases the cortisol, which is going to have all these effects on your body. Like that's almost worse the chronic stress than just eating whatever you want.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Right. Right. And that I just to throw in this really quickly, because if we're not talking about exercise right now, but also the whole idea of, oh, I ate this yesterday. So tomorrow I'm gonna work out extra hard. I'm gonna pound the pavement for longer. And you're in a sense punishing yourself for having that treat, that also produces stress. So it goes both ways from the exercise and the nutrition standpoint, is that we we don't need to punish ourselves for having treats. And that's kind of old programming. I'm gonna make up for what I had last night by doing this. But that just creates unsafety.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

And and when you're stuck in that threat mode, like it's healing can't happen, whatever that looks like.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Yeah, yeah. You're just sabotaging yourself.

Testosterone Foods For Energy And Muscle

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yep. So testosterone, people don't talk about this one enough for it.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

No, they don't. We have testosterone too. It's not just men, I promise. They may have more of it than us, but um, we still have testosterone, and it really is a big deal. It helps with energy, muscle maintenance, libido motivation. That's all tangled up with testosterone. And even though we don't ever talk about it except in the context of men, it does exist for women, which is wild because women make testosterone too, obviously, just in smaller amounts.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

And it drops during perimetopause right alongside everything else. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

And so the graphic that you will be able to download lists avocados, nuts, olive oil, eggs, ginger, lean protein, Swiss chard, asparagus, spinach, and onions.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

A lot of healthy fats in this one.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yep. That's the pattern the avocado, the nuts, the olive oil, the eggs, because your body actually needs cholesterol and healthy fat as a raw material to make hormones in the first place. The hormones are literally built from fat molecules at the cellular level. And that is also another misconception is that fats are bad for you. We don't need to avoid fats. Fats are necessary. Obviously, you don't want to go overboard and have an abundance of fat, but you do need to have fat in your body to help with all kinds of things, actually.

unknown 16:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

So we talked about this earlier. Like this is a category where I think a lot of women accidentally sabotage themselves by going too low fat still, even now. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

And we've yeah, we've talked about this before, those decades of fat-free everything messaging from the 90s and the 2000s. Like that's that was not a good, a good thing for us. Yeah, yeah, it did us dirty. It really did. Your hormones need fat, not an overabundance, but genuinely, please don't be scared of olive oil and avocado and eggs. Like, do not avoid them. We need them in our body for our hormones and overall health. It also helps with inflammation, which seems a little bit backwards, but it's not. Eating healthy fats does not create fat. It does not create inflammation. I want that to be very, very clear.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

And lean protein, that piece matters for muscle maintenance too, right? Because muscle loss speeds up in this stage. Yep, big time.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Protein and resistance training are basically non-negotiable in perimenopause. If you want to hang on to strength and metabolic health long term, but that's probably gonna be a whole separate episode. But yes, protein and resistance training are extremely important. I find that most women that I talk to are not getting enough protein, and many are not getting enough food in general. Like we need to make sure that we're eating enough because starving ourselves is not how it works. That's not you're sabotaging yourself. And that's why you're getting frustrated and not able to drop the weight, is because you're not supporting your body in a way that it feels safe.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Receiving that support around like what you think, what you believe is your conditioning around those things is really helpful when you're trying to change your relationship with your body.

Thyroid Support And Key Minerals

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

So let's talk about thyroid. Foods that are really good for your thyroid include Brazil nuts, seaweed, salmon, sardines, gross, no thank you, lentils, and pumpkin seeds.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Thyroid is the one I always forget belongs in the hormone conversation at all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

Everybody does. But perimenopause can mess with thyroid function or unmask issues that were already quietly kind of brewing beneath the surface. And this category is heavy and selenium and iodine, Brazil nuts and seaweeds specifically, plus omega-3s from the salmon and the sardines.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Selenium is the one where you only need like two Brazil nuts a day, right? Correct.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Yep. And that's the one selenium is often one that is deficient in the lab testing that I get. And really, yeah, all you need to do to balance your selenium is two Brazil nuts a day. And it's not one of those more is better nutrients, two nuts done because too much selenium can actually backfire. You want to find the right amount for your body.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Good to note. Because I was definitely eating a whole handful thinking I was doing myself a favor.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yeah. And it's easy to do. They taste good. So it's hard to stop yourself at two, I think.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

So two Brazil nuts noted. And the lentils and pumpkin seeds are more of a general mineral support.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Yep, exactly. And zinc shows up here too. Zinc's one of those nutrients that pops up almost across almost every category because it's involved in many different hormone pathways. If I had to pick one mineral to make sure people weren't missing, it'd probably be zinc. That one shows up a lot in the lab testing as well. However, anytime I talk about a supplement, I want to make sure that people know that it has to be a good one. And it kind, I mean, I would improve it in your food first. But also I just want to put out there that if supplements are ever talked about, or you ever hear us say anything and you're like, oh, I can get a supplement for that. I want you to be really, really careful.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

So okay, the the next one is basically my whole personality

Cortisol Balancing Foods For Stress

SPEAKER_00 20:49

right now cortisol balancing. Blueberries, strawberries, dark chocolate. Ooh, dark chocolate. Like NSE. It's an excuse for me to eat more. No, I'm just kidding. Cheese seeds, chamomile tea, bananas, green tea.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

So your personality is dark chocolate.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

I am on board with that. It's a whole vibe, but seriously. Stress and cortisol are so tangled up with the perimenopause symptom list. The belly weight that won't budge, no matter what you do. The wired but tired feeling, waking up at 3 a.m. We already mentioned all of that.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Yep. And it's a two-way street. So perimenopause itself is a stressor on the body. And then whatever life stress you're already carrying, your job, your kids, aging parents, all of it layers right on top. So cortisol ends up being chronically elevated for a lot of women in this stage.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Which is exhausting to even hear, let alone liver.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Yeah. So this list leans into those antioxidant rich berries, magnesium from chia seeds, and the calming stuff, the chamomile and the green tea that support your nervous system rather than just spiking or crashing your blood sugar away the way that a lot of Snacks to you.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

Dark chocolate being medicinal is genuinely the best sentence.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

I agree 100%. So we are contractually obligated now to mention it in every episode now.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

Yeah. For sure. I'll happily fulfill that obligation forever. But in all seriousness, I think the cortisol piece is the one people skip because it doesn't feel like nutrition. It feels like lifestyle, but it's on a food graphic for a reason. Correct. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Cortisol is one that we always think, oh, I just need to be less stressed. But there's more to it than that. And we can support our cortisol regulation through food because food and stress are not separate systems. They're the same system. What we put in our bodies matters. And then the last cord category is just labeled extra support for you. And the things included on that list are olive oil, leafy greens, colorful veggies, beans, whole food, hydration and rest.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

I actually love that they put hydration and rest on a food graphic because it's not just about what you eat.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Right. It is the foundational stuff underneath everything else. You can eat every pumpkin seed and every food on this list. But if you are dehydrated and running on five hours of sleep, none of it is landing the way it should. Yeah, it's the base layer. Yeah. The base layer that everything stacks on top of that. And I think it actually is a really compassionate way to end the list because it's basically saying you don't have to be perfect in every single category. Just cover the bases and build from there.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Yeah. We just need to remind ourselves of 100%.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

We need a reminder because we also it's also been ingrained of us that it has to be 100% or it's not good enough. That all or nothing mentality that just doesn't work. All we end up doing is sabotaging and beating ourselves up. And that backfires too.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah, I always remind my point it's 70% of your maximum. So when we're moving, 70%. Same thing as this. 70%. Like, can we can we operate at 70% instead of 100% or sometimes even 120? We push ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah, and pushing to that extreme also leads to burnout, which we obviously don't want. Um, I also like the saying that our goal is to just be 1% better than we were yesterday. 1% doesn't sound like a lot, but it moves the needle over time. So, what I want to do now, I know this has been a longer episode, but I do want to do a little quick myth round because I feel like perimenopause nutrition advice online is kind of a mess of hath truths right now. So,

Extra Support Hydration Rest And Consistency

SPEAKER_01 24:42

myth number one that I want to talk about is that you have to cut out all carbs in perimenopause. What do you think about that one, Heather?

SPEAKER_00 24:48

I I have a lot to say about that. I mean, I I think that it's definitely a myth. I mean, you need carbs and you could probably speak more to that. But from a nervous system standpoint, I mean, if we're cutting out things, again, we're like throwing ourselves into that threat response because we're telling our bodies these things are not safe. It's like flashing light. These things are not safe.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Yeah. And think there's a difference between healthy carbs and not healthy carbs. So we're not talking about like getting your carb intake from cupcakes and pancakes and cookies. We're talking about there's a lot of really healthy carbs out there that are delicious too. Your sweet potatoes, your regular potatoes, rice. Like there's a lot of really good healthy carbs. Your body needs carbs for fuel. So it's not carbs versus no carbs. It's about pairing, it's also about pairing carbs with protein and fat. So you don't get those big blood sugar spikes when you have carbs. So there's a way to balance it out.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Myth two from me soy is dangerous for hormones.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Yeah, this one comes up a lot.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Yeah, and I'm so glad we're talking about this anything because it can be so overwhelming because we hear so many things like and so many contradicting things. So the research on whole food soy, like adamame tofu, that actually leans pretty reassuring for most women. And some research even suggests it can help with hot flashes. It's really different from concentrated soy isolate in heavily processed products, but people lump it all together.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Yeah, that's a really good distinction. Soy doesn't have to be bad, it's how it's processed that makes it not the best for your body. And so myth three would be that you have to eat six small meals a day to keep your hormones stable.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Yeah, I remember that advice. Um I want to say like some 15 years ago, but maybe still. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

So that one's mostly outdated for a lot of women in perimenopause, especially if cortisol's already elevated. Three solid meals with real protein and fat can actually feel more stabilized than constant grazing because when you're grazing, it keeps your insulin going

Perimenopause Nutrition Myths Rapid Fire

SPEAKER_01 27:00

all day long.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Eat enough at each meal that you're not storming two hours later.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Yes, exactly that.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Okay, so we've thrown a lot of information at people. Let's get practical for a second. What does this actually look like on a random Wednesday?

SPEAKER_01 27:15

So for me, it would be less about following the categories perfectly and more about building a base that touches most of them without thinking too hard. So breakfast is usually eggs, and for me, I'll throw in a little bit of gluten-free oats for that carb piece. And the eggs are for testosterone support, and I might throw in some spinach, and that shows up in like three of these categories all at once.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Spinach is basically cheating when it's kind of on this list.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Yeah, it's kind of overachiever of the group. So lunch could also be a big salad with chickpeas and olive oil, which is progesterone and general support category covered, and then dinner, whatever protein I have, plus some cruciferous vegetables, if I remember. But if I don't remember, that's fine too.

SPEAKER_00 28:04

It's a work in progress for all of us. I think that's the permission people need. You don't have to nail every category every day. You're aiming for a pattern over a week or two, not a perfect scorecard every 24 hours.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Right. And honestly, the stress of trying to hit every category perfectly would probably raise your cortisol more than the food would ever lower it.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

Which would completely defeat the problem.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Completely. So we want you to keep it loose, cook a batch of a couple things on Sundays, keep frozen berries and nuts around, and let the rest just kind of fill in as it fills in.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Low pressure, high consistency. That's the actual formula.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Because what we don't want you to do is take this list and be like, oh my gosh, this is what I have to do right now. I have to follow this perfectly. We don't want you to get in that stress mode of trying to follow something, trying to follow a script, trying to be perfect. That's not what this is about.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Yeah, it leads back to that same mindset, right? Of like eating less, and that's more. Everything we've talked about, right? So we just have to be careful with like not going to extremes.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

And we know the women that we're talking to. We know that you, all of you who are listening to this podcast, you want to take this graphic and you want to run with it and you want to execute everything perfectly, but that's not what we want you to do. This is meant to be a guide and something to support you along the way, not something that you have to implement and be 100% on. So I don't want you to try to hit all categories on purpose. I just want you to notice what symptom is the loudest for you. If the loudest symptom is sleep, then add in foods that support progesterone and cortisol. If it's energy and low mood, add in foods that support testosterone and thyroid. Let your symptoms point you toward the category instead of trying to shop for it all at once.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

I'd add like three foods from whatever category you land on and just start keeping them stock. You don't need the whole list, you need a few reliable staples.

SPEAKER_01 30:09

And that is way more sustainable than trying to overhaul your whole pantry in one weekend. We want this to be sustainable for you. If it's not sustainable, if you're not going to do it, then it's obviously not going to work. So you have to do what works best for you.

SPEAKER_00 30:23

Small, doable, boring almost. That's the stuff that actually sticks.

SPEAKER_01 30:28

Yes. And that's the stuff that's easy to become ingrained and become a routine that you don't even have to think about anymore.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

So if you're listening to this and feeling overwhelmed by six categories and 40 different foods, don't try to eat all of it tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Pick one category that matches what you're actually struggling with right now. Sleep, energy, mood, whatever is allowed us, and start there.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Small intentional choices, big shifts. That's basically the whole poll. That's the whole show, honestly. All right. That's it for this episode of the Body Drama Shift. Thanks for hanging out with us.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

So we will see you next week. Go eat some cruciferous vegetables, and I want you to practice saying that six times fast and see how you do.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Oh, and maybe some dark chocolate.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Yes, balance for sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

I'm Heather, nervous system coach and yoga therapist and founder of Embodied Rejuvenation. My work is rooted in the belief that lasting transformation isn't just about knowing what to do. It's about your nervous system feeling safe enough to actually do it. I know what it feels like to be capable, smart, and driven, and still feel like something is holding you back that you just can't name. Through nervous system assessment and high touch coaching, that's exactly what I help women uncover. I also deeply believe in the power of women healing and growing in community, which is why community is woven into my programs and why I host retreats for women who are ready to go deeper together. If any of that sounds like what you've been looking for, I'd love to connect. You can book a call with me at embodiedrejuvenation.com. The link is in the show notes.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

At Whole Body Harmony, I help women in midlife

A Realistic Wednesday Meal Blueprint

SPEAKER_01 32:12

stop guessing and finally understand what their bodies are trying to say. Through comprehensive lab testing, personalized protocols, nutrition, and high touch coaching, we look at the whole picture because hormones, gut, metabolism, stress, and lifestyle are all connected. If you are tired of feeling dismissed or stuck, or even been told that you're crazy, you don't have to figure it out alone. You can learn more or book a clarity call at whole bodyharmonycoach.com. Hope to connect with you soon.