Jennifer Smith: Welcome to You're Not Crazy. It's Perimenopause. If you're a woman over 40 and feeling more anxious, not sleeping well, or disconnected from your body, this podcast is for you. I'm your host, Jenny Smith, Functional Medicine Health Coach, here to help you understand what the heck is happening in Perimenopause. Each week, we're diving into real-life conversations about how our changing hormones impact anxiety, sleep, and stress. And I'll share simple strategies to help you feel normal again. So grab a cup of tea or beverage of choice, get comfy, and let's dive in. Hello friends. Today I am going to be sharing something very personal with you. And I wanted to share my experience because I think that you might find it helpful. I am a health coach. So I might know a thing or two about health and What we need to do to be optimizing our health. I am a geek when it comes to learning all that I can, reading books, listening to podcasts, going to school, getting certified in it, constantly learning. Like I know a thing or two about health. And I still have ups and downs with my own personal health. And it's a good reminder that our life is not about being perfect, it's about a journey. We're all on a journey. And right now I'm on a journey. And it's been kind of a interesting year, I guess you would say. It's probably been a good interesting year for me. And I found myself kind of in a place of overwhelm, feeling really stressed out. I started a job that is a part-time job in addition to my my business, coaching people towards health. I also work part-time supporting caregivers, and it is a very rewarding job, but it's also very mentally draining. And I am at my computer for several hours a day. And ⁓ when I get stressed and my nervous system's a little off, I tend to stress eat. I'm a stress eater. It's just how I'm wired, and it's been starting to catch up with me a little bit. So I also am trying to balance my hormones. I'm a big believer in hormone replacement therapy. I have shared that I will do an episode on it soon. I promise. I will talk about it. It is a personal choice, but for me, I feel like I entered peri men or I'm sorry, I entered menopause pretty early, about forty seven was when I crossed that bridge and now I'm postmenopausal. So essentially my hormones are very, you know, tanked. They're to the bottom. Like there's just nothing. And I have been on hormone replacement therapy between progesterone, estrogen, testosterone. I have slowly started taking all of them. Well, I had some issues with my dosing and I was trying creams. I got off the patch and went to the creams for estrogen and it just hasn't been working out. So my estrogen has really kind of just flatlined. We should be Our estradiol should be a 35 to 50, I think, is like ideal. I think 50 is ideal. I don't have like the numbers up in front of me. I can't rem I can't memorize all these numbers. And my most recent test, I was at a seven. So I'm like, okay, this really helps me understand what's happening with my symptoms. This is why I am really struggling with stress. I'm not as resilient as I used to be. This is why I'm snacky snacky and I'm craving sugar and I'm hungry. And this is why I'm gaining weight around my belly. And I'm just like, ugh, it's so frustrating. And so I meet with my functional medicine doctor quite regularly. I meet with him twice a year minimum, sometimes more. And he's like, What is your biggest complaint right now? I said, I'm tired. I feel like I am just hungry all the time. And I I'm gaining weight and I and I I want to get it off. It's like so frustrating. So he recommended a GLP one. And I was like, hmm, okay. And I have had mixed feelings about GLP1s for some time. What I want to say is that I know that they're very helpful for so many people. And for those of you that don't know what a GLP one is, it's GLP1 stands for glucagon-like peptide. It's a hormone that your body naturally makes in the intestines after you eat. So it it signals satiety. It lets your body know like you're full. You don't need to need to eat anymore. You don't need to keep eating. And it helps regulate your blood sugar. And so for me, lately, with the drop of estrogen and with the stress and all of that. I wasn't getting that kind of off signal. I was feeling like never satiated. I was always hungry. And so my doctor was like, why don't you try GLP one? And I thought, hmm, I don't know if that's the route I want to go. And so, and I'll tell you why. So GLP ones are also called Ozempic, Wagovi, Monjaro, and Zetbound. Those are the the brands. And I know they're coming out with all different types and There's even a pill form now. ⁓ but trzepatide, which is Monjaro and Zepbound, they work as two hormones, GLP1s and another hormone called GIP, glucose-dependent insulin tropic, insulinotropic polypeptide. Say that five times fast. ⁓ my gosh. And it's one of the reasons why you get more weight loss with the trzepatides. That's why the Mongiaro and the Zeppound are more prescribed for weight loss. But the Osempic and Wagovi are just the GLP1. So you probably heard of those medications, peptides. And my doctor was like, try it. You know, we we are prescribing this a lot in clinics. And the clinics that I work with, because he also works for a hormone clinic, and he said that they're using it ⁓ quite a bit with patients, and they're seeing a lot of great things come from it with their patients. Now, this is my hesitation with the peptides. One, the reason why I didn't want to jump into the GLP1 was because I I knew that it was my hormones. I knew that it was my estradiol that was not absorbing the gel that I was using. And I thought if I could just get that right, then can. Get a handle on my on my cravings, sugar cravings especially, and really focus on kind of like managing my stress. And the reason I didn't want to go into a GLP one right away is because of the side effects, the risk of what would happen if I got off of it and gaining all the weight back. I hear so many stories that women will lose weight and then they'll gain it back. And he wasn't talking to me about a microdose. That's all the craze right now. The practitioners are microdosing it as like a more gentle approach to the benefits. And there's so many benefits of GLP1. So let's talk about what the pros are, and then we'll go into the cons and I'll explain to you why I was hesitant and what I did instead. So with the GLP1s, many women, the number one pro I think is weight loss. That's why most people are on them is they want to lose weight. And many w women lose about 15 to 20% of their body weight, especially with the traceptides that contain the two hormones, ⁓ Maljaro and Zetbound, when they also combine it with lifestyle changes. It quiets the food noise. So that's exactly one of the reasons why it would have benefited me is I was constantly hungry. I was always thinking about my next snack, my next meal. I was never feeling satiated. I was always having cravings. I was stress eating as soon as I got off work. I went upstairs and started binging in the pantry. My husband loves to buy these big chocolate chips from Costco, and I was just going in there and going to town on them. No control. I just was like doo doo doo doo doo doo and it started to catch up with me. So the beauty of the GLP ones is it quiets that food noise and you don't think about that. The other thing that it does is it improves insulin resistance. So insulin resistance is very common and one of the First symptoms of perimenopause and menopause is when estrogen declines, it often makes insulin resistant worse. And that's what contributes to the belly fat and the weight gain. So GLP1s can improve insulin sensitivity. It also reduces visceral fat. So the menopause belly. ⁓ losing abdominal fat is just not, it's not all about looks. It's also super important to minimize your risk for diabetes, fatty liver disease, and heart disease. And it's helpful with lowering blood sugar. So many people who are dealing with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, those are the GLP ones are super helpful in kind of mitigating that and getting that under control. And that's what you might hear a lot of people online talking about like I can't get this medication anymore because so many people are using it for weight loss and I need it for my type two diabetes. So it's commonly used to help reverse those chronic diseases. It's supposed to help protect the heart. You know, GLP ones can reduce major cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. They've been known to improve heart protection. And it makes behavior change easier. Like it helps with creating new habits because you stop the snacking. One of the worst things that you can do for your body is snack all day. Like it just sends your blood sugar on a constant roller coaster. And that is when you're you're dealing with the emotional swings of the highs and the lows, and you're hungry, and then you're you know, you feed and then you're like hungry again. It's just constant when you're snacking. So you don't want to do that. So it's supposed to really help with improving your habits so that you're not snacking all the time. It's also when you're losing weight, it helps you ⁓ improve your mobility and if you're dealing with any kind of joint pain. So when you have extra weight on your body, you're dealing with more pain in your body. So with the GLP ones, you're able to lose fat sooner, quicker. And then you can remove the pressure of the added weight on your joints and your knees and your hips, which are common, common places that women experience a lot of pain as they get older and start to deal with weight gain. So let's talk about the cons. And this is where my hesitation kind of stopped me in my tracks. So GLP1s can cause muscle loss. And it's because we already start to lose muscle. As we age. Women as early as 35 begin to lose muscle. And when you have rapid weight loss, and if you're not hungry and you're not eating enough protein, then you start to lose the muscle too. And that when you lose muscle, it slows your metabolism, it makes you a little bit more frail and weaker, and it can contribute to more risks later in life. And so you want to make sure that when you are doing a GLP1, that you are combining it with enough protein in your diet. as well as making sure you're building strength. You've got to prioritize building muscle when you're on a GLP one because with the weight loss also comes muscle loss. So you want to make sure you're combining the the behavior ⁓ change and the lifestyle habits with the peptide. Another con with the medications is that it can cause nausea and digestive problems. So common side effects constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, bloating, I have a friend that took it and she said she had to pull over on her way to work. She had to like throw up out of her car. Like she just it was so uncomfortable and miserable for her. And there was just no lowering the dose for her. They were like, This is it. This was several years ago too. But they said this was it. This is all the dosing that we have. We can't minimize the dose. So she ended up getting off of it and then her hunger came back ten times more. So It can it can make some people very uncomfortable. Not all people, but some people have those side effects. And initially it's oftentimes the onset of taking the peptide. And then once your body gets used to it, you don't have those symptoms anymore. The other con is that women tend to under eat when they're on a GLP1 and they're essentially not getting enough nutrients for their body. And when they're not eating enough and they're not getting enough nutrients, that's what leads to hair loss. ⁓ feeling really tired and low energy and then they lose muscle because they're not eating enough protein. And the concern that when you get off of the GLP1 is the weight regain. And that was my biggest stop in my tracks. Because nobody can really give me an answer of what's gonna happen if I were to take this medication, it calms the food noise, I'm able to lose the weight around my belly, then what's gonna happen when I stop taking it? Is my hunger gonna come back 10 times more? Am I gonna regain all the weight that I just lost? And then I just shoved out, you know, $200 a month for this medication. What is gonna happen? And my doctor was like, everyone's different. Some people do really well when they get off the medication. They're able to, while they're on the mac medication, do the behavior changes. And I know the behavior that needs to happen to be at a healthy optimal weight. I have done it all. I know about getting good sleep. I know about, you know, not snacking all day. I know about eating balanced meals and eating enough protein. But what would happen if I were to stop? Would my hunger increase and then I go back to feeling the same way that I was when I wanted to get on these medications in the first place? So that's that was kind of like the kicker. And then I my doctor's like, well, how about I I send the medication to your pharmacy? So that you can get an idea of how much it costs and then you can make a decision from there. I'm like, great. I was very curious to see how much it would cost. So without, or I'm sorry, with insurance, the medication that he prescribed me, which I wish I could remember what it was. I think it might have been Wagovi. And it was like a pill form. Cause like I didn't want to do a shot. So I said, what would it be for the pill form? And with my insurance, it would have been $1,500 a month with my insurance. So I asked the pharmacist, the pharmacy technician, I said, What would it be if I used one of those coupons, those digital coupons that like good RX and there was like another one that they they used. And they said with this digital coupon without insurance, it's 149 a month. I was like, What? That was such a big difference in costs. I was like, okay. And then my concern was, okay, well, what if I started taking this and then my the coupon code wore off, like it expired or whatever, and then I had to go into paying fifteen hundred dollars a month. And I've heard stories of women share that, that they originally paid for it. It was affordable. And then the costs went up. And so that was another thing where I was like, this just seems like so much work to have to figure out a budget for this. And I so that was one of the things that kind of really stopped me from trying or from from going this route. Now, I wanna say that if you are on a GLP one, and there's likely many of you listening to this, are on a GLP one. There is no judgment. I know that this medication has been helpful for so many people. I read about it all the time in different forums that I'm on and Facebook talking about menopause and how GLP1s have helped them so much with their their hormones and with the food noise and being able to get their weight under control. I really, really love that people are able to utilize this peptide and this tool to be able to help them feel their very best. I chose not to do it for the reasons of the concern with will I get sick? Will I become dependent on it? What's gonna happen when I get off of it? And what is gonna be the expense? So that's kind of like what stopped me from going there. And I I stepped back and I thought, okay, if I can get my estrogen levels back up with hormone replacement therapy. And my doctor worked with me. He's like, we're gonna go back on the patch, we're gonna try this, we're gonna do, you know, we're gonna get there. And then I go back to the tried and true, what I know works for so many of us and for me as well, is to make sure that I am eating enough protein and that I am eating enough vegetables that my plate is balanced with enough fiber. with healthy fats, with even some carbohydrates so that I am satiated, and that I meal prep so that I have those meals ready to go. And I get the crap out of the house. I told my husband, hide the chocolate chips just until I can get a handle on these cravings, get it out of sight, out of mind, setting myself up for success. And I need to go back to the balance plate method, which is what I teach in the hormone reset project. As well as an alternative to managing my stress. So instead of stress eating and snacking, I need to get up and go for a short walk, or I need to do some breathing exercises, or I need to make sure that I'm going to bed earlier because there are some nights where I'm going to bed later than I need to be going to bed. And so all of those things add up to cause those symptoms in my body where I feel like I need to. give in to those cravings. And so that is why I chose to hold off on GLP ones. I'm never saying that I would never ever do them. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't do them. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that for me personally, this was my experience. And I know that there are other women out there who don't want to take this peptide, who don't want to be on a GLP one. And for probably similar reasons as me. And I just want you to know that you don't have to go that route because there's other ways to naturally stimulate your GLP one hormone to increase satiety. And so that is what I started doing. And so what I did is I I created a 14-day jump start a couple of years ago, and I've run several women through the program. And what we do is we focus on the balance plate method. Essentially, we focus on real whole foods, making sure that we are getting a good chunk on our plate of proteins. We're getting fiber, healthy fats, and some carbohydrates, some complex carbohydrates that are slow moving in your digestion so that it keeps you full longer. And removing some of those foods that are inflammatory, that increase cravings, and Typically it's just sugar. It's really just cutting out sugar, processed foods. A lot of processed foods have sugar. It's just eating as clean as possible for the 14-day jump start. So what I did is I went back to it. I grabbed all the things that I needed to make this happen. I meal prepped. I made sure again that I removed the foods that drive temptation. I put the chocolate chips, gave them to my husband. I said, you take these. The other thing that was causing me to To go crazy was purely Elizabeth's granola. And if you've had it, you know what I'm talking about. It is so good that I can't, it's like Lay's potato chips. You can't eat just one. That's how I am with purely Elizabeth's granola. Like it should never be in my house again. And then my husband goes to Costco and he buys a ginormous bag and puts it in the pantry. And I'm like, get it out of my sight. Please get it away from me. So we set ourselves up for success. That's what I did. I got rid of the trigger foods. I meal prepped, I made sure I had enough protein, I had enough fiber, lots of vegetables stocked, prepped, and ready to go. And then I planned my meals. And when I was done with work, I did I walked around the house because it's too hot to walk outside in Arizona right now. It's you know 108 degrees at two o'clock in the afternoon. And I was just doing things that that fueled me and made me feel good that didn't involve Food and snacking. And so what I did is I I prepped. So I took four days of preparation and I just started minimizing the sugar, trying to ease off of it. The best way is really to go cold turkey. Because the first few days are the hardest because you're you're having more low energy, because you're having kind of like your body's adapting to not having no sugar and not having those foods that would provide the quick boost of energy. And I ended up ⁓ starting it and I did the 10 days and I lost three pounds in ten days. And and and let me just preface this by saying I hate the scale. The scale that I have is like very moody and very, you know, just temperamental. And it likes to tell me, you know, I'm like five pounds heavier one day and then, you know, six pounds lighter the next. It's just not not something that I hold a I give a lot of weight to, no pun intended. I took all my measurements and I lost an inch around my waist and my hips, which is a big deal in 10 days. And it was slow weight loss in a healthy way. And that's one of the things with GLP wends is that women are losing weight so fast that it really starts to impact, like I said, muscle and rapid weight loss is just not ideal on the body. It's kind of like a it's a trigger to the body. It's like a lot. It's it's a lot. So with the 14 day jump start, I lost three pounds in 10 days because it's four days of preparation. And then day five is when I start eating and following the plan and really just being intentional and tracking my food so that I know I'm getting enough protein, that I know I'm getting enough veggies and fiber. And so it really just reminded me like, hey, you don't need to go this route if you don't want to. If you don't want to do the GLP wins. And you don't want to spend $150 a month, maybe $1,500 down the line a month, on these peptides, then you just go back to the basics of what's worked for you before. And it's just a matter of making sure that you're not overeating. And I don't count calories. I don't track macros. The only macro I really track is protein. And I make sure I keep my healthy fats within a reasonable range because they're very caloric. And I don't stress over food and I don't obsess over the calories and how many calories does this have. I obsess over the ingredients and the nutrients. The more clean the food, the better it's gonna feel and it the better it's gonna be for my body. The more energy it's gonna give me, the more healthy I'm gonna be, the more ideal weight I'll be at. And it just was a reminder that it works. So going back to the basics is what really worked for me. I don't view GLP one as a crutch. I also don't think that every woman needs to be on it. And for so some women, addressing sleep, minimizing stress, making sure you're eating enough protein, focusing on not snacking. If you are needing hormone replacement therapy, finding a trusted provider that can walk you through that, that certainly helped. I know that once I got back on that estrogen patch, the estradiol patch. I noticed a significant improvement in how I was feeling. It was also coupled with the nutrition plan that I was following and just eating the whole foods. Many people do really well with it who really need it, who are dealing with a significant amount of weight that they need to lose. It can be really helpful. GLP1 could be a great bridge and a tool to help someone build those habits because initially it can be hard. And when you have the food noise, it can be hard to quiet that. So with that, I do want to tell you that I am launching the 14-day jump start, a midsummer reset. It starts on Thursday, July 16th. And how it works is the first four days we will be prepping our kitchen and the reset for success. And so what we do is we clear out The crap that we don't want to be eating, we make sure that we toss it, we get rid of it, and then we decide what meals we want to be eating. I have recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that make it easy that are balanced plate friendly. So that's what we do is we follow the balance plate method in the 14 day jump start. It's what I teach women in the hormone reset project as well. It's what makes the biggest difference when women are trying to change their health, whether it's to increase energy. ⁓ change their moods. They might feel more anxious, more moody. They want to lose weight. They feel like the scale is creeping up. Like for me, it was like I was so stressed out. I was so tired. I was so snacky. And then I started to gain weight. And I was like, I need to get a handle on this. And that is when I went back to the 14 day jump start. Because like I said, our health is not perfect. It's not a perfect road for any of us. We do have setbacks. We do have things that happen in our life. That might get us off track a little bit, and then we just get back on. And that's what I did with the 14-day jump start because it works. And so we do the four days of preparation. So we plan our meals and then we prep our meals. And then on day five, for five to day 10, we start the balance plate method way of eating, where we eat two to three meals a day, no snacking. We cut out sugar. And ladies, let me tell you. It's once you get past day three, it's the first couple days where you're like, ⁓ this is tough. And that's where I give you tools and tricks to kind of get through the tough patch, the rough patch. And then after day three, you're like smooth sailing, like I don't want any sugar. And it just helps kind of reset and get you going. And the beauty of it is you build the momentum to keep going. So after the 14 days, you already know what feels good for you as far as how to fuel your body. And then you have the momentum to keep it up. So, like for me, I lost the three pounds, I lost an inch around my waist. I'm like, it's working. Let's keep going. And so I also provide bonuses on tips on how to eat out. Sometimes it is harder to do this plan when you're eating out, depends on where you go, what restaurant you're going, but I give you tips on how to get through that so that you can stay on track with the plan. And it starts on Thursday, July 16th. And I'm going to link the 14-day jumpstart in the show notes if you want to learn more about that. And if you think that would be a great best next step for you. I also think it's a great place for women to go if they are on a GLP one to start with the 14-day jump start as well, ⁓ because it does give you kind of a foundation of how to fuel your body. So if you ever want to get off the GLP1, you know what works and what you need to be fueling your body with. To be able to feel good so that when you do get off of the peptide, that you're able to sustain the weight loss and feel amazing. So that is my journey with deciding on whether or not a GLP one was gonna work for me. I like I said, no judgment if you were taking it. I just the reasons I chose not to take it right now is is the reasons I shared in this episode. If you have any questions about what I went through. through kind of how I navigated this whole journey and the the pressure to kind of jump on the GLP1 train because so many of us are are taking advantage of it and using it. If you have any questions about that for me personally, please reach out and message me. You can find my contact information in the show notes. I am an open book. I'm happy to talk to you about this and and how the decision was hard. for me and what really made me kind of like just step back and say, hey, you know, I know that this has worked for me in the past. And I know I'm a little off track. So these are the things that I need to be doing to get back on track. And that is what I teach you and show you and walk you through in the 14 day jump start. I know, I know, I know what you're thinking, it's summer, like this is when I'm supposed to be having fun and going to the barbecues and eating chips and burgers and all the things. And I just want to say to you, it is just 14 days. It's 14 days. Give your give your body 14 days to see what it can do and show you how you can feel in just 14 days. And also realize it's not that hard. And you can still go to barbecues and you can still enjoy and partake in the festivities and still stay on track and reach your goals. So thinking about what it is for you that you want right now. If the 14-day jump start is the next step for you, please learn more about it in the link in the show notes. And I am happy to answer any questions. And if you are wanting to sign up, then I look forward to guiding you on your journey to more energy, less sugar cravings, less moody episodes, and some weight loss. So yeah, thank you so much for tuning in today. and hearing more about my story with my struggles and and my challenges. And I hope that it inspires you to kind of go back to the basics, like just go back to real whole foods and making sure you're getting a good night's sleep and managing your stress, whether that's just taking breathing breaks, walking outside in nature, talking to a friend, whatever you need to decompress and de stress. All right, my friends, thank you so much for tuning in today. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a friend who might need to hear it. And if you haven't already, please subscribe so that you don't miss the next episode. And again, I will leave my contact information in the show notes if you have any questions. And I will see you next week. Take care.