Experiencing Menopause Fatigue

Transcript:

TERESA: Hello, this is Teresa, one of the dietitians at Nutritional Weight and Wellness. Before we start today's podcast, I want to let everyone know about a great deal we're offering this month on our individual online classes. From March 7th, through March 20th, all 15 of our individual online classes are 50% off. So instead of $25, they're only $12 50. With 15 classes, I'm sure you'll find an interesting and helpful class. Here are some of the popular classes: Breaking the Sugar Habit; no surprise there, Eating to Reduce Pain and Inflammation, Five Steps to Boost Metabolism, Gut Reaction: Restore Digestive Health Through Nutrition. Now this class is so important because healthy digestion is really the foundation to a healthy body and mind. Getting a Good Night's Sleep and Reduce Risk of Prediabetes and Type II Diabetes. These are just a few of the 15 classes available. For more information on all these classes and the others go to weightandwellness.com or feel free to call our office at 651-699-3438. Thanks for listening to Dishing Up Nutrition and enjoy the show.

MELANIE: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. I'm Melanie Beasley. I'm a registered and licensed dietitian. And often when I first start seeing a new client who's in menopause, they will often complain of being tired all day and they just can't shake that fatigue. I know you have the same experience Britni, with your clients.

BRITNI: Absolutely. I’ve heard that many times.

MELANIE: Yeah, it's miserable. So what can cause menopausal fatigue and what can we do about it? Today I want to start the show with a quote from Margaret Mead, who is a well-known anthropologist from the sixties and seventies. She was frequently featured as both an author and a speaker. She says, “There is no more creative force in the world than the menopausal women with zest.” Margaret Mead was a menopausal woman with zest herself. She did not experience the fatigue that most menopausal women I feel are experiencing today because she ate real food, Britni. Good morning, Britni. You work with a, a lot of women who experience hormonal issues, such as PCOS fertility issues, PMS and women in menopause. I certainly know you're my 911 hormone help when I have a client that I'm stumped with. So what are women looking for in a nutrition plan when they talk to you?

BRITNI: Yeah. Well, first of all, good morning. Happy to be here. Yes, I have a special interest in hormones. So I tend to get many of those clients. And as a registered and licensed dietitian, I often get that question from women in perimenopause or menopause: how do I get my energy back? You know, a lot of people say they just don't feel like themselves. And so today we plan on answering these questions and your food choices and nutrition have a lot to do with how you feel.

MELANIE: Absolutely. And that's, that's what we're going to talk about today. Here's another quote from Margaret Mead. I often share this with my clients, because I find it helpful. “Always remember that you are absolutely unique, just like everyone else.” Everyone is unique. And I truly believe that. Everybody is so unique. Their biochemistry is unique and each one of us need our own personal eating plan based on our genetics, our stress level, our likes and our dislikes, of course; our lifestyle habits. You know, what is your family like; your schedule like; and so much more. But there are three macronutrients that every woman needs, adequate protein, a variety of good vegetables, and sufficient, beneficial, natural fat for energy and that menopause zest we're all looking for.

BRITNI: Yeah. And that's what we do, right? We, we of visualize it for everybody because there is no one size fits all.

MELANIE: There isn't.

BRITNI: And the quote that I like is “What people say, what people do and what people say they do are entirely different.” You know, some clients tell me they only have a glass of wine occasionally and in reality it could be several glasses of wine.

MELANIE: What’s your definition of what's occasional?

BRITNI: Right. Yeah. And you know, I don't think clients are outright lying about this, but it adds up; these little extra things or the glasses of wine add up a lot quicker than many people realize. And we know wine or alcohol in general, you know, it inhibits our REM sleep. So we're not getting that deep restorative sleep. And I often hear people wake up more frequently or they wake up earlier. Or if you are drinking all the time, you don't know, right?

MELANIE: Right. It's, it's good to, to tap into that awareness.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: I think certainly during the last couple of years, women are using that wine for relaxation for stressful times. And so before we share nutritional tips for more energy, I want to read just one more quote. I'm a little obsessed, I guess, with this brilliant woman, Margaret Mead. She says, “Women must be taught how to think, not what to think.” This makes me think of Teresa Wagner. She's one of our colleagues who is a frequent host on Dishing Up Nutrition.

Teresa believes teaching children how to think starts in the kitchen. So with her three elementary age children, she is helping them develop long term health habits. That's kind of our job description as moms, I guess. They're reading labels, just like mom. They're chopping vegetables and they're measuring. And she's teaching them how to think about nutrition and, and how to have energy on the playing field. And so that's giving them those tools in their toolbox they can carry into adulthood. Right?

BRITNI: It's so wonderful. You know, let's get back to that menopause quote. “There is no more creative force in the world than the menopausal woman with zest.” You know, to, to me zest means energy, a sense of wellbeing and great self-esteem. And I know many of you listeners are thinking this zest sounds pretty amazing.

MELANIE: I'd like some of that vitamin zest.

BRITNI: Yeah. How do I get this? Well, we're going to continue talking about how to feed that zest.

Nutritional tips to gain “menopause zest”

MELANIE: Well, perhaps it's time to get out your notebook listeners so that you can jot down some life changing nutrition habits. These are nutrition habits that these women that have amazing energy through menopause do daily. I've been helping women get back their energy and their health for the past 30 years. It's satisfying. It’s so, is it not so satisfying?

BRITNI: It is.

MELANIE: And women are like, oh my gosh, I'm not so exhausted by two. My first nutritional tip to get menopause zest back is to eat.

BRITNI: It's that simple. Start eating enough.

MELANIE: Yes. And you're welcome because when we forget to eat, our energy tanks and we must get to, in order to get that gusto and that energy we've got to fuel the brain in the body. And I'm not saying limit calories or follow a low-fat diet or skip meals and snacks with the hopes of staying thin. I understand that we are in a world of hurt. And when we look at the stats about obesity, currently about 42% of the adult population, they’re obese and the pandemic has made it worse. And I'm talking about clinical obese.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: So 59% of women are concerned about the number on this scale. I would say even more than that. And both women and men have gained weight because of added stress. And we have all been through the pandemic and the added stress that comes along with that. But following a starvation diet is really, is not the answer now. And it is not the answer in the past or else 42% of adults would not be obese. Now adults are obese, they're tired, they're fatigued. They're feeling horrible about what's happened to their bodies over this stressful time. And that's my passion is and your passion is we want to help them.

BRITNI: Absolutely. So for this menopausal vibrance and energy, again, we must eat. We need to eat a sufficient amount of food that's high in nutrients to feed our body, our brain and you know, breakfast. If, if you're going to change one thing I recommend starting with breakfast, cause it really just sets the tone for the day. So are you eating breakfast first of all? And if not, you know, that would be something to start to try to do. And I am a mother of seven-month-old twins and my son just turned two. So I need all the energy I can get.

MELANIE: Britni needs that vitamin zest.

BRITNI: And I know for myself, if I get too busy in the morning, which is easy to do and I go too long without eating it, it does negatively impact me the rest of the day really.

MELANIE: You're just a nicer woman when you get that breakfast in.

BRITNI: Yeah. That hangry stick can hit me pretty hard. Oh yeah. So I, you know, I usually have what my son eats, just making it easier. And so often that's eggs and some nitrate free sausage and adding vegetables when we can. And that could even be frozen veggies or leftover veggies and all cooked in butter; sometimes a little avocado oil. Or if I don't get the chance to actually make something, we just heat up leftovers from dinner. And breakfast doesn't need to be breakfast food. And you know, in the past I definitely consumed cereal for sure.

MELANIE: Yeah, me too.

BRITNI: But it just made me tired and I call cereal, toast, pastry: they're really just energy robbers. So I suggest eating three to four ounces of animal protein, some, some veggies and a tablespoon of natural fat and this real food breakfast, it is going to boost your energy throughout the day.

MELANIE: Makes me hungry.

BRITNI: I know. Right. And that'll help lose weight too.

MELANIE: Yes, it, it gets you started. So we're ready for our, our first break. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. I'm Melanie Beasley. I'm a registered and licensed dietitian. And Britni is our co-host who is also a registered licensed dietitian. And our topic today is about foods that rob your energy during menopause and foods that heal your adrenal function so you have good energy through menopause years and we'll be right back.

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Eating real food, grass fed meat or wild caught fish, a variety of vegetables and a tablespoon of natural fat four times a day, that's going to help you to develop a strong energy system in your body. You know, it's not a complicated way to nourish your body. It's just going back to how we used to eat. Right?

MELANIE: Right.

BRITNI: And it's not, not necessary to count fat grams or any of that. Just focus on avoid processed foods. And in a week you're going to experience more energy.

MELANIE: You can't help but not experience more energy because you know, it's a, it's a quote that's thrown around, but it's very true is that food is medicine. And you know, I, I, I will ask a client if they have like a, a child or grandchild, or a favorite pet, would you be okay feeding that precious person or pet in your life gasoline all day? And they're like, well, no, of course not. And I'm like, why? It's like, well, it's not what they need. And I said, well, you need a certain nutrient profile for your cells to turn over and for you to have energy. And it, it's just so important that we fuel our bodies because that food is medicine for every cell. So starting off with breakfast, like you were saying, it's, it's like making your bed, you know, you feel like I started doing something good and I feel good. I fueled my brain for the day.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: So I start sometimes with a simple chia pudding that's got my favorite protein powder in it.

BRTINI: Mm.

MELANIE: And sprinkle some berries on top with some almonds and it's kind of dessert for breakfast.

BRITNI: Oh, I love chia pudding.

MELANIE: I do too. And we've got, I think we have a recipe on our website too.

BRITNI: Yep. Yep.

How to repair adrenal function

MELANIE: But when I think of women who experience a great menopausal result or have good energy, I always think of women who have good adrenal function. If a women's adrenals are depleted from chronic ongoing stress, they often have an overproduction of the stress, hormone, norepinephrine and cortisol. So they feel anxious. They feel tired. They gain weight easily. These women are more likely to suffer from fatigue, mood swings, and they crave sugar and coffee.

So are you having trouble dragging yourself out of bed because you're tired and not sleeping well? It's miserable. Can't wait to get that first cup of coffee down. And, and you're wondering is this another day I have to drag myself through? And that's what we don't want. We don't want to feel like we're trying to survive the day.

BRITNI: No.

MELANIE: We want to feel like we're thriving throughout the day. And there's a better way to live by eating this real food. So Britni, what do I mean real food?

BRITNI: Yeah. Well, you know, I think a lot of women tell me and I'm sure you too, they fall into bed. They're exhausted, but then they have trouble actually falling asleep. That brain starts going. The wired, but tired feeling.

MELANIE: Yes.

BRITNI: I can totally think back to a time in my life of feeling like that. And then, you know, even worse than that, usually they're waking up throughout the night. So many menopausal women are not getting this restful sleep and they've lived under constant physical, emotional stress. And their adrenal glands are just not functioning well. And so your adrenal glands are little walnut sized glands. They sit at top of your kidneys, and they act as shock absorbers. So as you take the bumps of life, your shock absorbers, they're going to get worn out. And frankly, our bodies are just not made to deal with the, the kind of stress that most people have nowadays. And the constant stress.

MELANIE: The constant is something.

BRITNI: So how do you get those adrenal glands up and running again?

MELANIE: Well, there, there is more to this story. If your adrenal glands are not functioning well, often your thyroid and sex hormone hormones will not function well either. Would you agree with that?

BRITNI: Absolutely.

Adequate sleep is key for good adrenal function

MELANIE: So how do women nurture those little walnut adrenal glands? Well, the first thing is getting adequate sleep is key. We can all agree that when you don't have adequate sleep, that in itself is stressful. So eating three to four ounces of animal protein four times a day, eating a variety of vegetables for those key vitamins, and avoiding refined oils and only cooking with butter olive oil or avocado oil and coconut oil, maybe some suggested supplements based on your needs, and a perfect amount of adrenal repair is six to seven tablespoons of healing fat throughout your day. Plus it makes your food delicious.

BRITNI: Yes. You're going to eat more veggies that way for sure. You know, most women, they're aware of how emotional stress damages the adrenal glands in the body, you know, emotional stress, I think of anger, guilt, anxiety, fear, depression. But what about those physical stressors? You know, I find some women get into excessive exercise. They're desperate to lose weight.

MELANIE: You bet.

BRITNI: And excessive exercise truly is a major stressor on the body. If your body's already stressed. And then you're, overexerting it, even though we think of exercise as healthy, it's too much of a good thing.

MELANIE: The body's in a constant state of repair.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: So we've got to have that rest. We've got to bring that cortisol down.

BRITNI: Yeah. And I think, you know, as a whole, we think of stress as you know, this emotional or physical types of stress, but we do need to think of the sleep, what we're eating. Our body responds to those type of stressors in the same way.

MELANIE: Yeah. So think about a day of rest. If you're a chronic exerciser, give your body that time to repair. Another physical stressor that damages the adrenal glands is like, we talked about, the lack of sleep. What keeps you from getting adequate sleep? Are you staying up late hours? You just need to get one more thing done or is it your special alone time? And you can space out on Facebook or emails. So maybe you are a night shift worker to save money on daycare. Many women today are physically and emotionally exhausted and they're relying on coffee and sugar to get them through the day. And that can be a cycle that, you know, that caffeine keeps us from sleeping and getting into the restorative REM sleep.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: The sugar certainly does. So we want to talk about when we come back from break, how to do that. So you're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. We're always saying to eat meat, vegetables, and good fat for energy and good moods. When people cooked low fat, they lost their interest in vegetables. They just don't taste as good. So it may be time to get vegetables back in your diet. Get inspired from Marianne. She's our culinary nutrition educator. On the 24th, March 24^th, she'll teach you all about vegetables and raw vegetables, roasted vegetables, steamed vegetables, sautéed vegetables. So you'll have better ideas on how to get those nutrients in. This is a Zoom class starting at 6:15 PM. And the cost is only $25. You can call 651-699-3438 to sign up or visit our website at weightandwellness.com. We'll be right back.

Cooking Classes

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you want a good in-depth menopause series, let me suggest you take our video class series called the Menopause Solutions. It's a six-hour class series that covers everything from hot flashes, mood swings, incontinence, weight gain. And it gives you a real-life eating plan that will help you feel and look your best. So you can sign up for this class online at weightandwellness.com or call us. And you will help get you started. Our number is 651-699-3438.

Menopause Solutions – Online

Sugar stresses our adrenal glands

So before break, we started talking about our adrenal glands and all the stressors of life. So now we want to talk about a stressor that many of you probably just don't recognize as a stressor, but we think it is the most damaging to the adrenal glands. So what is this stressor that often leads to fatigue and aches and pains? Well, it’s sugar or glycemic stress. Sugar stress is caused from eating too many carbs, especially those refined carbs, which causes damage to all the cells in your body. And that is one way sugar damages the adrenal glands. And that when when we're eating sugar in that constant roller coaster of blood sugar.

MELANIE: And we're not talking diabetes. We're talking about how quickly your blood sugar rises when we eat processed flours, refined sugar and your blood sugar does this pop up. And that is a stressful event in the body that you may not necessarily be aware of.

BRITNI: And then inevitably two, three hours later, it's going to go down. So a lot of people are just on this roller coaster all day. You know, and of course stress: it also damages, or I'm sorry, sugar is very, also very stressful for your eyes. It can cause neuropathy, cholesterol problems, heart disease. I mean, the list can go on and on and on.

MELANIE: And I think about, you know, there's a rampant rise in Alzheimer's and dementia.

BRITNI: Yes.

MELANIE: And they're actually calling it a third type of diabetes, diabetes three, which is caused from, you know, the theory is that there's a lot of stress on the brain with this roller coaster, high blood sugar drop, high blood sugar drop in the refined carbs. But in addition, every time you skip a meal or a snack and have low blood sugar, it's a shock to your adrenal glands and a shock to your body and brain kind of throws us into a little bit of that starvation that the body can have. This is where you want to plow through a box of crackers when you get home from work.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: Because you were so hungry, your brain is on high alert for survival.

BRITNI: We can all relate to that.

MELANIE: We can.

BRITNI: Well, let's talk a little bit more about, you know, what's happening in the body when that happens. We go to long eating. We don't eat enough. That leads to low blood sugar; very stressful for our body. So our adrenal glands are actually going to kick out more cortisol as a defense mechanism to raise our blood sugar. So even if you're not eating, your blood sugar can still be on that roller coaster throughout the day, creating even more stress.

MELANIE: And that's the last thing that we want thing that we want is raising cortisol. Because the connection between cortisol and belly fat, you know, when the cortisol goes up, our glucose goes up. Right? And then that creates us gaining weight specifically in our bellies.

BRITNI: Yep. Yep.

MELANIE: And that's, that's a battle once we start putting on that belly fat, but so keeping a balanced blood sugar between 80 to a hundred will help you avoid the sugar shock that creates that stress response. And if you want to experience good menopausal zest and energy, and a sense of wellbeing, how do you feed and nurture those adrenal glands? It feels like just sort of this, this concept that's, it's hard to grasp. Well, let's put it down to basics. It all starts with eating breakfast like you were saying, Britni. Can you trade in skipping breakfast or grabbing a high sugar coffee drink and muffin or coffee house mocha with a muffin? That's not a breakfast of champions, but it is a sugar bomb to, and it's just ready to ruin your day.

BRITNI: Yeah. I mean, just think about how do you feel two, three hours after eating something like that? Or a donut or pancakes. Most people are going to say they feel tired. They might feel crabby, brain fog. And then they're craving more sugar. Like you were talking about earlier.

MELANIE: Trying to be pop that blood sugar up. Because once you trigger that, the blood sugar goes up and your body says, well, we got to get this down. And so if your pancreas increases function properly, it sends out a bunch of insulin and that insulin's job, package up all that blood sugar, take it into the cell. But if it, if the, we panic the body and we put out too much insulin because our sugars popped up so high, then we bottom out and we have low blood sugar. And that's where you tank three hours after the pancakes.

BRITNI: Yep. Yep.

MELANIE: And your blood sugar's now too low. Yeah.

BRITNI: And you know, a lot of people don't connect to that, to what they ate.

MELANIE: Exactly.

BRITNI: Yeah. So we just suggest eating at home. Right? You have control over everything. Take some time. You could make the eggs, you know, or I like to make an egg bake.

MELANIE: So easy.

BRITNI: It’s easy, heated up, or you know, something different. You could make a hash.

MELANIE: I love a hash.

BRITNI: Me too. Yeah. And you don't have to add eggs. You could do sausage or any type of meat.

MELANIE: My last hash was leftover pork chops. I had peppers, onions, mushrooms I needed to use up. I stir fried that in some butter and I had some leftover wild rice. So I did half the plate was vegetables. Quarter of it was the protein, quarter to even a little more than that. And then a little bit of the wild rice in there. And I just scoop and nuke that hash for a couple days.

BRITNI: Yeah. Sounds tasty. And you, if you take that time, cook breakfast or cook it ahead, you know, clients have told me, even on day, one of eating real food, they're going to have more energy and zest for life. That's the beauty of blood sugar. You're going to feel a difference. And from one day to the next.

MELANIE: Yes, within, within 24 hours of eating this way, generally people are, their body just goes, ah, it's happy. So in a recent survey, the researchers found that 90% of the U.S. population are now eating unhealthy foods; 90%.

BRITNI: Wow.

Meal planning ideas

MELANIE: So if you are one of the, those 90%, let me suggest that for the next three months to move from an unhealthy to a real food diet, many of my first time clients are eating just a small carton of low fat yogurt that may be artificially sweetened or sugar sweetened. And then lunch, of course, they're having no energy. Well, this carton of low fat yogurt is void of nutrients, but high in artificial ingredients, possibly chemicals. What would you make the night before to leave for lunch? Maybe the hash we were talking about? Or how about even making a pot of chili and having some grass fed with some grass fed beef or organic turkey, and two cups of chili will give you the vitamin C, which is essential for your adrenal glands and for your blood vessel support. It's like you said, reinventing breakfast doesn't have to be breakfast food.

BRITNI: Yep. And on the flip side, you could have eggs for dinner.

MELANIE: Which is easy when you get home from work. I've done that so many times.

BRITNI: Yeah. And Melanie, you mentioned commit to three months, which is great. But if you're thinking, oh my gosh, wow. Three months. Start with one day, one week, you know, one little step at a time if that seems too overwhelming. And once you get going and you're feeling better, then you're going to want to continue.

MELANIE: Of course. And if you just start with something that you, if you're working from home, it's super easy, you just throw everything in the crock pot.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: When it's hot bubbly and, and the meat is cooked, you know, I am, I am a lazy cook. I raised my kids. I cooked from scratch. I'm over it. So when I cook, I, you know, we have recipes where you, and I know Marianne is just going to flinch when she hears this. But you know, you brown the meat You brown the peppers. You brown the onion. I put it all in the crock pot on high. Go by, stir it once in a while, when it's all cooked, I dump in everything else. It's hot and bubbly and girl, I'm done. That's, I have one pot cooking. So it's not a culinary, you know, delight to, but it tastes delicious. I don't, I don't miss it.

BRITNI: That's great. I love it.

MELANIE: Yeah. So try it on. I have also taken frozen burger. I put it on high. I put in my jar of organic spaghetti sauce. Let it cook overnight, seven hours on low. When I get up, I break up the meat and now it's done. I can throw it in the refrigerator for when I get home.

BRITNI: Great idea.

MELANIE: Keep it simple.

BRITNI: Yeah. Put that over some spaghetti squash or even roasted veggies.

MELANIE: Yes. Yeah. And you can cook, you know, you get home and you think I haven't prepared anything. Well, yeah. I have an instant pot. It's my best friend. I'll take frozen meat and cook it in my instant pot. And you know, you can Google how to do that. And then it's done. There really is no I didn't thaw. So I'm going to, I'm going to get take out.

BRITNI: Yep. Yeah. And in reality, you order takeout. You could have made a meal by the time you actually get that meal delivered to you or you or you drive there.

MELANIE: So here's my challenge to the listeners. If you have an instant pot or you have a crockpot, but an instant pot, make a meal, a simple meal. It might be a sheet pan meal, where you slap, slap, slap on your proteins, season them up on the other side, throw down some precut veggies from the store, season them up, cook them; time it, because sometimes we think it is so much longer than it actually is. Time it and see what it takes. And now you feel a little righteous because you ate real food. You did, you stayed on track versus how you feel after you've eaten a sack of food that you know is full of inflammatory oils. And you know, and that's more adrenal stress when you feel guilty that you fed your family these foods. We don't need that in our lives. No, we don't need guilt on top of everything else.

Vitamins and nutrients to support adrenal function

BRITNI: Yeah. That, that is a really great suggestion. Yeah. And so you were talking about vitamin C. Chili is a great source of vitamin C. Vitamin C is not only heart healthy, but it really helps to support your adrenal function. And on Dishing Up Nutrition we often talk about magnesium, the wonders of magnesium and the mineral magnesium: it helps to regulate about 700 to 800 different enzyme systems needed to create and utilize energy in the body. So we really need adequate magnesium to have optimal energy. And when we're stressed, magnesium gets used up really, really quickly.

MELANIE: Yes. And I just was listening to a podcast and they were talking about how magnesium is over, we use it in over 300 functions in the body. And our soil is 50% depleted.

BRITNI: Yes.

MELANIE: So we'll talk more when we get back. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. During perimenopause and menopause and post menopause, there are a lot of hormonal shifts for women. When we are deficient in the hormone, progesterone, we often have trouble sleeping. When we are deficient in vitamin E and essential fat, we often experience dry tissues. There are many deficiencies at menopause and to get rebalanced an individual appointment may be the best and quickest. It really isn't necessary to feel out of balance and not yourself during this time. Call us at (651) 699-3438. And let us help you suggest some solutions for you. We'll be right back.

Nutrition Counseling

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BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. I want to tell you about our Nutrition for Weight Loss series. We are offering it in person at the end of this month, starting the week of March 28th, and it's a 12-week series. So if all this information today, you know, sounds great, but you're wondering how do I actually implement it? Or I'd like some more support or accountability, this class would be perfect for you. And we have classes that will be in Maple Grove, Eagan, North Oaks, Wayzata, Woodbury, and St. Paul. So you can call 651-699-3438. Or you can go to our website, weightandwellness.com to find out more information and to sign up. But people have great success taking that class.

Nutrition 4 Weight Loss program

MELANIE: It's my favorite class to teach because you stand in front of the clients and you talk week to week and you can literally see the transformation in their countenance, their health, their skin, their, they begin to glow. They perk up; their energy. They develop relationships in class. It's, it's my favorite class to teach.

BRITNI: I agree. Me too. Yeah. Yeah.

Client success stories

MELANIE: So I helped a lady go from, you know, sleeping only three hours a night to six and a half each night. And it it's always a work in progress. Our goal of course is eight hours. But man, when you've been getting three hours and you suddenly hit that six hour, I think I'm her best friend.

BRITNI: Yeah, absolutely. So what was happening? Why was she not sleeping?

MELANIE: It was a combination of, she was exhausted. So she was drinking so much coffee. She was drinking wine to relax cause she was stressed. So she wasn't getting into that deep REM and she was doing that surf sleep where you just feel like you start to fall and then you wake up, you start to fall and you wake up and caffeine can contribute to that adrenal stress. So I, I, we worked on it. We talked about decaffeinating very slowly. So she didn't want to poke me in the eye with that caffeine withdrawal headache. But she, the last time we talked, she finally, she said to me, Melanie, I finally did it. I gave up that last quarter cup of caffeine. I'm sleeping so much better. She has a lot of stress in her life. So we're, you know, we're working on ways to decrease the cortisol. But man, I've seen clients just start to lose weight when they start sleeping.

BRITNI: Oh, absolutely. That is, that's the time for our body to restore and repair. And our brain is actually quite active during sleep. It's consolidating memories. It's detoxifying, it's doing all sorts of things.

MELANIE: Yes.

BRITNI: So when we don't get enough, a major, major stressor on the body and then of course impacts our weight too.

MELANIE: And we're just nicer women when we get enough sleep.

BRITNI: That is absolutely true. You know, during the past few months I have a client and she has lost 15 pounds.

MELANIE: Wow.

BRITNI: Yeah. Which is about a pound a week and she's in menopause. So that is a success because you know, it, it is, it gets a little harder.

MELANIE: Yeah. I don't know about you, but a lot of my clients feel like it's hopeless after menopause. Well, this is just, now I'm in menopause. So it's much harder. And I'm like, your body can respond if we give it the body the right tools.

BRITNI: Absolutely.

MELANIE: So, and this past year I've helped a client change her bone health, which is one of my absolute passions. She went from osteoporosis to osteopenia. She gained 8% bone and is on her way to normal bones. And all of these changes occurred because she began eating real food. We did some optimal nutrients that she added in supplement form. A whole protocol that we put her on to get those bones working, you know, and that was, that was medicine free. Cause that was her goal. So what a joy to hear the delight, the joy, the surprise in their voice that the body is designed to repair itself when we give the body the tools it needs, the proper nutrition, the nourishment.

BRITNI: And you know, I know that's a scary diagnosis.

MELANIE: It's a terrifying diagnosis.

BRITNI: And you our resident bone expert. So I have no doubt that you you're able to help so many women turn their bone health around.

MELANIE: Well, they do make you feel like you're made of China.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: I do. Or yeah, it can. It been, it can be, it can be terrifying when you walk out of there. They, you feel like every step you could crumble into dust.

BRITNI: Oh gosh. So we were talking before break about vitamin C and magnesium being very helpful for our adrenal glands. And magnesium, it's involved in so many different things in the body, gets used up really quickly when we're stressed, and then we're just not getting it from our food. You know, Melanie, you said 50 or our soil is depleted 50%.

MELANIE: That was the research I read.

BRITNI: Wow. So thinking about food sources, grass fed meat, a serving contains 48 grams of magnesium. You're talking about that bowl of chili. So getting the tomatoes in there gives you some vitamin C. So that would be a great, great option to have. And eating food, eating this real food throughout the day, it's a win-win for our energy, our positivity for life and helping to get all of these necessary nutrients to help to heal our adrenal glands.

MELANIE: Yes. And you and we, we truly believe at Nutritional Weight and Wellness food first that we want to nourish our bodies with food, real food. Then possibly add key supplements if we see deficiencies.

BRITNI: Yep.

MELANIE: But here's the piece that's important, you know, before you run out and buy vitamin C, you run out and buy magnesium and you run out… is that one, they need to be a quality, highly absorbable supplement. But two, you cannot out supplement a poor diet.

BRITNI: Yeah.

MELANIE: If you have chronic diarrhea, you're burning through magnesium. If you have chronic stress, you're burning through magnesium. If you're not sleeping, you're burning through magnesium. If you're sick, you burn through magnesium. If you have diarrhea, you burn through magnesium. So we want to make sure we correct these other avenues of loss of magnesium and start nourishing your body with real food.

BRITNI: That's such a great point.

MELANIE: Yeah. So if you are a woman in perimenopause, menopause, or even post menopause and are feeling down and out, I would look to your diet. If you are practicing that low-calorie, low-fat diet, low energy is not your fault. Your body doesn't have what it needs to incorporate that zest for life that's important. The low-calorie, low-fat message has been the wrong message for women for over 60 years. And it is a hard tape to shut off in your brain.

BRITNI: Yeah, it is.

MELANIE: It’s been going on forever and it has, it was a very effective marketing message back in the day. And a lot of low-fat products were birthed out of that time in our life. I mean, I certainly know Snack wells was a cookie, I could plow through a box easily because it will quote unquote low fat.

But did it do our health any good? It didn't and who thought that it could actually be harmful to our health? Well, it was the wrong message for women's health, but for many it is that message that plays over and over. And they're thinking I better check the number of fat grams in this product, or should I add two tablespoons of cream to my protein shake or my coffee? Or is that too much? If this is the noise in your head, you need a team player, somebody on your side, who's going to help you incorporate healthy without the fear of gaining weight.

BRITNI: We're here for you. You know, our goal at Nutritional Weight and Wellness is to help every person experience better health through eating real food. Real food truly is life changing.